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OTOE AND 0ASS SOUNTiES, NEBF^ASKA, 



CONTAINING 



Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent 
and Representative Citizens of the County, 

TOGETHER WITH 

PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL THE GOVERNORS OF THE STATE, AND 
OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 






CHICAGO: 

CHAPMAN BROTHERS. 
1889. 



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^HE greatest of English historians, Macadi.ey, and one of the most brilliant writers 
of the past century, has said : "The history of a country is best told in a record of the 
lives of its people." In conformity with this idea the Portrait and Biographical 
ALBUJr]of this county has been prepared. Instead of going to must}' records, and 
taking therefrom dry statistical matter that can be appreciated by but few, our 
corps of writers have gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their 
enterprise and industry, brought the county to a rank second to none among those 
comprising this great and noble State, and from their lips have the story of their life 
struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelli- 
gent public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the 
imitation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by 
industry and economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited 
advantages for securing an education, have become learned men and women, with an 
1 3lj influence extending throughout the length and breadth of the land. It tells of men who 
^ have risen from the lower walks of life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have 
become famous. It tells of those in every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and 
records how that success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very 
many, who, not seeking the applause of the world, have pursued "the even tenor of their way," content 
to have it said of them as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy — "the}' have done what 
they could." It tells how that many in the pride an<l strength of young manhood left the plow and the 
anvil, the lawyer's office and the counting-room, left every trade and profession, and at their country's 
call went forth valiantly "to do or die," and how through their efforts the Union was restored and peace 
once more reigned in the land. In the life of every man and of every woman is a lesson that should not 
be lost upon those who follow after. 

Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a saci-ed treasure, from the fact 
that it contains so much that would never find its way into public records, and which would otherwise be 
inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work and every opportunity possible 
given to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written, and the publishers flatter them- 
selves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence. In addition to the biograph- 
ical sketches, portraits of a number of representative citizens are given. 

The faces of some, and biographical sketches of many, will be missed in this volume. For this the 
publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some refused to give the 
information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent. Occasional!}' some member of 
the family would oppose the enterprise, and on account of such opposition the support of the interested 
one would be withheld. In a few instances men could never be found, though repeated calls were made 
at their residence or place of business. 

^ , „ CHAPMAN BROS. 

Chicago, December, 1888. 



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FIRST I'RESIDENT. 



19 








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HE P'ather of our Countrj' was 
'al born in Westmorland Co., Va., 
Feb. 22, 1732. His parents 
were Augustine and Mary 
(Ball) Washington. The family 
to which he belonged has not 
been satisfactorily traced in 
England. His great-grand- 
father, John Washington, em- 
igrated to Virginia about 1657, 
and became a prosperous 
planter. He had two sons, 
Lawrence and John. The 
former married Mildred Warner 
and had three children, John, 
Augustine and Mildred. Augus- 
tine, the father of George, first 
married Jane Butler, who bore 
him four children, two of whom, 
Lawrence and Augustine, reached 
maturity. Of six children by his 
second marriage, George was the 
eldest, the others being Betty, 
Samuel, John Augustine, Chades 
and Mildred. 
Augustine Washington, the father of George, died 
in 1743, leaving a large landed property. To his 
eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an estate on 
the Patomac, afterwards known as Mount Vernon, 
and to George he left the parental residence. George 
received only such education as the neighborhood 
schools afforded, save for a short time after he left 
school, when he received private mstniclion in 
mathematics, His spellina v/as rather defective. 
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Remarkable stories are told of his great physical 
strength and development at an early age. He was 
an acknowledged leader among his companions, and 
was early noted for that nobleness of character, fair- 
ness and veracity which characterized his whole life. 

When George was i4yearsoldhehadadesire togoto 
sea, and a midshipman's warrant was secured for him, 
but through the opposition of his mother the idea was 
abandoned. Two years later he was appointed 
surveyor to the immense estate of Lord Fairfax. In 
this business he spent three years in a rough frontier 
life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very 
essenrial to him. In 1751, though only 19 years of 
age, he was appointed adjutant with the rank of 
major in the Virginia militia, then being trained for 
active service against the French and Indians. Soon 
after this he sailed to the West Indies with his brother 
Lawrence, who went there to restore his health. They 
soon returned, and in the summer of 1752 Lawrence 
died, leaving a large fortune to an infant daughter 
who did not long survive him. On her demise tlie 
estate of Mount Vernon was given to George. 

Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddle, as Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of Virginia, in 1752, the mihtia was 
reorganized, and the province divided into four mili- 
tary districts, of which the northern was assigned to 
Washington as adjutant general. Shortly after this 
a very perilous mission was assigned him and ac- 
cepted, which others had refused. This was to pro- 
ceed to the French post near Lake Erie in North- 
western Pennsylvania. The distance to be traversed 
was between 500 and 600 miles. Winter was at hand, 
and the journey was to b« made without military 
escort, through a territory occupied by Indians. The ^ ' 



•^T^ 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



trip was a perilous one, and several limes he came near 
losing his life, yet he returned in safety and furnished 
a full and useful report of his expedition. A regiment 
of 300 men was raised in Virginia and put in com- 
mand of Col. Joshua Fry, and Major Washington was 
commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Active war was 
then begun against the French and Indians, in which 
Washington took a most important part. In the 
memorable event of July g, 1755, known as Brad- 
dock's defeat, Washington was almost the only officer 
of distinction who escaped from the calamities of the 
day with life and honor. The other aids of Braddock 
were disabled early in the action, and Washington 
alone was left in that capacity on the field. In a letter 
to his brother he says : " I had four bullets through 
my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet I escaped 
unhurt, though death was levelino my companions 
on every side." An Indian sharpshooter said he was 
not born to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken 
direct aim at him seventeen times, and failed to hit 
him. 

After having been five years in the military service, 
and vainly sought promotion in the royal army, he 
look advantage of the fall of Fort Duquesne and the 
expulsion of the French from the valley of the Ohio, 
10 resign his commission. Soon after he entered the 
Legislature, where, although not a leader, he took an 
active and imjjortant part. January 17, 1759, he 
married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, the wealthy 
widow of John Parke Custis. 

When the British Parliament had closed the port 
'if Boston, the cry went up throughout the provinces 
that "The cause of Boston is the cause of us all." 
It was then, at the suggestion of Virginia, that a Con- 
gress of all the colonies was called to meet at Phila- 
delphia,Sept. 5, 1774, to secure their common liberties, 
peaceably if ixjssible. To this Congress Col. Wash- 
ington was sent as a delegate. On May 10, 1775, the 
Congress re-assembled, when the hostile intentions of 
England were plainly apparent. The battles of Con- 
cord and Lexington had been fought. Among the 
first acts of this Congress was the election of a com- 
mander-in-chief of the colonial forces. This high and 
responsible office was conferred upon Washington, 
who was still a member of the Congress. He accepted 
it on June 19, but upon the express condition that he 
receive no salary. He would keep an exact account 
of expenses and expect Congress 10 pay them and 
nothing more. It is not the object of this sketch to 
trace the military acts of Washington, to whom the 
fortunes and liberties of the people of this country 
were so long confided. The war was conducted by 
him under ever)' possible disadvantage, and while his 
forces often met with reverses, yet he overcame every 
obstacle, and after seven years of heroic devotion 
and matchless skill lie gained liberty for the greatest 
nation of earth. On Dec. 2-^, 1783, Washington, in 
a parting address of surpassing beautv, resigned his 
A* ^ '- 



commission as commander-in-chief of the army to 
to the Continental Congress sitting at Annapolis. He 
retired immediately to Mount Vernon and resumed 
his occupation as a farmer and planter, shunning all 
conneclion with public liie. 

In February, 1789, Washington was unanimously 
elected President. In his presidential career he was 
subject to the peculiar trials incidental to a new 
government ; trials from lack of confidence on the part 
of other governments; trials from want of harmony 
between the different sections of our own country; 
trials from the impoverished condition of the country, 
owing to the war and want of credit; trials from the 
beginnings of party strife. He was no partisan. His 
clear judgment could discern the golden mean; and 
while perhaps this alone kept our government from 
sinking at the very outset, it left him exposed to 
attacks from both sides, which were often bitter and 
very annoying. 

At the expiration of his first term he was unani- 
mously re-elected. At the end of this term manv 
were anxious that he be re-elected, but he absolutely 
refused a third nominaiion. On the fourth of March, 
1797, at the expiraton of his second term as Presi- 
dent, he returned to his home, hojiing to pass there 
his few remaining yeais free from the annoyances of 
public life. Later in the year, however, his repose 
seemed likely to be interrupted by war with France. 
At the prospect of such a war he was again urged to 
take command of the armies. He chose his sub- 
ordinate offlcers and left to them the charge of mat- 
ters in the field, which he superintended from his 
home. In accepting the command he made the 
reservation that he was not to be in the field until 
it was necessary. In the midst of these i:>reparations 
his life was suddenly cut off. December i 2, he took 
a severe cold from a ride in the rain, which, settling 
in liis throat, produced inflammation, and terminated 
fatally on the night of the fourteenth. On the eigh- 
teenth his body was borne wi'h military honors to its 
final resting place, and interred in the family vault at 
Mount Vernon. 

Of the character of Washington it is impossible to 
speak but in terms of the highest respect and ad- 
miration. The more we see of the operations of 
our government, and the more deeply we feel the 
difiiculty of uniting all opinions in a common interest, 
the more highly we must estimate the force of his tal- 
ent and character, which have been able to challenge 
the reverence of all parties, and principles, and na- 
tions, and to win a fame as extended as the limits 
of the glolie, and which we cannot but believe will 
be as lasting as the existence of man. 

The person of Washington was unusally tan, erect 
and well proportioned. His muscular strength was 
great. His features were of a beautiful symmetry. 
He commanded respect without any apjicar.Tnce of 
li.TUL'htiness, and ever serious without being dull. 



>► I I <•• 



•9^ 



SECOND PRESIDENT. 






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the second 



J OHN ADAMS, 
/V President and the first Vice- 
President of the United States, 
was born in Braintree { now 
-^ Quincy ),Mass., and about ten 
miles from Boston, Oct. 19, 
1735. His great-grandfather, Henry 
\dams, emigrated from England 
about 1640, with a family of eight 
sons, and settled at Braintree. The 
parents of John were John and 
Susannah (Boylston) Adams. His 
father was a farmer of limited 
means, to which he added the bus- 
iness of shoemaking. He gave his 
eldest son, John, a classical educa- 
tion at Harvard College. John 
graduated in 1755, and at once took charge of the 
school in Worcester, Mass. This he found but a 
"school of affliction," from which he endeavored to 
gain relief by devoting himself, in addition, to the 
study of law. For this purjxise he' placed himself 
under the tuition of the only lawyer in the town. He 
had thought seriously of the clerical profession 
but seems to have been turned from this by what he 
termed " the frightful engines of ecclesiastical coun- 
cils, of diabolical malice, and Calvanistic good nature,'' 
of the operations of which he had been a witness in 
his native town. He was well fitted for the legal 
profession, possessing a clear, sonorous voice, being 
ready and fluent of speech, and having quick percep- 
tive powers. He gradually gained practice, and in 
1764 married Abigail Smith, a daughter of a minister, 
and a lady of superior intelligence. Shortly after his 
marriage, (1765), the attempt of Parliamentary taxa- 
tion turned him from law to politics. He took initial 
gteps toward liolding a town meeting, and the resolu- 
<• ^ ' 



tions he offered on the subject became very popular 
throughout the Province, and were adopted word for 
word by over forty different towns. He moved to Bos- 
ton in 1768, and became one of the most courageous 
and prominent advocates of the popular cause, and 
was chosen a member of the General Court (the Leg- 
lislature) in 1770. 

Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first delegates 
from Massachusetts to the first Continental Congress, 
which met in 1774. Here he distinguished himself 
by his capacity for business and for debate, and ad- 
vocated the movement for independence against the 
majority of the members. In May, 1776, he moved 
and carried a resolution in Congress that the Colonies 
should assume tlie duties of self-government. He 
was a prominent member of the committee of five 
appointed June 11, to prepare a declaration of inde- 
pendence. This article was drawn by Jefferson, but 
on ."^dams devolved the task of battling it through 
Congress in a three days debate. 

On the day after the Declaration of Independence 
was passed, while his soul was yet warm with the 
glow of e.xcited feeling, he wrote a letter to his wife, 
which, as we read it now, seems to have been dictated 
by the spirit of prophecy. "Yesterday," he says, "the 
greatest question was decided that ever was debated 
in America; and greater, perhaps, never was or will 
be decided among men. A resolution « as passed 
without one dissenting colony, ' that these United 
States are, and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
pendent states.' The day is passed. The fourth of 
July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the history 
of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated 
by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary 
festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of 
deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty 
God, It ought to be solernnized with ix)mp, show§, 



?^h 



* ► II ^- 



JOHN ADAMS. 



games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations 
from one end of the continent to the other, from this 
time forward for ever. You will think me transported 
with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of 
the toil, and blood and treasure, that it will cost to 
maintain this declaration, and support and defend 
these States; yet, through all the gloom, I can see the 
rays of light and glory. I can see that the end is 
Worth more than all the means; and that posterity 
will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I 
hope we shall not." 

In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was appointed a 
delegate to France and to co-oi)erale with Bemjamin 
Franklin and Arthur Lee, who were then in Paris, in- 
the endeavor to obtain assistance in arms and money 
from the French Government. This was a severe trial 
to his patriotism, as it separated him from his home, 
compelled him to cross the ocean in winter, and ex- 
posed him to great peril of capture by tlie British cruis- 
ers, who were seeking him. He left France June 17, 
1779. In September of the same year he was again 
chosen to go to Paris, and there hold himself in readi- 
ness to negotiate a treaty of peace and of commerce 
with Great Britian, as soon as the British Cabinet 
might be found willing to listen to such pvoposels. He 
sailed for France in November, from there he went to 
Holland, where he negotiated imi)ortant loans and 
formed important commercial treaties 

Finally a treaty of peace with England was signed 
Jan. 21, 1 7 S3. The re-action from the excitement, 
toil and anxiety through which Mr. Adams had passed 
threw him into a fever. After suffering from a con- 
tinued fever and becoming feeble and emaciated he 
was advised to goto England to drink the waters of 
Bath. ^Vhile in England, still drooping anddes[X)nd- 
ing, he received dispatches from his own government 
urging the necessity of his going to .Amsterdam to 
negotiate another loan. It was winter, his health was 
delicate, yet he immediately set out, and through 
storm, on sea, on horseback and foot, he made the trip. 

February 24, 1785, Congress appointed Mr. Adams 
envoy to the Court of St. James. Here he met face 
to face the King of England, who had so long re- 
garded him as a traitor. As England did not 
condescend to appoint a minister to the United 
States, and as Mr. Adams felt that he was accom- 
plishing but little, he sought permission to return to 
his own countr)', where he arrived in June, 17 88. 

When Washington was first chosen President, John 
.Adams, rendered illustiious by his signal services at 
home and abroad, was chosen Vice President, .^gain 
at the second election of Washington as President, 
Adams was chosen Vice President. In 1796, Wash- 
ington retired from public life, and Mr. Adams was 
elected President,though not without much opposition. 
Serving in this office four years.he was succeeded by 
Mr. Jefferson, his opponent in politics. 

While Mr. Adams was Vice President the iireat 



French Revolution shook the continent of Eurojie, 
and it was upon this point which he was at issue with 
the majority of his countn,'men led by Mr. Jefferson. 
Mr. Adams felt no sympathy with the French peojile 
in their struggle, for he had no confidence in their 
power of selt-government, and he utterly abhored the 
classof atheist philosophers who he claimed caused it. 
On the other hand Jefferson's sympathies were strongly 
enlisted in behalf of the French people. Hence or- 
iginated the alienation between these distinguished 
men, and two powerful parties were thus soon organ- 
ized, Adams at the head of the one whose sympathies 
were with England and Jefferson led the other in 
sympathy with France. 

The world has seldom seen a spectacle of more 
moral beauty and grandeur, than was presented by the 
old age of Mr. Adams. The violence of party feeling 
had died away, and he had begun to receive that just 
appreciation which, to most men, is not accorded till 
after death. No one could look u(X)n his venerable 
form, and think of what he had done and suffered, 
and how he had given up all the prime and strength 
of his life to the public good, without the deepest 
emotion of gratitude and respect. It was his peculiar 
good fortune to witness the complete success of the 
institution which he had been so active in creating and 
supporting. In 1824, his cup of happiness was filled 
to the brim, by seeing his son elevated to the highest 
station in the gift of the people. 

The fourth of July, 1826, which completed the half 
century since the signing of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, arrived, and there were but three of the 
signers of that immortal instrument left upon the 
earth to hail its morning light. And, as it is 
well known, on that day two of these finished their 
earthly pilgrim?ge, a coincidence so remarkable as 
to seem miraculous. For a few days before Mr. 
Adams had been rapidly failing, and on the morning 
of the fourth he found himself too weak to rise from 
his bed. On being requested to name a toast for the 
customary celebration of the day, he exclaimed " In- 
dependence FOREVER." When the day was ushered 
in, by the ringing of bells and the firing of cannons, 
he was asked by one of his attendants if he knew 
what day it was? He replied, "O yes; it is the glor- 
ious fourth of July — God bless it — God bless you all." 
In the course of the dav he said, "It is a great and 
glorious dav." The last words he uttered were. 
" Tefferson survives." But he had, at one o'clock, re- 
signed his spiiit into the hands of his God. 

The personal appearance and manners of Mr. 
Adams were not particularly prepossessing. His face, 
as his portrait manifests.was intellectual and exjjres- 
sive, but his figure was low and ungraceful, and his 
manners were frequently abrupt and uncourteous. 
He had neither the lofty dignity of Washington, nor 
the engaging elegance and gracefulness which marked 
the manners and address of Jefferson. 



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THIRD PRESIDENT. 



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«IOa^JAS .7EPPEBS 








HOMAS JEFFERSON was 
born April 2, 1743, at Shad- 
ow ell, Albermarle county, Va. 
His [Jarents were Peter and 
line (Randolph) Jefferson, 
the former a native of Wales, 
and the latter born in Lon- 
dun. To them were born six 
diughters and two sons, of 
whom Thomas was the elder. 
When 14 years of age his 
father died. He received a 
most liberal education, hav- 
ing been kept diligently at school 
from the time he was five years of 
age. In 1760 he entered William 
and Mary College. Williamsburg was then the seat 
of the Colonial Court, and it was the obode of fashion 
and splendor. Young Jefferson, who was then 17 
years old, lived somewhat expensively, keeping fine 
horses, and much caressed by gay society, yet lie 
was earnestly devoted to his studies, and irreproacha- 
able in his morals. It is strange, however, under 
such influences, that he was not ruined. In the sec- 
ond year of his college course, moved by some un- 
ex|)lained inward impulse, he discarded his horses, 
society, and even his favorite violin, to which he had 
previously given much time. He often devoled fifteen 
hours a day to haid study, allowing himself for ex- 
ercise only a run in the evening twilight of a mile out 
of the city and back again. He thus attained very 
high intellectual culture, alike excellence in philoso- 
phy and the languages. The most difficult Latin and 
Greek authors he read wi'.h facility. A more finished 
scholar ha~ seldom none fort li from collcLie halls ; and 



there was not to be found, perhaps, in all Virginia, a 
more pureminded, upright, gentlemanly young man. 

Immediately upon leaving college he began the 
study of law. For the short time he continued in the 
practice of his profession he rose rapidly and distin- 
guished himself by his energy and accuteness as a 
lawyer. But the times called for greater action. 
The policy of England had awakened the spirit of 
resistance of the American Colonies, and the enlarged 
views which Jefferson had ever entertained, soon led 
him into active political life. In 1769 he was chosen 
a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. In 
1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, a very beauti- 
ful, wealthy and highly accomplished young widow. 

Upon Mr. Jefferson's large estate at Shadwell, there 
was a majestic swell of land, called Monticello, which 
commanded a prospect of wonderful extent and 
beauty. This spot Mr. Jefferson selected for his new 
home; and here he reared a mansion of modest yet 
elegant architecture, which, next to Mount Vernon, 
became the most distinguished resort in our land. 

In 1775 he was sent to the Colonial Congress, 
where, though a silent member, his abilities as a 
writer and a reasoner soon become known, and he 
was placed upon a number of important committees, 
and was chairman of the one appointed for the draw- 
ing up of a declaration of independence. This com- 
mittee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, 
Benjamin Franklin, Roger .Sherman and Robert R. 
Livingston. Jefferson, as chairman, was appointed 
to draw up the paper. Franklin and Adams suggested 
a few verbal changes before it was submitted to Con- 
gress. On June 28, a few slight changes were made 
in it by Congress, and it was passed and signed July 
4, 1776. What must have been the feelings of that 



^f^ 



28 



THOMAS JEFPEMON. 



uian — what the emotions that swelled his breast — 
who was charged with the preparation of that Dec- 
laration, which, while it made known the wrongs of 
America, was also to publish her to the world, free, 
boverign and independent. It is one of the most re- 
markable papers ever written ; and did no other effort 
ijf tlie mind of its author exist, that alone would be 
sufiicient to stamp his name with immortality. 

In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was elected successor to 
Patrick Henry, :,s Governor of Virginia. At one time 
the British officer, Tarleton, sent a secret expedition to 
Monticello, to capture the Governor. Scarcely five 
minutes elapsed after the hurried escape of Mr. Jef- 
ferson and his family, ere his mansion was in posses- 
sion of the British troops. His wife's health, never 
very good, was much injured by this excitement, and 
in the summer of 1782 she died. 

Mr. Jefferson was elected to Congress in 1783. 
Two years later he was appointed Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary to France. Returning to the United States 
in September, 1789, he became Secretary of State 
in Washington's cabinet. This position he resigned 
Jan. I, 1794. In 1797, he was chosen Vice Presi- 
dent, and four years later was elected President over 
Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as Vice President. In 
1804 he was re-elected with wonderful unanimity, 
and George Clinton, Vice President. 

The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second adminstra- 
tion was disturbed by an event which threatened the 
tranquility and peace of the Union; this was the con- 
spiracy of Aaron Burr. Defeated in the late election 
to the Vice Presidency, and led on by an unprincipled 
ambition, this extraordinary man formed the plan of a 
military expedition into the Spanish territories on our 
southwestern frontier, for the purpose of forming there 
a new republic. This has been generally supposed 
was a mere pretext ; and although it has not been 
generally known what his real plans were, there is no 
doubt that they were of a far more dangerous 
character. 

In 1809, at the expiration of the second term for 
which Mr. Jefferson had been elected, he determined 
to retire from political life. For a period of nearly 
forty years, he had been continually before the pub- 
lic, and all that time had been employed in offices of 
the greatest trust and responsibility. Having thus de- 
voted the best part of his life to the service of his 
country, he now felt desirous of that rest which his 
declining years required, and upon the organization of 
the new administration, in March, 1809, he bid fare- 
well forever to public life, and retired to Monticello. 

Mr. Jefferson was profuse in his hospitality. Whole 
families came in their coaches with their horses, — 
fathers and mothers, boys and girls, babies and 
nurses, — and remained three and even six months. 
Life at Monticello, for years, resembled that at a 
fashionable watering-i)lare. 

The fourth of July, 1826, being the fift;eth anniver- 



-^l-i- 



sary of the Declaration of American Independence, 
great preparations were made in every part of the 
Union for its celebration, as the nation's jubilee, and 
the citizens of Washington, to add to the solemnity 
of the occasion, invited Mr. Jefferson, as the framer, 
and one of the few surviving signers of the Declara- 
tion, to participate in their festivities. But an ill- 
ness, which had been of several weeks duration, and 
had been continually increasing, compelled iiim to 
decline the invitation. 

On the second of July, the disease under which 
he was laboring left him, but in such a reduced 
state that his medical attendants, entertained no 
hope of his recovery. From this time he was perfectly 
sensible that his last hour was at hand. On the next 
day, which was Monday, he asked of those around 
him, the day of tlie month, and on being told it was 
the third of July, he expressed the earnest wish that 
he might be permitted to breathe the airof the fiftieth 
anniversary. His prayer was heard — that day, whose 
dawn was hailed with such rapture through our land, 
burst upon his eyes, and then they were closed for- 
ever. And what a noble consummation of a noble 
life ! To die on that day, — the birthday of a nation,- - 
the day which his own name and his own act Jiad 
rendered glorious; to die amidst the rejoicings and 
festivities of a whole nation, who looked up to him, 
as the author, under God, of their greatest blessings, 
was all that was wanting to fill up the record his life. 

Almost at the same hour of his death, the kin- 
dred spirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear 
him company, left the scene of his earthly honors. 
Hand in hand they had stood forth, the champions of 
freedom; hand in hand, during the dark and desper- 
ate struggle of the Revolution, they had cheered and 
animated their desixjnding countrymen; for half a 
century they had labored together for the good of 
the country; and now hand in hand they dejiart. 
In their lives they had been united in the same great 
cause of liberty, and in their deaths they were not 
divided. 

In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin, rather 
above six feet in height, but well formed; his eyes 
were light, his hair originally red, in after life became 
white and silvery; his complexion was fair, his fore 
head broad, and his whole countenance intelligent and 
thoughtful. He possessed great fortitude of mind as 
well as personal courage ; and his command of tem- 
per was such that his oldest and most intimate friends 
never recollected to have seen him in a passion. 
His manners, though dignified, were simple and un- 
affected, and his hospitality was so unbounded that 
all found at his house a re.ndy welcome. In conver- 
sation he was fluent, eloquent and enthusiastic; and 
his language was remarkably pure and correct. He 
was a finished classical scholar, and in his writings is 
discernable the care with which he formed his style 
upon the best models of antiquity. 




/ (Z/o<-^'~^ zA^ i*,,.x6-t^ /?^iv. 



•►HI-4*- 



FOVRTH PRESIDENT. 



3» ik 




n^ri]Eg ni^fiDiso]]. 




AMES MADISON, "Father 
t^ of the Constitution," and fourth 
^-j' President of the United States, 
was born March i6, 1757, and 
died at his home in Virginia, 
'^-^ June 28, 1836. The name of 
James Madison is inseparably con- 
nected with most of the important 
events in that heroic period of our 
country during which the founda- 
tions of this great lepubHc were 
laid. He was the last of the founders 
of the Constitution of the United 
States to be called to his eternal 
reward. 

The Madison family were among 
the early emigrants to the New World, 
landing u[X)n the shores of the Chesa- 
peake but 15 years after the settle- 
ment of Jamestown. The father of 
fames Madison was an opulent 
planter, residing u[X)n a very fine es- 

ftate called "Montpelier," Orange Co., 
Va. The mansion was situated in 
the midst of scenery liighly pictur- 
i esque and romantic, on the west side 
of South-west Mountain, at the foot of 
Blue Ridge. It was but 25 miles from tlie home of 
Jefferson at Monticello. The closest jjersonal and 
political attachment existed between these illustrious 
men, from their early youth until death. 

The early education of Mr. Madison was conducted 
mostly at home under a private tutor. At the age of 
r8 he was sent to Princeton College, in New Jersey. 
Here he applied himself to study with the most im- 



prudent zeal; allowing himself, for months, but three 
hours' sleep out of the 24. His health thus became so 
seriously impaired that he never recovered any vigor 
of constitution. He graduated in 177 i, with a feeble 
body, with a character of utmost purity, and with a 
mind highly disciplined and richly stored with learning 
which embellished and gave proficiency to his subsf ^ 
quent career. 

Returning to Virginia, he commenced the study of 
law and a course of extensive and systematic reading. 
This educational course, the spirit of the times in 
which he lived, and the society with which he asso- 
ciated, all combined to inspire him with a strong 
love of liberty, and to train him for his life-work of 
a statesman. Being naturally of a religious turn of 
mind, and his frail health leading him to think that 
his life was not to be long, he directed especial atten- 
tion to theological studies. Endowed with a mind 
singularly free from passion and jjrejudice, und with 
almost unequalled powers of reasoning, he weighed 
all the arguments for and against revealed religion, 
until his faith became so established as never to 
be shaken. 

In the spring of 1776, when 26 years of age, he 
was elected a member of the Virginia Convention, to 
frame the constitution of the State. The next year 
(1777), he was a candidate for the General Assembly. 
He refused to treat the whisky-lovir.g voters, and 
consequently lost his election ; but those who had 
witnessed the talent, energy and public spirit of the 
modest young man, enlisted themselves in his behalf, 
and he was appointed to the Executive Council. 

Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were 
Governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison remained 
member of the Council ; and their appreciation of his 



•► 



•►41-^ 



•►Hl^ 



~ ^U <• 



32 



JAMES MADISOM. 



intellectual, social and moral worth, contributed not 
a little to his subsequent eminence. In the year 
1780, he was elected a member of the Continental 
Conj^ress. Here he met the most illustrious men in 
our land, and he was immediately assigned to one of 
the most conspicuous positions among them. 

For three years Mr. Madison continued in Con- 
gress, one of its most active and influential members. 
In the year 1784, his term having expired, he was 
elected a member of the Virginia Legislature. 

No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison the 
utter inefficiency of the old confederacy, \\'\\.\\ no na- 
tional government, with no power to form treaties 
which would be binding, or to enforce law. There 
was not any State more prominent than Virginia in 
the declaration, that an efficient national government 
must be formed. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison 
^ carried a resolution through the General Assembly of 
Virginia, inviting the other States to appoint commis- 
sioners to meet in convention at Annapolis to discuss 
this subject. Five States only were represented. The 
convention, however, issued another call, drawn up 
by Mr. Madison, urging all the States to send their 
delegates to Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to draft 
a Constitution for tlie United States, to take the place 
of that Confederate League. The delegates met at 
the time appointed. Every State but Rhode Island 
was represented. George Washington was chosen 
president of the convention; and the present Consti- 
tution of the United States was then and there formed. 
There was, perhaps, no mind and no pen more ac- 
tive in framing this immortal document than the mind 
and the pen of James Madison. 

The Constitution, adopted by a vote 81 to 79, was 
to be presented to the several States for acceptance. 
But grave solicitude was felt. Should it be rejected 
we should be left but a conglomeration of independent 
States, with but little power at home and little respect 
abroad. Mr. Madison was selected by the conven- 
*tion to draw up an address to the people of the United 
States, expounding the principles of the Constitution, 
and urging its adoption. There was great opposition 
to it at first, but it at length triumjihed over all, and 
went into effect in 1789. 

Mr. Madison was elected to the House of Repre- 
sentatives in the first Congress, and soon became the 
avowed leader of the Republican party. While in 
New York attending Congress, he met Mrs Todd, a 
young widow of remarkable power of fascination, 
whom he married. She was in person and character 
queenly, and probalily no lady has thus far occujiied 
so prominent a position in the very peculiar society 
which has constituted our repul)lican court as Mrs. 
Madison. 

Mr. Madison served as Secretary of State under 
Jefferson, and at the close of his administration 
was chosen President. At this time the encroach- 
ments of England had brought us to the verge of war. 



I was 
T men 



British orders in council destioyed our commerce, and 
our flag was exposed to constant insult. Mr. Madison 
was a man of peace. Scholarly in his taste, retiring 
in his disposition, war had no charms for him. But the 
meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's blood 
boil, even now, to think of an American ship brought 
to, upon the ocean, by the guns of an English cruiser. 
A young lieutenant steps on board and orders the 
crew to be paraded before him. With great nonchal- 
ance he selects any number whom he may please to 
designate as British subjects ; orders them down the 
ship's side into his boat; and places them on the gun- 
deck of his man-of-war, to fight, by compulsion, the 
battles of England. Tiiis right of search and im- 
pressment, no efforts of our Government could induce 
the British cabinet to relinquish. 

On the iSth of June, 1812, President Madison gave 
his approval to an act of Congress declaring war 
against Great Britain. Notwithstanding the bitter 
hostility of the Federal party to the war, the country 
in general approved; and Mr. Madison, on the 4th 
of March, r8i3, was re-elected by a large majority, 
and entered upon his second term of office. This is 
not the place to describe the various adventures of 
this war on the land and on the water. Our infant 
navy then laid the foundations of its renown in grap- 
pling with the most formidable power which ever 
swept the seas. The contest commenced in earnest 
by the appearance of a British fleet, early in February, 
1813, in Chesapeake Bay, declaring nearly the whole 
coast of the United States under blockade. 

The Emperor of Russia offered his services as me 
ditator. America accepted ; England refused. A Brit- 
ish force of five thousand men landed on the banks 
of the Patuxet River, near its entrance into Chesa- 
peake Bay, and marched rapidly, by way of Bladens- 
burg, upon Washington. 

The straggling little city of Washington was thrown 
into consternation. The cannon of the brief conflict 
at Bladensburg echoed through the streets of the 
metropolis. The whole population fled from the city. 
The President, leaving Mrs. Madison in the Wliite 
House, with her carriage drawn up at the door to 
await his speedy return, hurried to meet the officers 
in a council of war. He met our troops utterly routed, 
and he could not go back without danger of Ijeing 
captured. But few hours elapsed ere the Presidential 
Mansion, the Capitol, and all the public buildings in 
Washington were in flames. 

The war closed after two years of fighting, and on 
Feb. 13, 18 15, the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent. 

On the 4th of March, 1817, his second term Of 
office expired, and he resigned the Presidential cliair 
to his friend, James Monroe. He retired to his beau- 
tiful home at Montpelier, and there passed the re- 
mainder of his days. On June 28, 1836, then at the 
age of 85 years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madi- 
son died July 12, 1849. 





Z^^-^:.^?-^^^ ^j'^^ 



HI-4«- 



FIFTH PRESIDENT. 



35 



K 




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priQES n]oi]ROE. 



^^^WT^^^ 





AMES MONROE, the fifth 
.Presidentof The United States, 
was born in Westmoreland Co., 
Va., April 28, 1758. His early 
life was passed at the place of 
nativity. His ancestors had for 
many years resided in the prov- 
ince in which he was born. When, 
at 17 years of age, in the process 
of completing his education at 
William and Mary College, the Co- 
lonial Congress assembled at Phila- 
delphia to deliberate upon the un- 
just and manifold oppressions of 
Great Britian, declared the separa- 
tion of the Colonies, and promul- 
gated the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. Had he been born ten years before it is highly 
probable that he would have been one of the signers 
of that celebrated instrument. At this time he left 
school and enlisted among the patriots. 

He joined the army when everything looked hope- 
less and gloomy. The number of deserters increased 
from day to day. The invading armies came ix)uring 
in ; and the tories not only favored the cause of the 
mother country, but disheartened the new recruits, 
who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect of con- 
tending with an enemy whom they had been taught 
to deem invincible. To such brave spirits as James 
Monroe, who went right onward, undismayed through 
difficulty and danger, the United States owe their 
political emancipation. The young cadet joined the 
ranks, and espoused the cause of his injured country, 
with a firm determination to Hve or die with her strife 
-4« — 



for liberty. Firmly yet sadly lie shared in the mel- 
ancholy retreat from Harleam Heights and White 
Plains, and accompanied the dispirited army as it fled 
before its foes through New Jersey. In four months 
after the Declaration of Independence, the patriots 
had been beaten in seven battles. At the battle of 
Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the act of charg- 
ing upon the enemy he received a wound in the left 
shoulder. 

As a reward for his bravery, Mr. Monroe was ]3ro- 
moted a captain of infantry ; and, having recovered 
from his wound, he rejoined the army. He, however, 
receded from the line of promotion, by becoming an 
officer in the staff of Lord Sterling. During the cam- 
paigns of 1777 and 177S, in the actions of Brandy 
wine, Germantown and Monmouth, he continued 
aid-de-camp; but becoming desirous to regain his 
position in the army, he exerted himself to collect a 
regiment for the Virginia line. This scheme failed 
owing to the exhausted condition of the State. Upon 
this failure he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, at 
that period Governor, and pursued, with considerable 
ardor, the study of common law. He did not, however, 
entirely lay aside the knapsack for the green bag; 
but on the invasions of the enemy, served as a volun- 
teer, during the two years of his legal pursuits. 

In 1782, he was elected from King George county, 
a member of the Leglislature of Virginia, and by that 
body he was elevated to a seat in the Executive 
Council. He was thus honored with the confidence 
of his fellow citizens at 23 years of age ; and Iiaving 
at this early period displayed some of that abilUy 
and aptitude for legislation, which were afterwards 
employed with unremitting energy for the public good, 



*^^ 



36 



JAMES MONROE. 



he was in the succeeding year chosen a member of 
ihe Congress of the United States. 

Deeply as Mr. Monroe fsh tlie imperfettionsof theold 
confederacy, he was opposed to tlie new Constitution, 
thinking, with many others of the Republican party, 
'.hat it gave too much power to the Central Government, 
and not enough to the individual States. Still he re- 
tained the esteem of his friends who were its warm 
supporters, and who, notwithstanding his opposition 
secured its adoption. In 1789, he became a member 
of the United States Senate ; which office he held for 
four years. Every month the line of distinction be- 
tween the two great parties which divided the nation, 
the Federal and the Republican, was growing more 
distinct. The two prominent ideas which now sep- 
arated them were, that the Republican party was in 
sympathy with France, and also in favor of such a 
strict construction of the Constitution as to give the 
Central Government as little power, and the State 
Governments as much power, as the Constitution would 
warrant. The Federalists sympathized with England, 
and were in favor of a liberal construction of the Con- 
stitution, which would give as much power to the 
Central Government as that document could possibly 
authorize. 

The leading Federalists and Republicans were 
alike noble men, consecrating all their energies to the 
good of the nation. Two more honest men or more 
pure patriots than John Adams the Federalist, and 
James Monroe the Republican, never breathed. In 
building up this majestic nation, which is destined 
to eclipse all Grecian and Assyrian greatness, the com- 
bination of their antagonism was needed to create *he 
light equilibrium. And yet each in his day was de- 
nounced as almost a demon. 

Washington was then President. England had es- 
poused the cause of tlie Bourbons against the princi- 
ples of the French Revolution. All Europe was drawn 
into the conflict. We were feeble and far away. 
Washington issued a proclamation of neutrality be- 
tween these contending powers. France had helped 
us in the struggle for our liberties. All the despotisms 
of Europe were now combined to prevent the French 
from escaping from a tyranny a thousand-fold worse 
than that which we had endured Col. Monroe, more 
magnanimous than prudent, was anxions that, at 
whatever hazard, we siionld help our old allies in 
their extremity. It was the impulse of a generous 
and noble nature. He violently opposed the Pres- 
ident's proclamation as ungrateful and wanting in 
magnanimity. 

Washington, who could aporeciate such a character, 
developed his calm, serene, almost divine greatness, 
by appointing that very James Monroe, who was de- 
nouncing the policy of the Government, as the minister 
of that Government to the Republic of France. Mr. 
Monroe was welcomed by the National Convention 
in France with the most enthusiastic demonstrations. 



\v^ 



Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. Mon- 
roe was elected Governor of Virginia, and held the 
office for three yeais. He was again sent to France to 
co-operate with Chancellor Livingston in obtaining 
the vast territory tlien known as the Province of 
Louisiana, which France had but shortly before ob- 
tained from Spain. Tlieir united efforts were suc- 
cessful. For the comparatively small sum of fifteen 
millions of dollars, the entire territory of Orleans and 
district of Louisiana were added to the United States. 
This was probably the largest transfer of real estate 
which was ever made in all the history of the world 

From France Mr. Monroe went to England to ob- 
tain from that country some recognition of our 
rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate against those 
odious impressments of our seamen. But F^ng- 
land was unrelenting. He again returned to F^ng- 
land on the same mission, but could receive no 
redress. He returned to his home and was again 
chosen Governor of Virginia. This he soon resigned 
to accept the position of Secretary of State under 
Madison. While in this office war with England was 
declared, the Secretary of War resigned, and during 
these trying times, the duties of the War Department 
were also put upon him. He was truly the armor- 
bearer of President Madison, and the most efficient 
business man in his cabinet. Upon the return oi 
peace he resigned the Department of War, but con- 
tinued in the office of Secretary of State until the ex- 
l)iration of Mr. Madison's adminstration. At the elec- 
tion held the ptevious autumn Mr. Monroe himself had 
been chosen President with but little opposition, and 
upon March 4, 1817, was inaugurated. Four years 
later he was elected for a second term. 

Among the important measures of his Presidency 
were the cession of Florida to the United States; [he 
Missouri Compromise, and the " Monroe doctrine.'' 

This famous doctrine, since known as the " Monroe 
doctrine," was enunciated by him in 1823. At that 
time the LInited States had recognized the independ- 
ence of the .South American states, and did not wish 
to have European powers longer attempting to sub- 
due portions of the American Continent. The doctrine 
is as follows: "That we should consider any attempt 
on the part of European powers to extend their sys- 
tem to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous 
to our peace and safety," and "that we could not 
view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing 
or controlling American governments or provinces in 
any other light than as a manifestation by European 
powers of an unfriendly disposition toward the United 
States." This doctrine immediately affected the course 
of foreign governments, and has liecome the approved 
sentiment of the United States. 

At the end of his fecond term Mr. Monroe retired 
to his home in Virginia, where he lived until 1830, 
when he went to New York to live with his son-in- 
law. In that city he died, on the 4th of July, 1S31. 



■•►HI- 




J, 5, At 



dyy^xj 



HI-^«- 



SIXTir PRESIDENT. 



4 




♦ 



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3051] Qaii]6Y wim>- 



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OHN QUINCY ADAMS, the 
sixth President of the United 
^States, was born in the rural 
home of his honored father. 
John Adams, in Quincy, Mass., 
on the I ith cf July, 1767. His 
mother, a woman of exaUed 
worth, watched over liis childhood 
during the almost constant ab- 
sence of his father. When but 
eight years of age, he stood with 
his mother on an eminence, listen- 
ing to the booming of the great bat- 
tle on Bunkers Hill, and gazing on 
upon the smoke and flames billow- 
ing up from the conflagration of 
Charlestown. 

When but eleven years old he 
took a tearful adieu of his mother, 
to sail with his fatner for Europe, 
through a fleet of hostile British cruisers. The bright, 
animated boy spent a year and a half in I\uis, where 
hi-i f.ither was associated with P'ranklin and Lee as 
minisler plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted 
the notice of these distinguished men, and he received 
from them flattering marks of attention. 

Mr. John Adams had scarcely returned to this 
country, in 1779, ere he was again sent abroad, .\gain 
John Quincy accompanied his father. At Paris he 
applied himself with great diligence, for six months, 
to study; then accompained his father to Holland, 
where he entered, first a school in .\msterdam, tiien 
the University at I.eyden. About a year from this 
time, in 1781, when the manly boy was but fourteen 
years of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, our min- 
ister to the Russian court, as his private secretary. 

In this school of incessant labor and of enobling 
culture he spent fourteen months, and then returned 
10 Holland through Sweden, Denmark, Hamburg and 
Bremen. This long journey he took alone, in the 
winter, when in his sixteenth year. Aaain he resumed 
his studies, under a private tutor, at Hague. Thence, 

-^ 



in the spring of 1782, he accompanied his father to 
Paris, traveHng leisurely, and forming acquaintance 
with the most distinguished men on the Continent; 
examining architectural remains, galleries of paintings, 
and all renowned works of art. At Paris he again 
became associated with the most illustrious men of 
all lands in the contemplations of the loftiest temporal 
themes which can engross the human mind. After 
a short visit to England he returned to Paris, and 
consecrated all his energies to study until May, 1785, 
when he returned to America. To a brilliant young 
man of eighteen, who had seen much of the world, 
and who was f;imiliar with the etiquette of courts, a 
residence with his father in London, under such cir- 
cumstances, must have been extremely attractive; 
but with judgment very rare in one of his age, he pre- 
ferred to return to America to complete his education 
in an American college. He wished then to study 
law, that with an honorable profession, he might be 
able to obtain an independent support. 

Upon leaving Harvard College, at the age of twenty, 
he studied law for three years. In June, 1794, be- 
ing then but twenty-seven years of age, he was ap- 
liointed by Washington, resident minister at the 
Netherlands. Sailing from Boston in July, he reached 
London in October, where he was immediately admit- 
ted to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinckney, 
assisting them in negotiating a commercial treaty with 
Gieat Brilian. After thus spending a fortriight in 
London, he proceeded to the Hague. 

In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to Portugal as 
minister plenipotentiary. On his way to Portugal, 
upon arriving in London, he met with despatches 
directing him to the court of Berlin, but requesting 
him to remain in London until he should receive his 
instructions. While waiting he was mairied to an 
American lady to whom he had been previously en- 
gaged, — M'ss Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter 
of Mr. Joshua Johnson, American consul in London ; 
a lady endownd with that beauty and those accom- 
plishment which eminently fitted her to move in the 
elevated sphere for which she was destined. 



^^\r 



•►Hl^ 



40 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



He reached Berlin with his wife in November, 1797 ; 
where he remained vmtil July, 1799, when, having ful- 
filled all the purposes of his mission, he solicited his 
recall. 

Soon after his return, in 1802, he was chosen to 
the Senate of Massachusetts, fiom Boston, and then 
was elected Senator of the United States for six years, 
from the 4th of March, 1S04. His reputation, his 
ability and his experience, placed him immediately 
among the most prominent and influential members 
of that body. Especially did he sustain the Govern- 
ment in its measures of resistance to -the encroach- 
ments of England, destroying our commerce and in- 
suiting our flag. There was no man in America more 
familiar with the arrogance of the British court upon 
these points, and no one more resolved to present 
a firm resistance. 

In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in the Pres- 
idential chair, and he immediately nominated John 
Quincy Adams minister to St. Petersburg. Resign- 
ing his professorship in Harvard College, he embarked 
at Boston, in August, 1809. 

While in Russia, Mr. Adams was an intense stu- 
dent. He devoted his attention to the language and 
history of Russia; to the Chinese trade; to the 
European system of weights, measures, and coins ; to 
the climate and astronomical observations ; while he 
kept up a familiar acquaintance with the Greek and 
Latin classics. In all the universities of Europe, a 
more accomplished scholar could scarcely be found. 
All tlirough life the Bible constituted an importar.t 
part of his studies. It was his rule to read five 
chapters every day. 

On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe took the 
Presidential chair, and immediately appointed Mr. 
Adams Secretary of State. Taking leave of his num- 
erous friends in public and private life in Europe, he 
sailed in June, 1819, for the United States. On the 
i8th of August, he again crossed the threshold of his 
home in Quincy. During the eight years of Mr. Mon- 
roe's administration, Mr. Adams continued Secretary 
of State. 

Some time before the close of Mr. Monroe's second 
term of office, new candidates began to be presented 
for the Presidency. The friends of Mr. Adams brought 
forward his name. It was an exciting campaign. 
Party spirit was never more bitter. Two hundred and 
sixty electoral votes were cast. Andrew Jackson re- 
ceived ninety nine; John Quincy Adams, eighty-four; 
William H. Crawford, forty -one; Henry Clay, thirty- 
seven. As there was no choice by the people, tlie 
question went to the House of Representatives. Mr. 
Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and 
he was elected. 

The frierids of all the disappointed candidates now 
combined in a venomous and persistent assault upon 
Mr. Adams. There is nothing more disgraceful in 
the past liistory of our country than the abuse which 



was poured in one uninterrupted stream, upon this 
high-minded, upright, patriotic man. There never was 
an administration more pure in principles, more con- 
scientiously devoted to the best interests of the coun- 
try, than that of John Quincy Adams; and never, per- 
haps, was there an administration more unscrupu- 
lously and outrageously assailed. 

Mr. Adams was, to a very remarkable degree, ab- 
stemious and temperate in his habits; always rising 
early, and taking much exercise. AVhen at his home in 
Quincy, he has been known to walk, before breakfast, 
seven miles to Boston. In Washington, it was said 
that he was the first man up in the city, lighting his 
own fire and applying himself to work in his library 
often long before dawn. 

On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams retired 
from the Presidency, and was succeeded by Andrew- 
Jackson. John C. Calhoun was elected Vice Presi- 
dent. The slavery question now began to assume 
IXDrtentous magnitude. Mr. Adams returned to 
Quincy and to his studies, which he pursued with un- 
abated zeal. But he was not long permitted to re- 
main in retirement. In November, 1830, he was 
elected, representative to Congress. For seventeen 
years, until his death, he occupied the post as repre- 
sentative, towering above all his peers, ever ready to 
do brave battle' for freedom, and winning the title of 
"the old man eloquent." Upon taking his seat in 
the House, he announced that he should hold him- 
self bound to no party. Probably there never was a 
member more devoted to his duties. He was usually 
the first in his place in the morning, and the last to 
leave his seat in the evening. Not a measure could 
be brought forward and escape his scrutiny. The 
battle which Mr. Adams fought, almost singly, against 
the proslavery party in the Government, was sublime 
in Its moral daiing and heroism. For persisting in 
presenting [)etitions for the abolition of slavery, he 
was threatened with indictment by the grand jury, 
with expulsion from the House, with assassination ; 
but no threats could intimidate him, and his final 
triumph was complete. 

It has been said of President Adams, that when his 
body was bent and iiis hair silvered by the lapse of 
fourscore years, yielding to the simple faith of a little 
child, he was accustomed to repeat every night, Ijefore 
he slept, the prajer which his mother tauglit him in 
his infant years. 

On the 2 ist of February, 1848, he rose on the floor 
of Congress, with a paper in his hand, to address the 
speaker. Suddenly he fell, again stricken by parnly- 
sis, and was caught in the arms of those around liim. 
For a time he was senseless, as he was conveyed to 
the sofa in the rotunda. With reviving conscious- 
ness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around and 
said " T/its is the end of earth :'\\\^\\ after a moment's 
pause he add'jd, "I am eoiiteiit" These were the 
last words of the grand "Old Man Eloquent." 



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VDREW JACKSON, the 
i enth President of the 
L' lilted States, was born in 
Waxhaw settlement, N. C, 
March 15, 1767, a few days 
after his father's death. His 
parents were poor emigrants 
from Ireland, and took up 
their abode in Waxhaw set- 
tlement, where they lived in 
deepest poverty, 
Andrew, or Andy, as he was 
universally called, grew up a very 
rough, rude, turbulent boy. His 
features were coarse, his form un- 
gainly; and there was but very 
little in his character, made visible, which was at- 
tractive. 

When only thirteen years old he joined the volun- 
teers of Carolina against the British invasion. In 
1781, he and his brother Robert were captured and 
imprisoned for a time at Camden. A British officer 
ordered him to brush his mud-spattered boots. " I am 
a prisoner of war, not your servant," was the reply of 
the dauntless boy. 

The brute drew his sword, and aimed a desperate 
blow at the head of the helpless young prisoner. 
Andrew raised his hand, and thus received two fear- 
ful gashes, — one on the hand and the other upon the 
head. The officer then turned to his brother Robert 
with the same demand. He also refused, and re- 
ceived a blow from the keen-edged sabre, which quite 
disabled him, and which probably soon after caused 
his death. They suffered much other ill-treatment, and 
were finally stricken with the small-pox. Their 
mother was successful in obtaining their exchange. 



and took her sick boys home. After a long illness 
Andrew recovered, and the death of his mother soon 
left him entirely friendless. 

Andrew supported himself in various ways, such as 
working at the saddler's trade, teaching school and 
clerking in a general store, until 1784, when he 
entered a law office at Salisbury, N. C. He, however, 
gave more attention to the wild amusements of tiie 
times than to his studies. In 1788, he was appointed 
solicitor for the western district of North Carolina, of 
which Tennessee was then a part. This involved 
many long and tedious journeys amid dangers of 
every kind, but Andrew Jackson never knew fear, 
and the Indians had no desire to repeat a skirmish 
witn the Sharp Knife. 

In 1791, Mr. Jackson was married to a woman who 
supposed herself divorced from her former husband. 
Great was the surprise of both parties, two years later, 
to find that the conditions of the divorce had just been 
definitely settled by the first husband. The marriage 
ceremony was performed a second time, but the occur- 
rence was often used by his enemies to bring Mr. 
Jackson into disfavor. 

During these years he worked hard at his profes- 
sion, and frequently had one or more duels on hand, 
one of which, when he killed Dickenson, was espec- 
ially disgraceful. 

In January, 1796, the Territory of Tennessee then 
containing nearly eighty thousand inhabitants, the 
people met in convention at Knoxville to frame a con- 
stitution. Five were sent from each of the eleven 
counties. Andrew Jackson was one of the delegates. 
The .new State was entitled to but one member in 
the National House of Representatives. Andrew Jack- 
son was chosen that member. Mounting his horse he 
rode to Philedelphia, where Congress then held its 

•► 



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JL 44 



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i 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



sessions, — ■a. distance of about eight hundred miles. 

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the Demo- 
cratic pirty. Jefferson was his idol. He admired 
Bonaparte, loved France and hated England. As Mr. 
Jackson took his seat. Gen. Washington, whose 
second term of office was then expiring, delivered his 
last speech to Congress. A committee drew up a 
complimentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson 
did not approve of the address, and was one of the 
twelve who voted against it. He was not willing to 
say that Gen. Washington's adminstration had been 
" wise, firm and patriotic." 

Mr. Jackson was elected to the United States 
Senate in 1797, but soon resigned and returned home. 
Soon after he was chosen Judge of the Supreme Court 
of his State, which position he held fjr six years. 

When the war of 1812 with (ireat Britian com- 
menced, Madison occupied the Presidential chair. 
Aaron Burr sent word to the President that there was 
an unknown man in the West, Andrew Jackson, who 
would do credit to a commission if one were con- 
ferred uixjn him. Just at that time Gen. Jackson 
offered his services and those of twenty-five hundred 
volunteers. His offer was accepted, and the troops 
were assembled at Nashville. 

As the British were hourly e.xpected to make an at- 
tack upon New Orleans, where Gen. Wilkinson was 
in command, he was ordered to descend the river 
with fifteen hundred troops to aid Wilkinson. The 
expedition reached Natchez; and after a delay of sev- 
eral weeks there, without accomplishing anything, 
the men were ordered back to their homes. But the 
energy Gen. Jackson had displayed, and his entire 
devotion to the conirfort of his soldiers, won him 
golden opinions ; and he became the most popular 
man in the State. It was in this expedition that his 
toughness gave him the nickname of " Old Hickory." 

Soon after this, while attempting to horsewhip Col. 
Thomas H. Benton, for a remark that gentleman 
made about his taking a part as second in a duel, in 
which a younger brother of Benton's was engaged, 
he received two severe pistol wounds. While he was 
iingering upon a bed of suffering news came that the 
Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh from 
Florida to the Lakes, to exterminate the white set- 
tlers, were committing the most awful ravages. De- 
cisive action became necessary. Gen. Jackson, with 
his fractured bone just beginning to heal, his arm in 
a sling, and unable to mount his horse without assis- 
tance, gave his amazing energies to the raising of an 
army to rendezvous at Fayettesville, Alabama. 

The Creek Indians had established a strong forton 
one of the bends of the Tallapoosa River, near the cen- 
ter of Alabama, about fifty miles below Fort Strother. 
With an army of two thousand men, Gen. Jackson 
traversed the pathless wilderness in a march of eleven 
days. He reached their fort, called Tohopeka or 
Horse-shoe, on the 27th of March, 1814. The bend 



of the river enclosed nearly one hundred acres of 
tangled forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow 
neck the Indians had constructed a formidable breast- 
work of logs and brush. Here nine hundred warriors, 
with an ample suplyof arms were assembled. 

The fort was stormed. The fight was utterly des- 
perate. Not an Indian would accept of quarter. When 
bleeding and dying, they would fight tliose who en- 
deavored to spare their lives. From ten in the morn- 
ing until dark, the battle raged. Tlie carnage was 
awful and revolting. Some threw themselves into the 
river; but the unerring bullet struck their heads as 
they swam. Nearly everyone of the nine hundred war- 
rios were killed A few probably, in the night, swam 
the river and escaped. This ended the war. The 
power of the Creeks was broken forever. This bold 
plunge into the wilderness, with its terriffic slaughter, 
so appalled the savages, that the haggard remnants 
of the bands came to the camp, begging for peace. 

This closing of the Creek war enabled us to con- 
centrate all our militia upon the British, who were the 
allies of the Indians No man of less resolute will 
than Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian 
campaign to so successful an issue Immediately he 
was appointed major-general. 

Late in .\ugust, with an army of two thousand 
men, on a rushing march. Gen. Jackson came to 
Mobile. A British fleet came from Pensacola, landed 
a force upon the beach, anchored near the little fort, 
and from both ship and shore commenced a furious 
assault. The battle was long and doubtful. At length 
one of the ships was blown up and the rest retired. 

Garrisoning Mobile, where he had taken his little 
army, he moved his troops to New Orleans, 
And the battle of New Orleans which soon ensued, 
was in reality a very arduous campaign. This won 
for Gen. Jackson an imperishable name. Here his 
troops, which numbered about four thousand men, 
won a signal victory over the British army of about 
nine thousand. His loss was but thirteen, while the 
loss of the British was two thousand six hundred. 

The name of Cien. Jackson soon began to be men- 
tioned in connection with the Presidency, but, in 1824, 
he was defeated by Mr. Adams. He was, however, 
successful in the election of 1828, and was re-elected 
for a second term in 1832. In 1829, just before he 
assumed the reins of the government, he met with 
the most terrible affliction of his life in the death of 
his wife, whom he had loved with a devotion which has 
perhaps never been surpassed. From the shock of 
her death he never recovered. 

His administration was c ne of the most.memorable 
in the annals of our countr. ; applauded by one party, 
condemned by the other. No man had more bitter 
enemies or warmer friends. At the expiration of his 
two terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, where 
he died June 8, 1845. The last years of Mr. Jack- 
son's life were th^t of a devoted Christian man. 



■^•- 




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EIGHTH PRESIDENT. 



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ARTIN VAN BUREN, the 

eighth President of the 

United States, was born at 

Kinderhook, N. Y., Dec. 5, 

17S2. He died at the same 

place, July 24, 1862. His 

\ ( body rests in the cemetery 

<■ " ^ at Kinderhook. Above it is 

/■^tirK ;i ijlain granite shaft fifteen feet 
Nik ^ . . 

W high, bearing a simple inscription 

|M about hall way up on one face. 

'I' The lot is unfenced, unbordered 

or unbounded by shrub or flower. 

There is but little in the life of Martin Van Buren 
of romantic interest. He fought no battles, engaged 
in no wild adventures. Though his life was stormy in 
ixilitical and intellectual conflicts, and he gained many 
signal victories, his days passed uneventful in those 
incidents which give zest to biography. His an- 
cestors, as his name indicates, were of Dutch origin, 
and were among the earliest euiigrants from Holland 
to the banks of the Hudson. His father was a farmer, 
residing in the old town of Kinderhook. His mother, 
also of Dutch lineage, was a woman of superior intel- 
ligence and exemplary piety. 

He was decidedly a precocious boy, developing un- 
usual activity, vigor and strength of mind. At the 
age of fourteen, he had finished his academic studies 
in his native village, and commenced the study of 
law. As he had not a collegiate education, seven 
years of study in a law-office were required of him 
before he could be admitted to the bar. Inspired with 
a lofty ambition, and conscious of his powers, he pur- 
sued his studies with indefatigable ind.istry. After 
spending six year^ in an office in his native village, 
A* 



he went to the city of New York, and prosecuted his 
studies for the seventh year. 

In 1803, Mr. Van Buren, then twenty-one years of 
age, commenced the practice of law in his native vil- 
lage. The great conflict between the Federal and 
Republican party was then at its height. Mr. \'an 
Buren was from the beginning a ixilitician. He had, 
perhaps, imbibed that spirit while listening to the 
many discussions which had been carried on in his 
father's hotel. He was in cordial sympathy with 
Jefferson, and earnestly and eloquently espoused the 
cause of State Rights; though at that time the Fed- 
eral party held the supremacy both in his town 
and State. 

His success and increasing ruputation led him 
after six years of practice, to remove to Hudson, tli.: 
county seat of his county. Here he spent seven years 
constantly gaining strength by contending in tht, 
courts with some of the ablest men who have adorned 
the bar of his State. 

Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, Mi. 
Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished for 
beauty and accomplishments. After twelve short 
years she sank into the grave, the victim of consump- 
tion, leaving her husband and four sons to weep over 
her loss. For twenty-five years, Mr. Van Buren was 
an earnest, successful, assiduous lawyer. The record 
of those years is barren in items of public interest. 
In 181 2, when thirty years of age, he was chosen to 
the State Senate, and gave his strenuous support to 
Mr. Madison's adminstration. In 1815, he was ap- 
pointed Attorney-General, and the next year moved 
to Albany, the capital of the State. 

While he was acknou-ledged as one of the most 
prominent leaders of the Democratic party, he had 



•^h-^* 



•►Hl^^ 



>► II < • 



4S 



MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



the moral courage to avow that true democracy did 
not require that " universal suffrage " which admits 
the vile, the degraded, the ignorant, to the right of 
governing the State. In true consistency with his 
democratic principles, he contended that, while the 
path leading to the privilege of voting should be open 
to every man without distinction, no one should be 
invested with that sacred prerogative, unless he were 
in some degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue 
and some property interests in the welfare of the 
State. 

In 1S21 he was elected a member of the United- 
States Senate; and in the same year, he took a seat 
in the convention to revise the constitution of his 
native State. His course in this convention secured 
the approval of men of all parties. No one could 
doubt the singleness of his endeavors to promote the 
interests of all classes in the community. In the 
Senate of the United States, he rose at once to a 
conspicuous position as an active and useful legislator. 

In 1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the 
Presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-elected to 
the Senate. He had been from the beginning a de- 
termined opposer of the .Administration, adopting the 
"State Rights" view in opposition to what was 
deemed the Federal proclivities of Mr. Adams. 

Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen Governor of 
the State of New York, and accordingly resigned his 
seat in the Senate. Probably no one in the United 
States contributed so much towards ejecting John Q. 
Adams from the Presidential chair, and placing in it 
Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van Buren. Whether 
entitled to the reputation or not, he certainly was re- 
garded throughout the United States as one of the 
most skillful, sagacious and cunning of politicians. 
It was supjx)sed that no one knew so well as he how 
to touch the secret springs of action; how to pull all 
the wires to put his machinery in motion ; and how to 
organize a political army which would, secretly and 
stealthily accomplish the most gigantic results. By 
these powers it is said that he outv^itted Mr. Adams, 
Mr, Clay, Mr. Webster, and secured results which 
few thought then could be accomplished. 

When Andrew Jackson was elected President he 
apixiinted Mr. Van Buren Secretary of State. This 
position he resigned in 1831, and was immediately 
appointed Minister to England, where he went the 
same autumn. The Senate, however, when it met, 
refused to ratify the nomination, and he returned 



•►HH^*- 



home, apparently untroubled ; was nominated Vice 
President in the place of Calhoun, at the re-election 
of President Jackson ; and with smiles for all and 
frowns for none, he took his place at the head of that 
Senate which had refused to confirm his nomination 
as ambassador. 

His rejection by the Senate roused all the zeal of 
President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated favor- 
ite ; and this, probably more than any other cause, 
secured his elevation to the chair of the Chief. Execu- 
tive. On the 20th of May, 1836, Mr. Van Buren re- 
ceived the Democratic nomination to succeed Gen. 
Jackson as President of the United States. He was 
elected by a handsome majority, to the delight of the 
retiring President. " Leaving New York out of the 
canvass," says Mr. Parton, "the election of Mr. Van 
Buren to the Presidency was as much the act of Gen. 
Jackson as though the Constitution had conferred 
upon him the power to appoint a successor. ' 

His administration was filled with exciting events. 
The insurrection in Canada, which threatened to in 
volve this country in war with England, the agitation 
of the slavery question, and finally the great commer- 
cial panic which spread over the country, all were 
trials to his wisdom. The financial distress was at- 
tributed to the management of the Democratic party, 
and brought the President into such disfavor that he 
failed of re-election. 

With the exception of being nominated for the 
Presidency by the " Free Soil " Democrats, in 1 848, 
Mr. Van Buren lived quietly upon his estate until 
his death. 

He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal habits, 
and living within his income, had now fortunately a 
competence for his declining years. His unblemished 
character, his commanding abilities, his unquestioned 
patriotism, and the distinguished positions which he 
had occupied in the government of our country, se- 
cured to him not only the homage of his party, but 
the respect ot the whole community. It was on the 
4th of March, 1841, that Mr. Van Buren retired from 
the presidency. From his fine estate at Lindenwald 
he still exerted a powerful influence upon the politics 
of the country. From this time until his death, on 
the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty years, he 
resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman of leisure, of 
culture and of wealth; enjoying in a healthy old 
age, probably far more happiness tlian he had before 
experienced amid the stormy scenes of his active life. 




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-^•- 



NIA^'TH PRESIDKNT. 



-•»- 





ILLIAM HENRY HARRI- 
SON, the ninth President of 
the United States, was born 
It Berkeley, Va., Feb. 9, 1773. 
His father, Benjamin Harri- 
son, was in comparatively op- 
ulent circumstances, and was 
one of the most distinguished 
men of his day. He was an 
intimate friend of George 
Washington, was early elected 
a member of the Continental 
Congress, and was conspicuous 
among the patriots of Virginia in 
resisting the encroachments of the 
ritish crown. In the celebrated 
Congress of 1775, Benjamin Har- 
rison and John Hancock were 
both candidates for the office of 
eaker. 

Mr Harrison was subsequently 
chosen Governor of Virginia, and 
was twice re-elected. His son, 
William Henry, of course enjoyed 
in childhood all the advantages which wealth and 
intellectual and cultivated society could give. Hav- 
ing received a thorough common-school education, he 
entered Hampden Sidney College, where he graduated 
with honor soon after the deatlr of his father. He 
then repaired to Philadeliihia to study medicine under 
the instructions of Dr. Rash and the guardianship of 
Robert Morris, both of whom were, with his father, 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. 

TJpon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, and not- 
withstanding the remonstrances of his friends, he 
abandoned his medical studies and entered the armj-, 
having obtained a commission of Ensign from Presi- 



dent Washington. He was then but 19 years old. 
From that time he passed gradually upward in rank 
until he became aid to General Wayne, after whose 
death he resigned his commission. He was then a[)- 
pointed Secretary of the North-western Territory. This 
Territory was then entitled to but one member in 
Congress and Capt. Harrison was chosen to fill that 
position. 

In the spring of 1800 the North-western Territory 
was divided by Congress into two portions. The 
eastern portion, comprising the region now embraced 
in the State of Ohio, was called " The Territory 
north-west of the Ohio." The western portion, which 
included what is now called Indiana, Illinois and 
Wisconsin, was called the "Indiana Territory." Wil- 
liam Henry Harrison, then 27 years of age, was a])- 
IX)inted by John Adams, Governor of the Indiana 
Territory, and immediately after, also Governor of 
Upper Louisiana. He was thus ruler over almost as 
extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the globe. He 
was Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and was in- 
vested with powers nearly dictatorial over the now 
rapidly increasing white population. The ability and 
fidelity with which he discharged these responsible 
duties may be inferrtjd from the fact that he was four 
times appointed to this office — first by John Adams, 
twice by Thomas Jefferson and afterwards by Presi- 
dent Madison. 

When he began his adminstration there were hut 
three white settlements in that almost boundless region, 
now crowded with cities and resoimding with all the 
tumult of wealth and traffic. Oneof these settlements 
was on the Ohio, nearly opjxjsite Louisville; one at 
Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the third a French 
settlement. 

The vast wilderness over which Gov. Harrison 
reigned was filled with manv tribes of Indians. About 



r- 



HI-^«- 



52 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



the year 1806, two extraordinary men, twin brothers, 
of the Shawnese tribe, rose among them. One of 
these was called Tecumseh, or " The Crouching 
Panther;" the other, Olliwacheca, or " 'J'he Prophet." 
Tecumseh was not only an Inaian warrior, but a man 
of great sagacity, far-reaching foresight and indomit- 
able perseverance in any enterprise m which he might 
engage. He was inspired with the highest enthusiasm, 
and had long regarded with dread and with hatred 
the encroachment of the whites upon the hunting- 
grounds of his fathers. His brother, the Prophet, was 
anorator, who could sway the feelings of the untutored 
Indian as the gale tossed the tree -tops beneath which 
they dwelt. 

But the Prophet was not merely an orator : he was, 
in the superstitious minds of the Indians, invested 
with the superhuman dignity of a medicine-man or a 
magician. With an enthusiasm unsurpassed by Peter 
the Hermit rousing Europe to the crusades, he went 
from tribe to tribe, assuming that he was specially sent 
by the Great Spirit. 

Gov. Harrison made many attempts to conciliate 
the Indians, but at last the war came, and at Tippe- 
canoe the Indians were routed with great slaughter. 
October 28, 1812, his army began its march. When 
near the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made 
their appearance and inquired why Gov. Harri-^on was 
approaching them in so hostile an attitude. After a 
short conference, arrangements were made for a meet- 
ing the next day, to agree upon terms of peace. 

But Gov. Harrison was too well acquainted with 
the Indian character to be deceived by such protes- 
tations. Selecting a favorable six)t for his night's en- 
campment, lie took every precaution against surprise. 
His troops were posted in a hollow square, and slept 
upon their arms. 

The troops threw themselves upon the ground for 
rest; but every man had his accourtrements on, his 
loaded musket by his side, and his bayonet fixed. The 
wakeful Governor, between three and four o'clock in 
the morning, had risen, and was sitting in conversa- 
tion with his aids by the embers of a waning fire. It 
was a chill, cloudy morning with a drizzling rain. In 
t!ie darkness, the Indians had crept as near as possi- 
ble, and just then, with a savage yell, rushed, with all 
tlie desperation which superstition and passion most 
highly inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the 
little army. The savages had lieen amply provided 
with guns and ammunition by the English. Their 
war-whoop was accompained by a shower of bullets. 

The camp-fires were instantly extinguished, as the 
light aided the Indians in their aim. With hide- 
lius yells, the Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a 
i)]ieedy and an entire victory. But Gen. Harrison's 
troops stood as immovable as the rocks around them 
until day dawned : they then made a simultaneous 
charge with the bayonet, and swept every thing be- 
fore them, and completely routing th>> ^o^. 



Gov. Harrison now had all his energies tasked 
to the utmost. The British descending from the Can - 
adas, were of themselves a very formidable force ; but 
with iheir savage allies, rushing like wolves from the 
forest, searching out every remote farm-house, burn- 
ing, \)lundering, scalping, torturing, the wide frontier 
was plunged into a state of consternation which even 
the most vivid imagination can but faintly conceive. 
The war-whoop was resounding everywhere in the 
forest. The horizon was illuminated with the conflagra- 
tion of the cabins of the settlers. Gen Hull had made 
the ignominious surrender of his forces at Detroit. 
Under these des[)airing circumstances. Gov. Harrison 
was appointed by President Madison commander-in- 
chief of the North-western army, with orders to retake 
D_"troit, and to protect the frontiers. 

It would be difficult to place a man in a situation 
demanding more energy, sagacity and courage; but 
General Harrison was found equal to the position, 
and nobly and triumphantly did he meet all the re- 
sponsibilities. 

He won the love of his soldiers by always sharinji 
with them their fatigue. His whole baggage, while 
pursuing the foe up the Thames, was earned in a 
valise; and his bedding consisted of a single blanket 
lashed over his saddle. Thirty-five British officers, 
his prisoners of war, supped with him after the battle. 
The only fare he could give them was beef roasted 
before the fire, witliout bread or salt. 

In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a member of 
the National House of Representatives, to represent 
the District of Ohio. In Congress he proved an 
active member; and whenever he spoke, it was with 
force of reason and power of eloquence, which arrested 
the attention of all the members. 

In i8ig, Harrison was elected to the Senate of 
Ohio; and in 1S24, as one of the iiresidential electors 
of that State, he gave his vote for Henry Clay. The 
same year he was chosen to the United States Senate. 

In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison brought him 
forward as a candidate for the Presidency against 
Van Buren, but he was defeated. At the close of 
Mr. Van Buren 's term, he was re-nomirated by his 
party, and Mr. Harrison was unanimously nominated 
by the Whigs, with John Tyler for the Vice Presidency. 
The contest was very animated. Gen Jackson gave 
all his influence to prevent Harrison's election ; but 
his triumph was signal. 

The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel Webster 
at its head as Secretary of State, was one of the most 
brilliant with which anv President had ever been 
surrounded. Never were the prospects of an admin- 
istration more flattering, or the hopes of the country 
more sanguine. In the midst of these bright and 
joyous prospects. Gen. Harrison was seized by a 
pleurisv-fever and after a few days of violent sick- 
ness, died on the 4th of April ; just one month after 
his inauguration as President of the United States, 



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H^l 




'6'fl/KL A 



•^f^ 



TENTH PRESIDENT. 



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55 








TYLER, the tenth 
Piesidentof the United States. 
He was born in Charles-city 
Co., Va., March 29, 1790. He 
was the favored child of af- 
fluence and high social po- 
sition. At the early age of 
twelve, John entered William 
and Mary College and grad- 
uated with much honor when 
but seventeen years old. After 
graduating, he devoted him- 
self with great assiduity to the 
study of law, partly with his 
father and pirtly with Edmund 
Randolph, one of the most distin- 
guished lawyers of Virginia. 

At nineteen years of age, ne 
commenced the practice of law. 
His success was rapid and aston- 
ishing. It is said that three 
months had not elapsed ere there 
was scarcely a case on the dock- 
et of the court in which he was 
not retained. When but twenty-one years of age, he 
was almost unanimously elected to a seat in the State 
Legislature. He connected himself with the Demo- 
cratic party, and warmly advocated the measures of 
Jefferson and Madison. For five successive years he 
was elected to the Legislature, receiving nearly the 
unanimous vote or his county. 

When but twenty-six years of age, he was elected 
a member of Congress. Here he acted earnestly and 
ably with the Democratic party, opposing a national 
bank, internal improvements by the General Govern- 



ment, a protective tariff, and advocating a strict con- 
struction of the Constitution, and the most careful 
vigilance over State rights. His labors in Congress 
were so arduous that before the close of his second 
term he found it necessary to resign and retire to his 
estate in Charles-city Co., to recruit his health. He, 
however, soon after consented to take his seat in the 
State Legislature, where his influence was powerful 
in promoting public works of great, utility. With a 
reputation thus canstantly increasing, he was chosen 
by a very large majority of votes, Governor of his 
native State. His administration was signally a suc- 
cessful one. His popularity secured his re-election. 

John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed 
man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of the 
United States. A portion of the Democratic party 
was displeased with Mr. Randolph's wayward course, 
and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent, 
considering him the only man in Virginia of sufficient 
popularity to succeed against the renowned orator of 
Roanoke. Mr. Tyler was the victor. 

In accordance with his professions, upon taking his 
seat in the Senate, he joined the ranks of the opposi- 
tion. He opposed the tariff; he spoke against and 
voted against the bank as unconstitutional ; he stren- 
uously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, resist- 
ing all projects of internal improvements by the Gen- 
eral Government, and avowed his sympathy with Mr. 
Calhoun's view of nullification ; he declared that Gen. 
Jackson, by his opposition to the nullifiers, had 
abandoned the piinciples of the Democratic party. 
Such was Mr. Tyler's record in Congress, — a record 
in perfect accordance with the principles whfch he 
had always avowed. 

Returning to Virginia, he resumed the practice of 
liis profession, TJiere was a :pl:t in the Den;ocralic 



■► I I <— 



n 



HI-4»- 



••► 



JOHN TYLER. 



party. His friends still regarded him as a true Jef- 
tersonian, gave hini a dinner, and showered compli- 
ments upon him. He had now attained the age of 
forty-six. His career had been very brilliant. In con- 
sequence of his devotion to public business, his pri- 
vate affairs had fallen into sonre disorder; and it was 
not without satisfaction that he resumed the practice 
of law, and devoted himself to the cultme of his ulan- 
tation. Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg, 
for the better education of his children ; and he again 
took his seat in the Legislature ot Viiginia. 

By the Southern Whigs, he was sent to the national 
convention at Harrisburg to nominate a President in 
1839. The majority of votes wer.i given to Gen. Har- 
rison, a genuine NVhig, much to the disapiX)intnientot 
the South, who wished for Henry Clay. To concili- 
ate the Southern Whigs and to secure their vote, the 
convention then nominated John Tyler for Vice Pres- 
ident. It was well known that he was not in sympa- 
thy with the Whig jiarty in the No-.th: but the Vice 
President has but very little power in the Govern- 
ment, his main and almost only duty being to pre- 
side over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it hap- 
pened that a Whig President, and, in reality, a 
Democratic Vice President were chosen. 

In 1841, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice Presi- 
dent of the United States. In one short month from 
that time, President Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler 
thus found himself, to his own surprise and that of 
the whole Nation, an occupant of the Presidential 
chair. This was a new test of the stability of our 
institutions, as it was the first time in the history of our 
country that such an event had occured. Mr. Tyler 
was at home in Williamsburg when he received the 
une.xpected tidings of the death of President Harri- 
son. He hastened to Washington, and on the 6th of 
April was inaugurated to the high and responsible 
office. He was placed in a position of exceeding 
delicacy and difficulty. All his long life he had been 
opposed to the main principles of the party which had 
brought him into power. He had ever been a con- 
sistent, honest man, with an unblemished record. 
Gen. Harrison had selected a Whig cabinet. Should 
he retain them, and thus surround himself with coun- 
sellors whose views were antagonistic to his own? or, 
on the other hand, should he turn against the party 
which had elected him and select a cabinet in har- 
mony with himself, and which would oppose all those 
views which the Whigs deemed essential to the pub- 
lic welfare? This was his fearful dilemma. He in- 
vited the cabinet which President Harrison had 
selected to retain their seats. He reccommcnded a 
day of fasting and prayer, that God would guide and 
bless us. 

The Whigs carried through Congress a bill for the 
incor|X3ration of a fiscal bank of the United States. 
The President, after ten days' delay, returned it with 
his veto. He suaeested, however, that he would 



approve of a bill drawn up upon such a plan as he 
proposed. Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and 
privately submitted to him. He gave it his approval. 
It was passed without alteration, and he sent it back 
with his veto. Here commenced the open rupture. 
It is said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this meas- 
ure by a published letter fiom the Hon. John M. 
Botts, a distinguished Virginia Whig, who severely 
touched the pride of the President. 

The opposition now exultingly received the Presi- 
dent into their arms. The party which elected him 
denounced hmr bitteriy. All the members of his 
cabinet, e.\cepting Mr. Webster, resigned. The Whigs 
of Congress, both the Senate and the House, held a 
meeting and issued an address to the people of the 
United States, proclaiming that all political alliance 
between the Whigs and President Tyler were at 
an end. 

Still the President attempted to conciliate. He 
appointed a new cabinet of distinguished Whigs and 
Conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong party 
men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary to resign, 
forced out by the pressure of his Whig friends. Thus 
the four years of Mr. Tyler's unfortunate administra- 
tion passed sadly away. No one was satisfied. The 
land was filled with murmurs and vituperation. Whigs 
and Democrats alike assailed him. INlore and more, 
however, he brought himself into sympathy with his 
old friends, the Democrats, until at the close of his term, 
he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr. 
Polk, the Democratic candidate for his successor. 

On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from the 
harassments of office, to the regret of neither party, and 
probably to his own unspeakable lelief. His first wife, 
Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington, in 1842; 
and in June, 1844, President Tyler was again married, 
at New York, to Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of 
many personal and intellectual accomplishments. 

The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed mainly 
in retirement at his beautiful home, — Sherwood For- 
est, Charles-city Co., Va. A polished gentleman in 
his manners, richly furnished with information from 
books and experience in the world, and possessing 
brilliant powers of conversation, his family circle was 
the scene of unusual attractions. With sufficient 
means for the exercise of a generous hospitality, he 
might have enjoyed a serene old age with the few 
friends who gathered around him, were it not for the 
storms of civil war which his own principles and 
policy had helped to introduce. 

When the great Rebellion rose, which the State- 
rights and nullifying doctrines of Mr. John C. Cal- 
houn had inaugurated, President Tyler renounced his 
allegiance to the United States, and joined the Confed- 
erates. He was chosen a member of their Congress; 
and while engaged in active measures to destroy, by 
force of arms, the Government over which he had 
once presided, he was taken sick and soon diedt 



^tr^ 



♦::^^ 



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ELE VEn Tli PRESIDE N T. 



a 



SS ik 



p- JAMES K, POI/K, ^-# 





•► 






AMES K. POLK, the eleventh 
^>i-, President of the United States, 
^) was born in Mecklenburg Co., 
J N. C, Nov. 2, 1795. His par- 
;"! ents were Samuel and Jane 
(Kno.x) Polk, the former a son 
of Col. Thomas Polk, who located 
at the above place, as one of the 
first pioneers, in 1735. 

In the year 1006, with his wife 
and children, and soon after fol- 
lowed by most of the members of 
the Polk famly, Samuel Polk emi- 
grated some two or three hundred 
miles farther west, to the rich valley 
of the Duck River. Here in the 
midst of the wilderness, in a region 
which was subsequently called Mau- 
ry Co., they reared their log huts, 
and established their homes. In the 
hard toil of a new farm in the wil- 
derness, James K. Polk spent the 
early years of his childhood and 
youth. His father, adding the pur- 
suit of a surveyor to that of a farmer, 
' gradually increased in wealth until 

he became one of the leading men of the region. His 
n)other was a superior woman, of strong common 
sense and earnest piety. 

Very early in life, James developed a taste for 
reading and exi:ressed the strongest desire to obtain 
a liberal education. His mother's training had made 
liim methodical in his habits, had taught him punct- 
uality and industry, and had inspired him with lofty 
principles of morality. His health was frail ; and his 
father, fearing that he might not be able to endure a 



sedentary life, got a situation for him behind the 
counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits. 

This was to James a bitter disappointment. He 
had no taste for these duties, and his daily tasks 
were irksome in the extreme. He remained in this 
uncongenial occupation but a few weeks, when at his 
earnest .solicitation his father removed him, and made 
arrangements for him to prosecute his studies. Soon 
after he sent him to Murfreesboro Academy. With 
ardor which could scarcely be surpassed, he pressed 
forward in his studies, and in less than two and a half 
years, in the autumn of 1815, entered the sophomore 
class in the Uftiversity of North Carolina, at Chapel 
Hill. Here he was one of the most exemplary of 
scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allowing 
himself to be absent from a recitation or a religious 
service. 

He graduated in 18 iS, with the highest honors, be- 
ing deemed the best scholar of his class, both in 
mathematics and the classics. He was then twenty- 
three years of age. Mr. Polk's health was at this 
time much impaired by the assiduity with which he 
had prosecuted his studies. After a short season of 
relaxation he went to Nashville, and entered the 
office of Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk 
renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jackson, who 
resided on his plantation, the Hermitage, but a few 
miles from Nashville. They had probably been 
slightly acquainted before. 

Mr. Polk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican, 
and James K. Polk ever adhered to the same politi- 
cal faith. He was a popular public speaker, and was 
constantly called upon to address the meetings of his 
party friends. His skill as a speaker was such that 
he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump. 
He was a man of unblemished morals, genir.l and 



.^h 



^f^ 



JAMES K. POLK. 



Murteoiis in his bearing, and with that sympathetic 
nature in the joy s and griefs of others which ever gave 
him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected 
to the Legislature of Tennessee. Here he gave his 
strong influence towards the election of his friend, 
Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of the United States. 
In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah 
Childress, of Rutherford Co., Tenn. His bride was 
altogether worthy of him, — a lady of beauty and cul- 
ture. In the fall of 1825, Mr. Polk was chosen a 
member of Congress. The satisfaction which he gave 
to his constituents may be inferred from the fact, that 
for fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was con- 
tinued in that oflice. He then voluntarily withdrew, 
only that he might accept the Gubernatorial chair 
of Tennessee. In Congress he was a laborious 
member, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was 
always in his seat, always courteous ; and whenever 
he spoke it was always to the [xsint, and without any 
ambitious rhetorical display. 

During five sessions of Congress, Mr. Polk was 
Speaker of the House. Strong passions were roused, 
and stormy scenes were witnessed ; but Mr. Polk per- 
formed his arduous duties to a very general satisfac- 
tion, and a unanimous vote of thanks to him was 
passed by the House as he withdrew on the 4th of 
March, 1839. 

In accordance with Southern usage, Mr. Polk, as a 
candidate for Governor, canvassed the State. He was 
elected bv a large majority, and on the 14th of Octo- 
ber, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville. In 184 1, 
his term of office expired, and he was again the can- 
didate of the Democratic party, but was defeated. 

On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugur- 
ated President of the United States. The verdict of 
the country in favor of the annexation of Texas, exerted 
its influence upon Congress ; and the last act of the 
administration of President Tyler was to affix his sig- 
nature to a joint resolution of Congress, passed on the 
3d of March, approving of the annexation of Texas to 
the American Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas 
as one of her provinces, the Mexican minister, 
Almonte, immediately demanded his passports and 
left the country, declaring the act of the annexation 
to be an act hostile to Mexico. 

In his first message. President Polk urged that 
Texas should immediately, by act of Congress, be re- 
ceived into the Union on the same footing with the 
other States. In the meantime, Gen. Taylor was sent 



with an army into Texas to hold the country. He was 
sent first to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the 
western boundary of Texas. Then he was sent nearly 
two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande, 
where he erected batteries which commanded the 
Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated on 
the western banks. 

The anticipated collision soon took place, and war 
was declared against Mexico by President Polk. The 
war was pushed forward by Mr. Polk's administration 
with great vigor. Gen. Taylor, whose army was first 
called one of "observation," then of "occupation," 
then of " invasion," was sent forward to Monterey. The 
feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, were hopelessly 
and awfully slaughtered. The day of judgement 
alone can reveal the misery which this war caused. 
It v/as by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administration 
that the war was brought on. 

'To the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was 
prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands. 
We now consented to peace u[X)n the condition that 
Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas, 
all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower Cal- 
ifornia. This new demand embraced, exclusive of 
Texas, eight hundred thousand square miles. This 
was an extent of territory equal to nine States of the 
size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen 
majestic States to be added to the Union. There were 
some Americans who thought it all right : there were 
others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution 
of this war, we expended twenty thousand lives and 
more than a hundred million of dollars. Of this 
money fifteen millions were paid to Mexico. 

On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk retired from 
office, having served one term. The next day was 
Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated 
as his successor. Mr Polk rode to the Capitol in the 
same carriage with Gen. Taylor; and the same even- 
ing, with Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to 
Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age. 
He had ever been strictly temperate in all his habits, 
and his health was good With an ample fortune, 
a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties 
of the dearest nature, it seemed as though long years 
of tranquility and happiness were before him. But the 
cholera — that fearful scourge— was then sweeping up 
the Valley of the Mississippi. This he contracted, 
and died on the \^\\\ of June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth 
year of his age, gready mourned by his countrymen. 



.^h^ 




^i 



^^^^^^^^^^=^^^-^2^X%t^-^ 



-Il-^*- 



! 



TWELFTH PRESIDENT. 



63 i\. 




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^-. 




Wli!>^gtatrC\V.lt;Sv.V.VA.V:r. v v\ v \ ^^ v t-r-r-r-r~r- ^ y ^ \ ^ y ^ T 




ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth 
President of the United States, 
was born on the 24th of Nov., 
1784, in Orange Co., Va. His 
father. Colonel Taylor, was 
a Virginian of note, and a dis- 
tinguished patriot and soldier of 
the Revolution. When Zachar^' 
was an infant, his father with his 
wife and two children, emigrated 
to Kentucky, where he settled in 
the pathless wilderness, a few 
miles from Louisville. In this front- 
ier home, away from civilization and 
all its refinements, young Zachary 
could enjoy Imt few social and educational advan- 
tages. When six years of age he attended a common 
school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy, 
rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of char- 
acter He was strong, feailess and self-reliant, and 
Tianifested a strong desire to enter the army to fight 
the Indians who were ravaging the frontiers. There 
is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of his 
childhood on his father's large but lonely plantation. 
In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him 
the commission of lieutenant in the United States 
army ; and he joined the troops which were stationed 
at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after 
this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady 
from one of the first families of Maryland. 

Immediately after the declaration of war with Eng- 
land, in 18 12, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been 
promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort 
Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above 
Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilder- 
ness by Gen. Harrison.on his march to Tippecanoe. 
It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians, 
led by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken 



company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of 
whom were sick. 

Early in the autumn of 1812, the Indians, stealthily, 
and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Their 
approach was first indicated by the murder of two 
soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. Taylor 
made every possible preparation to meet the antici- 
pated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of 
forty painted and plumed savages came to the fort, 
waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that 
in the morning their chief would come to have a talk 
with him. It was evident that their object was merely 
to ascertain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. 
Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept 
them at a distance. 

The sun went down ; the savages disappeared, the 
garrison slept upon their arms. One hour before 
midnight the war-whoop burst from a thousand lips 
in the forest around, followed by the discharge of 
musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every man, sick 
and well, sprang to his post. Every man knew that 
defeat was not merely death, but in the case of cap- 
ture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged tor- 
ture. No pen can describe, no immagination can 
conceive the scenes which ensued. The savages suc- 
ceeded in setting fire to one of the block-houses- 
Until si.x o'clock in the morning, this awful conflict 
continued. The savages then, baffled at every point, 
and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt. 
Taylor, for this gallant defence, was promoted to the 
rank of major by brevet. 

Until the close of the war. Major Taylor was.placed 
in such situations that he saw but little more of active 
service. He was sent far away into the depths of the 
wilderness, to Fort Crawford, on Fox River, which 
empties into Green Bay. Here there was but little 
to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one 
best could. There were no books, no society, no in- 



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64 



■•►■ 



t 



ZACHARY TAVtOR. 



•► 






tellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful 
years rolled on Gradually he rose to the rank of 
colonel. In the Black-Hawk war, which resulted in 
the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col Taylor 
took a subordinate but a brave and efficient part. 

For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged in 
the defence of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in 
employments so obscure, that his name was unknown 
beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance. 
In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel 
the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and re- 
tire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty, 
had promised they should do. The services rendered 
here secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of 
the Government; and as a reward, he was elevated 
to the rank of brigadier-general by brevet ; and soon 
after, in May, 1838, was appointed to the chief com- 
mand of the United States troops in Florida. 

After two years of such wearisome employment 
amidst the everglades of the peninsula, Gen. Taylor 
obtained, at his own request, a change of command, 
and was stationed over the Department of the South- 
west. This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters 
at Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family 
to a plantation which he purchased, near Baton Rogue. 
Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were, 
from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty 
imposed upon him. 

In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land 
between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river 
being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed 
by the United States. Soon the war with Mexico 
was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la 
Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the 
Mexicans. The rank of major-general by brevet 
was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and his name 
was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in 
the Nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and 
Buena Vista in which he won signal victories over 
forces much larger than he commanded. 

His careless habits of dress and his unaffected 
simplicity, secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops, 
the saln-iquet of " Old Rough and Ready.' 

Tiie tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista 
spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country. 'I'he 
name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The 
Whig party decided to take advantage of this wonder- 
ful popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, un- 
lettered, honest soldier as their candidate for the 
Presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the an- 
nouncement, and for a time would not listen to it; de- 
rlaring that he was not at all qualified for such an 
office. So little interest had he taken in politics that, 
for forty years, he had not cast a vote. It was not 
without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen 
who had been long years in the public service found 
their claims Eet aside in behalf of one whose name 



had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo 
Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena 
Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste re- 
marked, " It is a nomination not fit to be made." 

Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine 
writer His friends took possession of him, and pre- 
pared such few communications as it was needful 
should be presented to the public. The popularity of 
the successful warrior swept the land. He was tri- 
umphantly elected over two opposing candidates, — 
Gen. Cass and Ex-President Martin Van Buren. 
Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good 
old man found himself in a veiy uncongenial position, 
and was, at times, sorely perplexed and harassed. 
His mental sufferings were very severe, and probably 
tended to hasten his death. The pro-slavery party 
was pushing its claims with tireless energy , expedi- 
tions were fitting out to capture Cuba ; California was 
pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery 
stood at the door to bar her out. Gen. Taylor found 
the political conflicts in Washington to be far more 
trying to the nerves than battles with Mexicans or 
Indians. 

In the midst of all these troubles. Gen. Taylor, 
after he liad occupied the Presidential chair but little 
over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of 
but little over five days, died on the gth of July, 1850. 
His last words were, " I am not afraid to die. I am 
ready. I have endeavored to do my duty." He died 
universally respected and beloved. An honest, un- 
pretending man, he had been steadily growing in the 
affections of the people; and the Nation bitterly la- 
mented his death. 

Gen. Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted with 
Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic and truthful 
description of his character: — " With a good store of 
common sense, Gen. Taylor's mind had not been en- 
larged and refreshed by reading, or much converse 
with the world. Rigidity of ideas was the conse- 
quence. The frontiers and small military posts had 
been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for his 
rank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His sim- 
plicity was child-like, and with innumerable preju- 
dices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited to the 
tender age. Thus, if a man, however respectable, 
chanced to wear a coat of an unusual color, or hish.ii 
a little on one side of his head; or an officer to leave 
a corner of his handkerchief dangling from an out- 
side pocket, — in any such case, this critic held the 
olfjnder to be a coxcomb (perhaps something worse), 
whom he would not, to use his oft repeated phrase, 
'touch with a pair of tongs.' 

"Any allusion to literature beyond good old Dil- 
worth's spelling-book, on the part of one wearing a 
sword, was evidence, with the same judge, of utter 
unfitness for heavy marchings and combats. In short, 
few men have ever had a more comfortable, labor- 
saving contempt for learnirg of every kind." 



t 




jCC-I^U'-ixxrTx) 



^ 



THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT. 



67 





-^^ 



I ^'MILLflRn FILLfflnHE. >^ 






'fT 



ILLARD FILLMORE, thir- 
teenth President of the United 
States, was born at Summer 
Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y ., on 
the 7th of January, 1800. His 
'•^ father was a farmer, and ow- 
ing to misfortune, in humble cir- 
cumstances. Of his mother, the 
daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, 
of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been 
said that she jxjssessed an intellect 
of very high order, united with much 
personal loveliness, sweetness of dis- 
position, graceful manners and ex- 
quisite sensibilities. She died in 
1 831 ; having lived to see her son a 
young man of distinguished prom- 
ise, though she was not permitted to witness the high 
dignity which he finally attained. 

In consequence of the secluded home and limited 
means of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender ad- 
vantages for education in his early years. The com- 
mon schools, which he occasionally attended were 
very imperfect nistitutions; and books were scarce 
and expensive. There was nothing then in his char- 
acter to indicate the brilliant career upon which he 
was about to enter. He was a plain farmer's boy ; 
intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted. The sacred 
influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible, 
and had laid the foundations of an upright character. 
When fourteen years of age, his father sent him 
some hundred miles from home, to the then wilds of 
Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier. 
Nea/ the mil there was a small villiage, where sonic 




•► II <• 



enterprising man had commenced the collection of a 
village librar)'. This proved an inestimable blessing 
to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent in read- 
ing. Soon every leisure moment was occupied with 
books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate ; 
atid the selections which he made were continually 
more elevating and instructive. He read history, 
biography, oratory, and thus gradually there was en- 
kindled in his heart a desire to be something more 
than a mere worker with his hands; and lie was be- 
coming, almost unknown to himself a well-informed, 
educated man. 

The young clothier had now attained the age of 
nineteen years, and was of fine personal appearance 
and of gentlemanly demeanur. It so happened that 
there was a gentleman m the neighborhood of ample 
pecuniary means and of benevolence, — Judge Walter 
Wood, — who was struck with the prepossessing ap- 
pearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaint- 
ance, and was so much impressed with his ability and 
attainments that he advised him to abandon his 
trade and devote himself to the study of the law. The 
young man replied, that he had no means of his own, 
no friends to help him and that his previous educa- 
tion had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood had 
so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to 
take him into his own ofitice, and to loan him such 
money as he needed. Most gratefully the generous 
offer was accepted. 

There is in inany minds a strange delusion about 
a collegiate education. A }Oung man is supposed to 
be liberally educated if he has graduated at some col- 
lege. But many a boy loiters through university hall-; 
ind then enters a law office, who is by no means as 
■► 



i 



68 



MILLARD FILLMORE. 



•^h^ 



well pre[)ared to prosecute his legal studies as was 
Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothing- 
mill at the end of four years of manual labor, during 
which every leisure moment had been devoted to in- 
tense mental culture. 

In 1823, when twenty-three years of age, he v/as 
admitted to the Court of Common Pleas. He then 
went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the 
practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region, 
his practice of course was limited, and there was no 
opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame. 
Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great 
moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station 
she might be called to fill, — ^Miss Abigail Powers. 

His elevation of character, his untiring industry, 
his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate, 
gradually attracted attention ; and he was invited to 
enter into partnership under highly advantageous 
circumstances, with an elder member of the bar in 
Buffalo. Just before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, 
he took his seat in the House of Assembly, of the 
State of New York, as a representative from Erie 
County. Though he had never taken a very active 
part in politics, his vote and his sympathies were with 
the Whig party. The State, was then Democratic, 
and he found himself in a helpless minority in the 
Legislature , still the testimony comes from all parties, 
that his courtesy, ability and integrity, won, to a very 
unusual degn e the respect of his associates. 

In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to a seat in 
the United States Congress He entered that troubled 
irena in some of the most tumultuous hours of our 
national history. The great conflict respecting the 
national bank and the removal of the deposits, was 
then raging. 

His term of two years closed ; and he returned to 
his profession, which he pursued with increasing rep- 
utation and success. After a lapse of two years 
he again became a candidate for Congress ; was re- 
elected, and took his seat in 1837. His past expe- 
rience as a representative gave hmi strength and 
confidence. The first term of service in Congress to 
any man can be but little more than an introduction. 
He was now prepared for active duty. All his ener- 
gies were brought to bear uixsn the public good. Every 
measure received his impress. 

Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and 
his popularity filled the State, and in the year 1847, 
he was elected Comptroller of the State. 



Mr. Fillmore had attained the age of forty-seven 
years. His labors at the bar, in the Legislature, in 
Congress and as Comptroller, had given him very con- 
siderable fame. The Whigs were casting about to 
find suitable candidates for President and Vice-Presi- 
dent at the approaching election. Far away, on the 
waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough old 
soldier, who had fought one or two successful battles 
with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be 
proclaimed in tiumpet-tones all over the land. But 
it was necessary to associate with him on the same 
ticket some man of reputation as a statesman. 

Under the influence of these considerations, the 
namesofZachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became 
the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their candidates for 
President and Vice-Peesident. The Whig ticket was 
signally triumphant. On the 4th of March, 1849, 
Gen. Taylor was inaugurated President, and Millard 
Fillmore Vice-President, of the United States. 

On the 9th of July, 1850, President Taylor, but 
about one year and four months after his inaugura- 
tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Con- 
stitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus became Presi- 
dent. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which 
the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State. 

Mr. Fillniore had very serious difficulties to contend 
with, since the opposition had a majority in both 
Houses. He did everything in his power to conciliate 
the South ; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt 
the inadequacy of all measuresof transient conciliation. 
The population of the free States was so rapidly in- 
creasing over that of the slave States that it was in- 
evitable that the power of th\e Government should 
soon- pass into the hands of the free States. The 
famous compromise measures were adopted under Mr. 
FiUmcre's adminstration, and the Japan Expedition 
was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fill- 
more, having served one term, retired. 

In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Pres- 
idency by the " Know Nothing " jJarty, but was beaten 
by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. Fillmore lived in 
retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war, 
he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed that 
his sympathies were rather with those who were en- 
deavoring to overthrow our institutions. President 
Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, without any 
cordial words of cheer to the one party or the other. 
He was thus forgotten by both. He lived to a ripe 
old age, and died in Buffalo. N. Y., March 8, 1874. 

•►- 





^%^^^c^^^ 




*► I I ^« 



FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT. 



r^": 



71 



->^^ 







fe-:-f3SS^' ^'-FHflNKLIN PIERCEj^ ^,'.y.r, ,i^^ 





RANKLIN PIERCE, the 
fourteenth President of the 
' United States, was born in 
Hillsborough, N. H., Nov. 
23, 1804. His father was a 
Revolutionary soldier, who, 
with his own strong arm, 
hewed out a liome in the 
wilderness. He was a man 
of inflexible integrit)'; of 
strong, though uncultivated 
mind, and an uncompromis- 
ing Democrat. The mother of 
Franklin Pierce was all that a son 
could desire, — an intelligent, pru- 
dent, affectionate. Christian wom- 
an. Franklin was the sixth of eight children. 

Franklin was a very bright and handsome boy, gen- 
erous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the 
love of old and young. The boys on the play ground 
loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors 
looked upon him with pride and affection. He was 
by instinct a gentleman; always speaking kind words, 
doing kind deeds, with a peculiar unstudied tact 
which taught him what was agreeable. Witliout de- 
veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural 
devotion to books, he was a good scholar; in body, 
in mind, in affections, a finely-developed boy. 

When sixteen years of age, in the year 1820, he 
entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me He was 
one of the most ])opular young men in the college. 
The purity of his moral character, the unvarying 
^ ' courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and 



genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite. 
There was something very peculiarly winning in his 
address, and it was evidently not in the slightest de- 
gree studied: it was the simple outgushing of his 
own magnanimous and loving nature. 

Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce 
commenced the study of law in the office of Judge 
Woodbury, one of the most distinguished lawyers of 
the State, and a man of great private worth. The 
eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his 
father's prominence as a public man, and tlie brilliant 
political career into which Judge Woodbury was en- 
tering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the faci- 
nating yet perilous path of political life. With all 
the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen. 
Jackson for the Presidency. He commenced the 
practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected 
to represent the town in the State Legislature. Here 
he served for four yeais. The last two years he was 
chosen speaker of the house by a very large vote. 

In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected 
a member of Congress. Without taking an active 
part in debates, he was faithful and laborious in duty, 
and ever rising in the estimation of those with whom 
he was associatad. 

In 1837, being then but thirty-three years of age, 
he was elected to the Senate of the United States; 
taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced 
his administration. He was the youngest member in 
the Senate. In the year 1834, he married Miss Jane 
Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom- 
plishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn every 
station with wnich her husband was honoied. Of the 






•►Hl^ 



■•► 



72 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



three sons who were bom to them, all now sleep with 
their parents in the grave. 

In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing fame 
and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his 
residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. 
President Polk, upon his accession to office, appointed 
Mr. Pierce attorney-general of the United States; but 
the offer was declined, in consequence of numerous 
professional engagements at home, and the precariuos 
state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He also, about the 
same time declined the nomination for governor by the 
Democratic party. The war with Mexico called Mr. 
Pierce in the army. Receiving the appointment of 
brigadier-general, he embarked, with a portion of his 
troops, at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of May, 1847. 
He took an. important part in this war, proving him- 
self a brave and true soldier. 

When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his native 
State, he was received enthusiastically by the advo- 
cates of the Mexican war, and coldly by his oppo- 
nents. He resumed the practice of his profession, 
very frequently taking an active part in political ques- 
tions, giving his cordial support to the pro-slavery 
wing of the Democratic party. The compromise 
measures met cordially with his approval ; and he 
strenuously advocated the enforcement of the infa- 
mous fugitive -slave law, which so shocked the religious 
sensibilities of the North. He thus became distin- 
guished as a "Northern man with Southern principles.'' 
The strong partisans of slavery in the South conse- 
quently regarded him as a man whom they could 
safely trust in office to carry out their plans. 

On the 12th of June, 1852, the Democratic conven- 
tion met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the 
Presidency. For four days they continued in session, 
and in thirty-five ballotings no one had obtained a 
two-thirds vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown 
for Gen. Pierce. Thjn the Virginia delegation 
brought forward his name. There were fourteen 
more ballotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly 
gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he 
received two hundred and eighty-two votes, and all 
other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was 
the Whig candidate. Gen. Pierce was chosen with 
great unanimity. Only four States — Vermont, Mas- 
sachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee — cast their 
electoral votes against him Gen. Franklin Pierce 
was therefore inaugurated President of the United 
States en the 4th of March, 1853. 



His administration proved one of the most stormy our 
country had ever experienced. The controversy be- 
tween slavery and freedom was then approaching its 
culminating point. It became evident that there was 
an "irrepressible conflict" between them, and that 
this Nation could not long exist " half slave and half 
free." President Pierce, during the whole of his ad- 
ministration, did every thing he could to conciliate 
the South ; but it was all in vain. The conflict every 
year grew more violent, and threats of the dissolution 
of the Union were borne to the North on eveiy South- 
ern breeze. 

Such was the condition of affairs when President 
Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term 
of office. The North had become thoroughly alien- 
ated from him. The anti-slaver)' sentiment, goaded 
by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing; all 
the intellectual ability and social worth of President 
Pierce were forgotten in deep reprehension of his ad- 
ministrative acts. The slaveholders of the South, also, 
unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advo- 
cated those measures of Government which they ap- 
proved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had 
rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be 
able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped 
him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him. 

On the 4th of March, 1857, President Pierce re- 
tired to his home in Concord. Of three children, two 
had died, and his only surviving child had been 
killed before his eyes by a railroad accident ; and his 
wife, one of the most estimable and accomplished of 
ladies, was rapidly sinking in consumption. The 
hour of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left 
alone in the world, without wife or child. 

When the terrible Rebellion burst forth, which di- 
vided our country into two parties, and two only, Mr. 
Pierce remained steadfast in the principles which he 
had always cherished, and gave his sympathies to 
that pro-slavery party with which he had ever been 
allied. He declined to do anything, either by voice 
or pen, to strengthen the hand of the National Gov- 
ernment. He continued to reside in Concord until 
the time of his death, which occurred in October, 
1869. He was one of the most genial and social of 
men, an honored communicant of tiie Episcopal 
Church, and one of the kindest of neighbors. Cren- 
erous to a fault, he contributed liberally for the al- 
leviation of suffering and want, and many of his towns- 
people were often gladened by his material bounty. 







-ZZ^7Ze_J ^ 



^^UC'^Z^/y^Z-^d^^?/^ 



1f^ 



I'IFTEENTH PRESIJJENT 



I ^^^ aj?tgJ■-^^^^a^^';:i^^i,g'^;5i'r'V^'^'V■''r. , <.'f;'^a:;^^; 

7| 




-««« >- 




-< S»*— 






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-««« — ►-< 



AMES BUCHANAN, the fif- 
teenth President of the United 
States, was born in a small 
frontier town, at the foot of the 
eastern ridge of the Allegha- 
nies, in Franklin Co., Penn., on 
the 23d of April, 1791. The place 
where the humble cabin of his 
father stood was called Stony 
Batter. It was a wild and ro- 
mantic spot in a gorge of the moini- 
tair.s, with towering summits rising 
L;randly all around. His father 
was a native of the north of Ireland ; 
a poor man, who had emigrated in 
1783, with little property save his 
own strong arms. Five years afterwards he married 
Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a respectable farmer, 
and, with his young bride, plunged into the wilder- 
ness, staked his claim, reared his log-hut, opened a 
clearing with his axe, and settled down there to per- 
form his obscure part in the d-rama of life. In this se- 
cluded home, where James was born, he remained 
for eight years, enjoying but few social or intellectual 
advantages. When James was eight years of age, his 
father removed to the village of Mercersburg, where 
his son was placed at school, and commenced a 
course of study in English, Latin and Greek. His 
progress was rapid, and at the age of fourteen, he 
entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. Here he de- 
ve"loped remarkable talent, and took his stand among 
the first scholars in the institution. His application 
to study was intense, and yet his native powers en- 



abled him to master the most abstruse subjects with 
facility. 

In the year 1S09, he graduated with the highest 
honors of his class. He was then eighteen years of 
age; tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of 
athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened with 
an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He immediately- 
commenced the study of law in the city of Lancaster, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1812, when he was 
but twenty-one years of age. Very rapidly he rose 
in his profession, and at once took undisputed stand 
with the ablest lawyers of the State. When but 
twenty-si,x years of age, unaided by counsel, he suc- 
cessfully defended before the State Senate one of the 
judges of tlie State, who was tried upon articles of 
impeachment. At the age of thirty it was generally 
admitted that he stood at the head of the bar; and 
there was no lawyer in the State who had a more lu- 
crative practice. 

In 1820, he reluctantly consented to run as a 
candidate for Congress. He was elected, and for 
ten years he remained a member of the Lower House. 
During the vacations of Congress, he occasionally 
tried some important case. In 1831, he retired 
altogether from the toils of his profession, having ac- 
quired an ample fortune. 

Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the Presidency, 
appointed Mr. Buchanan minister to Russia. The 
duties of his mission he performed with ability, which 
gave satisfaction to all parties. Upon his return, in 
1833, he was elected to a seat in the LTnited States 
Senate. He there met, as his associates, Webster, 
Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He advocated the meas- 
ures proposed by President Jackson, of making repri- 



-<^ 



•►Hl^^ 



-•►Hl- 



76 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



•►Hh-<» 



sals against France, to enforce the payment of our 
claims against that country ; and defended the course 
of the President in his unprecedented and wholesale 
removal from office of those wlio were not the sup- 
porters of his administration. Upon this question he 
was brought into direct collision with Henry Clay. 
He also, with voice and vote, advocated expunging 
from tlie journal of the Senate the vote of censure 
against Gen. Jackson for removing the deposits. 
Earnestly he opposed the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia, and urged tlie prohibition of the 
circulation of anti-slavery documents bv the United 
States mails. 

As to petitions on the subject of slavery, he advo- 
cated that they should be respectfully received; and 
that the reply should be returned, that Congress had 
no power to legislate upon the subject. " Congress," 
said he, "might as well undertake to interfere with 
slavery under a foreign government as in any of the 
States where it now e-xists." 

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the Presidency, Mr. 
Buchanan became Secretary of State, and as such, 
took his share of the responsibility in the conduct of 
the Mexican War. Mr. Polk assumed that crossing 
the Nueces by the American troops into the disputed 
territory was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross 
the Rio Grande into that territory was a declaration 
of war. No candid man can read with pleasure the 
account of the course our Government pursued in that 
movement 

Mr. Buchanan identified himself thoroughly with 
the party devoted to the perpetuation and extension 
of slavery, and brought all the energies of his mind 
to bear against the Wilmot Proviso. He gave his 
cordial approval to the compromise measures of 1S50, 
which included the fugiiive-slave law. Mr. Pierce, 
upon his election to the Presidency, honored Mr. 
Buchanan with the mission to England. 

In the year 1856, a national Democratic conven- 
tion nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. The 
political conflict was one of the most severe in which 
our country has ever engaged. All the friends of 
slavery were on one side; all the advocates of its re- 
striction and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fre- 
mont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, re- 
reived 114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan received 
174, and was elected. The popular vote stood 
1,340,618, for Fremont, 1,224,750 for Buchanan. On 
March 4th, 1857, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated. 

Mr. Buchanan was far advanced in life. Only four 
years were wanting to fill up his threescore years and 
ten. His own friends, those with whom lie had been 
allied in political principles and action for years, were 
seeking the destruction of the Government, that they 
might rear upon the ruins of our free institutions a 
nation whose corner-stone should be human slavery. 
tn this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hopelessly be- 
vvildered He could not, with hi§ long-avowed prin- 



ciples, consistently oppose the State-rights party in 
their assumptions. As President of the United States, 
bound by his oath faithfully to administer tlie laws, 
he could not, without perjury of the grossest kind, 
unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the repub- 
lic. He therefore did nothing. 

The opponents of Mr. Buchanan's administration 
nominaied Abraham Lincoln as their standard bearer 
in the next Presidential canvass. The pro-slaverv 
party declared, that if he were elected, and the con- 
trol of the Government were thus taken from their 
hands, they would secede from the Union, taking 
with them, as they retired, the National Capitol at 
Washington, and the lion's share of the territory of 
the United States. 

Mr. Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery 
party was such, that he had been willing to offer them 
far more than they had ventured to claim. All the 
South had professed to ask of the North was non- 
intervention upon the subject of slavery. Mr. Bu- 
chanan had been ready to offer them the active co- 
operation of the Government to defend and extend 
the institution. 

As the storm increased in violence, the slaveholders 
claiming the right to secede, and Mr. Buchanan avow- 
ing that Congress had no power to prevent it, one of 
the most pitiable exhibitions of governmental im- 
becility was exhibited the world has ever seen. He 
declared that Congress had no power to enforce its 
laws in any State which had withdrawn, or which 
was attempting to withdraw from the Union. This 
was not the doctrine of Andrew Jackson, when, with 
his hand upon his sword-hilt, he exclaimed, " The 
Union must and shall be preserved!" 

South Carolina seceded in December, i860; nearly 
three months before the inauguration of President 
Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in listless despair. 
The rebel flag was raised in Charleston: Fort Sumpter 
was besieged ; our forts, navy-yards and arsenals 
were seized ; our depots of military stores were plun- 
dered ; and our custom-houses and post-offices were 
appropriated by the rebels. 

The energy of the rebels, and the imbecility of our 
Executive, were alike marvelous. The Nation looked 
on in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glide away, 
and close the administration, so terrible in its weak- 
ness At length the long-looked-for hour of deliver- 
ance came, when Abraham Lincoln was to receive the 
scepter. 

The administration of President Buchanan was 
certainly the most calamitous our country has ex- 
perienced. His best friends cannot recall it with 
pleasure. .\nd still more deplorable it is for his fame, 
that in that dreadful conflict which rolled its billows 
of flame and blood over our whole land, no word came 
from his lips to indicate his wish that our country's 
banner should triumph over the flag of the rebellion. 
He died at his Wheatland retreat, June i, 1868. 



■•►HI- 




<^ 



eX>c32^^<^r-z^ 



-IH-^^ 



SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT. 



79 



% i ABRAHAM > ^||>^?-<# 4 LINCOLN. !> | 




BRAHAM LINCOLN, the 
sixteeiuli President of the 
^United States, was born in 
Haidin Co., Ky., Feb. 12, 
1 809. About the year 1 7 80, a 
man by the name of Abraham 
Lincohi left Virginia with his 
1 imily and moved into the then 
w lids of Kentucky. Only two years 
after this emigration, still a young 
man, while working one day in a 
field, was stealthily approached by 
an Indian and shut dead. His widow 
was left in extreme poverty with five 
little children, three boys and two 
girls. Thomas, the youngest of the 
boys, was four years of age at his 
father's death. This Thomas was 
the father of .\braham Lincoln, the 
President of the United States 
whose name must henceforth fo>-ever be enrolled 
with the most prominent in the annals of our wodd. 
Of course no record has been kept of the life 
of one so lowly as Thomas Lincoln. He was among 
the poorest of the poor. His home was a wretched 
log -cabin; his food the coarsest and the meanest. 
Education he had none; he could never either read 
or write. As soon as he was able to do anything for 
himself, he was compelled to leave the cabin of his 
starving mother, and push out into the world, a friend- 
less, wandering boy, seeking work. He hired him- 
self out, and thus spent the whole of his youth as a 
laborer in the fields of others. 

When twenty-eight years of age he buill a log- 
cabin of his own, and married Nancy Hanks, the 
daughter of another family of poor Kentucky emi- 
grants, who had also come from Virginia. Then- 
second child was Abraham Lincoln, the subject of 
this sketch. The mother of Abraham was a noble 
woman, gentle, loving, pensive, created to adorn 
a palace, doomed to toil and pine, and die in a hovel. 
"All that I am, or hope to be," e.xclaims the grate- 
ful son " I owe to my angel-mother. 

When he was eight years of age, his father sold his 
4 » 



cabin and small farm, and moved to Indiana. Where 
two years later his mother died. 

Abraham soon became the scribe of the uneducated 
community around him. He could not have had a 
better school than this to teach him to put thoughts 
into words. He also became an eager reader. The 
books he could obtain were few; but these he read 
and re-read until they were almost committed to 
memory. 

As the years rolled on, the lot of this lowly family 
was the usual lot of humanity. There were joys and 
griefs, weddings and funerals. Abraham's sister 
Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was mar- 
ried when a child of but fourteen years of age, and 
soon died. 'I'he family was gradually scattered. Mr. 
Thomas Lincoln sold out his squatter's claim in 1830, 
and emigrated to Macon Co., III. 

Abraham Lincoln was then twenty-one years of age. 
With vigorous hands he aided his father in rearing 
another log-cabin. Abraham worked diligently at this 
until he saw the family comfortably settled, and their 
small lot of enclosed prairie planted with corn, when 
he announced to his father his intention to leave 
home, and to go out into the world and seek his for- 
tune. Little did he or his friends imagine how bril- 
liant that fortune was to be. He saw the value of 
education, and was intensely earnest to improve his 
mind to the utmost of his power. He saw the luin 
which ardent spirits were causing, and became 
strictly temperate; refusing to allow a drop of intoxi- 
cating hquor to pass his lips. And he had read in 
God's word, "Thou shalt not take the name of the 
Lord thy God in vain ;" and a profane expression he 
was never heard to utter. Religion he revered. His 
morals were pure, and he was uncontaminated by a 
single vice. 

Young Abraham worked for a time as a hired laborer 
among the farmers. Then he went to Springfield, 
where he was employed in building a large flat-boat. 
In this he took a herd of swine, floated them down 
the Sangamon to the Illinois, and thence by the Mis- 
sissippi to New Orleans. Whatever Abraham Lin- 
coln undertook, he performed so faithfully as to give 
great satisfaction to his employers. In this adven- 



\ 



80 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



ture his employers were so well pleased, that upon 
his return tiiey placed a store and mill under his care. 

In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black Hawk war, he 
enlisted and was chosen captain of a company. He 
returned to Sangamon County, and altliough only 23 
years of age, was a candidate for the Legislature, but 
was defeated. He soon after received from Andrew 
Jackson the appointmentof Postmaster of New Salem, 
His only post-office was his hat. .\11 the letters he 
received he carried there ready to deliver ft) those 
he chanced to meet. He studied surveying, and soon 
made this his business. In 1834 he again became a 
candidate for the Legislature, and was elected Mr. 
Stuart, of Springfield, advised him to study law. He 
walked from New Salem to Springfield, borrowed of 
Mr. Stuart a load of books, carried them back and 
began his legal studies. ^Vhen the Legislature as- 
sembled he trudged on foot with his pack on his back 
one hundred miles to Vandalia, then the capital. In 
1836 he was re-elected to the Legislature. Here it 
was he first met Stephen A. Douglas. In 1839 he re- 
moved to Springfield and began the practice of law. 
His success with the jury was so great that he was 
soon engaged in almost every noted case in the circuit. 

In 1854 ihe great discussion began between Mr. 
Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, on the slavery question. 
In the organization of the Republican party in Illinois, 
in 1856, he took an active part, and at once became 
one of the leaders in that party. Mr. Lincoln's 
speeches in opposition to Senator Douglas in the con- 
test in 1858 for a seat in the Senate, form a most 
notable part of his history. The issue was on the 
ilavery question, and he took the broad ground of 
;he Declaration of Independence, that all men are 
created equal. Mr. Lincoln was defeated in this con- 
test, but won a far higher prize. 

The great Republican Convention met at Chicago 
on the i6th of June, i860. The delegates and 
strangers who crowded the city amounted to twenty-- 
five thousand. An immense building called "The 
Wigwam," was reared to accommodate tlie Conven- 
tion. There were eleven candidates for whom votes 
were thrown. William H. Seward, a man whose fame 
as a statesman had long filled the land, was the most 
urominent. It was generally supposed he would be 
the nominee. Abraham Lincoln, however, received 
the nomination on the third ballot. Little did he then 
dream of the weary years of toil and care, and the 
bloody death, to which that nomination doomed him : 
and aslittledid he dream that he was to render services 
to his country, which would fix upon him the eyes of 
the whole civilized world, and which would give him 
a place in the affections of his countiymen, second 
only, if second, to that of Washington. 

Election day came and Mr. Lincoln received 180 
electoral votes out of 203 cast, and was, therefore, 
constitutionally elected President of the United States. 
The tirade of abuse that was poured ujOTn this good 



t* 



and merciful iTian, especially by the slaveholders, was 
greater than upon' any other man ever elected to this 
high position. In February, 186 1, Mr. Lincoln started 
for Washington, stop\)ing in all the large cities on liis 
way making speeches. The whole journey was frought 
with much danger. Many of the Southern States had 
already seceded, and several attempts at assassination 
were afterwards brought to light. A gang in Balti- 
more had arranged, upon his arrival to" get up a row," 
and in the confusion to make sure of his death with 
revolvers and hand-grenades. A detective unravelled 
the plot. A secret and special train was provided to 
take him from HarrisL-urg, through Baltimore, at an 
unexpected hour of the night. The train started at 
half-past ten ; and to prevent any possible communi- 
cation on the part ot the Secessionists with their Con- 
federate gang in Bakimore, as soon as the train had 
started the telegraph-wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln 
reached Washington in safety and was inaugurated, 
although great anxiety was felt by all loyal people. 

In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln gave 
to Ml Seward the Department of State, and to other 
prominent opponents before the convention he gave 
important positions. 

During no other administration have the duties 
devolving upon the President been so manifold, and 
the responsibilities so great, as those which fell to 
the lot of President Lincoln. Knowing this, and 
feeling his own weakness and inability to meet, and in 
his own strength to cope with, the difficulties, he 
learned early to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in 
determining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his 
trials, bo*h personal and national. Contrary to his 
own estimate of himself, Mr. Lincoln was one of the 
most courageous of men. He went directly into the 
rebel capital just as the retreating foe was leaving, 
with no guard but a few sailors. From the time he 
had left Springfield, in 1861, however, plans had been 
made for his assassination.and he at last fell a victim 
to one of them. April 14, 1865, he, with Gen. Grant, 
was urgently invited to attend Fords' Theater. It 
was announced that they would be present. Gen. 
Grant, however, left the city. President Lincoln, feel- 
ing, witii his characteristic kindliness of heart, that 
it would be a disappointment if lie should fail them, 
very reluctantly consented to go. While listening to 
the play an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth 
entered the box where the President and family were 
seated, and fired a bullet into his brains. He died the 
next morning at seven o'clock. 

Never before, in the history of the world was a nation 
plunged into such deep grief by the death of its ruler. 
Strong men met in the streets and wept in speechless 
anguish. It is not too much to say that a nation was 
in tears. His was a life which will filly become a 
model. His name as the savior of his country will 
live with that of Washington's, its father; hiscountrj^- 
men' being unable to decide which is the ereater. 





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•►Hh-^*- 



SB VENTEENTH PRESIDE.\ T. 



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\- 



b NDREW JOHNSON, seven- 
n>l teenth President of the United 
States. The early life of 
\ndrew Johnson contains but 
^ the record of poverty, destitu- 
tion and friendlessness. He 
/ was born December 29, 180S, 
in Raleigh, N. C. His parents, 
belonging to the class oi" the 
"poor whites " of the Souih, were 
in such circumstances, that they 
could not confer even the slight- 
est advantages of education uiwn 
their child. When Andrew was five 
years of age, his father accidentally 
lost his life while heiorically endeavoring to save a 
friend from drowning. Until ten years of age, Andrew 
was a ragged boy about the streets, supported by the 
labor of his mother, who obtained her living with 
her own hands. 

He then, having never attended a school one day, 
and being unable either to read or write, was ap- 
prenticed to a tailor in his native town. A gentleman 
was in the habit of going to. the tailor's shop occasion- 
ally, and reading to the boys at work there. He often 
read from the speeches of distinguished British states- 
men. Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of more 
than ordinary native ability, became much interested 
in these speeches ; his ambition was roused, and he 
was inspired with a strong desire to learn to read. 

He accordingly applied himself to the alphabet, and 
with the assistance of some of his fellow-workmen, 
learned his letters. He then called upon the gentle- 
man to borrow the book of speeches. The owner, 



pleased with his zeal, not only gave him the book, 
but assisted him in learning to combine the letters 
into words. Under such difficulties he pressed on- 
ward laboriously, spending usually ten or twelve hours 
at work in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest 
and recreation to devote such time as he could to 
reading. 

He went to Tennessee in 1826, and located at 
Greenville, where he married a young lady who pos- 
sessed some education. Under her instructions he 
learned to write and cipher. He became prominent 
in the village debating society, and a favorite with 
the students of Greenville College. In 1828, he or- 
ganized a working man's party, which elected him 
alderman, and in 1830 elected him mayor, wliich 
position he held three years. 

He now began to take a lively interest in political 
affairs; identifying himself with the working-classes, 
to which he belonged. In 1S35, he was elected a 
member of the House of Representatives of Tennes- 
see. He was then just twenty-seven years of age. 
He became a very active member of the legislature, 
gave his adhesion to the Democratic party, and in 
1840 "stumped the State," advocating Martin Van 
Buren's claims to the Presidency, in opposition to those 
of Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he acquired much 
readiness as a speaker, and extended and increased 
his reputation. 

In 1841, he was elected State Senator; in 1843, he 
was elected a member of Congress, and by successive 
elections, held that important post for ten years. In 
1853, he was elected Governor of Tennessee, and 
was re-elected in 1855. In all these resixjnsible posi- 
tions, he discharged his duties with distinguished abii. 



•^:^^ 



.^1^^ 



ANDRE W JOHNSON. 



ity, and proved himself the warm friend of the work- 
ing classes. In 1S57, Mr. Johnson was elected 
United States Senator. 

Years before, in 1845, he had warmly advocated 
the annexation of Texas, stating however, as his 
reason, that he thought this annexation would prob- 
ably prove " to be the gateway out of which the sable 
sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to freedom, 
and become merged in a population congenial to 
themselves." In 1850, he also supix)rted the com- 
promise measures, the two essential features of which 
were, that the white people of the Territories should 
be permitted to decide for themselves whether they 
would enslave the colored people or not, and that 
the free States of the North should return to the 
South persons who attempted to escape from slavery. 

Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his lowly origin: 
on the contrary, he often took piide in avowing that 
he owed his distinction to his own exertions. "Sir," 
said he on the floor of the Senate, " I do not forget 
that I am a mechanic ; neither do I forget that Adam 
was a tailor and sewed fig-leaves, and that our Sav- 
ior was the son of a carpenter." 

In the Charleston- Baltimore convention of iSuj, ne 
was the choice of the Tennessee Democrats for the 
Presidency. In 1861, when the purpose of the South- 
ern Democracy became apparent, he took a decided 
stand in favor of the Union, and held that " slavery 
must be held subordinate to the Union at whatever 
cost." He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly 
imperiled his own life to protect the Unionists of 
Tennesee. Tennessee having seceded from the 
Union, President Lincoln, on March 4th, 1862, ap- 
pointed him Military Governor of the State, and he 
established Ihe most stringent military rale. His 
numerous proclamations attracted wide attention. In 
1864, he was elected Vice-President of the United 
States, and upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15, 
1S65, became President. In a speech two days later 
he said, " The American people must be taught, if 
!hey do not already feel, that treason is a crime and 
must be puriished; that the Government will not 
always bear with its enemies; that it is strong not 
only to protect, but to punish. * * The people 
must understand that it (treason) is the blackest of 
crimes, and will surely be punished." Yet his whole 
administration, the history of which is so well known, 
was in utter iai:onsistency with, and the most violent 



opposition to, the principles laid down in that speech. 

In his loose policy of reconstruction and general 
amnesty, he was opposed by Congress ; and he char- 
acterized Congress as a new rebellion, and lawlessly 
defied it, in everything possible, to the utmost. In 
the beginnirig of 1868, on account of "high crimes 
and misdemeanors," the principal of which was the 
removal of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Ten- 
ure of Office Act, articles of impeachment were pre- 
ferred against him, and the trial began March 23. 

It was very tedious, continuing for nearly three 
months. A test article of the impeachment was at 
length submitted to the court for its action. It was 
certain that as the court voted upon that article so 
would it vote upon all. Thirty-four voices pronounced 
the President guilty. As a two-thirds vote was neces- 
sary to his condemnation, he was pronounced ac- 
quitted, notwithstanding the great majority against 
him. The change of one vote from the not guilty 
side would have sustained tlie impeachment. 

The President, for the remainder of his term, was 
but little regarded. He continued, though impotently, 
his conflict with Congress. His own party did not 
think it expedient to renominate him for the Presi- 
dency. The Nation rallied, with enthusiasm unpar- 
alleled since the days of Washington, around the name 
of Gen. Grant. Andrew Johnson was forgotten. 
The bullet of the assassin introduced him to the 
President's chair. Notwithstanding this, never was 
there presented to a man a better opportunity to im- 
mortalize his nam.e, and to win the gratitude of a 
nation. He failed utterly. He retired to his home 
in Gree«ville, Tenn., taking no very active part in 
politics until 1875. On Jan. 26, after an exciting 
struggle, he was chosen by the Legislature of Ten- 
nessee, United States Senator in the forty-fourth Con- 
gress, and took his seat in that body, at the special 
session convened by President Grant, on the 5th of 
March. On the 27th of July, 1875, the e.x-President 
made a visit to his daughter's home, near Carter 
Station, Tenn. When he started on his journey, he was 
apparently in his usual vigorous health, but on reach- 
ing the residence of his child the following day, was 
stricken with paralysis, rendering him unconscious. 
He rallied occasionally, but finally passed away at 
2 A. M., July 31, aged sixty-seven years. His fun- 
eral was attended at Geenville, on the 3d of August, 
with every demonstration of respect. 



.>-it: 



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/^-^f^^.^-^:^ 



EIGHTEENTH FRESIDENT. 



87 





L\SSES S. GRANT, the 
1^ eighteenth President of the 
United States, was -born on 
the 29th of April, 1822, of 
Christian parents, in a humble 
home, at Point Pleasant, on the 
banks of the Ohio. Shortly after 
his father moved to George- 
town, Brown Co., O. In this re- 
mote frontier hamlet, Ulysses 
received a common-school edu- 
cation. At the age of seven- 
teen, in the year 1839, he entered 
the Military Academy at West 
Point. Here he was regarded as a 
solid, sensible young man of fair abilities, and of 
sturdy, honest character. He took respectable rank 
as a scholar. In June, 1843, he graduated, about the 
middle in his class, and was sent as lieutenant of in- 
fantry to one of the distant military posts in the Mis- 
souri Territory. Two years he past in these dreary 
solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasperating 
Indians. 

The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant was 
sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. His first 
battle was at Palo Alto. There was no chance here 
for the exhibition of either skill or heroism, nor at 
Resaca de la Palma, his second battle. At the battle 
of Monterey, his third engagement, it is said that 
he performed a signal service of daring and skillful 
horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its am- 
munition. A messenger must be sent for more, along 
a route exposed to the bullets of the foe. Lieut. 
Grant, adopting an expedient learned of the Indians, 
grasped the mane of his horse, and hanging upon one 
\ ' side of the anip^al, ran the gauntlet in entire safety. 



From Monterey he was sent, with the fourth infantry, 
10 aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of Vera Cruz. In 
preparation for the march to the city of Mexico, he 
was appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the 
battle of Molino del Key, he was promoted to a 
first lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at Cha- 
pultepec. 

At the close of the Mexican War, Capt. Grant re- 
turned with his regiment to New York, and was again 
sent to one of the military posts on the frontier. The 
discovery of gold in California causing an immense 
tide of emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt. 
Grant was sent with a battalion to Fort Dallas, in 
Oregon, for the protection of the interests of the im- 
migrants. Life was wearisome in those wilds. Capt. 
Grant resigned his commission and returned to the 
States; and having married, entered upon the cultiva- 
tion of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He had but 
little skill as a farmer. Finding his toil not re- 
munerative, he turned to mercantile life, entering into 
the leather business, with a younger brother, at (ia- 
lena. 111. This was in the year i860. As the tidings 
of the rebels firing on Fort Sumpter reached the ears 
of Capt. Grant in his counting-room, he said, — 
"Uncle Sam has educated me for the army; though 
I have served him through one war, I do not feel that 
I have yet repaid the debt. I am still ready to discharge 
my obligations. I shall therefore buckle on my sword 
and see Uncle Sam through this war too. " 

He went into the streets, raised a conijjaiiy of vol- 
unteers, and led them .as their captain to Springfield, 
the capital of the State, where their services were 
offered to Gov. Yates. The Governor, impressed by 
the zeal and straightforward executive ability of Capt. 
Grant, gave him a desk in his office, to assist in the 
volunteer organization that was being formed in the 
State in behalf of the Government. On the 15th of 



T 



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88 



•«► 



dL ySSAS S. GRA NT. 



June, 1 86 1, Capt. Grant received a commission as 
Colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Vol- 
unteers. His merits as a West Point graduate, who 
had served for 15 years in the regular army, were such 
ihat he was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier- 
General and was placed in command at Cairo. The 
rebels raised their banner at Paducah, near the mouth 
of the Tennessee River. Scarcely had its folds ap- 
peared in the breeze ere Gen. Grant was there. The 
rebels fled. Their banner fell, and the star and 
stripes were unfurled in its stead. 

He entered the service with great determination 
and immediately began active duty. This was the be- 
ginning, and until the surrender of Lee at Richmond 
he was ever pushing the enemy with great vigor and 
effectiveness. At Belmont, a few days later, he sur- 
prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort Henry 
won another victory. Then came tlie brilliant fight 
at Fort Donelson. The nation was electrified by the 
victory, and the brave leader of the boys in blue was 
immediately made a Mnjor-General, and the military 
district of Tennessee was assigned to him. 

Like all great captains. Gen. Grant knew well how 
to secure the results of victory. He immediately 
pushed on to the enemies' lines. Then came the 
terrible battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, and the 
siege of Vicksburg, where Gen. Pemberton made an 
unconditional surrender of the city with over thirty 
thousand men and one-hundred and seventy-two can- 
non. The fall of Vicksburg was by far the most 
severe blow which the rebels had thus far encountered, 
'and opened up the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf. 

Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate with 
Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, and pro- 
ceeded to New Orleans, where he was thrown from 
ii!s horse, and received severe injuries, from which he 
v/as laid up for months. He then rushed to the aid 
of Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas at Chattanooga, and 
by a wonderful series of strategic and technical meas- 
ures put the Union Army in fighting condition. Then 
followed the bloody battles at Chattanooga, Lookout 
Mountain and Missionary Ridge, in which the rebels 
were routed with great loss. This won for him un- 
bounded praise in the North. On the 4th of Febru- 
ary, 1864, Congress revived the grade of lieutenant- 
general, and the rank was conferred on Gen. Grant. 
He repaired to Washington to receive his credentials 
and enter upon the duties of his new office. 



Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took charge of 
the army to concentrate the widely-dispersed National 
troops for an attack upon Richmond, the nominal 
capital of the Rebellion, and endeavor there to de- 
stroy the rebel armies whic^i would be promptly as- 
sembled from all quarters for its defence. The whole 
continent seemed to tremble under the tramp of these 
majestic armies, rushing to the decisive battle field. 
Steamers were crowded with troops. Railway trains 
were burdened with closely packed thousands. His 
plans were comprehensive and involved a series of 
campaigns, which were executed with remarkable en- 
ergy and ability, and were consummated at the sur- 
render of Lee, April 9, 1865. 

The war was ended. The Union was saved. The 
almost unanimous voice of the Nation declared Gen. 
Grant to be the most prominent instrument in its sal- 
vation. The eminent services he had thus rendered 
the country brought him conspicuously forward as the 
Republican candidate for the Presidential chair. 

At the Republican Convention held at Chicago, 
May 21, 1 868, he was unanimously nominated for the 
Presidency, and at the autumn election received a 
majority of the popular vote, and 214 out of 294 
electoral votes. 

The National Convention of the Republican party 
which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, 1872, 
placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a second term 
by a unanimous vote. The selection was emphati- 
cally indorsed by the people five months later, 292 
electoral votes being cast for him. 

Soon after the close of his second term. Gen. Grant 
started upon his famous trip around the world. He 
visited almost every country of the civilized world, 
and was everywhere received with such ovations 
and demonstrations of respect and honor, private 
as well as public and official, as were never before 
bestowed upon any citizen of the United States. 

He was the most prominent candidate before the 
Republican National Convention in 1880 for a re- 
nomination for President. He went to New York and 
embarked in the brokerage business under the firm 
nameof Grant & Ward. The latter proved a villain, 
wrecked Grant's fortune, and for larceny was sent to 
the penitentiary. The General was attacked with 
cancer in the throat, but suff'ered in his stoic-like 
manner, never complaining. He was re-instated as 
General of the Army and retired by Congress. The 
cancer soon finished its deadly work, and July 23, 
18S5, the nation went in mourning over the death gf 
the illustrious General. 



♦^ 



t 



•►HI-*- 



t 



NINETEENTH PRESIDENT. 



9, .. 




RUTHERFORD B. HiS^TES. 



f |' g^'C?^'^^^'^'g,^■^'^.^l■^^.^l^.•■l^;-l^.^l|.■^j|■;^|^>.^i^:,■^^>^,;■'l ;.'>;.'. •..■tg.'tfrv^iig^ti^i^t^t^^M 





4 



^ UTHERFORD B. HAYES, 
i^ the nineteenth President of 
^' the United States, was born in 
Delaware, O., Oct. 4, 1822, al- 
most three months after the 
death of his father, Rutherford 
Hayes. His ancestry on both 
the paternal and maternal sides, 
was of the most honorable char- 
'il, acter. It can be traced, it is said, 
as far back as 1280, when Hayes and 
Rutherford were two Scottish chief- 
tains, fighting side by side with 
Baliol, William Wallace and Robert 
Bruce. Both families belonged to the 
nobility, owned extensive estates, 
and had a large following. Misfor- 
tune overtaking the family, George Hayes left Scot- 
land in 1 680, and settled in Windsor, Conn. His son 
George was born in Windsor, and remained there 
during his life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, mar- 
ried Sarah Lee, and lived from the time of his mar- 
riage until his death in Simsbury, Conn. Ezekiel, 
son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and was a manufac- 
turer of scythes at Bradford, Conn. Rutherford Hayes, 
son of Ezekiel and grandfather of President Hayes, was 
born in New Haven, in August, 1756. He was a fanner, 
blacksmith and tavern-keeper. He emigrated to 
Vermont at an unknown date, settling in Brattleboro, 
where he established a hotel. Here his son Ruth- 
erford Hayes the father of President Hayes, was 

•^a 



born. He was married, in September, 18 13, to Sophia 
Birchard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors emi- 
grated thither from Connecticut'', they having been 
among the wealthiest and best famlies of Norwich. 
Her ancestry on the male side are traced back to 
1635, to John Birchard, one of the principal founders 
of Norwich. Both of her grandfathers were soldiers 
in the Revolutionary War. 

The father of President Hayes was an industrious, 
frugal and opened-hearted man. He was of a me- 
chanical turn, and could mend a plow, knit a stocks 
ing, or do almost anything else that he choose to 
undertake. He was a member of the Church, active 
in all the benevolent enterprises of the town, and con- 
ducted his business on Christian principles. After 
the close of the war of 1812, for reasons inexplicable 
to his neighbors, he resolved to emigrate to Ohio. 

The journey from Vermont to Ohio in that day, 
when there were no canals, steamers, nor railways, 
was a very serious affair. A tour of inspection was 
first made, occupying four months. Mr. Hayes deter- 
mined to move to Delaware, where the family arrived 
in 1817. He died July 22, 1822, a victim of malaiiai 
fever, less than three months before the birth of the 
son, of whom we now write. Mrs. Hayes, in her sore be- 
reavement, found the support she so much needed in 
her brother Sardis, who had been a member of the 
household from the day of its departure from Ver- 
mont, and in an orphan girl whom she had adopted 
some time before as an act of charity. 

Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, and the 



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I 



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92 



RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



4 



subject of this sketch was so feeble at birtli that he 
was not expected to live beyond a month or two at 
most. As the months went by he grew weaker and 
weaker, so that the neighbors were in the habit of in- 
quiring from time to time " if Mrs. Hayes' baby died 
last night." On one occasion a neighbor, who was on 
familiar terms with the family, after alluding to the 
boy's big head, and the mother's assiduous care of 
him, said in a bantering way, " That's right! Stick to 
him. You have got him along so far, and I shouldn't 
wonder if he would really come to something yet." 

" You need not laugh," said Mrs. Hayes. "You 
wait and see. You can't tell but I shall make him 
President of the United States yet." The boy lived, 
in spite of the universal predictions of his speedy 
death; and when, in 1825, his older brother was 
drowned, he became, if possible, still dearer to his 
mother. 

The boy was seven years old before he went to 
school. His education, however, was not neglected. 
He probably learned as much from his mother and 
sister as he would have done at school. His sports 
were almost wholly within doors, his playmates being 
his sister and her associates. These circumstances 
tended, no doulit, to foster that gendeness of dispo- 
sition, and that delicate consideration for the feelings 
of others, which are marked traits of his character. 

His uncle Sardis Birchard took the deepest interest 
in his education ; and as the boy's healtli had im- 
proved, and he was making good progress in his 
studies, he proposed to send him to college. His pre- 
paration commenced with a tutor at home; bit he 
was afterwards sent for one year to a professor in the 
Wesleyan University, in Middletovvn, Conn. He en- 
tered Kenyon College in 1838, at the age of sixteen, 
and was graduated at the head of his class in 1842. 

Lnmediately after his graduation he began the 
study of law in the office of Thomas Sparrow, Esq., 
in Columbus. Finding his opportunities for study in 
Columbus somewhat limited, he determined to enter 
the Law School at Cambridge, Mass., where he re- 
mained two years. 

In 1845, after graduatmg at the Law School, he was 
admitted to the bar at Marietta, Ohio, and shortly 
afterward went into practice as an attorney-at-law 
with Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. Here he re- 
mained three years, acquiring but a limited practice, 
and apparently unambitious of distinction in his pro- 
fession. 

Li 1849 he moved to Cincmnati, where his ambi- 
tion found a new stimulus. For several years, how- 
ever, his progress was slow. Two events, occurring at 
this period, had a powerful influence upon his subse- 
quent life. One of these was his marrage with Miss 
Lucy Ware Webb, daughter of Dr. J^imes Webb, of 
Chilicothe; the other was his introduction to the Cin- 
ciniati Literary Club, a body embracing among its 
members suck men asHiief Justice Salmon P.Chase, 

4> 



Gen. John Pope, Gov. Edward F. Noyes, and many 
others hardly less distinguished in after life. The 
marriage was a fortunate one m every respect, as 
everybody knows. Not one of all the wives of our 
Presidents was more universally admired, reverenced 
and beloved than was Mrs. Hayes, and no one did 
more than she to reflect honor upon American woman- 
hood. The Literary Cluu brought Mr. Hayes into 
constant association with young men of high char- 
acter and noble aims, and lured him to display the 
qualities so long hidden by his bashfulness and 
modesty. 

\\\ 1856 he was nominated to the office of Judge of 
the Court of Common Pleas; but he declined to ac- 
cept the nomination. Two years later, the office of 
city solicitor becoming vacant, the City Council 
elected him for the unexpired term. 

Ill 1861, when the Rebellion broke out, he was at 
the zenith of his professional life. His rank at the 
bar was among the the first. But the news of the 
attack on Fort Sumpter found him eager to take up 
arms for the defense of his country. 

His military record was bright ard illustrious. In 
October, 186 1, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
in August, 1S62, promoted Colonel of the 79th Ohio 
regiment, but he refused to leave his old comrades 
and go among strangers. Subsequently, however, he 
was made Colonel of his old regiment. At the battle 
of South Mountain he received a wound, and while 
faint and bleeding displayed courage and fortitude 
that won admiration from all. 

Col. Hayes was detached from his regunent, after 
his recovery, to act as Brigadier-General, and placed 
in command of the celebrated Kanawlia division, 
and for gallant and meritorious services in the battles 
of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, he was 
promoted Brigadier-General. He was also brevetted 
Major-General, "for gallant and distinguished Fcrvices 
during the campaigns of 1864, in West Virginia." In 
the course of his arduous services, four horses were 
shot from under him, and he was wounded four times. 

In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to Congress, from 
the Second Ohio District, which had long been Dem- 
ocratic. He was not present during the campaign, 
and after his election was importuned to resign his 
commission in the army; but he finally declared, " I 
shall never come to Washington until I can come by 
the way of Richmond." He was re-elected in 1866. 

Ir. 1867, Gen Hayes was elected Governor of Ohio, 
over Hon. Allen G. Thurman, a popular Democrat. 
In 1869 was re-elected over George H. Pendleton. 
He was elected Governor for the third term in 1875. 

In 1876 he was the standard bearer of the Repub- 
lican Party in the Presidential contest, and after a 
hard long contest was chosen President, and was in 
augurated Monday, March 5, 1875. He served his 
full term, not, hcwever, with satisfaction to h'.s party, 
but his admit: 'stration was an average on,/^-. 



"♦- 



TiVENTIETIi PRESIDENT. 



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AMES A. GARFIELD, twen- 
tieth President of the United 
States, was born Nov. 19, 
1831, in the woods of Orange, 
Cuyahoga Co., O His par- 
'" ents were Abram and Eliza 
(Ballou) Garfield, both of New 
England ancestry and from fami- 
lies well known in the early his- 
tory of that section of our coun- 
try, but had moved to the Western 
Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settle- 
ment. 

The house in which James A. was 
born was not unlike the houses of 
poor Ohio farmers of that day. It 
.,ds about 20x30 feet, built of logs, with the spaces be- 
tween the logs filled with clay. His father was a 
nard working farmer, and he soon had his fields 
r.leared, an orchard planted, and a log barn built. 
The household comprised the father and mother and 
iheir four children — Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and 
}ames. In May, 1823, the father, from a cold con- 
tracted in helping to put out a forest fire, died. At 
this time James was about eighteen months old, and 
Thomas about ten years old. No one, perhaps, can 
tell how much James was indebted to his biother's 
coil and self sacrifice during the twenty years suc- 
ceeding liis father's death, but undoubtedly very 
much. He now lives in Michigan, and the two sis- 
ters live in Solon, O., near their birthplace. 

The early educational advantages young Garfield 
enjoyed were very limited, yet he made the most of 
;hem. He labored at farm work for others, did car- 
penter work, chopped wood, or did anything- that 
would Ijring in a few dollars to aid his widowed 
mother in he- =trnggles to keep the little family to- 



gether. Nor was Gen. Garfield ever ashamed of his 
origin, and he never forgot the friends of his strug- 
gling childhood, youth and manhood, neither did they 
ever forget him. When in the highest seats of honor, 
the humblest fiiend of his boyhood was as kindly 
greeted as ever. The poorest laborer was sure of the 
sympathy of one who had known all the bitterness 
of want and the sweetness of bread earned by the 
sweat of the brow. He was ever the simple, plain, 
modest gentleman. 

The highest ambition of young Garfield until he 
was about sixteen years old was to be a captain of 
a vessel on Lake Erie. He was anxious to go aboard 
a vessel, which his mother strongly opposed. She 
finally consented to his going to Cleveland, with the 
understanding, however, that he should try to obtain 
some other kind of employment. He walked all the 
way to Cleveland. This was his first visit to the city. 
After making many applications for work, and trying 
to get aboard a lake vessel, and not meeting wiili 
success, he engaged as a driver for his cousin, Amos 
Letcher, on the Ohio & Pennsylvania Canal. He re- 
mained at this work but a short time when he went 
home, and attended the seminary at Chester for 
about three vears, when he entered Hiram and the 
Eclectic Institute, teaching a few terms of school in 
tlie meantime, and doing other work. This school 
was started by the Disciples of Christ in 1850, of 
which church he was then a member. He became 
janitor and bell-ringer in order to help pay his way. 
He then became both teacher and pupil. He soon 
" exhausted Hiram " and needed more ; hence, in the 
fall of 1854, he entered Williams College, from which 
he graduated in 1856, taking one of the highest hon- 
ors of his class. He afterwards returned to Hiram 
College as its President. As above stated, he early 
united with the Christian or Diciples Church at 
Hiram, and was ever after a devoted, zealous mem- 
ber, often preaching in its pulpit and places where 
he happened to be. Dr. Noah Porter, President of 
Yale College, says of him in reference to his religion : 



•^» 



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96 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



T 



" President Garfield was more than a man of 
strong moral and religious convictions. His whole 
history, from boyhood to the last, shows that duty to 
man and to God, and devotion to Christ and life and 
faith and spiritual commission were controlling springs 
of his being, and to a more than usual degree. In 
my judgment there is no more interesting feature of 
his character than his loyal allegiance to the body of 
Christians in which he was trained, and the fervent 
sympathy which he ever showed in their Christian 
communion. Not many of the few 'wise and mighty 
and noble who are called' show a similar loyalty to 
the less stately and cultured Christian comnmnions 
in which they have been reared. Too often it is true 
that as they step upward in social and political sig- 
nificance they step upward from one degree to 
another in some of the many types of fashionable 
Christianity. President Garfield adhered to the 
church of his mother, the church in which he was 
trained, and in which he served as a pillar and an 
evangelist, and yet with the largest and most unsec- 
larian charity for all 'who loveour Lord in sincerity.'" 

Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with Miss 
Lucretia Rudolph, Nov. i r, 1858, who proved herself 
worthy as the wife of one whom all the world loved and 
mourned. To them were born seven children, five of 
whom are still living, four boys and one girl. 

Mr. Garfield made his first political speeches in 1856, 
in Hiram and the neighboring villages, and three 
years later he began to speak at county mass-meet- 
ings, and became the favorite speaker wherever he 
was. During this year he was elected to the Ohio 
Senate. He also began to study law at Cleveland, 
and in 1861 was admitted to the bar. The great 
Rebellion broke out in the early part of this year, 
and Mr. Garfield at once resolved to fight as he had 
talked, and enlisted to defend the old flag. He re- 
ceived his commission as Lieut. -Colonel of the Forty- 
second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Lrfantry, Aug. 
14,1861. He was immediately put into active ser- 
vice, and before he had ever seen a gun fired in ac'.ion, 
was placed in command of four regiments of infantry 
and eight companies of cavalry, charged with the 
work of driving out of his native State the officer 
(Humphrey Marshall) reputed to be the ablest of 
those, not educated to war whom Kentucky had given 
to the Rebellion. This work was bravely and speed- 
ily accomplished, although against great odds. Pres- 
ident Lincoln, on his success commissioned him 
Brigadier-General, Jan. 10, 1862; and as "he had 
been the youngest man in the Ohio Senate two years 
before, so now he was the youngest General in the 
army." He was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloh, 
in its operations around Corinth and its march through 
Alabama. He was then detailed as a member of the 
General Court-Martial for the trial of Gen. Fitz-John 
Porter. He was tlien ordered to report to Gen. Rose- 
crans, and was assigned to the "Chief of Staff." 

The military b^story of Gen. Garfield closed with 



his brilliant services at Chickamauga, where he won 
the stars of the Major-General. 

Without an effort on his part Gen. Garfield was 
elected to Congress in the fall of 1862 from the 
Nineteenth District of Ohio. This section of Ohio 
had been represented in Congress for si.xty years 
mainly by two men — Elisha Whittlesey and Joshua 
R. Giddings. It was not without a struggle that he 
resigned his place in the army. At the time he en- 
tered Congress he was the youngest member in that 
body. There he remained by successive re- 
elections until he was elected President in 1880. 
Of his labors in Congress Senator Hoar says : " Since 
the year 1864 you cannot think of a question which 
has been debated in Congress, or discussed before a 
tribunel of the American people, in regard to which 
you will not find, if you wish instruction, the argu- 
ment on one side stated, in almost every instance 
better than by anybody else, in some speech made in 
the House of Representatives or on the hustings by 
Mr. Garfield." 

Upon Jan. 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was elected to 
the U. S. Senate, and on the eighth of June, of tiie 
same year, was nominated as the candidate of his 
party for President at the great Chicago Convention. 
He was elected in the following November, and on 
March 4, 1S81, was inaugurated. Probably no ad- 
ministration ever opened its existence under brighter 
auspices than that of President Garfield, and every 
day it grew in favor with the peo)jle, and by the first 
of July lie had completed all the initiatory and pre- 
liminary work of his administration and was prepar- 
ing to leave the city to meet his friends at Williams 
College. While on his way and at the depot, in com- 
pany with Secretary Blaine, a man stepped behind 
him, drew a revolver, and fired directly at his back. 
The President tottered and fell, and as he did so tlie 
assassin fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the 
left coat sleeve of his victim, but in.licting nofeirthei 
injury. It has been very truthfully said that this was 
" the shot that was heard round the world " Never 
liefore in the history of the Nation had anything oc- 
curred which so nearly froze the blood of the people 
for tlie moment, as this awful deed. He was smit- 
ten on the brightest, gladdest day of all his life, and 
was at the summit of his power and hope. For eighty 
davs, all during the hot months of July and August, 
he lingered and suffered. He, however, remained 
master of himself till the last, and by his magnificent 
bearing was teaching tlie country and the world llie 
noblest of human lessons — how to live grandly in the 
very clutch of death. Great in life, he was sur|Mss- 
ingly great in death. He passed serenely away Sept. 
19, 1883, at Elberon, N. J , on the very bank of tlie 
ocean, where he had been taken shortly previous. The 
world wept at his death, as it never had done on the 
death of any other man who had ever lived upon it. 
The murderer was duly tried, found guilty and exe- 
cuted, in one year after he committed the foul deed. 
•►- 



;* 



TIVENTY-FIRST PHESIDENT. 



99 




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HESTER A. ARTHUR, 

|>) twenty-first Presi'^.^iu of the 

^'^ United States, was born in 

P ranklin Cour ty, Vermont, on 

thefiftiiof Odober, 1830, and is 

the oldest of a family of two 

sons and five daughters. His 

father was the Rev. Dr. William 

Arthur, aBaptistd.rgymaniWho 

emigrated to tb.s country from 

1^ the county Ant.im, Ireland, in 

his i8th year, and died in 1875, in 

Newtonville, neai Albany, after a 

long and successful ministry. 

Young Arthur was educated at 
Union College, St henectady, where 
he excelled in all his studies. Af- 
ter his graduation he taught school 
in Vermont for two years, and at 
the expiration of that time came to 
New York, with $500 in his pocket, 
and entered the office of ex-Judge 
E. D. Culver as student. After 
being admitted to the bar he formed 
a partnership with his intimate friend and room-mate, 
Henry D. Gardiner, with the intention of practicing 
in the West, and for three months they roamed about 
in the Western States in search of an eligible site, 
but in the end returned to New York, where they 
hung out their shingle, and entered upon a success- 
ful career almost from the start. General Arthur 
soon afterward nvirpfd the daughter of Lieutenant 



Herndon, of the United States Navy, who was lost ar 
sea. Congress voted a gold medal to his widow in 
recognition of the bravery he displayed on that occa- 
sion. Mrs. Arthur died shortly before Mr. Arthur's 
nomination to the Vice Presidency, leaving two 
children. 

Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal celebrity 
in his first great case, the famous Lemmon suit, 
brought to recover possession of eight slaves who had 
been declared free by Judge Paine, of the Superior 
Court of New York City. It was in 1852 that Jon. 
athan Lemmon, of Virginia, went to New York with 
his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas, when 
they were discovered and freed. The Judge decided 
that they could not be held by the owner under the 
Fugitive Slave Law. A howl of rage went up from 
the South, and the Virginia Legislature authorized tjie 
Attorney General of that State to assist in An appeal, 
Wm. M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur were employed 
to represent the People, and they won their case, 
which then went to the Supreme Court of the United 
States. Charles O'Conor here espoused the cause 
of the slave-holders, but he too was beaten by Messrs. 
Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was taken toward 
the emancipation of the black race. 

Another great service was rendered by General 
Arthur in the same cause in 1856. Lizzie Jennings, 
a respectable colored woman, was put off a Fourth 
Avenue car with violence after she had paid her fare. 
General Arthur sued on her behalf, and secured a 
verdict of $500 damages. The next day the compa- 
ny issued an order to admit colored persons to ride 
on their cars, and the other car companies quickly 



f 



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•►Hl^ 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



4 



followed their example. Before that the Sixth Ave- 
nue Company ran a few special cars for colored per- 
sons and the other lines refused to let them ride at all. 

General Arthur was a delegate to the Convention 
at Saratoga that founded the Republican party. 
Previous to the war he was Judge-Advocate of the 
Second Brigade of the State of New York, and Gov- 
ernor Morgan, of that State, appointed him Engineer- 
in-Chief of his staff. In 1861, he was made Inspec- 
tor General, and soon afterward became Quartermas- 
ter-General. In each of these offices he rendered 
great service to the Government during the war. At 
the end of Governor Morgan's term he resumed the 
practice of the law, forming a partnership with Mr. 
Ransom, and then Mr. Phelps, the District Attorney 
of New Yoik, was added to the firm. The legal prac- 
tice of this well-known firm was very large and lucra- 
tive, each of the gentlemen composing it were able 
lawyers, and possessed a splendid local reputation, if 
not indeed one of national extent. 

He always took a leading part in State and city 
politics. He was appointed Collector of the Port of 
New York by President Grant, Nov. 21 1872, to suc- 
ceed Thomas Murphy, and held the office until July, 
20, 1878, when he was succeeded by Collector Merritt. 

Mr. Arthur was nominated on the Presidential 
ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the famous 
National Republican Convention held at Chicago in 
June, 1880. This was perhaps the greatest political 
convention that ever assembled on the continent. It 
was composed of the leading jx)liticians of the Re- 
publican party, all able men, and each stood firm and 
fought vigorously and with signal tenacity for their 
respective candidates that were before the conven- 
tion for the nomination. Finally Gen. Garfield re- 
ceived the nomination for President and Gen. Arthur 
for Vice-President. The campaign which followed 
was one of the most animated known in the history of 
our country. Gen. Hancock, the standard-bearer of 
the Democratic party, was a popular man, and his 
party made a valiant fight for his election. 

Finally the election came and the country's choice 
was Garfield and Arthur. They were inaugurated 
March 4, 1881, as President and Vice-President. 
A few months only had passed ere the newly chosen 
President was the victim of the assassin's bullet. Then 
came terrible weeks of suffering, — those moments of 
anxious suspense, when the hearts of all civilized na- 



tions were throbbing in unison, longing for the re- 
covery of the noble, the good President. The remark- 
able patience that he manifested during those hours 
and weeks, and even months, of the most terrible suf- 
fering man has often been called upon to endure, was 
seemingly more than human. It was certainly God- 
like. During all this period of deepest anxiety Mr. 
Arthur's every move was watched, and be it said to his 
credit that his every action displayed only an earnest 
desire that the suffering Garfield might recover, to 
serve the remainder of the term he had so auspi- 
ciously begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested 
in deed or look of this man, even though the most 
honored ]X)sition in the world was at any moment 
likely to fall to him. 

At last God in his mercy relieved President Gar- 
field from farther suffering, and the world, as never 
before in its history over the death of any other 
man, wept at his bier. Then it became the duty of 
the Vice President to assume the responsibilities of 
the high office, and he took the oath in New York, 
Sept. 20, 188 1. The position was an embarrassing 
one to him, made doubly so from the facts that all 
eyes were on him, anxious to know what he would do, 
what policy he would pursue, and who he would se- 
lect as advisers. The duties of the office had been 
greatly neglected during the President's long illness, 
and many important measures were to be immediately 
decided by him ; and still farther to embarrass him he 
did not fail to realize under what circumstances he 
became- President, and knew the feelings of many on 
this point. Under these trying circumstances President 
Arthur took the reins of the Government in his own 
hands ; and, as embarrassing as were the condition of 
affairs, he happily surprised the nation, actmg so 
wisely that but few criticised his administration. 
He served the nation well and faithfully, until the 
close of his administration, March 4, 1885, and was 
a popular caTididate before his party for a second 
term. His name was ably presented before the con- 
vention at Chicago, and was received with great 
favor, and doubtless but for the personal popularity 
of one of the opposing candidates, he would have 
been selected as the standard-bearer of his party 
for another campaign. He retired to private life car- 
rying with him the best wishes of the American peo- 
ple, whom he had served in a manner satisfactory 
to them and with credit to himself. 




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TWENTY-SECONn PRESIDENT. 



103 




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TEPHEN GROVER CLEVE- 
LAND, the twenty- second Pres- 
ident of the United States, was 
bora in 1837, in the obscure 
town of Caldwell, Essex Co., 
N. J., and in a little two-and-a- 
half-story white house which is still 
standing, characteristically to mark 
^*'i the humble birth-place of one of 
America's great men in striking con- 
trast with the Old World, where all 
men high in office must be high in 
origin and born in the cradle of 
wealth. When the subject of this 
sketch was three years of age, his 
father, who was a Presbyterian min- 
ister, with a large family and a small salary, moved, 
by way of the Hudson River and Erie Canal, to 
Fayetteville, in search of an increased income and a 
larger field of work. Fayetteville was then the most 
straggling of country villages, about five miles from 
Pompey Hill, where Governor Seymour was born. 

At the last mentioned place young Grover com- 
menced going to school in the "good, old-fashioned 
way," and presumably distinguished himself after the 
manner of all village boys, in doing the things he 
ought not to do. Such is the distinguishing trait of 
all geniuses and independent thinkers. When he 
arrived at the age of 14 years, he had outgrown the 
capacity of the village school and expressed a most 



emphatic desire to be sent to an academy. To this 
his father decidedly objected. Academies in those 
days cost money; besides, his father wanted him to 
become self-supporting by the quickest possible 
means, and this at that time in Fayetteville seemed 
to be a position in a country store, where his father 
and the large family on his hands had considerable 
influence. Grover was to be paid $50 for his services 
the first year, and if he proved trustworthy he was to 
receive $100 the second year. Here the lad com- 
menced his career as salesman, and in two years he 
had earned so good a reputation for trustworthiness 
that his employers desired to retain him for an in- 
definite length of time. Otherwise he did not ex- 
hibit as yet any particular " flashes of genius " or 
eccentricities of talent. He was simply a good boy. 
But instead of remaining with this firm in Fayette- 
ville, he went with the family in their removal to 
Clinton, where he had an opportunity of attending a 
high school. Here he industriously pursued his 
studies until the family removed with him to a point 
on Black River known as the " Holland Patent," a 
village of 500 or 600 people, 15 miles north of Utica, 
N. Y. At this place his father died, after preaching 
but three Sundays. This event broke up the family, 
and Grover set out for New York City to accept, at a 
small salary, the position of " under-teacher " in an 
asylum for the blind. He taught faithfully for two 
years, and although he obtained a good reputation in 
this capacity, he concluded that teaching was not his 



-»► 



1= 



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■•►HI 



S. GROVE R CLEVELAND. 



r 



calling for life, and, reversing the traditional order, 
he left the city to seek his fortune, instead of going 
to a city. He first thought of Cleveland, Ohio, as 
there was some charm in that name for him; but 
before proceeding to that place he went to Buffalo to 
usk the advice of his uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a noted 
stock-breeder of that place. The latter did not 
speak enthusiastically. "What is it you want to do, 
my boy?" he asked. "Well, sir, I want to study 
law," was the reply. " Good gracious ! " remarked 
the old gentleman ; " do you, indeed ? What ever put 
that into your head.' How much money have you 
got.?" "Well, sir, to tell the truth, I haven't got 
any." 

After a long consultation, his uncle offered him a 
place temporarily as assistant herd- keeper, at $50 a 
year, wiii'e iie could " look around." One day soon 
afterward he boldly walked into the office of Rogers, 
Bowen & Rogers, of Buffalo, and told them what he 
wanted. A number of young men were already en- 
gaged in the office, but Grover's persistency won, and 
he was finally permitted to come as an office boy and 
have the use of the law library, for the nominal sum 
of $3 or %\ a week. Out of tliis he had to pay for 
his board and washing. The walk to and from his 
uncle's was along and rugged one; and, although 
the first winter was a memorably severe one, his 
shoes were out of repair and his overcoat — he had 
none — yet he was nevertheless prompt and regular. 
On the first day of his service here, his senior em- 
ployer threw down a copy of Blackstone before him 
with a bang that made the dust fly, saying "That's 
where they all begin." A titter ran around the little 
circle of clerks and students, as they thought that 
was enough to scare young Grover out of his plans ; 
but in due time he mastered that cumbersome volume. 
Then, as ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleveland 
exhibited a talent for e.xecutiveness rather than for 
chasing principles through all their metaphysical 
possibilities. " Let us quit talking and go and do 
it," was practically his motto. 

The first public office to which Mr. Cleveland was 
elected was that of Sheriff of Erie Co., N. Y., in 
which Buffalo is situated; and in such capacity it fell 
to his duty to inflict capital punishment upon two 
criminals. In rSSi he was elected Mayor of the 
City of Buffalo, on the Democratic ticket, with es- 
pecial reference to the bringing about certain reforms 



in the administration of the municipal affairs of that 
city. In this office, as well as that of Sheriff, his 
performance of duty has generally been considered 
fair, with possibly a few exceptions which were fer- 
reted out and magnified during the last Presidential 
campaign. As a specimen of his plain language in 
a veto message, we quote from one vetoing an iniqui- 
tous street-cleaning contract: "This is a time for 
plain speech, and my objection to your action shall 
be plainly staled. I regard it as the culmination of 
a mos bare-faced, impudent and shameless scheme 
to betray the interests of the people and to worse 
than squander the people's money." The New York 
Sun afterward very highly commended Mr. Cleve- 
land's administration as Mayor of Buffalo, and there- 
upon recommended him for Governor of the Empire 
State. To the latter office he was elected in 1882, 
and his administration of the affairs of State was 
generally satisfactory. The mistakes he made, if 
any, were made very public throughout the nation 
after he was nominated for President of the United 
States. For this high office he was nominated July 
IT, 1884, by the National Democratic Convention at 
Chicago, when other competitors were Thomas F. 
Bayard, Roswell P. Flower, Thomas A. Hendricks, 
Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G. Thurman, etc.: and he 
was elected by the people, by a majority of about a 
thousand, over the brilliant and long-tried Repub- 
lican statesman, James G. Blaine. President Cleve- 
land resigned his office as Governor of New York in 
January, 18S5, in order to prepare for his duties as 
the Chief Executive of the United States, in which 
capacity his term commenced at noon on the 4th of 
March, 1885. For his Cabinet officers he selected 
the following gentlemen: For Secretary of State, 
Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware ; Secretary of the 
Treasury, Daniel Manning, of New York ; Secretary 
of War, William C. Endicott, of Massachusetts ; 
Secretary of the Navy, William C. Whitney, of New 
York; Secretary of the Interior, L. Q. C. Lamar, of 
Mississippi; Postmaster-General, William F. Vilas, 
of Wisconsin ; Attorney-General, A. H. Garland, of 
Arkansas. 

The silver question precipitated a controversy be- 
tween those who were in favor of the continuance of 
silver coinage and those who were opposed, Mr. 
Cleveland answering for the latter, even before his 
inauguration. 





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-•►HI 



TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT. 



107 ') 







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NJAMIN HARRISON, the 
twonty-lliirt] President, is 
the descendant of one of the 
liistorical families of this 
country. The head of tlie 
family was a Major General 
Harrison, one of Oliver 
Cionivfell's trusted follow- 
gliters. In the zenith of Crom- 
iVcr it became tlie duty of tliis 
Hanison to participate in the trial of 
Charios I. ami afterward to sign the 
deatli warrant of tlie kin<i;. He subse- 
quently paid for tliis with his life, being 
hung Oct. 13, IGGO. His descendants 
came to America, and the nest of the 
family that appears in history is Benja- 
min Harrison, of Virginia, great-grand- 
father of the subject of this sketch, and 
after whom he was named. Benjamin Harrison 
was a nii'iiilici' of Liie Continental Congress during 
the years 1 77-1-5-G, and was f)ne of the original 
signers of the Declaration of iiKk'pendence. He 
was three tiir.cs elected Governor of Virginia. 
Gen. William Ibniy Ihuilson, liie son of tlie 



distinguished patriot of the Revolution, after a suc- 
cessful career as a soldier during the War of 1812, 
and with a clean record as Governor of the North- 
western Territory, was elected President of the 
United States in 1840. His career was cut short 
by death witliin one month after his inauguration. 
President Harrison was born at North Bend, 
Hamilton Co., Ohio, Aug. 20, 1833. His life up to 
the time of iiis graduation by the Miami University, 
at Oxford, Ohio, was the uneventful one of a coun- 
try lad of a famil}' of small means. His father was 
able to give him a good education, and nothing 
more. He became engaged while at college to the 
daughter of Dr. Scott, Principal of a female school 
at Oxford. After graduating he determined to en- 
ter upon the study of tlie law. He went to Cin- 
cinnati and then read law for two years. At the 
expiration of tliat time young Harrison received the 
only inheritance of his life; his aunt dying left him 
a lot valued at $800. He regarded this legacy as a 
fortune, and decided to get married at once, take 
this money and go to some Eastern town and be- 
gin tiie practice of law. He sold his lot, and with 
the nione>' in his pocket, he started out with his 
young wife to fight f(.>i' a place in the world. He 



Y 

n 108 



BENJAMIN HARRISON. 



-••►HI— =4* 



decided to go to Indianapolis, which was even at 
that time a town of promise. He met with slight 
encouragement at first, making scarcely anything 
the first j-ear. He worked diligently, applying him- 
self closely to his calling, built up an extensive 
practice and took a leading rank in the legal pro- 
fession. He is the father of two children. 

In 1860 Mr. Harrison was nominated for the 
position of Supreme Court Reporter, and then be- 
gan his experience as a stump speaker. He can- 
vassed the State thoroughly, and was elected by a 
handsome majority. In 1862 he raised the 17th 
Indiana Infantry, and was chosen its Colonel. His 
regiment was composed of the rawest of material, 
l)ut Col. Harrison employed all his time at first 
mastering military tactics and drilling his men, 
when he therefore came to move toward the East 
with Sherman his regiment was one of the best 
drilled and organized in liie army. At Resaca he 
especially distinguished himself, and for his bravery 
at Peachtree Creek he was made a Brigadier Gen- 
eral, Gen. Hooker speaking of him in the most 
complimentar}' terms. 

During the absence of Gen. Harrison in the field 
the Supreme Court declared the ofHee of the Su- 
preme Court Rei)orter vacant, and another person 
was elected to the position. From the time of leav- 
ing Indiana with his regiment until the fall of 1864 
he had taken no leave of absence, but having been 
nominated that year for the same office, he got a 
thirty-day leave of absence, and during that time 
made a brilliant canvass of the .State, and was elected 
for another terra. He then started to rejoin Sher- 
man, but on the way was stricken down with scarlet 
fe-ver, and after a most trying siege made his way 
to the front in time to participate in the closing 
incidents of the war. 

In 1868 Gen. Harrison declined a re-election as 
reporter, and resumed the practice of law. In 1876 
he was a candidate' for Governor. Although de- 
feated, the brilliant campaign he made won for him 
a National reputation, and he was much sought, es- 
pecially in the East, to make speeches. In 1880, 
as usual, he took an active part in the campaign, 
and was elected to the United States Senate. Here 
he served six years, and was known as one of the 
ablest men, best lawyers and strongest debaters in 



that body. With the expiration of his Senatorial 
term he returned to the practice of his profession, 
becoming the head of one of the strongest firms in 
the State. 

The political campaign of 1888 was one of the 
most memorable in the history of our country. The 
convention which assembled in Chicago in June and 
named Mr. Harrison as the chief standard bearer 
of the Republican party, was great in every partic- 
ular, and on this account, and the attitude it as- 
sumed upon the vital questions of the day, chief 
among which was the tariff, awoke a deep interest 
in the campaign throughout the Nation. Shortly 
after the nomination delegations began to visit Mr. 
Harrison at Indianapolis, his home. This move- 
ment l)ecame popular, and from all sections of the 
country societies, clubs and delegations journeyed 
thither to pay their respects to the distinguished 
statesman. The poi)Lilarity of these was greatly 
increased on account of the remarkable speeches 
made by Mr. Harrison. He spoke daily all throngli 
tlie summer and autumn to these visiting delega- 
tions, and so varied, masterly and eloquent were 
his speeches that tliey at once jjlaced him in the 
foremost rank of American orators and statesmen. 
On account of his eloquence as a speaker and his 
power as a debater, he was called upon at an un- 
commonly early age to take part in the discussion 
of the great questions that then began to agitate 
the country. He was an uncompromising anti- 
slavery man, and was matched against some of the 
most eminent Democratic speakers of his State. 
No man who felt the touch of his blade desired to 
be pitted wiih him again. With all his eloquence 
as an orator he never spoke for oratorical effect, 
but his words always went like bullets to the mark.. 
He is purely Amei'ican in his ideas and is a splen- 
did type of the American statesman. Gifted with 
quick perception, a logical mind and a ready tongue, 
he is one of the most distinguished impromptu 
speakers in the Nation. jNlany of these speeches 
sparkled with the rarest of eloquence and contained 
arguments of greatest weight. Many of his terse 
statements have already become aphorisms. Origi- 
n.<il in thought, prer-ise in logic, terse in statement, 
^■et withal faultless in eloquence, he is recogTiized as 
the sound statesman :uul brilliant orator of the dav. 



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1 DAVID BUTLER. M 





I HE HON. DAVID BUT- 
LER. Closely connected 
with the early history 
and the development of 
Nebraska and associated 
with it at perhaps the most 
critical period of its his- 
tory, the gentleman whose biogra- 
phy is here sketched must ever be 
remembered by the citizens of the 
State in that association. Cliosen 
by an overwhelming majority in 
186G to be the first to occupy the 
Governor's chair under the new 
organization ; re-elected with en- 
thusiasm to the same ofHce in 
18G8, and yet again honored by 
the confidence of the people in 1870, he has done 
perhaps as much as any one individual in safely 
launching the "Ship of State," Nebraska, upon her 
unparalleled voyage of ever-growing success. 

Gov. Butler was born in Greene County, Ind., 
near the town of Linton, Dec. 15, 1829. He is the 
eldest son of ten children, of whom six survive. 
The grandfather of our subject, Thomas Butler, 
was a native of Virginia, and removed to Indiana 
and became one of the earliest pioneers of that Ter- 
ritory. As the country developed he was promi- 
nently identified with the various enterprises that 
helped to that end, and enjoyed the greatest confi- 
dence and respect of all who knew him. The maiden 
name of his wife was Mary Robinson. 

The father of our subject was born in the year 
1809, was reared upon the pioneer farm of his 



father, and grew up amid surroundings that would 
to-day be anything but congenial by reason of the 
primitive condition. He became an enterprising 
and prosperous farmer, and also dealt very exten- 
sively in cattle. He became the husband of Nancy 
Christy, the daughter of Joseph Christy, Esq. Like 
her father, she was born in North Carolina. 

The early life and boyhood of our subject were 
spent amid agricultural surroundings, and such 
education as he obtained was received first in a 
private school, where he w.as prepared for the pub- 
lic institution, in both of which he made rapid prog- 
ress, and drank as deeply as was permitted at the 
fountain of knowledge. He remained upon the 
farm until he was twenty-one years of age, but long 
before attaining his majority was a thorough, prac- 
tical farmer, and understood all that was necessary 
in regard to the management of stock. In his 
youth he had given promise of powers and intelli- 
gence, and though they lay dormant for many years, 
were bound to make themselves known and felt, as 
had been the case of the Virginian pioneer in In- 
to whom reference was made above. 

Upon attaining his ma;jority Mr. Butler began 
farming on his own account, supplementing the 
same by trading in cattle, which he drove through 
to Wisconsin, where they were at a premium, ow- 
ing to the fact that the country was just being 
opened up for settlement. He continued thus 
engaged until the year 1852, when he embarked in 
mercantile pursuits, retaining, however, his interest 
in his cattle trade. These engagements, although 
somewhat diverse, were not incompatible, and in 
them he was quite prosperous until the financial 



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112 



DAVID BUTLER. 



crash of 1857. He was a heavj' loser at that time 
in tlie failure of the Citizens' Bank at Gosport, 
Ind., and also through the inability' of many of 
his creditors to meet their payments from a like 
cause. He, however, struggled manfully against 
the relentless tide of ditliculty that threatened 
utter ruin, and fiually succeeded in paj-ing dollar 
for dollar of every liabilitj', with interest due. iVlr. 
Butler in early youth took an unusual interest in 
political questions, and proved that he possessed a 
grasp of mind and independence of character by 
forsaking the Democratic traditions of his father's 
house, and casting his first vote for the Republican 
party at its birth. In 1856 he was nominated b}' 
the Republicans of the Tvventieth District in Indiana 
for the State Senate. Not having had any politi- 
cal experience, and the opposition springing a third 
candidate, he was persuaded to withdraw before 
the election, not, however, without having made a 
spirited canvass, though a partial one. 

In the fall of 1859 Mr. Butler removed to Paw- 
nee City, Neb., and there associated himself with 
the Hon. W. B. Raper, and with that gentleman 
embarked again in business; but even here he re- 
tained his interest in the cattle trade, and was very 
shortly gratified to see his earnest efforts rewarded, 
and to be able to fill a larger place than had been 
possible before his trials in 1857. This partnership 
lasted until 18C1, when Mr. Butler was elected a 
member of the Territorial Legislature. 

In 1803 Mr. Butler was elected State Senator for 
a term of two years, representing the First District, 
which comprised the counties of Richardson, Paw- 
nee, Johnson, Gage, Clay, Jefferson, and all the un- 
organized territory lying to the westward. ~ Both 
in the House and Senate Mr. Butler made his 
mark, and did good service for his constituents 
and the State, and it was as a result of tl>e abilitj- 
then manifested and recognized, the personal worth 
and high character sustained by him, th.at he was 
nominated and by a large majority vote |)assed by 
the hand of the people to the highest chair of 
office within the gift of the people. 

Among the services rendered the State by Mr. 
Butkn' while in the l^egislature may be mentioned 
the introduction of a bill for the reapportioning of 
Nebraska, the passage of which he worked very 
hard to procure, but in Legislative halls as in every 
other the green-eyed monster of jealousy is bound 
to find admittance. It was so in this case, and to 
this was due the failure of our subject in spite of 
his hard work; but upon renewing the fight in the 
Senate he was successful, and the ))ill went through 
intact. 

As above noted Mr. Butler was elected Gover- 
nor in 18GG of the newl}- admitted State, and dur- 



ing his term of office managed the affairs of State 
so wisely and so well as to receive at both the two 
subsequent elections the expression of a grateful 
people by re-election to the same high office. While 
serving his second term as Governor, the Legislature 
committed to his care the delicate and laborious 
work of removing the capital from the cit^v of Omaha 
to a central position in the interior of the State, a 
part of Nebraska then almost uninhabited. This 
was successfully accomplished, and a State House, 
State University and Lunatic Asylum erected with- 
out the aid of legislative appropriations. The 
city of Lincoln with its public buildings is a monu- 
ment of Gov. Butler's financial sagaeitj' in the man- 
agement of affairs of State. 

After retiring from the Governorship Mr. Butler 
returned to and continued mercantile life, prosecut- 
ing the interest connected therewith even more 
extensively than before. He continued to make 
Pawnee City his headquarters until 1868, when he 
removed to Lincoln, the capital, residing there un- 
til 1874, when he located upon his present farm 
three miles west of Pawnee City. This beautiful 
property, which is known as the Uplands Stock 
Farm, comprises 320 acres, which is supplied 
with admirably arranged and substantially con- 
structed buOdings, such as would be needed for 
his purpose. Besides dealing in cattle, he raises 
and feeds quite a large number annually, wliile 
every winter considerable attention is paid to the 
fattening of cattle for the market. At one time 
he was a breeder of Short-horn cattle, and his 
farm was well stocked with thoroughbreds of the 
most favored breeds of both cattle and hogs. 

The marriage of Mr. Butler was celebrated in 
January 1800, when he was united with Miss 
Lydia Storey, of Bloomington, Ind. The family 
circle of Gov. Butler comprises four children, who 
bear the names subjoined: Violet E., Seth D., 
Darias and Paul. At all times our subject has 
taken a most active interest in the political and 
general interests of Nebraska, and h.as been unfail- 
ing in his efforts to advance the same. On the 
4th of September, 1888, he w.as nominated for 
Governor on the Union Labor ticket as their 
standard bearer, and stumped the State in behalf 
of the movement. He is a prominent member of 
the I. O. O. F., and is affiliated with Interior 
Lodge No. 9, at Pawnee City. (iov. Butler is a 
man of much reserve force, bright, clear intellect, 
possessing in no small measure the power that is 
indispensable in directing and managing enter- 
prises of magnitude. He is at all times a true gen- 
tleman, strong in friendship, ever genial, affable 
and courteous, both winning and retaining the ad- 
mhation, respect and friendship of his fellows. 




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^F^OBERT W, FURNAS,«- 






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'ON. ROBERT WILKIN- 
SON FURNAS was the 
second gentleman to re- 
ceive from the people of 
the State the high honor 
of being elected Gover- 
nor. He was chosen to fill this po- 
sition in the year 1873, and retired 
at the close of his terra, having 
earned the good-will, respect and 
admiration of the whole people by 
reason of his excellent administra- 
tion. He was born in Troy, Miami 
Co., Ohio, on the 5th of May, 1824. 
His parents were natives of .South 
Carolina, in which State also the grandfather had 
been born. His great-grandfather was a member of 
a good old English famil}', and was born at Stand- 
ing Stone, in the count}' of Cumberland, England. 
He was brought up and educated in his native place, 
and when a J'oung man was there married, and then 
started with his wife for the New World. They 
landed in South Carolina about the year 1762. 
Thomas Furnas, the third child of John and Mary 
Furnas, was born in 17G8, six years after the settle- 
ment of his parents in America, as above noted. 
William Furnas was the fifth child and only son of 
Thomas and Esther Furnas. The chosen occupa- 
tion of this interesting family for several genera- 
tions has been that of farming. The chief institu- 
tion, at that time, of the South, in connection with 
all labor, especial!}' field work, was that of slaverj', 
and the members of the early generations of this 



family were most conscientious members of the 
Quaker Church, which looked upon it as an abomi- 
nation. This was the occasion finally of their re- 
moval to Ohio, which they did in 1804, settling in 
the Miami Valley, [t was in the home there estab- 
lished that the subject of this sketch was born. He 
is the eldest of a family of three children, and the 
only one now living. His twin brother died in in- 
fancy, and his younger sister at the age of fifteen. 

In 1832 the parents of our subject were stricken 
down by the ravages of that dreaded plague, the 
cholera, which swept over the country at that time, 
taking in its course, old and young, rich and poor, 
without distinction. In this trying time the natural 
guardians of the life of our subject, the directors 
of his footsteps, the instructors of his life, were re- 
moved, and he was left to struggle and battle in 
the conflict of life unaided by them. Then, when 
the clouds seemed darkest and thickest, his grand- 
father stepped forward in order to supply, at least 
in some measure, the place thus left vacant, and 
with him he remained until he reached his seven- 
teenth j'ear, working on the farm during the sum- 
mer, and during the winter attending school. He 
seized every opportunitj' afforded for the increase 
of knowledge, and has ever continued to add to his 
store, and his reputation is that of a well-read, 
thoroughly educated gentleman. 

As soon as our subject attained the above-men- 
tioned age, he went to Covington, Ky., and there 
served an apprenticeship to the printing business, in 
the office of the Licking Valley Beyisier, published 
by Richard C. Langdon. It was at that time one 



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ROBERT WILKINSON FURNAS. 



4 



of the most noted newspapers, and its editor, one 
of tlie first newspaper men in the West or South. 
Young Furnas remained in this office until 1843, 
and acquired a large store of practical knowledge 
of trade, general business, and life, as well as con- 
siderable information upon all ordinary topics, be- 
sides the specific attainment desired in the knowl- 
edge of the business. The benefit of this schooling 
is perhaps clearly traceable even in the present, and 
the immediate past. Leaving Covington he pro- 
ceeded to Cincinnati, opened a book and job office, 
and continued in the printing business at that place 
for two years with good success. 

Near the close of that time, and in the year 1 845, 
our subject was united in marriage with Mary S. 
McComas, a native of Ohio, and a most excellent 
lady, one who has the power and ability to assist 
him in life, and fitted to grace any position in so- 
ciety, however high. There have been born of this 
union five children. 

One of the first public engagements entered into 
bv our subject when he became a voter was when, in 
C()mi)any with several other young men, he felt the 
necessity of education as the means necessary to 
power iu this life in any of its relations. They 
bound themselves to advocate the building of the 
school-house in Troy, and a lot was reserved for 
that purpose. Older citizens, perhaps not so well 
alive to the progressive spirit of the age, thought it 
unnecessary, and thiew in the way a thousand ob- 
jections. The young men were defeated at the 
poles the first year, but nothing daunted continued 
the contest, and the next year carried their point 
by a small majority, with the result that a $17,000 
school-house was erected, and has stood a monu- 
ment to the enterprise and foresight of these young 
men. Upon the success of the above undertaking, 
Mr. Furnas was elected one of the School Directors, 
which he continued to be until his removal to Ne- 
braska, when he resigned. 

Our subject was only twenty-three years of age 
when he became proprietor of the Troy Times, an 
organ of the Whig party, of which also he was the 
editor and publisher, and by his trenchant articles 
did much service in the Taylor campaign. In 1852 
he sold this paper, and was engaged first as Freight 
and Ticket Agent, afterward as conductor for the 



Dayton & Michigan Railroad, continuing until 1856. 
In March of that year he emigrated to this State, 
established himself at Brownville, and in Jul}^ of 
the same year established the Brownville Advertiser, 
and entered the arena of political life. He became 
a very zealous advocate of the agricultural and edu- 
cational interests of the State, and in the fall of 
that year was elected to the Territorial Legislature. 
Here the masterly qualities that have since distin- 
guished him before the State were made manifest. 
During his term of office, as noted in the foregoing 
paragraph, our subject originated the schoolsystem 
of the Territory, which was modeled in its general 
features after the system of Ohio. In the j'ear 1858 
he was re-elected and again took his seat in the 
Legislature. In 1861 he was elected Chief Clerk, 
and early in the spring was commissioned Colonel 
in the United States Regular Army, and received 
orders from the Secretarj' of War to organize the 
loyal Indians and have them mustered into the serv- 
ice. He was successful in his mission and raised 
three regiments. These were fully equipped, and 
Col. Furnas commanded them in the Southern ex- 
pedition under Gen. Blunt, which took in the bor- 
ders of Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian 
Territorj'. Resigning his commission after having 
done splendid work with his command, he returned 
and went to work to recruit, and established the 
2d Nebraska Cavalry, and added fresh glories to 
the already brilliant record of military achieve- 
ment. With this command he served under Gen. 
Sully in the now renowned "Sullj^ expedition" 
against the Sioux Indians, wherein they were pursued 
to British Columbia. 

The next four years our subject was employed 
as Indian Agent for the Omaha and Winnebago 
Indians, which he resigned to take his place at the 
helm of the State as already recorded. Among the 
many honors worn so gracefull3', and in such manly 
spirit, are: Regent of the State University, Presi- 
dent of the State Board of Agriculture, President 
of the State Agricultural Societ}', President of the 
State Soldiers' Union, Vice President of the National 
Pomological Association, Past Grand Master of 
the I. O. O. F., Past Grand High Priest, and Past 
Gr.and Commander of the Masonic bodies of the 
State of Nebraska. 



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ILAS (iARBKK. Tliis ,U> 
tingiiished and well-known cit- 
izen of Nebraska served tliu 
/^^'■■-fiW'i State most acceptably as its 
Y' [(v^'o*-J/'\ Governor for tlie two terms, 
Vi^UjbrO' >, from ig74 to 1878. He was 
born in Logan County, Oliio, 
21, 1833. There he passed 
loyhood days, attending the 
common schools and developing 
into a sturdy and promising young 
man. At the early age of seven- 
teen years he was determined to 
strike out for himself and see what 
he could do toward making his own 
living. He was ambitious, yet we 
very much doubt whether the beard- 
less young man who turned his face Westward in 
1850 ever had the remotest idea that he would 
himself some day be at the head of a great com- 
monwealth, that would be created still furtiicr 
toward the setting sun. At that time he came into 
Iowa, which was receiving such floods of emigrants 
from the older settled States. He located in Claj'- 
ton Count3' and engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
the occupation which has done so much toward de 
veloping some of the best men our Nation has 
produced. His life for some years was uneventful, 



yi-'t he was Ijcing discipiiufd and iircpared for the 
honorable and useful positions he was to lill in 
after years. lie took an ;ictive interest in all pub- 
lic matters, and was a well-inforined, hard-wqrkiu"- 
j'oung man. 

When the stars and stripes which had so Ion" 
floated above P't. Sumter were fired upon and the 
little garrison compelled to surrender, the patriot- 
ism of the North was aroused as never before in the 
history of the country. Thousands of the best 
men of the Nation immediately volunteered their 
services to aid in suppressing the monstrous rebell- 
ion, which had replaced the American banner with 
the stars and bars. Among this vast army of pa- 
triotic men might have been found Silas Garber. 
He was mustered into the 3d Missouri Infantry, 
which was known as the famous Lyon Regiment. 
He served with this regiment for one year, when 
he was mustered out and returned to Clayton 
County. He, however, did not long remain in tiie 
quiet of that peaceful section, for we soon again 
find him at the front. Now he is First Lieutenant 
of Company D, 27th Iowa Infantry, which he 
raised. His valiant services soon received recoo-ni- 
tion, and he was promoted to be Captain of the 
company, which position he faithfully and ably 
filled until the close of the war. He participated 
in all the battles of the Red River campaign, and 



•► 



120 



SILAS GARBER. 



Pleasant Hill., La., the battles of Old Oaks, Miss., 
Nashville, Tenn., and others under the command of 
Gen. A. J. Smith. 

Upon being mustered out of military service 
Capt. Garbcr returned to Clayton County, but soon 
thereafter went to California, where he passed the 
next four years. He came to Nebraska in the early 
part of 1870, and found a suitable location in Web- 
ster County, where he still resides, being the oldest 
resident in Red Cloud. He was indeed a pioneer 
of the Great West, for when he located in Webster 
County there were but two settlers in the count}'. 

Upon locating in Red Cloud and ever since Mr. 
Garber has taken a most important part in both 
her business and political affairs. He engaged in 
farming and merchandising, and is to-day Presi- 
dent of the Farmers' & Merchants' Banking Com- 



pany of that city, and also largely identified with 
its material interests. He was chosen the fust 
Probate Judge of the county, and also represented 
his district in the Legislature, and served for one 
year as Register of the United States Land Oflice 
at Lincoln. 

Capt. Garber became popular both with the pco 
pie and the politicians, and was nominated for 
Governor by the Republican Convention, which 
assembled at Lincoln Sept. 3, 1874, and was elected 
by a handsome majority. He served so acceptably 
that he was renominated by the convention which 
met Sept. 26, 1876. He was again endorsed at the 
polls in November, and served iintil the close of 
his term in 1878. He then retired to his home at 
Red Cloud, where he has since resided, n highly 
respected and useful citizen. 



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ALBINUS NA^X'E, 

Fourth Governor of the 
State of Nebraska, and in 
that connection the recip- 
ient of the confidence, ad- 
miration and highest es- 
teem of the people, not simply of 
.^ ^% Nebraska, but wherever his most ex- 
rSmfwife cellent administration is known. If, 
however, it be but borne in mind 
that Gov. Nance is a descendant of 
a long line of noble representatives 
of a certain Huguenot family, whose 
members were of the stamp and 
stuff of which martyrs and heroes 
are made, and therefore persons of thought, con- 
viction and strength of character, it is not surpris- 
ing that he should possess the same, which under 
the more happy regime of present government and 
liberality of opinion, should liring him into promi- 
nence and enable him in his high station to sustain 
a reputation mostbrill.ant. 

The ancestors of Gov. Nance on his father's side 
were of that number driven from France by the 
religious intolerance and persecution that followed 
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. With many 
others similarly situated they came to the New 
World and formed what became a very prosperous 
community in the State of North Carolina, their 
descendants moving North and Westward, ever 



in the vanguard of progress, as section after sec- 
tion and district after district were located. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 30th 
of March, 1848, at Lafayette, Stark Co., 111., and 
he is the oldest son of Dr. Hiram Nance, for many 
years one of the most successful physicians and 
able surgeons in Central Illinois. His settlement 
in that State dates back to 1836. It was the Far 
West of tliat period, and was filled with far more 
of danger, difficulty and hardship, and- demanded 
more spirit, liravery and self-denial than is con- 
ceivable in these days, when the bands of steel pass 
by the door of the AV^estern pioneer, and thus 
bring him into almost immediate contact with the 
great world of civilization. The ancestry of Gov. 
Nance upon the maternal side of the family was 
English. The maiden name of his mother was 
Sarah R. Smith, who was born in the State of Ohio. 
At the outbreak of the Civil AVar Albinus was 
but a lad of thirteen, but his patriotic soul was 
fired with loyal enthusiasm, and he chafed severely 
at the restraint of years tliat prevented him taking 
a more able stand in defense of the Union. At a 
later period of the struggle and when just sixteen 
years of age, he enlisted in the 9th Illinois Cavalry. 
The youthful defender and intrepid young soldier 
was mustered in contrary- to both the wishes and 
continued earnest protests of his parents and friends. 
But he could know no restraint in this matter, and 
was determined to follow the stars and stripes, 

«► M 4* 



^i^ 



'^ 124 



ALBINUS NANCE. 



and to defend them if so needed until the death. 

He continued in the service until the close of the 
war, and participated as an active combatant in 
tlie battles of Guntown, Hurricane Creek, Franklin, 
Nashville, Tupelo, Spring Hill and Columbia, Tenn. 
,IIe was one in the line that made one of the most 
daring and gallant charges at the battle of Nash- 
ville, and was slightly wounded in the same. 

The necessity for war being passed. Cavalryman 
Nance returned his saber to its sheath, and when 
the regiment disbanded returned to his home and 
became a student at Knox College, Galesburg, 111., 
where he took part of the classic course. Soon 
after leaving college he commenced the stud\' of 
law, and in 1870 was admitted to the bar bj' the 
Supreme Court of Illinois, after passing in the best 
possible manner a verj' rigid examination. 

Standing upon the threshold of life, the future 
stretching before him, animated by the grandeur 
of the prospect supplied by hope and ambition, the 
subject of our sketch was more fascinated and im- 
pressed by the opportunities and inducements held 
out by the newer country, and pursuant thereto he 
decided to come to Nebraska, as the most promis- 
ing of all the States and Territories of that mag- 
nificent field. This was in 1871. He secured a 
homestead in Polk County, devoting part of his 
time to farming, but the larger part to the practice 
of his chosen profession; but his experience was 
such as almost invariably follows — his, ability was 
speedily recognized and his legal work rapidly 
grew upon his hands, and before long he left his 
farm to sow and reap in other fields, .at once more 
congenial and lucrative. 

In accordance with the decision referred to in 
the above paragraph, Mr. Nance removed to Osce- 
ola, the county seat of Polk Countj', where before 
very long he was fully established in legal practice. 
In 1873 his friends submitted his name to the 
Republican Convention of the Thirteenth Dis- 
trict for Representative in the State Legislature. 
The counties of Adams, Butler, Cl.ay, Fillmore, 
Hamilton, Platte, Polk and York sent their dele- 
gates, and these gentlemen thus representing the 
interests of a large body of citizens in those coun- 
ties, comprised the convention to which his name 
was presented. There were seven candidates in 



all, and each candidate had his circle of friends; 
these were diligent in season and out of season to 
advance the interests of the several candidates. 
Naturally a long and exciting contest was speedily 
commenced, and watched with deep interest by all. 
In order that the reader may appreciate the posi- 
tion occupied by the young law3-er in the estima- 
tion of the people, and the impress his character 
anrl ability had already made, we would notice 
that after several ballots had been taken the an- 
nouncement was made that Albinus Nance had 
received the nomination, and thus began his po- 
litical career with a clear sun and a fair sky. 

The princiiMl opponent of our subject in the 
convention, urged b}- his friends, and spurred on by 
his own, doubtless, laudable ambition, determined to 
enter the field as an independent candidate, and 
the most strenuous efforts were made to defeat the 
regular candidate of the convention, but without 
success. The election showed a majority of about 
2,000 in favor of the subject of this writing. 

In 1876 Mr. Nance was one of the six delegates 
chosen by the Republican State Convention to 
represent this State at the National Convention at 
Cincinnati, and was by his fellows elected Chair- 
man of the delegation. During that year he was 
renominated for the Legislature, indeed, almost 
without opposition, and at the opening session of 
the Legislative body he was elected Speaker of the 
House. If he had made a reputation and record as 
a member, he more than established it, and added 
fresh luster in his more advanced position, thus 
necessarily bringing himself before the people, who 
at once recognized in him one worthy of additional 
honors. In 1878 the Republican State Convention 
nominated him for Governor, and he was elected 
by a large majority. In 1880 he was renominated 
by acclamation and with wild enthusiasm, and re- 
elected \>y a majority greatly in excess of any other 
candidate on the State ticket. 

One of the happiest steps ever taken by Gov. 
Nance was that of his union in matrimony in 1875, 
when he became the husband of Miss Sarah White, 
daughter of Egbert and Mary White, of Farr.agut. 
Iowa, who presented her husband with a bright and 
beautiful little daughter, who bears the name of 
Nellie, 



»^t 





^^^^U^'-~€^<Q 



-4^ 




James W. Dawes 





-^ 



■•o^o-(§^\.^qX.o^.. 



tfl 




^'-^AMES W. DAWES. Tins 



jentle- 
:'; man was elected Governor in the 
iW»^ year 1883, and such uas his of- 
, :' licial deportment that lie was 
'( . renominated witli enthusiasm, 
^ ;.' r.nd re-elected by an apprecia- 
tive people. He continued to 
occupy his high jiosition in the 
service of the State until the 
j'ear 1887, and during the lime 
gave every evidence tliat the 
confidence of those who iiad 
elected him in his honor, inan- 
iiood and ability, was indeed 
well founded. He was the fifth 
Governor of the State. Gov. 
Dawes was born at McConnelsvilie, Morgan Co., 
Ohio, on the 8th of January, 1845. He went with 
his parents when they removed to Wisconsin in 
1856. The rudiments and foundation work of his 
education were received in Ohio, but in the Wiscon- 
sin schools the major part of the work was done, and 
from them our subject was graduated with a good 
practical English education, such as wouhi serve in 
the daily affairs of life. As he advanced in years and 
was capable of doing more service upon the farm, 
he attended school only in the winters, devoting 
the summers to husbandry. In October, 1864, he 
was engaged in clerking for G. J. Hansen & Co.. 
who were engaged as general merchants at Kilbourn 



City, Wis., where lie continued until October, 1868, 
and in these four years gained invaluable experience 
of men and business, adding materially to his store 
of information, and, unknown to himself, but none 
the less really, preparing for days of larger oppor- 
tunity and more important engagements. 

The next employment taken up by our subject 
was that of the study of law, which he began and 
carried on with his cousin, Julius H. Dawes, Esq., 
of Fox Lake, Wis., a prominent and successful 
lawyer. Here our subject devoted every atten- 
tion, and became a careful, persevering and diligent 
student, so much so that his examination, which de- 
termined his admission to the bar, was unusually 
brilliant, and he was accordingly admitted with 
congratulations upon the 10th of January, 1871, 
and began the practice of his chosen profession, 
which, from its being eminently congenial and pe- 
culiarly well adapted to one of his ability and 
mental cast, was that in which success in life was 
more completely assured him. 

Not long after the admission of our subject to 
the bar another, and if anything more important, 
event occurred. It was that of his marriage. In- 
stances are far too common where an error of jud"- 
ment or a misplaced confidence at such lime has 
been fraught with disastrous results to both con- 
tracting parties; results all the more serious because 
of the nature and faults of the contract. It was the 



t 



128 



JAMES W. r)AWP:S. 



happiness of Mr. Dawes and the lady of his choice 
to be mutually compatible in disposition, tastes, 
desires, and in fact all the varied points where dif- 
ference of sentiment would in all probability lead, 
sooner or later, to a breach of confidence or worse. 
This union, therefore, has brought a more complete 
happiness, a more perfect felicity, into both lives, and 
has made the home all that could be desired. This 
interesting event occurred at Fox Lake, and was 
celebrated on the 1 Ith of May, 1871. 

Our subject located in Crete, of this State, on 
the 5th of September, 1871, with the intention of 
engaging for a time in mercantile pursuits. For 
some years he continued in this line of business 
with an ever-growing success and enlarging patron- 
age. In March of 1877 he transferred his energies 
from commercial pursuits to the legal profession, 
opening a law office at Crete, and has since been 
one of the leading lights of the Nebraska bar. He 
became a member of the Nebraska Constitutional 
Convention of 1875, and the following 3'ear was 
elected State Senator. During his term of office 
he won from all golden opinions of his ability and 
power, and his sojourn in Senatorial halls was, if 
anything, more pleasant than usual, owing to his 
genial, affable and courteous manner, which won 
and retained many much vakied friendships, and 
which was the means of affording him larger oppor- 
tunities than might have otlierwise been possible. 
His record in this connection is upon the books of 
the session, and is well known, and does not there- 
fore call for detailed mention in such a writing as 
the present; suffice it here to remark that it was such 
as to ultimately lead to his election to the highest 
official chair in the State.. 

From May, 1876, to September, 1882, inclusive, 
the subject of this sketch continued to hold the po- 
sition as Chairman of the Republican State Central 
Committee of Nebraska. The long continuance and 
the number of consecutive terms embraced within 
the above dates speak more clearly and emphaticallj' 
his ability and power than anything that might be 
said in addition. Mr. Dawes was further honored 
by being elected delegate to the Republican Na- 
tional Convention at Chicago, in June of 1880. 
This it will be remembered was the convention that 
nominated the noble, but ill-fated, James A. Gar- 



field. The delegation of which he was a member 
at this time unanimously named him as a member 
of the National Republican Committee for Nebraska 
for a term of four years, which it was his privilege 
to serve with every satisfaction to all parties con- 
cerned for that period. 

Few men ever felt more the need of education 
for a people who governed themselves than Gov. 
Dawes. The absolute necessity of universal educa- 
tion, wide in scope, complete in curriculum, ex- 
haustive in detail, practical in its aim and general 
utility, was evident to him, and he was therefore 
deeply interested in educational matters, and his 
sympathies were alwaj's assured for matters con- 
nected therewith. He has served in several offices 
connected with this department, the most important, 
perhaps, being those of Trustee and Secretary of the 
Doane College, which is situated at Crete. The 
duties of these offices have engaged his attention 
since the year 1875. 

The crowning glory of the official life and public 
service of the subject of our sketch was that which 
identified him with the chief office of the State, In 
the year 1882 he was nominated by the Republican 
party for Governor. His life was well known, his 
character thoroughly understood, his past services 
remembered and appreciated, and accordingly he 
was received with much favor, and elected amid the 
plaudits of the whole people. He entered upon the 
duties of his high office in January, 1883, continu- 
ing to discharge the same throughout the usual pe- 
riod of two years. At the expiration thereof he 
was again nominated by his party and re-elected 
by the people, and for a second term continued to 
discharge his duties as before. Is any further 
proof of his ability, honor, manhood and faithful- 
ness demanded.' Can any mere verbose compli- 
mentary eulogium express as much as this, especially 
when it is reinforced by all the accompanj'ing marks 
of confidence and regard of the people ? Gov. Dawes 
will long be remembered, having won a warm place 
in the hearts and memories of the people, together 
with his most excellent administration of afifairs, 
which from first to last materially assisted the onward 
march and development of Nebraska as a State, and 
aided in placing her among the very first of all States 
of the greatest Republic the world has ever known. 



•► 



-■»- 




^^OMM M. TFIAYRR. 





-'c^^l- 



r. JOHN M. THAYER. 

This distiiiguishecl gentle- 
man, whom Nebraska de- 
lighted to honor by the 
gift of the highest office 
in its power to bestow, was 
elected thereto by an overwhelming 
^^ majority in the autumn of 1886, and 
®^^^2^ b3' his wise administration of affairs, 
his excellent executive ability, has 
since fully justified this enthusiastic 
choice. The place of the nativity of 
our subject is Bellingham, Norfolk 
Co., Mass. ;he is theson of Elias and 
Ruth (Staples) Thayer. The chosen 
occupation of the father was farming, and in the 
physical and moral healthful environment of pasto- 
ral life our subject was brought up. 

The smallest part of man is the physical, that can 
be weighed avoirdupois and measured with a tape 
line ; a far greater and nobler is that of stamp di- 
vine — the mind, which is the true "standard of the 
man."' Having in mind the importance of proper 
instruction, in order to the proper use of this most 
wonderful instrument, our subject, after the usual 
preparatory instruction, attended the classes at 
Brown Universit}-, from which institution he was 
graduated in 1 S47. The law was the chosen profession 
of our subject, and at it he worked assiduously un- 
til the year 1854, still continuing a resident of his 
native State, and at that time he removed to the 
Stale of Nebraska. 



Omaha, then a rising young town, with a newly 
opened and undeveloped terrritory all around it, 
afforded a good field for a young man of education, 
enterprise, enthusiasm and energy, to " rise up with 
the country." In the year 1 855 the political arena 
was entered. Jlr. Thayer became one of four can- 
didates for Congressional honors; a splendid run for 
the office, however, resulted only in defeat, the suc- 
cessful candidate being Fenner Ferguson. The fol- 
lowing year was remarkable as that in which the 
now "grand old party" was organized. The con- 
vention was held at Bellevue, and our subject was 
a candidate for the party nomination, but was de- 
feated by Mr. Daily. This experience was repeated 
in every particular in June of 1860. He was suc- 
cessful in receiving the nomination to the Territorial 
Legislature, and served the session of 1860-61. 

Our subject entered the service of the United 
States at the beginning of the Civil War, and re- 
ceived the commission of Colonel of the 1st Ne- 
braska Infantry. In the year 1855 he had been 
elected by the Territorial Legislature Brigadier 
General of the Territorial Militia, and afterward 
promoted to that of Major General of the militia. 
While in these positions he was frequently led into 
engagements more or less serious on the frontier, 
the enemies being the aborigines of that section, 
who at that time had not entirel3f ceased their old 
habits of depredation. The intimate knowledge of 
our subject concerning the Indians, their surround- 
ings, their attitude, their feelings, and their chiefs, 
were all of immense value to him. As a case in 



•►^t::* 



♦r*' 






132 



JOHN M. THAYER. 



point, which we might mention, our subject was ap- 
pointed by Gov. Izard to act in conjunction with 
Gov. O. D. Richardson, to inquire into certain out- 
rages by Pawnees, to meet them in council and ef- 
fect a treaty with them ; in this tbey were fairly 
successful. But later events proved the lesson was 
but poorly learned by the Indians. In 1S58, with 
a command of 194 volunteers, our subject went out 
after the same tribe, certain of their number having 
murdered, maltreated and robbed the settlers. He 
captured the entire tribe after a stubbornly con- 
tested battle, which was fought on the grounds oc- 
cupied by the town of Battle Creek, which derives 
its name from that event. 

As Colonel of the 1st Nebraska Infantry, our 
subject did good work in behalf of the Union, and 
it was not long before his superior military powers 
attracted attention, and he was promoted to be 
Brigadier General and breveted Major General. At 
Ft. Donelson and Shiloh he commanded a brigade 
in such excellent manner as led to the above honor. 
Through the siege of A^icksburg and the capture of 
Jackson, Uliss., he also commanded a brigade, and 
for a time a division. The confidence of the com- 
manders in him was such that at the assault at 
Chickasaw Bayou, one of the storming columns was 
confided to his care. In this fight he had his horse 
shot under him, and again while leading a charge at 
Arkansas Post. All the essential features, charac- 
teristics and traits of the successful soldier were 
possessed by him, and this being recognized resulted 
in the Army of the Frontier being given him to 
command. Throughout his service in military life 
he was a true soldier, a favorite with his men, who 
were confident that he would lead them to success 
and victory; respected by his officers, who well 
knew his sagacity and military genius, largely the 
result of his long experience on the frontier. 

In political matters our subject was a Democrat 
until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. He 
sympathized with the Free-Soil movement, but be- 
ing in the Territory he could not vote. In the year 
1856 he supported Fremont, and since that time has 
continued a stanch Republican. Upon the admis- 
sion of Nebraska as a State, Mr. Thayer was elected 
United States Senator in the election of 186G. and 
served faithfully until the close of his term. At the 



expiration thereof he was appointed by Gen. Grant 
tlie Governor of Wyoming Territory. In this office 
the qualities that had made him successful in civil 
life, that had made him a military leader and com- 
mander, the ability that had been developed for the 
handling of large bodies of men, the harmonizing 
of heterogeneous elements, combined to make his 
Governorship one worthy of note, and, doubtless, 
was the cause of the confidence expressed by the peo- 
ple of Nebraska in after days. 

The home of our subject is one that bears in its 
every -day life and happiness a brightness and com- 
pleteness that is more to be desired than the amass- 
ing of riches, the accumulation of power, or the 
right to sway the scepter of authority. He was 
united in the holy bonds of matrimony with I\Iary 
T. Allen, a lady possessing a disposition, character 
and intelligence, most beautiful, admirable and cleai', 
one who has been trained to follow closely the Great 
Exemplar of the true life. She is the daugliter of 
the Rev. John Allen, a clergyman of the Baptist 
Church, a, native of Massachusetts. 

Gov. Thayer, though not a member of any spe- 
cial denomination, is a firm believer in the Christian 
religion, and always has been. His family adhere 
to the faith of the Baptist Church, of which also his 
parents were members. In that communion, also, 
he was trained and brought up, and he has al- 
ways retained a great desire to lielp forward every 
movement of religious nature; whenever it has been 
possible to elevate the moral standard of the people, 
his active sympathies were engaged. One feature 
of his Governorship has been his evident anxiety 
that a more general and hearty acquiescence to a 
higher moral and religious standard should obtain, 
and whatever enterprises, projects, societies or asso- 
ciations, looked to this as their aim ,uk1 object, were 
at all times sure of his hearty sympathy and support. 
As noted above, our subject stood before the 
people of Nebraska in the year 1880 as candidate 
for Governor. He was warmlj' received, actively 
and heartily supported, and enthusiastically elected 
by a majority of 25,000, in which he /an about 2,000 
ahead of his ticket. His administration has revealed 
the wisdom of this choice, and it is not too much to 
say that the citizens of Nebraska have at no time 
had occasion to repent of their choice. 



•^t 



m*" 



•►=11--* 






OTOE COUNTY, 



NEBRASKA. 




•Jtih^ 



■» 11 <« 



M^r^ 




s-^^ 



-e-i- 




INT^RODUQT^O 




3HE time has arrived when it 
becomes the duty of the 
people of this county to per- 
petuate the names of their 
pioneers, to furnish a record 
of their early settlement, 
and relate the story of their 
progress. The civilization of our 
the enlightenment of the age 
and the duty that men of the pres- 
ent time owe to their ancestors, to 
themselves and to their posterity, 
demand that a record of their lives 
and deeds should be made. In bio- 
w 7X''/Y " graphical history is found a power 
Sv/Sa^ to instruct man by precedent, to 
^vW^^cD jWs* enliven the mental faculties, and 
^ "^ to waft down the river of time a 

«afe vessel in which the names and actions of the 
people who contributed to raise this country from its 
primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly 
the great and aged men, who in their prime entered 
the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as their 
heritage, are passing to their graves. The number re- 
maining who can relate the incidents of the first days 
Df settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an 
actual necessity exists for tlie collection and [jreser- 
vation of events without delay, before all the early 
settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time. 

To be forgotten has been the great dread of mankind 
from remotest ages. All will be forgotten soon enough, 
in spite of their best works and the most earnest 
efforts of their friends to perserve the memory of 
their lives. The means employed to prevent oblivion 
and to perpetuate their memory has been in propor- 
tion to the amount of inteUigence they possessed. 
The pyramids of Egypt were built to perpetuate the 
names and deeds of their great rulers. The exhu- 
mations made by the archeologists of Egypt from 
buried Men-.phis indicate a desire of ihose people 



to perpetuate the memory of their achievements 
The erection of the great obelisks were for the same 
purpose. Coming down to a later period, we find the 
Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums and monu- 
ments, and carving out statues to chronicle their 
great achievements and carry them down the ages. 
It is also evident that the Mound-builders, in piling 
up their great mounds of earth, had but this idea — 
to leave something to show that they had lived. All 
these works, though many of them costly in the ex- 
treme, give i)ut a faint idea of the lives and charac- 
ters of those whose memory they were intended to 
perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of 
the people that then lived. The great pyramids and 
some of the obelisks remain objects only of curiosity; 
the mausoleums, monuments and statues are crum- 
bling into dust. 

It was left to modern ages to establish an intelH- 
gent, undecaying, immutable method of perpetuating 
a full history — immutable in that it is almost un- 
limited in extent and perpetual in its action ; and 
this is through the art of printing. 

To the present generation, however, we are in- 
debted for the introduction of the ndmirable system 
of local biography. By this system every man, though 
he has not achieved what the world calls greatness, 
has the means to perpetuate his life, his history, 
through the coming ages. 

The scythe of Time cuts down all ; nothing of the 
physical man is left. The monument which his chil- 
dren or friends may erect to his memory in the ceme- 
tery will crumble into dust and pass away; but his 
life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished, 
which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated 
by a record of this kind. 

To preserve the lineaments of our companions we 
engrave their portraits, for the same reason we col- 
lect the attainable facts of their history. Nor do we 
think it necessary, as we speak only truth of them, to 
wait until they are dead, or until those who know 
them are gone: to do this we are ashamed only to 
publish to the world the history of those whose lives 
are unworthy of public record. 



•► 



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«««4CjI2/(S-^— fl 



NE of the most important fac- 
tors in tlie business develop- 
ment and prosperitj^ of a 
city, county or State, is its 
railroad communications. A 
retrospection of the history 
of the South Platte Country since 
the advent of railroad facilities will 
convince the careful observer of the 
immense l)enefit resulting from the 
introduction of this essential adjunct 
of commercial enterprise. The fol- 
lowing brief sketches of the leading 
railroads of this section of the great 
commonwealth will form an interesting feature of 
this Album. It may be remarked in this connec- 
tion that the roads referred to are not only the im- 
portant corporations of Nebraska, but stand among 
the first in the Nation. 




The Union Pacific Railway. 

z^^rilS great national highway is so well known 
not only throughout the United States, but 
all over the world, that a mere reference to 
it would seem sufficient, yet, for the benefit of those 



./^~aj<Z7OTBi. 



who have never had the pleasure of riding over its 
smooth track, and thus had an opportunity of gaz- 
ing upon the fine scenery along its route, the fol- 
lowing description is given: 

It formed a part of the first trans-continental 
line of railroad from ocean to ocean, and was con- 
ceived, and its construction authorized, as a war 
measure, the needs of the Government during the 
War of the Rebellion having clearly shown tlie ne- 
cessity for it. When first talked of many thought the 
feat of constructing a line of railroad over the Rocky 
Mountains an utter impossibility. Many of those 
who had crossed the plains, deserts and mountains 
to California, in '49-50, knetv very well that a rail- 
road could not be built there, for "how could a 
locomotive ascend a mountain where six yoke of 
oxen could scarcely haul a wagon." It must be 
remembered that the line of this road follows al- 
most exactly the old emigrant wagon road, not 
only on the plains on the north side of the Platte 
River, through the State of Nebraska, but, in fact, 
all the way to Ogden, in Utah Territory. In the 
days of '49-50, when long trains of gold-seekers, 
after outfitting at Council Bluffs, wended their 
way over the plains, the country was filled with 
hostile Indians, herds of wild buffalo, deer and 
antelope. There was scarcely a house west of the 
Elkhorn River within twenty miles of Omaha. 



md I 

the I 
ha. f 



-4*- 



=L. 



TRANSPORTATION. 



Now the traveler sits in a luxurious Pullman car, 
and is whirled over the smooth railroad at forty 
miles an hour, past villages, towns and cities filled 
with active, busy, intelligent people, and as far as 
the eye can reach on either side of the road farms 
join each other, and a million and a half of people 
live in the State of Nelnaska. through which the 
road runs. 

This railway is one of the very best on this con- 
tinent. Its two main stems, the one from Kansas 
City, the other from Council Bluffs, uniting at 
Cheyenne and diverging again at Granger, one for 
Portland and one for San Francisco, are crowded 
with the commerce of the Orient and the Occident, 
while people from everj- nation in the world may 
be seen on its passenger trains. Every improve- 
ment which human ingenuity has invented for the 
safety or comfort of the traveler is in use on the 
Union Pacific Railway, and it has been operated so 
many years, having been finished in 1869. that all 
weak points at all assailable by the snow have been 
protected. 

For nearly 500 miles west of Council Bluffs, and 
700 miles west of Kansas City, there are no heavy 
grades or curves. The Pacific Hotel Company 
manage the eating-houses, under the supervision of 
the llailwaj- Company, and no better meals are to 
be found on any railroad in the United States. 

Crossing the Missouri River from the Transfer 
Depot, Council Bluffs, over a magnificent steel 
bridge of eleven spans, seventy-five feet above the 
water, each span 250 feet long, Omaha is reached, 
and the trip across the continent to either Portland 
or San Francisco commences. Leaving Omaha the 
road follows the Platte River through the thickly- 
settled and fertile Platte Valley to Cheyenne (516 
miles from Omaha), the capital of Wyoming Terri- 
tory. At this point the Kansas Main Line via 
Denver connects with the Nebraska Main Line 
from Council Bluffs. 

Leaving Kansas City, one passes through some 
of the finest farming Land of the West, and a suc- 
cession of thriving cities and towns. First, Law- 
rence, the scene of many exciting events during 
the time when it was a question whether Kansas 
was to be a free-soil or slave State. Topeka is 
the capital uf the State, containing some 35,000 



people. The heart of the golden grain belt of 
Kansas is then traversed for hour after hour. 
Junction City, next, is so called from the fact that 
here the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad has a 
branch reaching to Texas, Arkansas and the Gulf, 
of Mexico. From Ellsworth the road runs through 
the Ilarker Hills, where the traveler sees many 
cairns of stones, mementoes of John C. Fremont, 
the Pathfinder. From Ellsworth to the boundary 
line of the State one passes through what a very few 
years ago appeared on all school geographies as 
the Great American Desert. Just west of Ellis 
one of the finest grazing regions in the world is 
entered. After crossing the Colorado State line 
comes Chej-enne AVells, where there is a well of 
the purest water that is found between the Mis- 
souri River and Denver. From Cheyenne Wells 
the road climbs rapidly until First View is reached. 
This station is so called because here is obtained 
the first view of the snow-capped mountains of 
Colorado, with Gra3''s Peak in the west and Pike's 
Peak on the south. 

The ascent is rapid into Denver, 639 miles from 
Kansas City, with a population of 85,000, the 
queen city of the mountains and capital of Colo- 
rado. The elevation is 5,203 feet above sea level. 
The trip from Denver to Chej-enne, Wyo., along 
the foothills of the Rock}- Mountains affords a ka- 
leidoscopic panorama of hills, fields, farms, rivers, 
running brooks and lofty mountains. Here the 
Eastern traveler for the first time sees fields of al- 
falfa of a deep green color, grown by the use of 
irrigating ditches. The run of 107 miles from 
Denver to Cheyenne, Wyo., is quickly made. 

Che.yenne. 6,038 feet in altitude, with a popula- 
tion of about 10,000, is one of the sprightliest and 
most prosperous cities in the entire West. It is 
well and compactly built, and for many years has 
been the center of the cattle industry of the North- 
west. 

After leaving Cheyenne the train climbs a grade 
of 2,000 feet in thirty-three miles to Sherman, 
8,247 feet above sea level, and the highest point 
of the transcontinental ride between the Missouri 
River and the Pacific coast. From Sherman can 
be seen Long's Peak, nearly- 200 miles away. The 
scenery is wild and rugged. Just beyond Sherman 



f 



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TRANSPORTATION. 



is Dale Creek Bridge, one of the most remarlvable 
sights of tlie overland trip. The structure is of 
iron, and stretches from bluff to bluff with a 650- 
foot span. The train passes over it just 127 feet 
al)ove the creek, which looks like a mere rivulet 
below. Pike's Peak can be seen away off to the 
.south, not less than 165 miles distant. 

Laramie, twenty-three miles west of Sherman, 
often called the '"Gem City of the Rockies," has an 
elevation of 7,149 feet above sea level, and a popu- 
lation of about 6,000. It is one of the principal towns 
on the main line of the Union Pacific Railway be- 
tween Council Bluffs and Ogden. It is situated on 
Big Laramie River, fifty-seven miles northwest of 
Cheyenne, and is an important market for wool. 
Its schools are good, and the I'niversity of Wyo- 
ming and the I'nited States Penitentiary are lo- 
cated here. 

The great Laramie Plains, which stretch away 
for miles on either side, and which afford pastur- 
age for thousands of cattle and horses, are of great 
interest. Eighty-three miles west is Carbon, in the 
coal regions. One hundred and twenty-one miles 
west of Rawlins is Rock Springs. In this locality 
there are immense coal beds across the continent 
to Portland, Ore. 

At Green River the trains for Portland, Ore., 
are made up, although they do not make their de- 
parture from the main line over the Oregon vShort 
Line Division until Granger is reached, thirty 
miles west of Green River, and the trip across the 
continent is continued over the Oregon Short 
Line, reaching out, as it does to the great North- 
west, until the great Territory of Idaho is en- 
tered at Border Station. Then on through Soda 
Springs and Pocatello^the junction with the LTtah 
& Northern branch, for the Yellowstone National 
Park, Butte, Garrison and Helena; thence to Sho- 
shone Station, where the junction is made for the 
great Shoshone Falls. 

From Nampa, Idaho, the Oregon Short Line 
skirts along the boundary line of Idaho and Ore- 
gon, following the Snake River. Huntington is 
the junction of the Oregon Siiort Line Division 
with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Compan}', 
an auxiliary line of the Union Pacific Railwaj'. 

Leaving La Grande, and passing over the sum- 



mit at Meacham, on through the Umatilla Reserva- 
tion to Pendleton, and over the Cascade Mount- 
ains, the tourist reaches "The Dalles" Station, on 
the Columbia River, the commencement of "The 
Dalles" of Columbia. 

All along the sights have been absorbing in their 
varied aspects; but it is only when a pause is made 
at "The Dalles" Station that the true grandeur of 
the scenery of the Columbia River is impressed 
upon the mind. There are good accommodations 
here, and from this point the noble river, surging 
and whirling to the sea, breaking the image rocks 
into wave fragments, occupies the mind of the 
beholder. The Columbia is one of the world's 
great rivers, affording a waterway that is navigable 
for traffic for over 200 miles. Upon it, near its 
mouth, the largest ocean steamers ply with safety. 
Its largest tributary is the Williamette, draining 
the valley of the same name, and being navigable 
for vessels of any size to Portland. There can be 
nothing more inspiring than the ride along "The 
Dalles" of the Columbia, with the shining river on 
one side and the towering battlements of the shore 
on the other. The scene is one of continued mag- 
nificenca Along the Rhine, the Rhone, or the 
Hudson, there is nothing that will compare with 
the stately palisades of the Columbia, with their 
cool recesses kept sunless by the overhanging rocks, 
and watered by the melting snows of their own 
summits. A splendid view can be had of Mt. Hood, 
Mt. St. Helen's, and the Cascades, where the scen- 
ery surpasses anything of the kind in the world. 

From Portland magnificent ocean steamers de- 
part for the far distant Orient. Fine steamers also 
ply from Portland to Alaska. 

From Portland to San Francisco the trip can be 
made in the iron steamships of the Oregon Railway 
& Navigation Company, which will compare favor- 
ably with tlie best ocean steamers on the Atlantic 
for safet3^ speed and comfort; or by rail over the 
Mt. Shasta route of the Central Pacific Railroad 
(the Southern Pacific Company). 

Between Cheyenne and Ogden about ten miles of 
showsheds altogether are passed at different points 
on the line. These sheds are all in Wyoming. They 
are quite a feature of the ride across the continent; 
the Central Pacific Railroad having about thirty 



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miles altogether on its line between Ogden and 
Sacramento. Ogden is 1,034 miles from Council 
Bluffs, 1;260 miles from Kanans City, and 833 miles 
from San Francisco. 

The crowning scenes of the trip across Utah and 
Nevada to San Francisco are not beheld until after 
leaving Reno. Cape Horn, Emigrant Gap, the 
Sierra Nevadas, Donner Lake, and other objects of 
more than ordinary interest will be found. Nevada 
is celebrated for her famous mines. The marvel- 
ous Carson and Humboldt sinks, in which the 
waters of all the rivers in the State of Nevada, 
save one. are swallowed; the Mud Lake, the Borax 
marshes, and countless numbers of thermal springs, 
have been the wonder of the scientist and the de- 
light of the tourist. One hundred and fifty-fiye 
miles from Reno is Sacramento, a beautiful citjr, 
and the capital of California. 

From Sacramento the Central Pacific Railroad 
branches off, via Lathrop, to Los Angeles, from 
which point the prominent cities and noted resorts 
of California are readily reached. From Sacra- 
mento the Davis cut-off, now the main line of the 
Central Pacific road, takes the tourist through to 
Oakland, where a ti-ansfer is made across an arm of 
the bay to San Francisco, and here this part of the 
trip "Across the Continent" terminates at San Fran- 
cisco. 



NOTES ABOUT THE TRAINS, EQUIPMENT, JUNCTIONS 
AND CONNECTIONS, 

It is wortli while knowing that two through 
trains leave Council Bluffs every day with through 
cars for Denver, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Los An- 
geles, San Francisco and Portland. One of these 
trains, the fast one, called "The Overland Flyer," 
has Pullman Palace Sleeping Cars only, running 
through to Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and 
Portland. The other train, the Overland Express, 
has Pullman Palace Sleeping Cars, Modern Day 
Coaches and Free Family' Sleeping Cars. From 
Kansas City two fast express trains leave daily 
with through cars for Denver, Cheyenne, Salt 
Lake City and Portland. These trains have Pull- 
man Palace Sleeping Cars and Modern Day Coaches. 
The morning train h.as the Free Family Sleeping- 



Cars. The equipment of these trains is unsuri^assed 
and all that can be desired. A good road-bed, 
standard-guage track, steel rails, iron bridges, and 
stone culverts combined, insure safety and speed. 



The Missouri Pacific Railway System. 

s^^^^HIS great system, which now threads its way 
tlirougli several States west of the Missis- 
' sippi River, has been a potential factor in 
the development of Missouri and Kansas, and with 
its accustomed enterprise a short time ago pene- 
trated with its lines into the rich agricultural dis- 
tricts of Nebraska, to compete, in tiiis growing 
State, with its rapidly accumulating business. It 
was also among the pioneer roads in Kansas, and its 
many branches now traverse in different directions 
the most thickly settled portions of that State. It 
has contributed in a large measure, by its liberal 
and aggressive policy, toward the rapid develop- 
ment of the great resources of Kansas. It is inter- 
esting to note briefly its history, as it was the first 
road built west from St. Louis, as early as 1850-51. 
The preliminary steps to build the road were taken, 
and it has since gradually' extended its lines, like 
the arteries and veins of the human system, until 
it has encompassed in its range the best portions of 
Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, and has even 
reached out and tapped the large commercial cen- 
ters of Texas and Colorado. In Missouri its several 
lines and connections pierce the great coal anci 
mineral fields of the State, enabling it to lay down 
in Kansas City, Topeka, Leavenworth, Atchison, 
Wichita, Omaha and Lincoln, cheaper than any 
other roads, these essential adjuncts so necessary in 
the development of commercial centers; and even 
the settlers in the outlying districts of Kansas and 
Nebraska have fuel laid down to them more cheaply 
on account of this road. 

Its splendid and far-reaching management ex- 
tends to its patrons, both in freight and passenger 
traffic, the best facilities for reaching the seaboard 
and the great Eastern marts of trade. The growth 
and development of the Missouri Pacific System has 
been rapid and fully abreast of the times. Its local 
business is enormous and rapidly increasing. In 



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TRANSPORTATION. 



respect to its througli business no other road or 
system in Nebraska is better equipped than this. 
Its steel rail tracks, well-ballasted road beds and 
superior passenger coaches constitute it one of the 
greatest railroa<l systems of the West. Its superb 
fast train between .St. Louis and Denver, via Kansas 
City and Pueblo, is unquestionc.bly the most ele- 
gant and best equipped train of any road which 
enters the peerless City of tlie Plains. 

It runs more passenger trains and finer coaches 
between 8t. Louis and Kansas City than an}' other 
road, and the volume of its freight traffic between 
the above mentioned emporiums of the State of 
Missouri is vastly greater than any other line. It 
lias contributed in a marked and wonderful degree 
toward the building up of the various cities along 
its numerous lines. Kansas City has felt its influ- 
ence more than that of any other road centering 
there, largely on account of its lines that lead into 
the heart of the coal, iron and granite fields of 
Missouri, and the extensive timber districts of Ar- 
kansas, and by its connecting lines with the exten- 
sive and growing cattle interests of Texas and the 
Southwest. 

It gives to its numerous and rapidly increasing 
patronage in Nebraska and Kansas unsurpassed 
facilities for reaching the great health resorts of 
Arkansas and Texas, over its line from Omaha to 
St. Louis, about 500 miles in extent. It runs the 
finest trains between these two cities, passing through 
Weei)ing Water, where connection is made with the 
line from Lincoln, the State capital, thence to 
Nebraska City and Falls Citv, in Nebraska, and St. 
Joseph, Atchison and Leavenworth, before reaching 
Kansas City. The length of its main line and 
branches in Nebraska is over 322 miles, its northern 
terminus being Omaha, where connections are made 
with all the roads centering in that metropolis. 

The line from Omaha to Falls City is 115 miles, 
the Crete branch 58 miles, Lincoln to Auburn 76 
miles, Warwick to Prosser and Hastings 73 miles. 
Various extensions and diversions are constantly 
being made in Nebraska. 

Thus it will be seen that this road already taps 
the two leading cities in the State, Omalia and Lin- 
coln, besides Nebraska City, rapidly growing into 
importance, and likewise Hastings. Its mileage in 



Kansas is 2,707 miles, in Colorado 151 miles, and 
the total mileage of the Missouri Pacific System is 
4,99i miles. 

lience the reader will readily observe that this 
great railway system is one of the most important 
which traverses the several important and growing 
States west of the Mississippi River. On account 
of its extensive mileage and the ramification of the 
system, it is destined to promote in a large degree 
the development of the material interests of the 
country through which it passes. 

The Burlingftoii & 3Iis.soiiri River Railroad 
in Nebraska. 

(^^^HIS important road was commenced at 
(ll^^i Pl'^t'ismouth, Neb., where it connected with 
^^#' the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 
in 1869, and the main line of the road was ex- 
tended westward to Kearney. Subsequently the 
Denver extension was finished; this line was short- 
ened by the construction of the line from Kenne- 
saw to Oxford ; by the acquirement of the Omaha 
& Southwestern Railroad, the Atchison & Nebraska 
Railroad, the building of the short line from 
Omaha to Ashland, and the extension to Cheyenne, 
W3'0., which gives the road a short line between 
the INIissourt River points and Denver & Cheyenne. 
At Omaha connections are made with the roads 
centering there. The number of miles of road in 
Nebraska is 2,120.30. The road is ballasted with 
stone, gravel, cinders and earth. 1,600.08 miles 
are laid with steel rails, the rest being laid with 
iron. The total mileage in the Burlington system 
West of the Missouri River is 2,778.78 miles. 

Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. 

(^^^HIS is the last important trunk line to enter 
the South Platte Country. It enters the 
State of Nebraska at Berwick, and runs in 
a north and westerly direction to Fairbury and 
Nelson. At Fairbury the road branches and con- 
nects with the main line for Denver, thus giving 
the Southern part of the State another direct com- 
munication with the great lumber and other 
interests of Chicago and Kansas City, and the 
great lake and seaboard marts of trade. 



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r. deP^orest p. rolfe, 

Mayor of Nebraska City, 
is one of the leading busi- 
ne,ss men of Otoe County, 
and his portrait is justly 
entitled to an honorable 
place in this work. He is a man of 
unusual ability, energy and fore- 
thought, and he has been a great 
power in advancing the commercial 
interests and promoting the growth 
of this city, of which he first became 
a resident in pioneer days. Mr. Rolfe 
was born at C'ooper's Plains, Steuben 
Co., N. Y., July 20, 1839. His father, 
Joseph Rolfe, was a native of Monmouth County, 
N. J., born May 12, 1800, and was a son of Moses 
Rolfe, who was born in Virginia, and a descendant 
of an old English family. 

The grandfather of our subject removed to Mon- 
mouth, N. J., and later to Ovid, Seneca Co., N. Y., 
and was one of the early settlers of the county. He 
subsequently moved from there to Steuben County, 
where he spent the remainder of his life. The father 
of DeForest was a mere boy when his parents re- 
moved to the State of New York. He was reared 
and married in that State, Mrs. Eliza (Reed) Man- 
rose, of Dutchess County, becoming his wife. Her 
fatlier, Gilbert Reed, was born in Kinderhook, N. 
Y., and, as a boy, remembered many scenes of the 
Revolution, his father being connected with the 



Commissary Department of the Continental Army 
at Vallej' Forge, and spent large sums of his own 
monej' in supplying the patriotic soldiers, and in 
return received Continental script. Jlr. Reed passed 
his last days at Avoea, N. Y., being upward of 
ninety at his death. 

Joseph Rolfe established himself in the lumber 
trade in early manhood, and built up a large busi- 
ness, buying extensive tracts of timber land in 
Western New York, manufacturing lumber and 
rafting it down the Susquehanna River and its trib- 
utaries to tide water, where he sold it. He finally 
retired to private life, having secured a comforta- 
ble competency, and spent his declining years in 
the home of a son in Lawrenceville, on the Penn- 
sylvania State line, djdng there in January, 1878, 
having survived his wife, who died in Avoca, N. 
Y., in November, 1866. He was a man of un- 
doubted probity of character, well gifted with men- 
tal and physical vigor, and throughout a long and 
honorable career his course was such as to command 
the highest respect of his fellowmen. Socially, he 
was a member of the I. O. O. F.; iDolitically, he was 
a Whig until the organization of the Republican 
partj', when he joined its ranks, and was ever after 
a steadfast supporter of its policy. 

DeForest P. Rolfe, of whom we write, was reared 
in his native county, receiving his education in the 
public schools. At the age of sixteen he entered 
the office of the Steuben Farmers^ Advocate, a 
weekly paper published at Bath. N. Y., and there 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



learned the art preservative, working in tliat office 
for four years. He then went to St. Louis, Mo., 
where, failing to get emploj'ment at his trade, he 
accepted a position as clerk in the auction and com- 
mission house of F. A. Kennon, remaining with that 
gentleman until February, 1861. He then "returned 
to New York and visited home and friends for a 
few weeks, when he once more set his face to'ward 
the setting sun, and on the 14th of April in that 
year he arrived in Nebraska City, which was at that 
time the headquarters of the freighters who teamed 
goods across the plains, the Government having 
buildings here in which the goods were stored that 
were to be distributed to the military posts and to 
the Indians. The surrounding country was in a 
very" wild condition, there being no settlements in 
the interior of Nebraska, only a few venturesome 
settlers had made claims away from the settlements, 
which were on the Missouri River, and had im- 
proved a little of the laud; almost the whole of tlie 
territory was then owned by the Government, and 
for sale at $1.25 per acre. St. Joseph, Mo., was the 
nearest railway station, and all travel and trans- 
portation was by way of the jNIissouri or overland 
with teams, the stages making daily trips to St. 
Joseph during the winter season. Wild game was 
very plentiful; deer, elks and wolves roamed the prai- 
ries, and but a few miles westward the buffaloes still 
lingered. There were Indians in the vicinity, and 
members of the Otoe, Omaha and Pawnee tribes 
were frequent visitors to the place. The old block 
house, which was a part of old Ft. Kearney, and 
built by the Government, was standing, and was 
used by the city as a calaboose. 

Shortly after his arrival here our subject engaged 
in the grocery business with his brother R. M., and 
they continued together until 1863, when DeForest 
P. formed a partnership with "William Fulton to 
establish a clothing and outfitting store. In 1867 
he sold out his interest in the business and removed 
to Chicago, where he lived for two years. He then re- 
turned to this city and engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness until 1874, when he became interested in the 
Reed Plow Company. At the end of a year he 
severed his connection with that company to en- 
gage in the sale of agricultural implements, and was 
appointed general agent for Nebraska and .Southern 



Iowa for the D. M. Osborne <fe Co. harvesting ma- 
chinery. He held that agency until 1879, when he 
again took up the lumber business, which he has 
continued to the present time with great financial 
success, and he has built up a large trade, necessi- 
tating a branch yard at Julian, Nemaha County. 

Mr. Rolfe was married, Dec. 6, 1866, to Miss 
Susan Gilmore, a native of Bath, Steuben Co., N. 
Y'., and a daughter of Perez and Susan (Towle) 
Gilmore. Mrs. Rolfe is an intelligent, benevolent, 
well-informed ladj', with easy, ple."isant manners, 
rendering her an important factor in the social cir- 
cles of this city and county. 

Our subject has occupied an influential position 
in regard to the administration of public affairs in 
Otoe County almost from the very first, as his fel- 
low-citizens early recognized his superior tact and 
good executive powers, and that, withal, he is a 
safe leader, as he is possessed of sound judgment, 
and his acts are ever controlled by the highest prin- 
ciples. His geniality, ready wit and liberality have 
won for him hosts of friends and make him verj' 
popular with the people. Politicallj^, he has always 
affiliated with the Democratic party. He was ap- 
pointed County Treasurer to fill a vacancy in 1863, 
was a member of the last Territorial Legislature, 
and was elected to the first State Legislature. He 
did not, however, take his seat in the latter body, 
as he differed with his constituents on the question 
that was to be decided that session as to the best 
site for the State capital, they preferring that it 
should be situated on Salt Creek, and he, with his 
usual tact, foreseeing the fact that another city built 
up so near Nebraska City on the west would natur- 
ally retard the growth of the latter and blight lier 
then bright prospects, would not vote for its location 
there, and not wishing to misrepresent his constitu- 
ency in the legislative deliberations he resigned, 
thus showing that 'he cared more for ])rinciple than 
for empty honors. The people of this city have 
since been brought to a realizing sense that he was 
right, and that it would have been much better for 
their city if the capital had been located at a greater 
distance. In 1885 he was elected to the oflSce of 
Mayor, but he refused to be a candidate in 1886. 
In 1888 he was again elected on a non-partisan 
ticket by an overwhelming majority, so great is his 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



145 a 



popularit3' and the confidence of his fellow-citizens 
in his integrity and capability. 

Mr. Rolfe is a prominent member of the Board 
of Trade, of which organization he was the first 
Secretary, and afterward President, and also of the 
Building and Loan Association, of which he is Presi- 
dent, and he has been identified with every public 
enterprise for years, was instrumental in securing 
the water-works, and in the organization of the com- 
pany was made its President; he has ever been 
active in aiding industrial enterprises for the build- 
ing up of the city. Mr. Rolfe is also a prominent 
Mason, .and has from time to time occupied many 
of the leading stations, from the Blue Lodge to 
Consistory. 



'^-^^=^^4->~^^ 



"^ OHN -H. DAMMA holds a high place .among 
the prominent and successful merchants of 
I Talmage, and is one of the best and most 
(^^^ favorably known German-American citizens 
in thi.s part of the county. He owns and occupies 
a fine brick building on Main street, which stands 
22x80 feet, and carries a full and varied stock of 
general merchandise, such as is in const.ant demand 
in the town and country surrounding. He came to 
Talmage in the year 1882, to start a timber-yard for 
the Chicago Lumber Company, and sold the first 
lumber that was bought here; he came when there 
was scarcely a house to mark the place where now 
stands the populous and thriving town of Talmage. 

Recognizing the well-nigh inevitable future of 
State and county, with far-sighted business enter- 
prise Mr. Damma determined to enter into business 
at this place, and erected a store and put in a stock 
of goods,which was in charge of a confidential clerk 
whenever he was compelled to be .absent in the in- 
terests of the lumber trade. 

In 188.5 Mr. Damma left the lumber-yard, and 
then gave his entire attention to mercantile pur- 
suits. He is now by far the leading merchant in 
his line in the town, and has a business of not less 
than $25,000 per annum. He came to this place 
from Nebr.aska City, where he had been engaged 
for the previous five years as clerk in a general 
store. He h.as been in the State since 1875, .ind in 



the beginning worked for two years in Delaware 
Precinct on the farm of Reuben Whitt.aker, an old 
settler and extensive .agriculturist. 

Our subject was born in Franklin Countj', Mo. 
on the 21st of September, 1853. He is of Germ.an 
descent, his father, William Damma, having come 
from that country when eleven years of age. He 
located in Franklin County, Mo., and there attained 
his majority. He w.as united in marriage with 
Miss Caroline Holtgrewe. This lady was born in 
Germany, and accompanied her parents to the 
United States when she was fifteen years of age. 
They made their home in Franklin County, and 
there she w.as educated and brought up from the 
time she attained the above-mentioned age. 

William Damma, the father of our subject, begiin 
life as a farmer, and is now living upon his own 
property in Franklin County, Mo., operating a 
tract of 320 acres. This farm his father, Henry 
D.amma, had entered when he first came to the 
United States with his family, in the year 1840. 
It was then in an entirely native condition, un- 
broken and undeveloped. There Henry Damma 
made his home and spent the remainder of his life, 
dying when .about forty years of age. Mr. and 
Mrs. William Damma are active members of the 
German Evangelical Church; he is strongly .attached 
to the Republican party, and almost invariably 
votes its ticket. 

The subject of our sketch is the eldest son of a 
f.amily that comprises five sons and six daughters, 
all of whom are living; six of them are married 
and have homes of their own.> He was educated 
and reared in Franklin County, and there received 
all needed instruction regarding the operation of a 
farm. In the year 1874 he crossed the Atlantic 
and made a visit to the old home in Germany, 
where he spent several months renewing his ac- 
quaintance with kinsfolk and friends of the familj% 
who were for the most part engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. Upon returning from his trip Mr. 
Damma went to Franklin County, but shortly 
afterward removed to this county. In 1884 our 
subject was united in marriage to Miss Caroline 
Holtgrewe. This lady was born in Lyons Town- 
ship, Franklin Co.. Mo., on the 17th of August, 1864, 
and is the daughter of John H. .and Catherina 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



t 



(Pohlmaii) Holtgrewe. Of this union tliere has 
been born one child, who bears the name John H.. 
Our subject and wife are earnest members of the 
Evangelical Church, and both there and in the 
community generally they are very highly es- 
teemed. Mr. Damma has for three years been 
President of the Village Board. He is a man of 
character, energy, and unquestioned reputation, and i 
is an excellent representative of his constituents in 
any and every matter that is for their interest. 



VyjOSEPH HENDRICKS, one of the earliest 
settlers of Hendricks Precinct, is numbered 
I among its most enterprising farmers. His 
^j/y homestead, comprising 120 acres of land on 
section 17, isoneof the most desirable in thispartof 
the county, the land being in a fine state of cultiva- 
tion, and the buildings amply adapted to the pur- 
poses of rural life. Both the farm and tiie dwelling 
are conspicuous for neatness and good order, evinc- 
ing that intelligent supervision which is the greatest 
charm of any home. 

Our subject is the brother of George Hendriclis, 
a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this 
work, together with the parental history. The family 
is of substantial ancestry, and have proved excellent 
citizens wherever they have lived. Joseph was born 
in Jackson County, Iowa, April 24, 1853, and when 
a child three years of age came with his parents to 
this county. Young as he was he still remembers 
crossing the Missouri River on a flatboat before the 
days of steam in this section. He continued with 
his parents until a youth of nineteen years, acquir- 
ing his education in the district school. At this age 
also he was married, and his father having died 
rented the homestead for a period of two years. Then, 
purchasing a tract of wild land he began in earnest 
the development of a homestead of his own. In 
connection with other labors he planted a large 
number of maple and cottonwood trees, which have 
added greatly to the value and beauty of his prop- 
erty. He also has 160 rods of hedge fence, which 
forms a most pleasing feature of the landscape, 
dividing the fields at once in the most beautiful and 
substantial manner. He put up a house and barn. 



planted an orchard, and gradually brought about 
the other improvements essential to the comfort of 
liimself and family. He has six acres of native 
grass. 

The wife of our subject, to whom he was mar- 
ried March 10, 1871, at her home in Hendricks Pre- 
cinct, was formerly Miss Sophia, the daughter of 
Daniel and Jane (Balch) Livingston. The former 
was a native of British America, his early home 
being along the Red River Vallej', which stream he 
often crossed by swimming. The mother was a 
native of Indiana. The parents were married in 
Jones Count}', Ohio, where the father carried on 
farming a period of twenty-five years, and also 
worked as a carpenter. They came to Nebraska in 
1870, and are still living on a farm in Hendricks 
Precinct. Their nine children were named respect- 
ively : John, Sophia, Calvin, Neal, Lincoln, Daniel, 
Ann, Alex and Archie. 

Mrs. Hendricks was born in Jones County, Iowa, 
May 4, 1851. Of her marriage with our subject 
there are three children: Oscar Nile, born Feb. 17, 
1873; Leona, Oct. 15, 1875; and Dora Nellie, Nov. 
9, 1884. Mr. Hendricks is a stanch supporter of 
Democratic principles, while the sympathies of his 
estimable wife are with the Republican party. He 
was Postmaster at Solon . in 1883, and until its 
removal to Hendricks, and is a member of the 
School Board of his district. 



JOHN D. EIS. This gentleman is numbered 
among the most enterprising young farmers 
of Russell Precinct, where he owns and op- 
erates the southwest quarter of section 31. 
He comes of an excellent family, being the brother 
of Walter S. Eis. a sketch of whom, together with 
that of the parents, will be found on another page 
of this volume. 

Mr. Eis was born Sept. 4, 1854, in Muscatine, 
Iowa, where he received a common-school educa- 
tion, and w^orked with his father until reaching his 
majority. He then began farming on his own ac- 
count in Iowa, where he remained until the spring 
of 1884, then determined to go farther West. He 
came by rail from Muscatine to Unadilla, and in 



•► II 4* 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



short time selected his location, ■nhich was then a 
tract of uncultivated land. He has himself per- 
fected all the improvements which we behold to-daj", 
and which comprise all the appurtenances of a well- 
regulated homestead, including a good set of farm 
buildings, an apple orchard, and the smaller fruit 
trees, and groves of boxwood and maple. His farm 
is provided with running water, and possesses many 
natural advantages which have made his labors as a 
tiller of the soil easj' and remunerative. The pro- 
prietor has accomplished much in a comparatively 
short period. 

The lady who presides with grace and dignity 
over the home of our subject was in her girlhood 
Miss Catherine, daughter of Frederick and F^liza- 
beth (Eis) W^elsh. The parents of Mrs. Eis were of 
German birth and parentage, their birthplace hav- 
ing been in one of the Provinces of Prussia, whence 
they emigrated to America before their marriage. 
They settled first in Ohio, then removed to Mus- 
catine County, Iowa, where thej' still reside, 
surrounded by all the comforts of life on a well- 
improved farm of 155 acres. Their ten children 
are all living, and were named respectiveljM Cath- 
erine, Fredrieka, Charles, John. Marj-, Laura, Eliza- 
beth, Rebecca, Lill^' and Louisa. 

Mrs. Eis, the eldest child of her parents, was born 
in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Dec. 14, 1855. She 
was educated in the common school, and remained 
under the home roof until her marriage, removing 
in the meantime with her parents to Iowa. Of her 
union with our subject there have been born live 
children, one of whom, a son, Charles, died when 
eight months old. The survivors are Mary, Pearl, 
Rebecca and Lizzie. They are all at home. Mr. 
Eis cast his first Presidential vote for Hayes, and is 
the uniform supporter of Republican principles. 



».^^-jOT-.. 



¥ 



-v'w-'42jej2/©S(@' 



J r AMES CUMMINS. The name of this gen- 
I tleman is familiar among the extensive oper- 
11 ators in live stock in this count3', he having 
^ his headquarters in the village of Talmage. 
He came to this section of the country during the 
period of its early settlement, and has proved him- 
self one of its most useful and enterprising pio- 



neers. He was on the spot at the laying out of the 
village of Talmage, which became the nucleus of 
his future operations, and with whose interests he 
has since been continuously identified. Here and 
at Burr Station he feeds and fattens large numbers 
of animals each year, having his market mostly at 
Talmage. In 1882 he laid off twenty acres which is 
now known as Cummins' Addition, and which com- 
prises sixty-four-lots, now all sold and improved. 
In addition to his town property Mr. Cummins 
owns a fine farm of 120 acres adjoining the village 
limits. The land has been brought to a good state 
of cultivation, and thereon have been erected neat 
and substantial buildings, in keeping with the spirit 
of enterprise which has always characterized the 
proprietor. He has been a resident of McWilliams 
Precinct since 1866, and the first ten years of his 
residence here gave his attention to agricultural 
pursuits. He settled upon an unbroken prairie 
from which he built up his farm, effecting all the 
improvements which the passer-by observes to-day 
with admiring interest. Jlr. Cummins first came 
to Nebraska in the fall of 1866, making his way 
hither from Pennsylvania. A year later, desiring 
to see something more of the Great West, he mi- 
grated to Montana, and subsequently, in 1869, pro- 
ceeded to Dakota Territory, where he engaged in 
farming, and continued a resident until the spring 
of 1871. 

While in Dakota Mr. Cummins had been engaged 
in freighting from Nebraska City to Ft. C. F. 
Smith, Mont., and also operated a stock ranch in 
Montana, besides speculating in lands. Upon his 
return to this county the spirit of adventure de- 
parted from him and he concluded to settle down, 
and construct for himself a homestead. He is a 
descendant of excellent Pennsylvania stock, and 
was born in Bradford County, that State, Nov. 8, 
1844. His father, Caleb Cummins, also a native of 
the Keystone State, was the son of John Cummins, 
who was born in the Scottish Highlands, aud emi- 
grated to America during hisj'oung manhood. Set- 
tling in Pennsylvania he married Miss Mary Covell, 
a native of that State, and they became the par- 
ents of nine children. They spent the remainder 
of their lives upon a farm in Bradford County, 
where Grandfather Cummins departed this life at 



4»- 



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US 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the vipe old age of eiglity-two years, and his wife 
when about two years younger. 

Caleb Cummins, the father of our subject, was 
reared a farmer's boy among his native hills, and 
upon reaching manhood married a maiden of his 
own countj'. Miss Lucy, daughter of Mansor Cham- 
berlain. The latter was a native of Vermont and 
a member of a well-known old New England family 
which had been represented for several generations 
in the Green Mountain State. Mansor Chamber- 
lain died in Bradford County, Pa., of apoplexy, at 
the age of sixty-six years. He was a farmer by 
occupation, and possessed all the stern and sturdj' 
traits of a substantial ancestry. 

Caleb Cummins and his wife began the journey 
of life together on a farm in Ridgebury Township, 
Bradford County, where they lived until the death 
of the mother in the spring of 1848. The father 
subsequently married Miss Mary Fuller, and in 
1855, leaving Pennsylvania, migrated to Dakota 
Territory, settling among the earliest pioneers of 
Union Count}'. After residing there a number of 
years they moved to Lj'onsville, in Buffalo County, 
where they now live, the father lieing seventy-four 
years old and the stepmother fifty-one. 

The subject of this sketch was the youngest of 
two sons and one daughter born to his parents, the 
latter of whom, Margaret by name, died in DeKalb 
County, 111., when an interesting young lady of 
nineteen summers. AVarren, the brother, is married, 
and a resident of Phillips County, Kan., where he 
is successfully engaged in farming. 

After the death of his mother our subject was 
taken to the home of his grandfather, where he 
lived ten years and until the death of the latter. 
The boy was then thrown upon his own resources, 
and employed himself at whatever he could find to 
do. He continued a resident of Bradford Countj', 
and lived with one man, George W. Cooper, f(<r a 
period of four j'ears, beginning at the munificent 
salary of $4 per month. As his services became 
more valuable his wages were raised, and in the 
meantime he acquired a thorough knowledge of 
farming pursuits. He first set foot upon the soil of 
Nebraska in 1866, and when ready to establish a 
home of his own was married, in McWilliams Pre- 
cinct, this count}', to Miss Jennie Nelson. This 



lady was born in Henry County, 111., May 12, 
1855, and is the daughter of Augustus Nelson,who, 
with his wife, is a native of Sweden, and now 
living upon a farm in Johnson County, this State, 
in the enjoyment of a competence. Mr. Nelson is 
one of the most successful and skillful agricultur- 
ists of his time, and has always been an excellent 
manager financially. He came to Nebraska in 1 868, 
when his daughter Jennie was a j'oung girl of thir- 
teen years. 

Mrs. Cummins received her education in the dis- 
trict schools of Henry County, 111., and remained 
under the home roof until her marriage. She is 
now the mother of two interesting children, daugh- 
ters, Minnie and Clara. Mr. Cummins, politically, 
votes the straight Republican ticket, and has been 
a member of the Village Board for a period of four 
years. He is a man who makes friends wherever 
he goes, being courteous and companionable, well 
informed, and a man interesting to converse with. 






psr^g* 



R. G. M. BRINKER. For twenty years 
this gentleman has been recognized as a 
leader of medical science in Nebraska City, 
and also as a citizen. He was born in 
Frederick County, Va., on the 27th of June, 1813. 
His early j'ears were spent in the Shenandoah Val- 
ley. His middle name, Madison, is derived from 
the President of that name, who was in office at the 
time of his birth. 

The parents of our subject, George and Elizabeth 
(Kendrick) Brinker, were Virginians by birth. 
His father followed agricultural pursuits chiefly 
throughout a life that extended over eighty-two 
years, while his mother lived to be almost ninety- 
six. The latter years of her life were spent in the 
home of her only daughter, Mrs. Ann R. Rhodes, 
at Denver, Col. Besides this daughter there were 
four sons in the family. Our subject was the 
oldest boy and second child. 

Dr. Brinker was fortunate in having good edu- 
cational advantages presented to him in his youth. 
As he progressed in his studies, and appi'oached- 
the years when the question was presented as to 
what should lie the chosen occupation of his life, he 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



149 



elected to read medicine, and began to do so under 
the care of a preceptor, Dr. Anderton Brown, of 
Middletown. Va., when nineteen years of age. 
This gentleman was one of the bright lights of the 
profession, and was an acknowledged able physi- 
cian and instructor. 

When twenty-two years of age the subject of our 
sketch entered the University of Pennsylvania, 
pursuing his studies with much care until he was 
gr.aduated in the j'ear 1837, receiving the usual di- 
ploma. His first experience as a practitioner was 
at .Strasburg, Shenandoah Co., Va. There he con- 
tinued very successfully engaged for seventeen 
3-ears, and won for himself quite a reputation as a 
diagnostician and prescriber. 

During the above-mentioned period the Doctor 
was married. This important and deejil}' interesting 
event was celebrated at Strasburg, Ya., March 7, 
1839, the ladj' of his regard being Mary A. H. 
Bowman, the excellent daughter of Capt. Isaac 
Bowman, of Revolutionary AVar fame. She was 
born in the vicinity of Strasburg, Va. From child- 
hood up they had been friends and companions, and 
almost naturall}- they came to decide that that 
which had been begun in early years, and whicli 
continued so long, should go on till death should 
separate, and thej^ be bound by strongest ties. 
There have been born to them eight children, 
whose names are recorded as follows: George I. is 
an extensive mine owner in Breckenridge, Col.; 
Mary E. is the wife of E. Humphrey, the well- 
known grocer of Denver, Col.; Ella R. remains 
at home with her parents; Arthur is a partner of 
E. Humphrey in the grocery business, in Denver, 
Col.; Lucie is still at home, as is also Annie, who is 
a widow; James M. died when fourteen years of age, 
and Joseph is Superintendent of the Utah Western 
Division of the Rio Grande Railroad, and lives at 
Ogden, Utah. 

In 1854 Dr. Brinker migrated to Missouri witli 
his familj-, locating at Brunswick, Chariton County, 
where he continued in the practice of medicine for 
fully ten years. Then, leaving in 1865 he came to 
Nebraska Citj% which from that time has continued 
to be his place of residence. He bought himself a 
very comfortable'and cozy little home on Eleventh 
street and First avenue. The Doctor owns a farm 



of 160 acres about six and one-half miles south- 
east of this city, which is managed by renters, and 
is utilized for general purposes. 

Being a true and patriotic American citizen the 
Doctor has always taken the greatest possible inter- 
est in the political economj' of the district he might 
be a resident of as well as that of the Nation at large; 
usually he has voted with the Democratic party, 
but lias alwaj's considered it his first dutj^ to con- 
sider the person and principles, rather than the 
policjr or part}'. In spite of the weight of years 
upon him, and although attending to a very exten- 
sive practice, our subject carries himself and ef- 
fectually attends to all the demands upon him with 
a brightness and vigor that shame man}- j'ounger 
men. It were very hard to find a more esteemed 
and in everj' way respected man or citizen, a truer 
friend, or more uniformly- genial and courtly gen- 
tleman. 

y WILLIAM E. INGALLS. If a continued 
extension of business and solidifying of 

\J^' financial interests mean anj-thing, the case 
of the gentleman whose life stor^' is herein pre- 
sented, would show that in his bakery store and 
restaurant he is an able caterer of gastronomic neces- 
saries and luxuries, and moreover that his efforts 
are fully appreciated, which is undoubtedly the 
case. Mr. Ingalls was born in Jacksonville, Mor- 
gan Co., 111. His father. Hart Ingalls, is a native 
of Niagara County, N. Y., where his father, Darius 
Ingalls, was for many years a resident and prosper- 
ous farmer. He moved from that State to Illinois 
in 1832, and became a pioneer of the latter State. 
He took a tract of Government land and improved 
it, but to-day it is absorbed in the city of Jackson- 
ville. Tlie village of Jacksonville had just been 
laid out. There was but one store and a black- 
smith-shop in the place. The nearest market for 
many years was at Meredosia on the Illinois River, 
some twenty-five miles distant, and not infre- 
quently the journey to St. Louis, which was 110 
miles away, had to be made for special market pur- 
poses. The entire journey was performed alwaj's 
with ox-teams. 

The father of our subject was fifteen years old 



^i- 



150 



OTOE COUNTY. 



when his parents moved to Illinois. He was reared 
amid agricultural pursuits, and from his boyhood was 
used to farm life. He chose tliis for hie life occu- 
pation, and continued to follow the same until his 
death, which occurred in 1846, when he was but 
twenty-nine years of age. The maiden name of 
his wife, the mother of our subject, was Elizabeth J. 
Elledge. She was born in Indiana, and is the 
daughter of Benjamin and Catharine Elledge, of 
Indiana. She was married a second time, to W. A. 
Wise, and now lives in Griggsville, Pike Co., 111. 

The subject of our sketch was but an infant 
when his father died. After his mother's second 
marriage he went to I'eside with her. His step- 
father was by trade a gunsmith, and almost natur- 
ally he was fond of handling the tools, and from 
the time he left school worked with his father and 
learned the trade. His education previously ob- 
tained was received in the public schools of Griggs- 
ville. In 1863, when but seventeen years of age, 
our subject enlisted, becoming a member of Com- 
pany B, of the 68th Illinois Infantry, in which he 
served for one year, and then was discharged with 
the rest of his regiment. They were first stationed 
at Camp Butler for about five months, and then did 
garrison duty at Washington, D. C, for a few 
weeks. From there they were sent to Alexandria, 
Va., and from that place to Fairfax Seminary, where 
he did garrison duty for the remainder of his term 
of service. After that he went to St. Louis, and 
was engaged for two years in the United States Ar- 
senal in that city. 

Upon leaving that employment Mr. Ingalls en- 
gaged in a broom factory and learned the trade, and 
continued to work in St. Louis for five years, when he 
returned to Griggsville and commenced to learn the 
baker's trade. He worked there for one year, and 
then went to Naples for a short time, and from 
there to Jacksonville, where he established himself 
in business, and continued until 1879. Then he 
went to Atchison, Kan., and worked- for Poehler 
Bros., remaining for seven years. He then came to 
Nebraska City and embarked in his present busi- 
ness. 

The subject of our sketch was united in marriage 
with Adelaide Ireland, a native of Illinois. She 
was the daughter of James Ireland, of Massachu- 



setts. She died in the year 1877, leaving three 
children, whose names are mentioned as follows: 
Luther Clyde, George L. and Harrj'. A second 
alliance was contracted in the year 1879, the name 
of the lady being Mrs. Anna (Cook) Hulett. This 
lady was born at Lambertville, N. J., and is the 
daughter of Piiillip and Martha Deltz. Her first 
husband was Henry Hulett, of Illinois, by whom 
she became the mother of two children. To our 
subject there have been given five children, viz: 
Henry, Lee, Mamie, Parker and Jessie. 



^^EORGE CONKLIN, an early pioneer of this 
III (— -, count}', is now numbered among her wealth- 
^^J) lest farmers and most extensive land-owners. 
He has a large farm in Otoe Precinct, where he 
resides, and he has been more than ordinarily suc- 
cessful in his life work. He was born near Sid- 
ney Plains, Delaware Co., N. Y., on the 19th of 
December, 1831. His parents were Thomas and 
Clarissa (Smith) Conklin. His father died in Dela- 
ware Count}' in 1834, ere he had passed the prime 
of life. 

The mother of our subject married a second time 
a few years later, and her son went to live with an 
uncle for a few j'ears. He then returned to live 
with his mother, but the high-spirited lad found 
his nature and his stepfather's incompatible, and 
as they could not agree, he would not live under 
the same roof with him, and went to work for a 
farmer by the month, receiving 18 a month for a 
year. He worked hard and steadily, and saved 
all of his earnings that year, and after that was 
employed by the day or month a part of the 
time on a farm, and a part of the time in raft- 
ing lumber down the Susquehanna River, being 
thus employed until the year 1856. In that year, 
with four others, he came to the Territory of 
Nebraska, coming by the way of the river from 
St. Louis, there being no railroad then west of 
Iowa City. The journey consumed many d.aj's, as 
it took them five days to get to St. Louis, and 
from there to Nebraska City thirteen days, fare 
and board being $60. The country around here 
at that time presented a very wild appearance, 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



151 



a marked contrast to its well-settled, flourishing 
condition of to-day. Indians still lingered here, 
and deer, wild turkeys and other kinds of game 
were very plentiful. His companions staid but a 
week, and apparently not liking the prospect, re- 
turned to Pennsj'lvania. Our subject, with more 
pluck and enterprise, perhaps, decided to try his 
life here, and see what it held for him, as he 
was then young and unmarried, and had no strong 
ties to bind him elsewliere. When he first came 
here, he and his friends, having heard of Prai- 
rie City, started out to find it. Having walked 
about eight miles from Nebraska City, they stopped 
at an isolated log cabin to inquire the way to the 
city they were in search of, and they were very 
much surprised on being told that they were al- 
ready in Prairie City. Much disgusted, they passed 
on up the creek for a few miles, and sta3'ing all 
night at a log cabin, they returned to Nebraska City 
the next day. Mr. Conklin soon found employ- 
ment on a farm, pradently saving his earnings, and 
in the fall of 1856 he took up a claim on the banks 
of the Nemaha, in Otoe County. He built a log 
house, in which he staid until his finances were 
reduced to $2.50, and he then returned to Nebraska 
City to find employment, whereby he might re- 
plenish his purse. All the following winter he was 
engaged in teaming logs to a sawmill, but owing 
to the failure of the men who emploj'ed him, he 
lost most of his wages, or rather, did not get 
them at all. In the summer he worked in another 
mill, and in the succeeding winter worked by the 
day and job until spring opened, when he rented a 
farm in Four Mile Precinct. He engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits there until 1858, when he bought 
a tract of land in the same precinct. But he could 
not pay for it, and so traded it for a pair of horses. 
He continued to rent land for three years, and then 
bought eighty acres in Four Mile Precinct. He 
built a house and lived on his land a year, and then 
sold it, purchased another eighty acres near by, 
and resided on that two or three years. At the 
end of that time he also disposed of that at a 
handsome profit, and soon purchased another 80- 
acre tract of land in that precinct, but almost 
immediately sold it. After that he rented a farm 
until 1870, when he bought the place where he 

<• 



now resides. His first purchase was of eighty 
acres of wild land, and he has since added to it, 
until he lias 520 acres in one body in Otoe Pre- 
cinct. It comprises some of the best farming 
land in the vicinity, and the greater part of it is 
improved, although eighty acres of it is in fine 
timber. He has erected suitable buildings, has 
good machmery, and evertliing about bears the 
mark of a skillful and practical farmer. 

Mr. Conklin was married, Jan. 27, 1859, to Miss 
Martha Shelenbarger, a native of Fayette County, 
Pa. Her father, Isaac Shelenbarger, who was a 
farmer, spent his last years in Fayette County, 
Pa. Tlie maiden name of his wife was Susan 
Shelenbarger, of the same name though no rela- 
tive, and she was a native of Fayette County, 
and is now a resident of Thomas County, Kan. She 
makes her home with her children, and is eighty 
years old. The pleasant married life of Mr. and 
]\Irs. Conklin has been blessed to them by the birth 
of eight children, as follows: Emma, the wife of 
Charles Hall; John, Frank, Lizzie; Susie, wife of 
JNIason Ricker; Hester, Jacob and O. P. 

Mr. Conklin is eminently a self-made man, as 
from the time when he was a small lad he has had 
to make his own way in the world unassisted. He 
has been a hard and constant worker, doing well 
whatsoever his hand has found to do. Through it 
all he has preserved the integrity of his character 
unblemished, and is entitled to the respect of his 
fellow-citizens. In politics lie is a stanch Repub- 
lican. 



■jf^ REDERICK W. RODENBROCK. Thetour- 
ti^g' ist making Ills first trip to Germany may 
/ll, pass through the beaten paths of tourist 
travel, and, when he has finished all, if he will but 
turn his face toward the historic Province of West- 
phalia, although but about 8,000 square miles in 
its area, and therefore small as compared with the 
ground .already covered by him, he will appreciate 
the fact that in many regards he has left the best 
until the last. It must suffice here merely to re- 
mark that its climate is most excellent, agreeable 
and heatliful ; its center and more northern part is 



^ 



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152 



OTOE COUNTY. 



comparatively level, and possesses some stretches 
of heather that would make the heart of the Scotch- 
man beat wildly with delight. Coming down to the 
southwestern portion of the Province, the face of 
the country changes and becomes undulating, but 
shortly the traveler finds himself surrounded by 
most beautiful and fertile hills, and not a few grand 
and towering mountains. Nestled in one of the 
prettiest and most fertile valleys is tlie village of 
Halle, and from its streets, as we look up on either 
band, the eye ranges over the hillsides and to the 
distant mountain tops, and we realize somewhat of 
the beauty and sublimity of that scene, and are 
convinced that for scenery it is very difHcult to 
surpass it. The village is about ten miles from 
Bielefeld, a picturesque, walled Prussian town, and 
tiie center of commerce, trade and society of this 
district. 

In this beautiful village of Halle above referred 
to, and amid the beauties with which nature has 
endowed that place, there was born upon the loth 
of October, 1840, in the home of one of its most 
honorable and respected citizens, a son, who re- 
ceived the name that stands at the commencement 
of this sketch. The parents of our subject were 
Frederick W. and Katrina Rodenbrock. and the 
father followed the occupation of farming upon 
property that had been owned by the family for 
man}' generations. As their forefathers had done 
before them for the most part, he and his wife 
were born, brought up. and ran the entire course of 
life in their native valley. Our subject and his 
brother, John Frederick, were the onl}' members of 
the family who came to the United States. 

As soon as our subject was old enough to attend 
school opportunity was afforded him to do so, and 
he continued thus engaged until he had reached his 
fourteenth year. During that time he began to 
develop those qualities and powers that have, under 
the congenial influences and amid the favorable 
surroundings of American life and commerce, made 
him the success he is. After leaving school our 
subject was his father's assistant upon the farm, and 
then, as was customary, he entered the army, and 
served for three years. During this time the Sles- 
wick-Holstein War took place, during which time 
he did garrison duty on the Island of Reegan to 



guard it from the naval forces. At the termination of 
the required period of military service he received 
an honorable discharge, and returned home to find 
that during hiii absence his father had been removed 
h}' death. 

Realizing how much more than ever he was re- 
quired at iiome, and recognizing that upon him to 
a large extent his mother would lean, now that her 
husband's arm could no longer support her, our 
subject nobly set to work to do everj'thing in his 
power to make her life bright and restful, and has 
the pleasurable consciousness of knowing how large 
his efforts have been. He remained with her until 
1865, and then, satisfactory arrangements having 
been made for her comfort, and with the hope of a 
larger success in the New World than the old could 
extend, in the fall of that j'ear set sail from Bremen, 
and after a comparatively lengthy ocean trip landed 
at New York, and went on thence to St. Louis. 

Life amid the strange and in many regards 
novel surroundings in this to him new city, was 
begun by our subject engaging with J. H. Rott- 
raan in the wholesale busines"s. After a few months 
he came to Nebraska Cit}', and accepted a position 
as clerk in the grocery store of F. W. Rottraann, 
and there continued for about five years, during 
which i)eriod his energy, integrity, business pusii 
and tact, so favorably impressed his employers that 
at its close he was accepted as a partner in the firm, 
which arrangement continued for over three j-ears. 
Then the stock was divided, and IMr. Rodenbrock 
removed his portion to the store where he is at 
present located; viz., upon the northwest corner of 
Central avenue and Twelfth street. From that time 
until the present success has continued, to attend 
him, and to-day it were, perhaps, not beyond the 
bounds of truth to say that he is one of. if not the 
most, solid and successful business men in the city. 

There are few better able to appreciate the 
felicitous pleasures and quiet healthfulness of home, 
and it was the good fortune of our subject in select- 
ing a partner in life to make such decision as as- 
sured him in the companionship of his wife all that 
could be desired for that sacred relationship. On 
the 4th of September, 1873, Mr. Rodenbrock and 
Miss Lena Kregel were united in holy matrimony. 
This estimable lady was born in Claj'ton County, 



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t 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



153 



Iowa, and is the daughter of Henry and Mary Kre- 
gel, both natives of Germany. There have been 
born to our subject six ciiildren, whose bright 
vivacity and merriment have made his home more 
inviting and happy than any otlier place to him, 
and, as they are developing traits of character and 
mental powers that promise much, there is doubt- 
less a bright and happy future 3'et in store for both 
them and their parents. The names they have re- 
ceived are Amanda, Minnie, Henry, also Laura and 
Lewis, twins, and a baby unnamed. 

Before closing this compendium mention might 
be made for the encouragement of those readers 
who may be beginning life, of some indicators of 
the success that has crowned the efforts of our sub- 
ject. In addition to his business house Mr. Roden- 
brock has erected a large two-story building on 
the southeast corner of Central avenue and Twelfth 
street, upon a site of 50x60 feet: also another, if 
anything more handsome in its exterior and com- 
plete in its internal arrangements; this likewise is a 
two-story building, upon the southwest corner of 
Central and Eleventh streets, and having an elegant 
front on Central avenue of 100 feet. 

The early religious connection of our subject was 
with the Lutheran Church of his native country, 
and to this he has continued his adherence, and, 
with his wife and family, is numbered among its 
most firm adherents and hearty supporters. In 
questions civic and governmental he is usualty 
found voting with the Republican party, which 
recognizes in him an oft-tried and stanch friend. 
As a citizen, he is ever read^' to aid and support 
in every way possible every enterprise, project or 
plan that will assure the people of the city, precinct 
or county any improvement, privilege or progress. 



?RED DUERSCHNER, the pastor of the St. 
Paul's Lutheran Church, of Rock Creek, is 
a gentleman of fine capabilities, good edu- 
cation, and more than ordinarily intelligent. He 
assumed charge of this parish in July, 1882, and in 
the discharge of his duties has acquitted himself in 
that creditable manner which has secured for him 
the confidencie an,d este.epa of all with whom he has 



associated. The jDarish at this time comprises thirty 
families, an increase from eighteen since the time 
the present pastor became connected with it. He 
also conducts the school in connection with the 
church, having an average attendance of about 
forty students. 

Mr. Duersehner was born at Galena, 111, Dec. 
27, 18(31, and completed his education in the 
seminary at Mendota. The main secret of his suc- 
cess has been his deep interest in his work, laboring 
conscientiously and faithfully for the best good of 
his people. His father, Rev. C. Duersehner, was a 
native of the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, 
whence he emigrated to the United States when a 
young man, and completed his studies in the Uni- 
versity of Iowa, soon afterward entering the minis- 
try and devoting the remainder of his life to the 
service of the churcli. He, however, only lived to 
be middle aged, his death occurring about 1878, in 
Illinois, at the .age of fortj'-five years. 

The mother of our subject was in her girlhood 
Miss Catherine Hammerand, also a native of Bava- 
ria, and who came to America iu her girlhood, set- 
tling with her parents in Iowa. She is still living, 
making her home in Pyrmont, Mo., with her son 
John, and has about attained her threescore years. 

Our subject is one of the younger tnembers of a 
family of five sons and one daughter born to his 
parents. His brother John, also a minister of the 
Lutheran Church, stationed at Pyrmont, and him- 
self, are the only ones living. Frederick H., like his 
brothers, pursued his studies in the common schools 
of Galena, 111., where he prepared himself for 
his college course. Ujwn reaching manhood he 
was married, at Wilton, Iowa, Oct. 13.4I886, to 
Miss Sophia List, who was born in Madison, Wis., 
Sept. 14, 1864. Mrs. Duersehner is the daughter 
of John and Wilhelmina (Hahnen) List, who are 
now residents of Wilton, Iowa, and the father a 
minister of the Lutheran Church. They were na- 
tives of the German Empire, the father of Bavaria 
and the mother of Wurtemberg, and came to the 
United States in early youth, and were married in 
Des Moines County, Iowa. Mr. List is a minister 
also warmly' devoted to his work, and is the means 
of doing much good in his communit3\ 

Mrs. Duersehner was carefully trained and edu- 
•► 



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154 



OTOE COUNTY. 



i 



cated, and is amply fitted to be the companion and 
helpmate of her husband. She is a favorite in 
church and social circles, and the little household 
has been brightened by the birth of one child, a 
daughter Tilly. Their home is very pleasantly sit- 
uated, and is an attractive resort for the many 
friends thej' have gathered about them. 



lEORGE W. DOANE. The farming and 
stocli-raising interests of Otoe Countj' have 
a lively representative in the subject of this 
sketch, who owns 280 acres of fine land on the 
southeast corner of section 4, Soutli Branch Pre- 
cinct. He evidently has made the most of his ex- 
periences as an agriculturist, and in reward for his 
thrift and industry is surrounded by all the com- 
forts of life with many of its luxuries, and with an 
ample competence for his old ag^. 

Our subject is a native of Penobscot County, Me., 
and the son of Joshua and Rachel (Hayden) Doane, 
who were also born in the Pine Tree State. The 
father was a farmer by occupation, but in the fall 
of 1849 left his own rugged hills for the more pro- 
ductive lands of Dane County, Wis. Near the land 
upon which he located in the pioneer daj-s the town 
of Stoughton finally grew up, and he lived to see the 
country around him developed from its first wild, 
uncultivated condition to that of a prosperous com- 
munity of civilized people. He is still living near 
Stoughton, having now arrived at the advanced age 
of eighty years, and for a long period has been a 
devoted member of the Baptist Church. The 
mother died at the old homestead in the spring of 
1886, at the age of seventy-four. 

The parental household included ten children, 
namely: Hiram, Nelson, George W. (our subject), 
Rozella; Hannah and Charles (deceased); Jeremiah, 
Ellen, Luke and Louisa (deceased). Hiram, Nel- 
son and Charles during the late war served as Union 
soldiers, and frequently' met the enem}' in the smoke 
of battle. Hiram was wounded at the battle of 
Chickamauga, and Nelson was wounded in the neck 
at Pittsburg. Both recovered, however, and are now 
in Wisconsin. The other surviving members of the 
family are also residents of Wisconsin. 



The subject of this sketch was born Dec. 4, 1837, 
and was a lad twelve years of age when his parents 
removed to Wisconsin. He attended the common 
schools, and spent his boyhood and youth after the 
manner of most farmers' sons, becoming familiar 
with the various emploj'ments of rural life. Upon 
reaching his majority he began farming for himself 
not far from the old homestead, and was thus oc- 
cupied until 1865. Then, crossing the Mississippi 
he came to this State, making the journey overland 
with teams, and homesteading 160 acres of land, 
settled upon it and began the improvements which 
now reflect in such an admirable manner upon his 
industry and enterprise. He has brought the en- 
tire tract to a productive condition, planted a grove 
of Cottonwood trees, and has an orchard three acres 
in extent, besides the smaller fruits. The land is 
watered by a living stream, and stocked with good 
grades of cattle, horses, etc. He purchased the ad- 
ditional 120 acres in the spring of 1883. He is 
fond of fine horses, and has an interest in the valua- 
ble full-blood Norman "Romulus" imported. 

The lad}' who has presided over the domestic 
affairs of our subject with wise and prudent fore- 
thought for the last twenty-nine years, was in her 
girlhood Miss Frances Wheeler, and became his 
wife in Dane County, Wis., Feb. 27, 1859. Mrs. 
Doane is the daughter of Henry and Sarah (Kelley) 
Wheeler, natives of New Hampshire, and the father 
is a shoemaker by trade. They left New England 
for Wisconsin about 1853, settling in Stoughton, 
where the father died in 1864. The mother is still 
living, and makes her home with her daughter in 
South Branch, Otoe Co., Neb. Mrs. Doane is their 
only living child, and was born in Sutton, N. H., Feb. 
8,1840. She is now the mother of five children — 
Arthur N., Halsey A., Henry E., Elva and Charles. 
Arthur married Miss Jane Reed, resides in Knox 
County, and is the father of one child, a son, Alfred. 
Halsey married Miss Sylvia Jones, is also farming 
in Knox County, and is the father of one child, a 
daughter, Hope. The other children remain at 
home with their parents. 

Mr. Doane cast his first Presidential vote for 
Abraham Lincoln, and is an ardent supporter of 
Republican principles. Both he and his estimable 
wife are members in good standing of the Presby- 



^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



157 



^h 



tei'ian Church, attending at Hopewell. Mr. D. has 
been a member of the School Board since the forma- 
tion of the district, and Road Supervisor a number 
of j'ears. He is warmly interested in the success of 
the temperance cause, and a member of tiie society 
in South Branch. He has built up a record of an 
honest man and a good citizen, one who enjoys in 
a marked degree the esteem and confidence of his 
community. 

-i^^' 

^^^EORGE F. LEE, whose portrait is presented 
(if '^ *^" ^^^ opposite page, is well known in this 
^^4 section of the countrj'. not on!}- as a pioneer 
of Otoe County, who has been identified with its 
agrieidtural interests for many years, but also as a 
true Christian gentleman, tiian which no higher 
praise can be bestowed. Bj' his influence and ex- 
ample he has done much to el'jvate the moral, so- 
cial and religious status of the community where 
he resides. He has borne an honorable part in the 
public affairs of his adopted county, serving as its 
rejiresentative in the Territorial Legislature of 1858, 
as County Commissioner for three years, and he 
was Justice of the Peace for Otoe Precinct for six- 
teen J'ears. He is now living a somewhat more retired 
life in one of the pleasantest homes in Otoe Pre- 
cinct, where he has a valuable farm, from vvhicli, 
under his able and skillful management, he derives 
an ample income. 

Mr. Lee is of Kew England origin and ancestry, 
having been born in the town of Guilford, New 
Haven Co., Conn., Dec. K!, 1830. His father, p:ii 
Lee, and his grandfather, Eber Lee, were both 
natives of that town, and of English descent. His 
grandfather was a farmer in his native State, and 
alwaj's followed that pursuit. He spent his last 
years witli iiis only daughter, in Meriden, Conn., 
and died at the advanced age of ninety-four years. 

The father of our sul)ject was reared and mar- 
ried in his native town, Lydia Everts, a native of 
Killingworth, Conn., becoming his wife. In 1833 
Mr. Lee left his old New England home with ills 
familjr to take up his abode in Ohio. They traveled 
by water to New York, thence up the Hudson to 
Troy, from there to Buffalo on the Erie Canal, and 
from there by lake to Cleveland. Mr. Lee l)ouglit 

<• 



a tract of limber land in Twinsburg, Cuj-ahoga 
(now Summit) County, built a small frame house to 
shelter his family, and at once entered upon the 
task of improving a farm. There were no rail- 
ways there then, and Cleveland, twenty miles dis- 
tant, was the nearest market. In 1847 he sold his 
place there and removed to Hiram, where he invested 
in village property, and resided there and in his na- 
tive State man}' years. In 1862 he came to Ne- 
braska, and made his home with our subject until 
his death, in 1876. His wife had preceded him to 
the better world during their residence in Twins- 
burg, in 1842. 

The subject of this sketch was two and one-half 
years old when his parents moved to Ohio, and he 
continued to live with his father until his sixteenth 
year. He then went to reside with a farmer for 
two and a half years. He was a bright, thoughtful 
youth, and early evinced a strong thirst for knowl- 
edge, which was at the end of that time gratified 
by his admission to the High School, which he at- 
tended for two years. He was an earnest student, 
and he afterward entered the academy at Brockport. 
N. Y., where he pursued a course for six months. 
He thus secured an excellent education, and, re- 
turning to his native State, engaged in teaching in 
the winter and in farming in the summer until 1854. 
He then turned his attention to the trade of car- 
penter, which he followed until 1856. In September 
of that year he came to Nebraska by way of the 
railw.ay to St. Louis, and thence bj' boat up the 
ISIissouri to Otoe City. Here he soon found em- 
l>loyment at his trade, and in the same fall made a 
claim to the southwest quarter of section 13, Otoe 
Precinct. He erected a small frame house, and in 
the spring of 1857 his wife joined him, and they 
settled on the place and commenced to improve a 
farm. They resided there until 1872, and in the 
meantime he had bought the place where he now 
resides, and in that year built the house he now oc- 
cupies. It is a tasty, modern frame structure, ve- 
neered with brick. He also erected a conveniently 
arranged frame barn, and other substantial farm 
buildings. All his buildings are octagon in shape. 
His farm comprises 160 acres of well-improved 
land, with a good supply of fruit. 

Mr. Lee was uiiirried, April 17, 1855, to Miss 



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158 



otop: county. 



Betsey W. Strong, who was born in New Hartford. 
Conn., in 1835. Her family since early Colonial 
times had been residents of Connecticut. Her 
father, Edward W. Strong, was born in the same 
town as herself. May 18, 1804, being the date of 
his birth. His father, Elijah Strong, was born in 
Coventry, Conn., in 1776, and his father, likewise 
named Elijah, was, it is thought, born near New 
Coventry, Conn., and spent his last j'ears in New 
Hartford. Mrs. Lee's grandfather was reared in his 
native State, and there married to Betsy W. Sadd, 
a daughter of Noah Sadd. She w!is, it is thought, 
born in East Windsor, Conn., and she died in the 
village of New Hartford. March 4, 1821. Mr. 
Strong was a carpenter by trade, and later became 
a farmer. He was a good singer, and during the 
winter seasons taught a singing-school in the county. 
He died in New Hartford, Conn., Sept. 1, 18n0. 

Mrs. Lee's father was reared and married in Con- 
necticut, and removed from there to Nevv York in 
1847. He took up his residence in Beekmantowu' 
where he worked at the cabinet-maker's trade for 
several years. He then moved to Highgate. Vt., 
and made his home there until 1874, when he came 
to Nebraska, and spent his last years with Mrs. Lee, 
dying Jan. 24, 1886. The maiden name of his wife 
was Sally A. Shepard ; she was born in New Hartford, 
March 19, 1802, and died in the same place March 
16,1842. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Lee 
was Alvin Shepard, and he was born in New Hart- 
ford, Conn., Nov. 30, 1773, a son of Daniel and 
Jerusha (Ensign) Shepard. He was a wood-turner 
by trade, but he subsequently became a fur dealer, 
going as far north as Montreal for his stock. Later 
in life he settled on a small farm near New Hart- 
ford, and died there May 3, 1854. The maiden 
name of his wife, Mrs. Lee's grandmother, was 
Sevila Holcomb. She was born in Granb3% Hart- 
ford Co., Conn., and died on the home farm near 
New Hartford, in August, 1836. 

Mr. Lee has been an interested witness of the 
growth and progress of Otoe County almost from 
the very beginning of its settlement by the white 
men. When he first came here the land had not 
come into market, and the settlements were confined 
to the streams. The first settlers had taken up the 
timber land, thinking that the most valuable, and 



most of the land was held by squatters who were 
read}^ to sell their claims, whenever opportunity 
occurred, fpr from two to three times what the 
Government charged for it. The country round 
about was in a state of almost primeval wildness. 
Deer were plentiful, and wild turkeys and prairie 
chickens furnished many a delicious meal for the 
pioneers. No railways penetrated the Territory 
for some years, and steamers were constantly plying 
on the river. Our subject and his fellow-pioneers 
ma3' well be proud that they have assisted in the 
development of such a grand and noble State as 
the Nebraska of to-day, from the sparsely settled, 
wild Territorj' of less than thirty years ago. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lee are .active and influential 
members of the Congregational Church, he having 
joined in Ohio and she in Connecticut. They were 
charter members of the church in Nebraska City, 
and were active in securing the establishment of 
the church in their own neighborhood. They helped 
U) organize the church, and he has been Deacon, 
Trustee and Treasurer, and Superintendent of the 
Sund.ay -school for manj' years. Mr. Lee is a strong 
temperance man, and so firmly believes that the 
temperance question is one of the great issues of 
the day that he carries it into politics like many 
others of his fellow-countrymen, and, whereas he 
was formerly for many years a Republican, he is 
now a Prohibitionist. Mr. Lee is Secretary' of the 
Camp Creek Cemetery Association, and he has been 
connected with it in some official capacity since its 
organization in 1866. The cemetery_was at that 
time laid out on a part of his farm. It is beau- 
tifully located on the southwest quarter of sec- 
tion 13, on a rise of ground that secures good 
drainage. It is tastefully laid out. and is indeed a 
lovely resting-place for the dead, and, with its sad 
and sacred associations, a hallowed spot for the 
living. 



'jl^-^ best known and respected names in Mc- 
^^^ Williams Precinct, we had almost said in the 
county, and the gentleman who bears it is one of 
the most enterprising and successful farmers in the 
district, and also one of the most extensive stock- 



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^^ ^ 1 ■<. 



OTOE COUNTY. 



169 



raisers within the confines of Otoe County. He has 
lived in that precinct since the year 1863, and 
bouglit his land when the settlements made in the 
precinct might liave been ahnost counted upon the 
fingers. He is one of the busy worl^ers who seem 
never to tire of toil, alw.iys planning or executing, 
and here lies the secret of his success, if it be but 
understood and borne in mind that a bright, keen 
intelligence has directed him in his efforts. 

Capt. Pahde first purchased 320 acres on sections 
13 and 24, building his residence on the former sec- 
tion, on the North Branch of Nemaha Creek. He 
first lived in a log cabin, and continued to live in 
it for nine years. It is still in good preservation, 
and stands upon the original site. After that time 
it gave place to a better and moi« commodious 
structure, and he now has one of the best residences 
in the county, a large two-story brick house, with 
basement and all other buildings in keeping. His 
farm and ranch include over 700 acres of excellent 
land for his purposes, all being splendidl}' culti- 
vated or otherwise improved. He has already 
given away to his children some 300 acres, aud at 
onetime owned over 1,000 acres in this county 
alone. 

Previous to coming to Talmage our subject had 
lived in Gasconade County, Mo., for many years, 
in fact for the greater part of the time since he 
came to the United States, and also for a short 
time in the States of Illinois and Iowa. Until 
he came liere he had followed agriculture, and 
owned 280 acres of land in Gasconade County. 
He was born in Westphalia. Germany, on the 14th 
of December, 1808. His father, Zacliariah Pahde, 
was a farmer, and had been from his youth. He 
died at the Age of sixt3'-six years. The maiden 
name of his wife was Charlotta Overwertmann; she 
also attained the same advanced age. 

The subject of our sketch was the eldest of four 
children born to his parents. He came to the United 
States two years before his brother August, who 
died later in Franklin County, after he had been 
married but a few years, leaving two children. 
When twenty years of age our subject enlisted in 
the German Arm}-, and continued in the service for 
three years, and was retained as a militiaman until 
he came to the United States in the year 1838. lie 



landed upon American soil on New Year's Day, 
after a voyage in the sailing-vessel '-Joanna," 
under charge of Capt. Minard Master. The trip 
lasted eight weeks and two days, and entered the 
port of New Orleans as above mentioned. 

Upon starting life in this country our subject 
first proceeded up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, 
Mo. ; the first three years he traveled around the 
country, working in different places as a farm la- 
borer. At the end of that period he was married, 
and then settled in Gasconade County, and worked 
at teaming for about five years, when he bought his 
first land comprising 120 acres, upon which he 
lived until he came to this State, but not until after 
he had, at the outbreak of the war, raised a com- 
pany of German citizens which was called Company 
J, and attached to the o4th Missouri Infantry. Of 
this company lie was commissioned Captain on the 
25th of August, 1862, and remained in command 
until the latter part of the year 1863, when, owing 
to a little difficulty with Col. Jail who was in com- 
mand, he resigned h's commission and left the regi- 
ment. Shortly after returning home he received a 
request from a daughter who was living in this 
State, which led liira hither. 

The record of our subject as a military man is 
that of a careful, but brave and daring soldier. His 
former experiences in his native country had done 
much to help him in service here. The principles 
that have governed his whole life controlled him 
while in the army. He made many friends, and was 
held in much respect by his men. 

Capt. Pahde was married in Franklin County, 
Mo., in the year 1842, the lady of his choice being 
Miss Henrietta Krute. She also was born in West- 
phalia, and came to the United States .alone in 183U. 
She was brought up and educated in her native 
country, and throughout her life manifested the 
results and fruit of her home training. She died 
at her home in this precinct, in 1888. She was then 
seventy-three years, four months and ten days old. 
Nine children had come to call her mother, three 
of whom are now deceased, viz: Henry, Frederick 
and Maria H. The surviving children bear the 
following names: Louisa Charlotte, now the wif^ 
of Menrj' Damma, of McVVilliams Precinct; Freder- 
icka W., wife of Henry U. Demme, of Wayne 

■> 



t- 



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160 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Conntj', Neb. ; Catherina, wife of William Nemann, 
of Johnson County; John H., one of the prosperous 
farmers of ISIcWiJIiams Precinct; Charlotte H., 
now Mrs. William Hustmann ; John F., Jr., who is 
the husband of Louisa Batters, of this precinct. 
Each member of this family is strongly attached to 
the German Evangelical Church, and they have 
been members of the same from their j'outh. 

Our subject is one of the stanch and doughty 
supporters of the Republican party, and does not 
feel right excepting when doing his utmost to ad- 
vance the interests of the party when active worlc 
is required, as in the time of campaigns. He is en- 
ergetic in such undertakings, and alwajs works in 
a truly loyal and patriotic spirit. 



-^=^€^^4+4- 



WIGHT A. PLYMPTOX. This gentle- 
man is a worthy representative of a familj^ 
jjgji^^ that has had every occasion to be i)roud 
of its lineage, descent and name. He is a 
very highl}' esteemed citizen and prosperous farmer 
on the southwest quarter of section 17, South 
Brancli Precinct. Frederick Plympton, the grand- 
father of our subject, was born in Massac liusetts, 
and was one of the prominent citizens in the clos- 
ing decades of the last century and the early part 
of the present. His son Frederick, the father of 
our subject, was born in Sturbridge. 3Iass.. in the 
year 1790. He served in the AVar of 1812 on the 
Canadian frontier. The cliosen occupation of his 
life was that of a shoemaker, which he carried on 
for several years in Utica, N. Y. He became the 
husband of Maiy Jones, who was born in Rutland, 
Vt., in 1795, after which they removed to Catta- 
raugus County, N. Y., where they made their home 
until 1847. The subsequent four or five years 
found them in Wood County, W. Ya. In 185.5 
he settled on a piece of land in Clear Lake, 
Steuben Co., Ind., where the motlierof our sub- 
ject died Sept. 15, 1855; the father came to Ne- 
braska in 1862 to live with his son Dwight, and 
here he made his home until his death, which oc- 
curred Jan. 14, 1875. 

The family of which our subject was a meml3er 
included three children, he being the eldest; i\Iar- 



guerette L. and Benjamin J. He was born in Burton. 
Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., on the 28th of May, 1829. 
He continued at home with his father until he at- 
tained his majority. After leaving school, which he 
was not privileged to attend for long and the opf M-- 
tunities of which were-quite limited, he went with liis 
parents to Ohio. In 1852 the removal was made to 
Clinton Connty. Iowa, where 1 60 acres of land were 
purchased in 1863. He did not do the farming 
work himself, but was in the employ of the Sioux 
Indian Agency, and continued thus for two years. 
Then he moved to Keokuk County and engaged in 
farming for about four j'ears. 

In 1870 our subject came to this county, filed on 
forty acres of land near Palmyra, but staid there 
less than two years. He then went back to Nebraska 
City, and purchased eighty acres of land in its vicin- 
ity. There he continued farming until 1882, and 
then bought his present property of 160 acres, which 
he has thoroughly' improved by buildings, orchards, 
shade trees, hedging, fencing, residence, etc. All 
this work has been done in a very thorough and 
perfect manner, with a view both to utility, dura- 
tion, and as far as such was possil)le the beauty of 
effect and finish. 

The marriage of Mr. Plj-mpton was celebrated in 
Keokuk County, Iowa, on the 16th of February. 
1865. He then received in marriage the hand of Abi- 
gal Badger, who was born in Oakland County, Mich., 
on the 8th of February. 1844, to Lester S. and 
Saphronia H. (Rockwell) Plympton, both of whom 
were natives of New York State. The calling of 
her father was that of farming; his death occurred 
when he was sixty-nine j'ears of age, in Iowa, in 
1864. Her mother, who is still living, and at the 
age of seventy-four, is now making her home in 
California with her son Ralph, who is a Jlethodist 
minister. She is the mother of thirteen children, 
whose names are recorded as follows: John, an in- 
fant deceased and unnamed, Hulda, David, .Juliet, 
Abigal, Mariett, Rensellaer, Lj'dia, Armina, Clar- 
rie, Charles and Sherman. David served through 
the late war in the 18th Iowa Infantry, serving 
chiefly in INIissouri and Arkansas. 

Four cliildren liave come to. bless the union of 
Mr. and Mrs. Plympton, who bear the following 
names: Ethel, Frederick D., Robert M. and Saphro- 



■•►^1- 



•►Hf^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



m ill 



nia ]\I. Ethel is happily married to James R. Colon, 
a farmer in Thomas Count^N Kan., and is the motlier 
of one child, Elmer R. Mrs. Pl3-mpton is at pres- 
ent Postmistress in Burr Oak, and lias held the 
position since 1885. 

Our sul)ject and wife are members in good stand- 
ing of the South Russell Baptist Church. They are 
held in high esteem b}^ the people of the district, 
and are much liked by all who know them. Politi- 
cally, Mr. Plympton is and has always been a stanch 
friend of Democratic principles, and usuallj' in- 
dorses its actions of diplomatic policy, supporting 
it b}- his influence and ballot. 

^ ^>#. ^ 



^^^-^RED DEUTSCH. Among the respected Ger- 

P;i man-American citizens of McWilliams Pre- 
cinct our subject occupies an honorable 
position. He is very successful as a farmer and 
stock-raiser, and operates 160 acres of land on sec- 
tion 34. His land is well improved and provided 
with the various buildings, etc., necessar3^ for his 
work. He has lived upon his present farm since 
the year 1871, and has made the propert3^ what it is. 

Mr. Deutsch came to this place from Lee County, 
Iowa, which had been his home for twenty years, 
and had been engaged in farming for the greater 
part of the time. He was born in the Rhine Prov- 
ince of B>'ronne, Germanj% in the ^-ear 1822. His 
father, John Deutsch, was a prosperous German 
fariT-er. He died at the age of fifty-five 3'ears, in 
his native land, as did his wife, although she at- 
tained the riper age of sevent3' years before her 
demise. The maiden name of the mother of our 
subject was Lena Bear. 

Our subject was one of a large family; he lived 
with his parents in the old country home until he 
was about twenty j-ears of age, when he came to 
this country and located in Lee Count3-, where, 
May 8, 1851, he was married to Miss Lena Hers- 
tein, whose birthplace was almost identical with 
that of her husband. vShe was born on the 1st of 
Ma3', 1821, to Christ and Mary (Gable) Herstein, 
both of whom died in Germany, about middle life. 
Mrs. Deutsch was reared by certain members of the 
Mennonite faitli, who nlso instructed our subject. 



She came to this countr3' when thirty 3'ears old, and 
with other of her acquaintances settled in Lee 
County. She has been a true and faithful wife and 
noble woman, receiving the highest regard of her 
friends and neighbors and warmest affection of her 
husband and family. She is the mother of nine 
children, of whom five are now dead, viz: John, 
who was married . to Minnie Brehmn, who is also 
deceased; the3" were the parents of two children — 
Williain F. and Lydia. The next child was Katie, 
who died at the age of twent3'-one years; Mar3^, 
whose demise occurred when she was seventeen 
mouths old; Fred, who died when seven months 
old, and Jacob, when an infant of six weeks. 
The names of the living members of the famil3' are: 
Lizzie, now Mrs. Herman Wendel, of Talmage; 
Mar3', wife of Frank Me3'er (see sketch of this gen- 
tleman); Anna and Fred. 

In the 3'ear 1843, when about twent3'-one 3- ears 
of age, and before his marriage, Mr. Deutsch, with 
a few companions, started out with an ox-team to 
explore the country west of the Missouri River, 
and traveled a considerable distance west of the 
Platte River, where the3' met the western explorer, 
Gen. John C. Fremont. The memory of our sub- 
ject supplies man3' pleasing recollections and recalls 
numerous experiences connected with this trip, one 
of the happiest being connected with this meeting. 
The3' did not stop on their western journe3' until 
the3' reached the Pacific Slope and had gone through 
Oregon. In the sjjring of the following 3rear the 
little band of thirt3'-six returned to Iowa, taking 
the journe3' on horseback. It was then that he de- 
termined to secure a home, which he has never re- 
gretted doing. 

Li^«jHEODORE R. FRERICHS, Cashier of the 
(fn^^ Bank of Talmage, which is a State Bank, is, 
*^^^ with the President, Peter Berlet, Esq., the 
successor of James Sweet & Co., who disposed of 
their interests iu this institution in the fall of 1885. 
It is now successfully operated under a capital of 
$20,000. with a surplus of 14,000, and is numbered 
among the leading institutions of its kind in South- 
ern Nebraska. The present management is ac- 



'^^ 



1= 



^.^h- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



credited with honesty and forethought, and the 
bank is patronized b}' the best business raen and 
farmers on the southern line of the county. 

The subject of this sketch came to Talmage from 
Nebraska City five years ago, and soon afterward 
was taken into the employ of James Sweet & Co. 
In consideration of strict attention to his duties, 
and the unquestioned honesty which has marked his 
career, he was chosen cashier under the former 
management, in which position he has been retained. 
He commenced his business career as a mercantile 
clerk in Nebraska Cit}', of which he was a resident 
two years. 

The native place of our subject, however, was in 
the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, where 
he first opened his eyes to the light Jan. 20, 1859. 
At the age of twenty-one years he emigrated to 
America. He was the youngest child of his parents, 
whose family consisted of five sons and one daugh- 
ter. The father, Frederick F. Frerichs. followed 
the trade of a shoemaker successfully, and died in 
his native Province in 1873, at the age of fifty-six 
years. In accordance with the laws of his country 
he had given a service of three years to the German 
Army before his marriage. His wife, the mother 
of our subject, was in her girlhood Miss Talka 
Teten, a native of the same Province as her hus- 
band, and of pure German ancestrj'. Slie is now a 
resident of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, and is 
sixty-four years of age. 

The brothers and sister of our subject are natives 
mostly of Germany. Theodore R., like them, was 
given a good education, and at the age of fourteen 
years commenced learning the confectionery trade, 
but did not follow it after setting foot upon Amer- 
ican soil. He readily acquired American customs 
and the English language, the latter especially, be- 
ing now able to read, write and talk with great 
fluenc3'. After becoming a resident of Talmage he 
was married, Nov. 28, 1883, to Miss Mary Teten, a 
native of his own country, also born in the Grand 
Duchj' of Oldenburg, 'on the 8th of June, 1865. 
She was brought to this country by her parents, 
Herman J. and Talca Mary (Kruse) Teten, when a 
child two years of age. They located in Rock 
Creek Precinct, this county, settling upon a tract of 
prairie land, from which the father built up a good 



homestead and where the parents lived until the 
spring of 1879. Thence they removed to Barton 
Count}', Kan., find are now living at their ease in 
the village of Albert. 

Mrs. Frerichs was reared to womanhood in this 
county and was educated in the common schools. 
Of her union with our subject there have been 
born two sons and one daughter — Richard T., Her- 
man A. and Pearl A. Mr. and Mrs. F. began the 
journey of life together in Talmage, where thej' 
have lived since their marriage, and have gathered 
around them many friends. Our subject, politicall}-, 
is an earnest supporter of Republican principles, 
and for three years has lieen Village Treasurer, also 
Treasurer of the School Board. He takes kindly to 
the institutions of his adopted country-, having be- 
come thoroughly Americanized and identified with 
its interests. He has kept his eyes open to what 
was going on around him in the world, and is fast 
attaining to the position of a leading citizen in 
his community. 



Tp«) I'ZENIUS WILHELM, the owner of a farm 
Ife] of 320 acres on section 25, Belmont Pre- 
'} ' — --^ cinct, was born in Saxony, Prussia, on the 3d 
of May, 1817, to Anton and Ephie Wilhelm. Our 
subject was brought up and educated in his na- 
tive place, and came to the United States in 1837. 
Upon arriving at New York he made his way to 
Philadelphia, where he remained for about one year, 
and then went to Indiana, and from that State, 
later, proceeded to New Orleans, where he contin- 
ued for four years, working at his trade, which was 
that of a carpenter. Leaving New Orleans our 
subject went to Atchison County, Mo., in the year 
1841, and from there in 1850 to California, where 
he was mining gold for four years, after which he 
returned to Missouri, and in the fall of 1855 came 
to this county, which presented a very different 
appearance to what it does at present. 

On the site of Nebraska City at the time Mr. 
Wilhelm arrived there was nothing excepting the 
old empty dismantled fort and a few log cabins, 
but very shortly after building began and settlers 
arrived. Our subject has been a very hard worker, 

■► 



r 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



163 



and has been largely connected with the lumber 
and milling interests. He put up the first steam 
sawmill in Nebraska City, and was the first to saw 
lumber by the aid of steam in that city, if not, in- 
deed, in the State. He continued to run the mill 
for about twenty years, and made a large amount 
of money there. He settled ui)on his present farm 
in 1870, but had owned it since 1862, and gradually 
improved it as he found opportunity. 

The subject of this sketch was married, in Janu- 
arj^, 1837, to Martha Herget, who, like himself, is 
a native of Prussia. Six children have been born 
to them, but only two are now living, viz: Mary 
and John. Mary married Gust ISIitchner. of Rock 
Creek Precinct, and has five children, whose names 
are as follows: William, Henry, Rosa, Josephine 
and Mary. Jolin married Eva Warton, and lives 
in Four Mile Precinct, and the}' are the parents of 
three children. 

Mr. AVilhelm and his family are members of the 
Catholic Church, and attend the services at Ne- 
braska City. He has made whatever has attended 
his life by simply continuous hard work and ex- 
cellent thrift, in which he has always been assisted 
by his excellent wife. Politically, he is a member 
of the Democratic body, and votes the ticket pre- 
sented by it. Mr. Wilhelm also has 320 acres of 
good land in Palmyra Prucinct, this county. 

--^-^^^^^^^^^^^^^'^^-^ 

'\fJOSEPH DAVIS, well known among the 
business men of Nebraska City, has offi- 
ciated as night watchman around its leading 
(^^' business houses for the past eight years. 
This fact alone indicates his reliabilitj', and the 
standing which he occupies in the community. He 
has a remarkably pleasant home in the northwestern 
part of tlie city, a neat dwelling handsomely fur- 
nished, and presided over by a verj- estimable lady, 
who has for some time carried on a very successful 
dressmaking establishment, which is patronized by 
the fashionable ladies of the city. 

The subject of this sketcli was born on the farm 
of his father near Madison villc. Ky., Nov. 11, 
1838, and was there reared until a youth of seven- 
teen years. He is the son of Joseph and Lucy 



(Herrin) Davis, the former a native of South Caro- 
lina and the latter of Scotland. The mother came 
with her parents to the United States early in life, 
and after their marriage Joseph and Lucy Davis 
settled on a farm in Hopkins County, Ky., where 
they spent the remainder of their lives. The father, 
a slave-holder, carried on agriculture sucjessfully, 
and died in 1869, at the age of seventy-seven years. 
The mother preceded her husband to the silent 
laud, her death taking place when she was scarcely 
middle-aged, being forty years old. 

Joseph Davis occupied his Kentucky homestead 
for more than fifty years, and in the meantime drew 
around him a large circle of friends and acquaint- 
ances. The parental household included seven 
children, namely: John, David, William D., Rob- 
ert H., Verine, Daniel H. and Joseph. They were 
given a common-school edueation, and Joseph, 
upon leaving home, began an apprenticeship at the 
blacksmith trade. The father was wealthy, but 
Joseph realized that riches sometimes take wings, 
and resolved to secure himself against future want 
b\' becoming master of a trade. One spring, how- 
ever, when work was very pressing, he overheated 
himself, and at the same time was injured by a 
horse which he was shoeing, and for a long time 
afterward suffered a serious illness, which threat- 
ened to place him in an early grave. 

About this time the California gold fever was rag- 
ing at its height, and young Davis, more in quest of 
health than riches, determined to seek the Pacific 
Slope. He set out in company with nineteen of 
his acquaintances, and proceeded first to New York 
City, whence they boarded a steamer, intending to 
make the trip via the Isthmus of Panama. The 
steamer became disabled before reaching her des- 
tination, and was only able to proceed ver^' slowly, 
during which time both passengers and crew were 
almost starved. They, however, finally safely ar- 
rived in San Francisco, and in due time the bracing 
air of California had its desired effect upon our 
subject, strengthening him to such an extent that 
he was soon enabled to work in the mines. He pur- 
chased a claim in the Placer diggings, which proved 
very profitable, and became member of a stock 
company of four, who labored together until late 
in the season, and then retired into winter quarters, 



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161 



OTOE COUNTY. 



with the agreement that each should appear promptly 
on their respective claims April 2(1 of the following 
spring. 

This compact was, however, verj' difficult to 
carry out, as the snowdrifts impeded the passage, 
so that our subject was delayed a daj', not being 
able to put in an appearance until April 3. He 
found his claim taken by other parties, and thus I 
lost it. He then turned his attention to mining in 
other districts of California, where he continued 
for a period of six j'ears with results quite satis- 
factory. 

Our subject, while a resident of California, made 
tlie acquaintance of a charming young lady. Miss 
Nellie McCallum, who became his wife Jan. 22, 
1866. their marriage taking place on Vancouver's 
Island. Afterward they took an extensive tour on 
the Pacific Slope, traveling through California, 
Oregon and Washington Territory, visiting the cit}' 
of Portland and other important points, and finally 
started for the old home of our subject in Kentucky. 
Arriving there, Mr. Davis found his father seriously 
ill, and he remained with him until his death, which 
took place in October, 1867. 

After this sad event Mr. and Mrs. Davis started 
on the return trip to California, taking in St. Louis 
and Nebraska City on the way. At this latter point 
Mr. Davis was taken desperately ill with smallpox, 
which for daj-s threatened his life, but he finally 
recovered, about one month from the time of being 
taken down, and then decided to tarry awhile in 
this region. He accordingly purchased three lots 
and a small house in the vicinity of his present 
residence, and occupied himself as a painter, which 
trade he had learned in California. He continued 
at this a number of years with excellent results. 
By writing he learned that his property had passed 
out of his hands by default. He, however, resolved 
to make the best of circumstances, and, by the as- 
sistance of his excellent and sensible wife, has an 
attractive and comfortable home and is surrounded 
by the good things of life. The family residence, 
which was put up by our subject in the summer of 
1887, is a tasteful and substantial structure in the 
midst of pleasant surroundings, and is in a choice 
locality on Second avenue. 

Mr. Davis, like all genuine Kentuckians, is a 



great lover of good horses and cattle, and, although 
living in the heart of the citj\ points with par- 
donable pride to the inmates of his barn, which in- 
clude some fine Jersey cows and a span of beautiful 
and valuable horses. Our subject and his excellent 
wife have no children of their own, but are per- 
forming the part of kind parents to an adopted 
daughter. Dora, who is now thirteen years of age. 
Mr. Davis has an interest in some of the silver 
mines of Colorado, from the proceeds of which he 
realizes sufficiently to pay him for bis time and 
trouble in looking after them. He is a man of de- 
cided views, and a stanch supporter of Democratic 
principles. 

^ OHN SCHMITZ, who is prominently known 
throughout Rock Creek Precinct, is one of 
its most successful and progressive farmers, 
and the owner of 240 acres of valuable land, 
which he has brought to a thorough state of culti- 
vation. He has a set of substantial frame buildings, 
including a dwelling, with barn and outhouses, an 
orchard of apple trees and the smaller fruits, and 
everything calculated for his own comfort and those 
dependent upon him. 

Mr. Schmitz came to Nebraska from Lorain 
Count3', Ohio, of which he had been a resident for 
a period of ten years. His native .State was Wis- 
consin, and he was born in Jefferson Count}-, Oct. 
14, 1842. While a young child, his parents removed 
to Fond du Lac County, where he was reared and 
educated, and whence he emigrated to Ohio after 
reaching his majority. He came to this county 
in the spring of 1874, locating on the land which 
he now owns and occupies, and which he has trans- 
formed from a tract of wild prairie land to one of 
the best farms in the precinct. 

Our subject is of substantial German ancestry, 
being the son of Peter and Margret (Schneider) 
Schmitz, who were natives of Germany, and are 
now living in Rock Creek Precinct. The parental 
household consisted of eight children, five of whom 
are living, and making their homes in Otoe County. 
John, after laying the foun<lation for a future home 
of his own, was united in marriage with Miss Jo- 



»^t 





m- 








I [• 



1 
I 



h 



t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



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167 



<• 



haniia Seifeit, a native of Prussia, who emigrated 
to America with her parents when a young woman. 
After setting foot upon American soil they came 
directly to the West, and located at once in Rock 
Creek Precinct, this county, where they are still 
living in the enjoyment of a comfortable home, the 
father successfully carrying on farming. 

Mrs. Schmitz received an excellent education in 
the German tongue, and has been the true helpmate 
of her husband in all respects. She is a lady pos- 
sessing many womanly virtues, intelligent as a com- 
panion, methodical and careful as a housekeeper. 
Of her union with our subject there have been born 
two children: Henrj', born Dec. 6, 187.5, and Eman- 
uel. Dec. 1, 1885. Mr. Schmitz, politically, votes 
the straight Democratic ticket, and, vvith his excel- 
lent wife, is a member in good standing of the Ger- 
man Catholic Church, attending religious services 
in Hock Creek Precinct. He is a member of the 
School Board of his district, and is imbued with the 
sentiments of his ancestry in regard to the thorough 
education of the young. Asa farmer, he is thorough 
and skillful, and as a business man, prompt to meet 
his obligations, thus distinguishing himself as an 
honest man and a good citizen, and, possessing these 
qualities, is considered one of the most valued 
members of his community. His farm is not only 
a credit to himself but to this county, with whose 
interests he has been identified now for a period of 
thirteen years. 

'if? OHN YONT. There are few more intelli- 
gent and well-informed men in the farming 
community of Rock Creek Precinct than the 
subject of this sketch. In addition to the 
tilling of the soil he is quite extensively engaged 
in stock-raising, and has one of the finest home- 
steads in the precinct. His property embraces 480 
acres of land, on sections 27, 28, 33 and 34. The 
homestead proper comprises the southeast quarter of 
section 28, his first possession in this county, and is 
supplied with first-class buildings. The residence 
is particularly noticeable, being of a pleasing style 
of architecture, handsomely furnished, and attract- 

4* 



ive in its surroundings. There is an abundance of 
fruit and shade trees, and an apple orchard of 700 
trees in good bearing condition. 

Mr. Yont crossed the Mi.«sissippi in the spring of 
1857, and lived one year in Des Moines County, 
Iowa. He came to Nebraska in 1858, and on the 
19th of July, 1859, secured his pre-emption claim, 
although he did not take up his residence here until 
ten years later. During tiie first four years of his 
residence in Nebraska he worked by the month; 
after that he bought a team and began freighting 
across the plains from Nebraska City to various 
points in the West, frequently going as far as Jules- 
burg, Col. This business he followed about eight 
years. In the meantime he became fully acquainted 
with the dangers and difficulties of life on the fron- 
tier, meeting all sorts of men, and frequently hav- 
ing to use considerable strategy to keep out of 
trouble. While camping out and keeping bachelor's 
hall he also learned to be a good cook. He first 
began the improvement of his farm in the spring 
of 1871, putting up his first suljstantial building 
that year. He had prior to this erected a shanty, 
and made things as comfortable as possible until 
he could do better. 

Our subject, a native of Pennsylvania, was born 
near the city of Pittsburgh, April 25, 1838. His 
parents, John and Agatha (Derterly) Yont, were 
natives of the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, 
the father born in 1800. They were reared and 
married in their native Province, and John Yont, 
Sr., learned the trade of stonemason, which he fol- 
lowed considerably, and also engaged in farming. 
After coming to the United States the parents set- 
tled in Pennsylvania, and the father occupied him- 
self at his trade and at farming near the city of 
Pittsburgh. He was prospered in his labors, and 
made manj' friends among the people of his com- 
munity. 

The mother died there after having nearly at- 
tained her threescore years. The father later joined 
his son, our subject, in Nebraska, and died at the 
home of the latter, Oct. 19, 1877, at the age of 
seventy years. Both he and his excellent wife were 
members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, 
and the father for a time after coming to this coun- 
try voted with the old Whig |)arty. Later, how- 



■<• 



ti 168 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ever, he identified himself with the Democracy, the 
principles of which he supported until his death. 

John Yont was the seventh child in a family of 
three sons and seven daughters, of whom him- 
self and three of his sisters are living. Two of 
these continue residents of Pennsylvania, and one 
lives in Nemaha County, this State. -John remained 
under the home roof until coming to the West. On 
the 24th of December, 1865, he was married, in 
Sidnej', Iowa, to Miss Sophia Atkinson, who was 
born in Pennsylvania near the childhood home of 
our subject, Nov. 10, 1842. Her parents, James 
and Elizabeth (Miller) Atkinson, were of Ameri- 
can birth, but of Irish and Dutch descent i-espect- 
ively. They lived in Pennsylvania after their 
marriage for a time, and then emigrated with their 
little family to the West, while. Mrs. Yont was a 
small child. They first took up their residence in 
Fremont County, Iowa, the father pre-empting land 
near the embryo town of Sidney, where he im- 
proved a good farm, and where the mother died ripe 
ill years, Oct. 15, 1872. The father later joined his 
children in Nebraska, and now makes his home with 
his daughter, Mrs. Muir, of Rock Creek Precinct, 
this count}', lieing seventy-eight j-ears old. After 
coming West one more child was added to the 
household circle, and the family in all consisted of 
four sons and three daughters. Five of these are 
living, one resides in Washington Territorj', one in 
Minneapolis, and the others in Nebraska. 

Mrs. Yont received her education in the pioneer 
schools of Fremont Countj', Iowa, and remained 
with her parents until her marriage. .She is now 
the mother of eight children. The eldest son, 
Charles A., is a successful teacher in the public 
schools of this county ; Edwin C, Jesse G., Alonzo 
E., Rose and Lilly (twins), Victor and Etta are 
all at home with their parents. They are a very 
intelligent and interesting group, and will he given 
the advantages in keeping with their station in life. 
Edwin C. and Jesse are graduates of the Business 
College at Lincoln ; Charles A. attended the Ne- 
braska State University and also the Normal School, 
and is thoroughly qualified for his chosen profes- 
sion. 

The wife of our subject is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. Mr. Yont takes a warm 



interest in the temperance movement, and since 
1 885 has voted with the Prohibitionists. He is a 
man in whom his fellow-citizens have abundant 
confidence, and has held various local offices. The 
family are widely known and highly respected for 
their intelligence and sterling worth, and their hand- 
some home, a view of which is shown on another 
page, is one of the most pleasant and hospitable 
resorts to be found in the State of Nebraska. 



ALTER S. EIS, one of the most energetic 



\J andpr 
W owns 8 



osperous farmers of Russell Precinct, 
and operates 160 acres of land com- 
prising the southeast quarter of section 31. During 
the six years of his residence here he has effected 
good improvements, and distinguished himself as a 
man of more than ordinary business abilities, besides 
being a thorough and skillful agriculturist. The 
home and its surroundings is one of the most attract- 
ive in this part of the county. The wife of our 
subject, a very intelligent and capable lady, pre- 
sides over his domestic affairs in the most praise- 
worth}' manner, and performs her part in maintaining 
the reputation of the homestead as a place to which 
it is very pleasant to repair both for friend and 
stranger. 

Our subject is of German ancestry on the father's 
side, Jacob Eis having been born in Prussia, whence 
he emigrated with his father when a youth of six- 
teen years. They settled first in Ohio, and Jacob, 
six years later, desiring to see something of the 
Great West made his way across the Mississippi into 
Muscatine County, Iowa, where he was employed by 
the month on a farm until 1861. He had in the 
meantime with genuine German thrift and prudence 
saved up a snug sum of money, which he invested 
in forty acres of land, and began farming on his own 
account. He made considerable improvement, and 
as time passed on added to his real estate, so that he 
is now the owner of 220 acres, all of which he has 
brought to a good state of cultivation, and now has 
first-class buildings, all the modern machinery, a 
fair .assortment of live stock, and the general appur- 
tenances of a modern country estate. In short, he has 
accumulated a comiietence for his old age. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



169 



Jacob Eis in earlj' manhoofl had married Miss 
Mary Irwin, who was born near the city of Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. ^he came with her family to the Hawk- 
eye State, and died in Muscatine County, in April. 
1861. Of this union there were born four children — 
John D., Charles II., Walter S. (our subject) and 
Boardm.an A. The three brothers of Walter S. are 
residents of Nebraska. 

After the death of his first wife Mr. Eis was 
maiTied to her sister Rebecca, who died at her 
home in Muscatine County. Iowa, May 27, 1884. 
Of , this union there were born eight children, 
namely: Elry J., Albert N., Abraham L., Gracie E.. 
Jacob M., Rosa, Alice and Arthur G. 

Walter S. Eis was born in Muscatine County, 
Iowa. Jan. 24, 1858, and remained upon the farm 
with his father until twenty-four years of age. He 
had in the meantime acquired a common-school 
education, and became familiar with the various de- 
tails of farm life. He was now married, and in the 
spring of 1882 came to this county and located on 
his present farm in Russell Precinct. The improve- 
ments which the passing traveler admires with in- 
terest are the result of the industrj' of the proprietor, 
and indicate that he has spent very few idle hours. 
He has considerable wire fencing around his fields, an 
orchard embracing three acres, and the choicest of 
apple trees besides the smaller fruits, while the 
healthy groves form a shelter from the heat of sum- 
mer and the winds of winter, both to man and beast. 

Our subject was first married in his native county 
Feb. 2, 1882, to Miss Effie M., daughter of Andrew 
and Mary (Eaton) Baker. Her father farms on 
eighty acres of land in Muscatine County. The 
mother died in November, 1 880, at the age of forty- 
nine years. The household circle included four chil- 
dren, three sons and one daughter, the brothers of 
Mrs. Eis being John, Theodore and Charles. Mrs. 
E. was born in Muscatine County, June 2, 1862, 
and by her union with our subject became the 
mother of two children, sons — Hugh and Boardman. 
She departed this life at her home in Russell Pre- 
cinct, Oct. 12, 1885. 

Mr. Eis contracted a second matrimonial alliance 
on the 10th of November, 1886, with Miss Jennie 
Palmer, who w.as born near Fowlersville. Mich., 
June 5, 1863. Mrs. Jennie Eis is the daughter of 



S. S. and Hattie L. (Evans) P.almer. the former a 
native of Baltimore, Md., and the latter of Michigan. 
They are both living, and reside near Davenport, 
Iowa, where the father is engaged in farm inc. 
The famil}'^ consists of four children, three daugh- 
ters and one son. namely: Jennie, Clara, Eugene 
and Eva. 

To our subject and his present wife there has 
been born one child, a son, Guy R. Mrs. Eis is a 
member in good standing of the Presbyterian 
Church, and our subject, politically, votes the 
straight Republican ticket. He has been quite act- 
ive in local politics, and in the fall of 1887 was sent 
as adelegate to the Republican County Convention. 
He has served as School Director in his district for 
a term of five years. 



^~'^*~}.sr- 



u 



•►Htr^- 



^ )>^ALLACE MUNN. a well-to-do farmer of 
Berlin Precinct, is in possession of one of 
its best regulated farms and most attractive 
homes. He owns and operates the northeast quar- 
ter of section 1 2, and his household is presided 
over by his daughter Laura, a very intelligent and 
well-educated young lady, formerly a teacher. 

Wayne County, Ohio, was the early tramping 
ground of our subject, and where his birth took 
place at the modest homestead of his parents, Sept. 
12, 1838. The latter were Bethuel and Arvilla 
(Jones) Munn, natives of New York State. Grand- 
father Munn was of Scotch descent, and a butcher 
by trade, which he followed in New York City for 
a number of years. Bethuel Munn in early life 
learned millwrighting, which he followed in his 
native State until his removal to the West. This 
journey was accomplished about 1829, he locating 
among the pioneers of Wayne County, Ohio, where 
he took up 160 acres of timber land, upon which 
he lived and labored until his death, in 1854, at 
the age of sixty-two j'ears. The mother had pre- 
ceded her husband to the silent land ten years, 
her death taking place in 1844, when she was but 
thirty-nine years old. Their family consisted of 
nine children, who were named respectively: Dar- 
win, deceased ; Ahijah; Silas, deceased; Mortimer, 
Eugene; Wallace, our subject, and his twin brother 



f 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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i: 



Warren, who, in the fall of 1888, moved to Florida; 
J.ane and Arvilla. Seven of these are living, mak- 
ing their homes mostly in Nebraslva. 

Our subject after the death of his father began 
an apprenticeship at tiie cabinet trade, in Wooster, 
Ohio. His education had comprised a period of 
three years spent in the common school. He con- 
tinued in his native State until the spring of 
18.')9, then made his way across the Mississippi 
to Pettis County, Mo., where he spent the follow- 
ing summer, and thence migrated to Des Moines, 
Iowa. Being seized with a tit of homesickness he 
started back to Missouri on foot, but at Indianola 
met a partj' coming to Nebraska City and joined 
them, but after reaching this place concluded to 
move on, and went down the Missouri to George- 
town, Mo., where he resumed his trade, forming a 
partnership with William Dorsey in the cabinet and 
undertaking business, and lived there until 1861. 

Mr. Munn now decided to revisit Nebraska, but 
again took in Ft. Des Moines, and remained there 
until December, 1861, and from there returned to 
his native State. He farmed on the old homestead 
thereafter for two years, and in the spring of 186.5 
went overland to Salt Lake, and from there to 
Virginia City, ]Mont., and wintered in Boulder 
Valley, Mont.; lie then began freighting across the 
plains through Wyoming to Helena, Mont. In the 
fall of 1866 our subject returned to Ohio, where he 
was married in 1867, and, settling in Defiance 
County, was employed in an oar factory until the 
fall of 1867. 

Mr. Munn, in the spring of 1868, came to this 
county, determined to make permanent settlement. 
and purchased the laud which he now owns and 
occupies, pacing for it the sum of $1,750. He at 
once commenced the improvement of his purchase, 
hauling building material from Nebraska City. He 
set out groves, an orchard of apple and cherry 
trees, put up a house and barn, and has added those 
little embellishments from time to time which have 
so much to do in promoting the comfort and en- 
joyment of a family. His land possesses many 
natural advantages, among them one of the finest 
springs in the county. His fields are divided by 
hedge and wire fencing, and, besides raising corn 
and grain in large quantities, Mr. Munn makes a 



specialtj' of stock-raising, and feeds annually large 
numbers of cattle and swine, while he has a number 
of good horses. Besides his property in this county 
he has a timber claim in Thomas Count3', Kan. He 
has suffered most of the hardships of life in a new 
county, battling with grasshoppers, drouth, etc., but 
has come out of it all with flying colors. 

Our subject was married in Wayne County, 
Ohio, Feb. 28, 1867, to Miss Mary Groflf, who was 
born in Lancaster County, Pa., Feb. 2, 1842. This 
lady became the mother of five children, and de- 
parted this life at her home in Berlin Precinct, Dec. 
10, 1887. The eldest child of our subject is his 
only son, Silas. The daughters are Laura, Edith, 
lola and Maude; they are all at home with their 
father. Mr. Munn votes the straight Democratic 
ticket, has served on the Grand and Petit Juries, 
and has been an efficient worker in his partj', being 
frequentlj' sent as a delegate to the County Con- 
ventions. He has also served on the School Boaifl 
of his precinct several years. His children are 
bright and intelligent, are being given a thorough 
education, and trained in the principles of religion 
and morality. They attend the Good Will Sunday- 
school. The daughter Laura, who has taken the 
mother's place in the household, is discharging her 
filial duties in a most creditable and praiseworthy- 
manner. Mr. Munn has been quite a traveler in 
his time, his journeyings extending over a large 
portion of the West. 



JOHN F. RENKEN. The career of this old 
and highly respected resident of Rock Creek 
Precinct has been that of an industrious and 
successful farmer, who, having secured a 
competency', is now living retired from active labor 
at his fine homestead on section 30. U|)on this he 
has lived for a j>eriod of twenty-nine years, having 
settled upon tlie land which he had pre-empted from 
the Government in the spring of 1859. The farm 
is 146 acres in extent, has been brought to a fine 
state of cultivation, and is well supplied with good 
buildings. Stock-raising has formed one of the im- 
portant features of the place. 

In addition to the home farm Mr. lienken owns 



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171 



other land in this county to the extent of 224 acres, 
all of which is improved and in a productive con- 
dition. He came to this county during the period 
of its early settlement, and when the small town of 
Nebraska Citj' was his nearest market. He migrated 
to Nel)raska from Madison County, 111., of whicii 
he had been a resident five years, and where he had 
settled upon his emigration from his native land. 
He was born in what was then the Kingdom of 
Hanover, April 6, 1827, and is the son of Henry 
Renken, who was of pure German ancestry, and 
joined his son, John F., in this country in the spring 
of 18C8, when quite well advanced in years. He had 
been accompanied across the Atlantic by another 
son, and settled in Rock Creek Precinct, this county, 
where his death took place in 1872, after he had ar. 
rived at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He 
had followed farming all his life, and had presented 
the example of an honest man and good citizen. 
He had been trained in the doctrines of the Lu- 
theran religion, and to these adhered faithfully until 
he passed away. The mother, Mrs. Anna (Engle) 
Renken, died at the old home in Germany in 1860, 
at the age of seventj' years. 

The subject of this sketch was reared at home 
with his two brothers and one sister, and received 
a fair education in the schools of his native King- 
dom. After leaving school he was emplo3'ed at 
farming mostly, and was twenty-seven 3'ears of age 
an<l unmarried when he came to the United States. 
Not long after settling in Madison Count3', III., he 
took unto himself a wife and helpmate. Miss Cath- 
erine Tietken, who was born in Germany not far 
from the childhood home of her husband. Her 
father died in 1887, and her mother in 1872, in Ger- 
many. She joined her brother in the United States 
in 1856, when she was twenty-five years old. Of 
her marriage with our subject there have been born 
eight children, four of whom are deceased, namely: 
Herman (1st), John, Herman and Anna E. Those 
survivingare: Henrj', who is emploj'ed asa clerk in 
a general store at Talmage; E. Margaret, at home 
with her parents; John F., Jr., a teacher in a school 
of the Lutheran Church in Woodford County, 111., 
and William, who remains with his parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Renken not long after their mar- 
riage settled upon a farm in Madison County, III., 
< • 



but in 1859 crossed the Mississippi. Our subject 
has given his attention strictly to agricultural pur- 
suits since coming to America. He and his family 
are connected with the Lutheran Church, in which 
Mrs. Renken is a Class-Leader and an interested 
worker, warmly devoted to her religious duties. 
Politically, our subject votes the straight Repub- 
lican ticket. He meddles very little with politics 
and has no aspirations for office. Mr. Renken held 
the office of School Director for a term of eighteen 
j-ears. 



EiNOCH G. KING, the young, competent 
and enterprising pharmacist at Dunb.ir, Dela. 
fi ware Precinct, was born on the 27th of 
June, 1860, in Logan County, III., near Atlanta. 
His father, Cyrus King, was born in Clarke County, 
Ohio, in the year 1822, and by occupation was a 
farmer. The maiden name of his mother was Marj' 
George. She was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, 
in the year 1824. After their marriage his parents 
made their home in Illinois. Their home circle 
included four children — our subject, James E., Rob- 
ert C. and Elnora. 

The subject of our sketch w-as reared upon a 
farm and received his education in the district 
schools, after which he attended the Northern In- 
diana Normal School, at Valparaiso, Ind. In the 
year 1884 he came to this State and stopped at 
Dunbar. Until the following spring he engaged in 
teaching in that vicinit}', and then went to Berlin, 
in this county-. There he continued teaching for 
six months, which made two years he had been 
thus engaged. He then entered the store of Mr- 
Allen as drug clerk, continuing until March of 
1886, when he became the partner of Mr. Allen in the 
drug-store at Dunbar. The following March he 
purchased the entire business, and has since that 
time run it alone. He carries a full line of drugs 
and medicines, which he supplements with such 
articles as are usually found in similar stores in 
towns of the same size as Dunbar, including clocks, 
watches and jewelry, various articles used in house 
decoration, books, stationery, etc. 

On the 20th of September, 1887, our subject was 
joined in matrimony with Miss Lou Jones, the 



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172 



OTOE COUNTY. 




daughter of Robert and Mercy Jones, of Dunbar. 
Her father being deceased, her mother is living 
with them. Mrs. King is a devout member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and our subject 
attends the same congregation. Although not a 
church member, he is a liberal supporter of relig- 
ious and benevolent institutions. 

Mr. King is a stanch Republican, and the fact 
that, entirely unsought by him, he was appointed 
Postmaster here on the 25th of September, 1888, 
testifies abundantly to the esteem in which he is 
held, and his popularity- as a man and citizen. Prior 
to her marriage the wife of our subject held the 
office of Postmistress for three 3'ears. 

?OLKERT FA8S, Recorder of Deeds of Otoe 
County, is performing the duties of his office 
with honor to himself and to the satisfaction 
of his constituents. He is a resident of Nebraska 
City, and has made his home here for several years. 
He is an intelligent, well-informed man, has trav- 
eled quite extensively in the Western States and 
Territories, and has seen much of frontier life. He 
was born in the Province of Hanover, Germany, 
March 26, 1849. His father, Conrad Pass, was born 
in the same locality, and there spent his entire life, 
being for many years actively engaged in the general 
mercantile business. He was an upright, honest 
man, well worthy of the confidence in which he was 
held b}^ his fellow-citizens. His estimable wife, 
whose maiden name was Annie Margaret Falkers, 
was a native of the same place as himself, and a 
lifelong resident there. Six of the children born 
to her and her husband grew to,maturitj% namely: 
John B., Mary C, Herman H., Folkert, Annie M. 
and Gesiue Fredericka. . The subject of this sketch 
and his brother Herman are the only members of the 
family who live in America. The latter is married 
and lives in Nebraska City. 

Folkert Fass, of whom we write, obtained a lib- 
eral education in the schools of his native land, 
which he attended quite steadily until he was six- 
teen 3'ears of age. In 1868, when he was but nine- 
teen j-ears of age, he ambitiously decided to try his 
fortunes in the New World, and immediately after 



landing in this country he made his way directly 
to Missouri. He staid there but a short time, 
however, and then came to Nebraska Citj', arriving 
here in the fall of that year. In December he re- 
turned to Missouri, and in the following summer, 
in company with a number of others^ started from 
that point, with a pair of mules and a wagon, to 
drive to Dallas, Tex., then a small town. After 
spending a short time there our subject started on 
a pedestrian tour to Louisville, Denton County, tak- 
ing provisions with him and cooking and camping 
by the wa^'. He lived there nearlj' a j'ear, and then 
resumed his journey across the wilds of Texas to 
the Rio Grande. A part of the journey lay through 
an uncultivated country, where antelopes, deer and 
other wild game abounded, and Indians still made 
their homes there. He soon returned to Louisville, 
and from there went to the Indian Territory and 
visited Ft. Smith, from whence he crossed the 
mountains to Arkansas, and at Mar3'sville, that 
State, sold his team and took passage in a stage for 
Missouri. At that time there was a line of railway 
completed to Indian Territor3% and in 1872 Mr. 
Fass went b3' rail to that part of the countr3', whence 
he went to Ft. Scott, Kan., and from there to Kan- 
sas "City. In December of that 3'ear he again re- 
turned to Carrolton, Mo., and once more started 
with a team from there and came to Nebraska City, 
of which he has since been a continuous resident. 

Thus ended our subject's travels, which had taken 
him over manj' hundred miles of this country, and 
he being an observing, wide-awake man, profited 
much by his fine opportunities for gaining knowl- 
edge of its many and varied resources, la3ang up a 
good fund of information, besides having a thor- 
ough experience of life on the frontier. We are 
sorry that the brief limits of this sketch will not 
permit us to record some of the interesting inci- 
dents of his journe3angs to and fro, or to describe 
some of the scenes that he passed through. In the 
fall of 1887 Mr. Fass was elected to his present 
office as Recorder of Deeds, and by his faithful and 
conscientious discharge of his work has shown him- 
self well worthy of the trust reposed in him by his 
fellow-citizens, and proved himself to be an efficient 
public official. 

Our subject has a pleasant home, rendered coz3- 

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OTOE COUNTY. 



173 



and comfortable by the wife to whom he was 
united in marriage in Ma}', 1876. ;Mrs. Fass was 
formerl}' Miss INIarj- Winkler, a native of Germany, 
who came to America with her mother and grand- 
mother when she was five years of age, and was 
reared in Chicago, 111. Of their union three chil- 
dren have been born — Gesine M.. George C. F. 
and Elbe. In 1883 Mr. and Mrs. Fass returned to 
their old home in Germany, and spent a few pleas- 
ant weeks amid the scenes of their youth. 



ri|_^ ON. DAUVERSE NEFF. This name will 
if jjj bring before the minds of many readers of 
/4W^ this volume a face and character well known, 
(^) and that by no means unfavorablj', for the 
subject of this sketch is one of the most valued 
citizens of 83'racuse. Through years of manhood 
he has toiled in order to better his position in life, 
but has always found time and oi)portunity to give 
expression to his devotion to the interests of tlic 
communitjr of which he is a resident. In the com- 
parative retirement from active affairs which he 
elects to enjoy he finds the reward of former years 
of untiring effort and persevering industry. He 
has been a resident of Otoe County since 1877, and 
in the j-ears since that time has impressed all who 
know him with a sense of his high character, large 
business capacity- and sterling worth. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 21st 
of May, 1834, in New Lisbon, Otsego Co., N. Y., 
and is the son of Silas and Polly Neff, who were 
likewise natives of the Empire State, and died in 
New Lisbon. Our subject was one of four chil- 
dren born to them, one of whom was a daughter. 
By a former marriage Mr. Neff, Sr., had become 
the parent of eight other children. By trade he 
was a carpenter, which he followed with consider- 
able success. He died when our subject was but 
eleven j-ears of age, leaving his widow to bring up 
unassisted the children whom it had lieen his hope 
to have seen enter their various paths in life and 
to have helped them in the same. 

Until he attained his majority the subject of this 
sketch continued to work upon a farm, and there laid 
the foundation, in habits of thought and industry, for 



future success and prosperitj-. In December, 1854, 
he went to LaFaj'ette County, Wis., where he fol- 
lowed the joint occupations of farming and school 
teaching. Three years later he purchased an inter- 
est in a general store at Calamine, Wis., which con- 
tinued for five 3'ears under the firm name of Smith 
& Neff* later he became the sole proprietor, and so 
continued until 1877, by which time the business 
had very largely increased, and he had become inter- 
ested in the lumber trade, and also in grain. In 
each of these enterprises fortune favored our sub- 
ject, and he continued to progress in them year b}^ 
year. He came to Syracuse, as was noted above, 
in 1877, and immediately engaged in mercantile 
pursuits. Somewhat later he associated with a 
gentleman in business under the firm name of D. 
Neff & Co., after which he again embarked in the 
grain trade. This he continued until January, 
1887, when he removed from a direct interest in 
the business, and has since lived a somewhat re- 
tired life. Two reasons led up to this step — first, 
that he had a competency sufficient to warrant the 
step; secondlj^, and chiefly, because his hearing 
failed him very rapidly, leaving him almost with- 
out any power in that direction. 

Mr. Neff is still the owner of two well-improved 
and admirably cultivated farms, each of 160 acres 
in extent; also a half-interest in a store at Hildreth, 
in this State, which is operated by his brother Frank- 
lin, under the firm name of Neff Bros. This was 
the first store established in that place, and is still 
one of the leading houses of business. He is also 
a Director of the First National Bank of Syracuse, 
the responsibilities of which office, linked with his 
other business interests, leave him sufficient to do 
to relieve the tedium of a life th.at would otherwise 
be exceedingly dull to one who has been so con- 
stantly active as our subject. 

Mr. Neff' was married, on the 9th of February, 
1863, to Harriet A., daughter of Rev. Hewitt and 
Julia M. (Howell) Fitch. The father of this lady 
was a native of New Lisbon, N. Y., and a clergy- 
m.an of the Baptist Church. He served in this sa- 
cred office for a period of thirteen years at Ed- 
mundton Centre, N. Y. The marriage of Mr. and 
]\Irs. Neff has been blessed and its felicities much 
augmented by the birth of four children, of whom 



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174 



OTOE COUNTY. 



they have been privileged to rear three, viz: Clar- 
ence, Homer and "Walter. Their daughter Mattie 
died at the age of ten years. 

Mrs. Xeff is an earnest, devoted member of the 
Baptist Church, and is most highly esteemed by 
reason of the beautiful Christian life which adorns 
her profession. Our subject, although not a mem- 
ber of the church, is a true friend of good morals 
and every social virtue. His own character and 
social status were such as to commend him to his 
fellow-citizens, so much so that he was called upon 
to represent them in his district while a resident 
in the State of Wisconsin, in the Legislature of that 
State. He also served as Justice of the Peace, and 
since coming to Nebraska has held several offices 
and trusts. He is a stanch Republican, and has al- 
ways been accounted a true friend to the party and 
a loyal citizen. It is his pleasure to number among 
his friends all the best citizens of the county, by 
whom also he is much respected. His life is an 
instance of what may be accomplished by noble, 
vigorous, manly effort and endeavor. 



1"^^ EV. THOMAS L. AUSTIN, a resident of 
|!s^ Rock Creek Precinct, and Postmaster at 
/L W, Julian, labored for a number of years in the 
^pjministr^' of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, but of late has given his attention largely 
to agricultural pursuits. He has a fine farm of 240 
acres, located on section 36, of which he took pos- 
session in May, 1870, when its condition was in 
wide contrast to that of the present. It was then 
an unbroken stretch of prairie, undisturbed by the 
plowshare, but is now one of the most valuable 
farms in this part of the county. In bringing it to 
its present condition it is hardly necessary to say 
there have been employed years of time and labor, 
and no small outlii}' of money. Tlie buildings are 
neat and substantial, the dwelling is admirably 
adapted to all the comforts of rural life, and the 
barns and out-buildings conveniently arranged for 
the storing of grain and the shelter of stock. 

Our subject, a native of Virginia, was born near 



the cit}' of Lynchburg in Campbell Countj', Sept. 
29, 1822. His father, Alex Austin, was a surveyor 
by profession, which he followed partially, but also 
carried on farming. He also was a native of the 
Old Dominion, and of Scotch-Irish ancestry, the 
latter emigrating to America from the North of 
Ireland prior to the Revolutionary War. 

The father of our subject was reared and edu- 
cated in his native State, but went over into Nortii 
Carolina for his bride, being married there to Miss 
Elizabeth Burgess, a daughter of one of the promi- 
nent famdies of the State. She was of English an- 
cestry, and her paternal graudfather was a preacher 
under the reign of King George III. The parents 
after their marriage settled in Virginia, the father 
carrying on agriculture in Campbell Count}', and 
both spending there the remainder of their days. 
The mother died when about sixty-five years of age. 
Alex Austin survived his excellent wife many years, 
his death taking place when ninetj'-one years old. 
During the War of 1812 he did gallant service as a 
Colonel of the 53d Virginia Infantry, and in poli- 
tics was a member of the old Whig party. Both 
parents were members of the Episcopal Church. 
Their family consisted of nine children, eight sons 
and one daughter, three of whom are living, mak- 
ing their homes mostly in Campbell County, Va. 

Our subject received a good education in his 
native county, and at an early age exhibited un- 
usual thoughtfulness and intelligence. He was 
ordained a minister of the Southern Methodist 
Episcopal Church about 1844, and since that time 
has labored more or less in the Master's vineyard. 
He was married in Campbell County to Miss Mattie 
Ward, who was born there in 1824, and is the 
daughter of Seth and Martha (Noble) Ward, the 
former of English descent, and a farmer by occu- 
pation. He died in middle life when tiis daughter 
Mattie was a small child. The mother continued a 
resident of the Old Dominion, and died in IMissis- 
sippi about 1882. 

Mrs. Austin was reared mostly b}' her paternal 
grandparents, receiving a common-school educa- 
tion, and being trained carefully to all housewifely 
duties. She is now the mother of nine children, of 
whom William A. and Elizabeth are married, and 
residents of Nebraska. The others, Susan M.. Sally 

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OTOE COUNTY. 



177 



.•^h 



B., Mary E., Lucy W., George El. and Roberta L., 
are at home with their parents. Mr. Austin, politi- 
cally, is a sound Democrat, and iu 1887 was ap- 
pointed to his present office. 



J^~i OIIN II. McMECHAN is a practical, prosper- 
1 ous farmer and stock-raiser of Four Mile 
Precinct, and he is managing with marked 
' success the old homestead that was once the 
property of his father, the late John JIcIMechan, 
a well-known and widely respected pioneer of Otoe 
County. Our subject was born in Zanesville, Ohio, 
Feb. 22, 1839, coming of good old stock, his an- 
cestors representing an ancient Scotch family, one 
of whose members, the great-grandfather of our 
subject, during the Reformation settled near Bel- 
fast, Ireland, and became one of the large land- 
owners of the Kingdom. Later, in the early years 
of this century, one of the scions of that house, the 
grandfather of our subject, a brave, high-spirited, 
energetic man, emigrated to America and cast in 
his lot with the pioneers of Ohio. 

We are pleased to be able to give so much inter- 
esting history of the life of John IMcIMeclian, the 
father of our subject: 

John McMechan died Nov. 3, 1883, at "Head- 
wood," the family residence in Otoe County, near 
Nebraska City, of the infirmities incident to old 
age, being eighty-three years and twenty-three days 
old. The McMechan family is of Scotch origin, 
and lived in Ayrshire, but being active and lead- 
ing members of the "Solemn League and Cove- 
nant," was forced by religious persecution to leave 
Scotland in 1650, and settled in County Antrim 
in Ireland, near "White Abbey," five miles from 
the city of Belfast. John McMechan, the father of 
the subject of our sketch, was a wealthy land-owner, 
and the family estate in Ayrshire and Antrim 
County numbered several thousand acres of graz- 
ing and tillable land. His wife was a Miss Mary 
Ballentine, daughter of David Ballentine, of Ayr- 
shire, and grandniece of Lord John Ballentine, a 
cousin of Mary Queen of Scots. John McMeclian 
was born on the 1 0th of October, 1 800, at the fam- 



ily homestead, "Carmonia," near the "White Ab- 
bey," five miles from Belfast. He had four brothers 
and five sisters. He survived all of his brothers 
and two of his sisters. In 1810 the family came 
to America and settled in Belmont County, Ohio, 
eight miles from Wheeling, Va., and his father in 
the same year purchased the "Indian Springs" 
farm, so called from the springs at which the In- 
dians camped previous to attacking Wheeling. His 
jDarents being Covenanters, were remarkably rev- 
erent in their observances of the teachings of di- 
vine truth, and he being early impressed with them 
grew up with an abiding sense of duty and right, 
and a strong hostility to false pretenses. He re- 
ceived a good and thorough common-school educa- 
tion, the best to be had in those days in that new 
and sparsely settled country. He also learned the 
lessons of a high moral culture and of industrial 
habits, constituting the basis of integrity and fidel- 
ity to duty, which marked his career. At the age 
of seventeen he engaged in mercantile pursuits, for 
which he was by nature admirably fitted. 

When twenty-one years of age he moved to Mt. 
Pleasant, Ohio, and engaged in merchandising, 
where he remained until 1826, when he went to 
Zanesville, in the same State, and on the 24th of 
April, 1827, he married Miss Matilda Ballentine, 
the second daughter of David Ballentine, of tliat 
town. 

Tliis happy union was blessed with a famih* of 
six sons and four daughters, of whom one son and 
one daughter died in infancy. During his resi- 
dence in Zanesville he engaged in the flouring-mill 
and mercantile business. In 1842 he removed from 
Zanesville to Glasgow, Mo., where he continued 
merchandising, and at this place he built and con- 
ducted the first packing-house on the Missouri 
River. In 1846 he removed with his family to St. 
Louis, Mo., where he embarked in the wholesale 
grocery business, under the firm name of J. S. 
Thompson & Co., afterward Hammill & McMechan, 
Worthington & ISIc^Ieclian, and later John JIc^NIe- 
chan, until the summer of 1853, when he closed 
out his business in St. Louis. 

In September, 1853, he removed to Council 
Bluffs, Iowa, then the principal outfitting and 
starting point for Utah and California emigrants, 
9^ 



t 



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' ^ 178 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and there lie engaged in tlie wholesale grocery and 
outfitting business, and in freighting across, the 
plains to Salt Lake City, Utah. His was the first 
exclusively wholesale grocery store in Council 
Bluffs, Iowa. When Nebraska was opened for set- 
tlement, in 1854, he was offered a portion of the 
town site of Omaha, but not liking the social ele- 
ment then predomuiating, on account of the Mor- 
mon element, he declined, but purchased several 
lots on the original town site, and for him was 
built one of the first business houses erected in 
Omaha. He closed out his business and sold his 
real estate at Omaha and Council Bluffs in the au- 
tumn of 1854, came to Nebraska, and became one 
of the original proprietors and one of the founders 
of Kearney City, which is now part of Nebraska 
City, Otoe Co., Neh. He surveyed and laid out 
the town site, and when the land was subject to 
entry, entered the same in the land-office at Omaha. 
In the autumn of 1854 he purchased of Hall, 
Piatt & Co. the steam sawmill at Civil Bend, Fre^ 
mont Co., Iowa, and in the spring of 1855 moved 
the same to the new town in Nebraska, it being the 
first steam sawmill erected in that place. 

On the 5th of April, 1855, the family removed 
to Kearney City, where the subject of this sketch 
built the first frame dwelling-house erected in that 
town. In 1857 he purchased of Ephraim W^hite a 
farm two miles soutli of Nebraska City, in Otoe 
Countj'. where the family has resided since 1863, 
and which when purchased was named '"Headwood." 
Soon after buying this farm Mr. JNIcMechan set out 
a fine orchard, which was one of the first planted 
in that part of the Territory. Mr. McIMechan was 
a man of indomitable energy, and for him were 
built the "Planters' House," the first and only hotel 
in Kearney, now a part of Nebraska City, Neb., the 
business houses of T. H. & L. C. Winn & Co., 
Kallcman & Wessells, and the hardware store of D. 
B. McMechan, the first hardware store in Kearney 
or Nebraska City, aiid a large number of dwellings. 

In 1820 the elder McMechan united with the 
Associate Reformed Presbyterian (now United 
Presbyterian) Church, presided over by Rev. Sam- 
uel Findley, D. D., in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and 
was a Ruling Elder and Trustee for seven years in 
the United Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Mo., 

mt — 



during his residence in that city. He was an earn- 
est, energetic, zealous, consistent and generous 
Christian, exemplary in all the duties of religion, 
and putting in practice his religious belief, always 
encouraging churches, religion and charitable so- 
cieties, and one of his first acts after settling in 
Nebraska was to establish a Sabbath-school, under 
the auspices of the church of which he was a work- 
ing member. This was the first denominational 
Sabbath-school established in the Territory. At 
the same time Rev. R. H. Allen, of Mt. Pleasant, 
Iowa, came to Nebraska by invitation of Mr. Mc- 
Mechan, and held divine service in Kearney, now 
one of the wards of Nebraska City, and preached 
the first sermon delivered in the new town. The 
subject of this sketch possessed a truly modest, 
retiring, cheerful, quiet, contented, charitable and 
unassuming disposition; his mind was clear and 
his judgment had much weight, and these quali- 
ties, together with his Christian life, won for him 
tlie highest esteem of all who knew him. He pos- 
sessed that stability of character which is the dis- 
tinguishing mark of his countrymen. In business 
he was active, prompt and punctual. He gave often 
and lavishly to the poor and needy, and no appeal 
in behalf of suffering humanity ever passed him 
unheeded, and although a Presbyterian in his be- 
lief and views, he gave liberally to all denomina- 
tions wherever he lived. The poor of this section 
never knew a better friend than he wlio has gone 
from them forever. Socially, he was agreeable, 
entertaining and hospitable to a fault. His pecu- 
liarly happy temperament continued to the last. 
His perseverance in active well doing was not os- 
tentatious, but fruitful and unceasing. 

As a citizen and town proprietor Mr. JlcJIechan 
was solid and substantial, just, obliging and hon- 
orable, covirteous and accommodating, lieartily en- 
gaging in every movement which seemed calculated 
to benefit the community or society at large. He 
gave, liberally. of his property and means to every- 
thing which tended to tlie advancement of religious 
or public good, to the encouragement of men strug- 
gling in business, and to those starting in life, or to 
the unfortunate and deserving. In friendship his 
attachments were sincere, strong and confiding. 
As a church member he was liberal, ever ready and 



■•►-1I--4* 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ll'J 



cheerful in his contributions for the support of the 
Gospel. As an Elder and church officer he was 
careful and diligent, cautious in forming a judg- 
ment, but his opinion when formed was the result 
of careful consideration. Good will was in his 
heart, and ever found expression in his words and 
acts of Ivindlj helpfulness. He was a man of sterl- 
ing worth and uncompromising fidelity to principle. 
In the simplicity of his manner there was a gujind- 
eur and strength of character not to be mistaken, 
and in the broad and generous sympathies of his 
heart there was that true sincerity that crowns the 
greatness of Christian manliood. He was a faith- 
ful, fond, loving and tender husband; a good, kind, 
consistent, indulgent and affectionate father. He 
was never absorbed with worldly affairs. He was 
alwajs intent on the life of the mind and of the 
heart for himself and his familj-. He spared no 
pains in the training of his children, and was earn- 
est in the cultivation of piety in his family. He 
lived to see a large, prosperous .and enterprising 
town grow, aided by his own work, where had -been 
dense woods and a wilderness; fruitful fields and 
l)rosperous villages where naught but the bare 
prairies were to be seen when he came to the then 
infant Territory. In his old age he could not 
boast of worldly success, but enjoyed a moderate 
competence, and he gathered around his Thanks- 
giving table nearly a score of children and grand- 
children, who looked up to him with reverence and 
affection. By all who knew him, but especially by 
the' inner circle of his own home, will he be ever 
remembered as a man of unswerving trust, inflexi- 
ble integrity, of unflinching fidelity in all life's 
relations, and of tender, ever-deepening affections. 
No richer heritage could any parent bequeath to a 
child than tlie memory of such a character. 

As a Christian Mr. McMechan was deeply at- 
tached to and interested in the welfare of the church 
of his choice, devoted, earnest, zealous and faithful, 
and his religious life was not one of ostentatious 
profession, but of humility and quiet piety. He 
made the Bible a study, and could recite whole 
chapters, which he had committed to memory in 
his youth. His love for the Psalms was peculiarly 
strong, and he had memorized the entire metrical 
version, as sung in the United Presbyterian Church. 



and taught them to his children. Of his life and 
its successes let it be written : '• Mark the perfect 
man, and behold the upright, for the end of that 
man is peace." When his evening came the clouds 
in his sky were golden. The setting sun of life 
lighted them up with a radiance that heralded a 
blessed immortality. 

Mrs. Matilda McMechan, relict of John Mc- 
Mechan, died Feb. 5, 1886, from the effect of a fall 
consequent to paralysis, at " Headwood," the fam- 
ily residence in Otoe County, near Nebraska Citj-, 
aged seventy-eight j'ears, ten months and twenty- 
three days. She was the eldest daughter of David 
Ballentine, and a direct descendant of Lord John 
Ballentine; slie w.as born March 12, 1807, at "He.ad- 
wood," the family estate near Belftist, Ireland. In 
1814 the family came to the United States and set- 
tled in Ogdensburg, N. Y., where she and her only 
sister. Agues (N<ancy),and her four brothers, Will- 
iam, John, Henry and David, the two latter twins, 
were educated. When she was seventeen years of 
age the family removed to Zanesville, Ohio, and 
there, when eighteen years old, she united with the 
United Presb3'terian Church. She was united in 
marriage with John Mc^Iechan. April 24, 1827. .at 
Zanesville. 

The family moved to the West in 1842, living at 
Glasgow, Mo., until 1846, then removed to St. 
Louis, living there until 1853, and in the autumn 
of that year moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in 
October, 1854, they came to Nebraska Territory, 
settling in Kearney City, which Mr. McMechan laid 
out, and which is to-day part of Nebraska City. 
Mrs. McMechan had ten children, six sons and four 
daughters. Of these, two walked before her '-through 
the valley of the shadow of death;" John and Rachel 
died in infancy. The eight living are: Mary Jane, 
now Mrs. Alexander E. McCormett, in New Orleans, 
La.; Annie Clarke, residing at " Headwood," the 
family residence; David Ballentine, in Kansas City, 
Mo.; -John Henrj-, living at "Headwood." the fam- 
ily residence; Andrew Charles, Lieutenant U. S. N.; 
Matilda, Mrs. S. H. Calhoun, in Nebraska City, Neb. ; 
William Ballentine and Edwin Elbridge, in Kansas 
City, Mo. Two of her brothers survive her: Will- 
iam Ballentine, of Kansas City, Mo., and Henry 
Ballentine, of ^lariposa County. Cal. David INIc- 



180 



OTOE COUNTY. 



i 



Median, in 1857, opened the first hardware store 
in Nebraska City, and was also the first south of 
the Platte. 

IMrs. McMechan was possessed of an amiable, 
loving, retiring and charitable disposition, gentle 
in manners, kind and sympathetic, refined and in- 
telligent to the highest degree, and endowed with 
excellent judgment, active and efficient in every 
good work. As a Christian woman, a Christian wife 
and a Christian mother, she was a model, and truly 
worthy of imitation. While she "rests from her la- 
bors," by her life we may hear her saying to us, in 
words of inspiration: "Be diligent, that ye may be 
found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless." 
When she went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, there was 
no Bible Class in the Presbyterian .Sabbath-school 
there, but she soon organized one and taught it 
during her residence in that place. When the fam- 
ily removed to Nebraska she, with her husband and 
family, organized in Kearney City the first denomi- 
national (United Presbyterian) Sabbath-school in 
the then infant Territory, and she taught the first 
Bible Class. In 1877 she and her husband united 
with the Presbyterian Church at Nebraska City, 
there being no United Presbyterian Church there. 
For three years before her death Mrs. INIcMechan 
was unable, because of physical weakness and fail- 
ing sight, to attend chnrch,but while thus deprived 
of the privileges of meeting with God's people in 
His own house, doubtless He made her own home a 
little sanctuary, where He met with her and blessed 
her. It was her custom to gather her family to- 
o-ether and have them read the Bible, which was 
read through yearlj', and afterward would be read 
several sermons from the bound volumes of the 
Pulpit, a United Presbyterian periodical. She had 
very clear views of GosiJel truth, being a diligent 
Bible student all her life until within ten years of 
her death, when failing sight prevented her search- 
ing tlie Scriptures. In her girlhood she had mem- 
orized the Gospels and the metrical version of 
David's Psalms, as sung in the United Presbyterian 
Church. These with the catechism she taught her 
children, and when she could no longer see to read 
she would repeat entire passages of Scripture and 
the Psalms from memory; her jo^' was to sing the 
twenty-third Psalm. 



While rising from her seat in her sitting-room 
on the afternoon of the 19th of January, 1886, to re- 
ceive some visitors, she fell, fracturing the right 
thigh bone, the fall being caused by a paralytic 
stroke of the lower limbs. She lingered until the 
afternoon of the 5th of February, bearing her suf- ■ 
fering with great fortitude, and with full possession 
of all her reasoning faculties, and conscious until a 
few hours of her death, which she, like a good and 
true Christian, calmly awaited, sleeping quietly and 
sweetly away without pain or struggle. She needs 
no eulogy to hallow her memory, no marble monu- 
ment to keep her in remembrance. She lives in the 
hearts of all who knew her. Her monument is al- 
ready built: a noble, intelligent, charitable and con- 
sistent Christian character. Upon it in letters of 
light are inscribed the words for us all to read: 
" Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee 
a crown of life." 

The subject of this sketch was but an infant 
when his parents moved to Missouri; he was twelve 
years of age when they took up their residence in 
Council Bluffs, and fifteen years old when they 
moved to Nebraska. The wild, sparsely settled 
Territory of that day bore but little resemblance to 
the wealthy and populous State of to-day. The 
settlements were then mostly confined to the river, 
and the whole interior of the State was a wild, 
open prairie inhabited hy Indians. Deer were 
plentiful on the plains only a short distance from the 
city, and with other wild game often set forth the 
table of the pioneer. In 1859 Mr. McMechan 
commenced freighting across the plains, taking corn 
that he had raised himself on the farm, in two 
wagons, with a pair of horses to each wagoii, and 
delivering it in Denver' at fourteen cents a pound. 
He made but one trip that year, and during the 
winter was engaged in teaming flour from Winter- 
set, Iowa. From 1860 until 1863 he had charge of 
his father's freighting business. In the fall of 
1860 he engaged in a wholesale grocery business 
in Denver, with his brother David. In the spring 
of 1863 they were burned out there, and then they 
returned to Nebraska City and established them- 
selves in the hardware business, which they con- 
tinued together until 1869, when our subject took 
charge of his father's homestead, and he has ever 



•► i r^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



181 .,| 



since been engaged in general farming with gratify- 
ing success. The farm is located two miles south 
of the court-house in Nebraska City, and contains 
160 acres of the richest and most productive land 
to be found in this locality. The residence is a 
commodious brick house, pleasantly located on a 
rise of ground, overlooking a beautiful stretch of 
country. There is quite a varietj' of trees in the 
yard, some of which were planted by the father of 
our subject, and all of them were planted during 
his lifetime. 

Mr. McMechan's shrewd common sense, and his 
industrious, methodical habits have been prominent 
factors in his success in life. He is upright and 
conseientious in his dealings, and his neighbors find 
in him a man to respect and esteem. 

The portraits of John and Matilda McMechan 
are presented in connection with this sketch. 

/^\ IIARLES C. COWLES, prominent and suc- 
|lf cessful as a farmer, intelligent and capable 

^^^' as a business man, and one of the most val- 
ued members of his community, is numbered among 
the old and honored residents of Wyoming Precinct, 
where he has a fine tract of 320 acres of land, on 
section 14, and which is familiarly known as "Sun- 
nyside Farm." Some idea of its beauty and value 
may be obtained from the fact that at one of the State 
Fairs it was awarded the first prize in point of im- 
jjrovement and natural resources. The residence is 
a handsome two-story frame structure with base- 
ment, finished and furnished in modern style, and 
with its surroundings forms one of the most com- 
plete homes to be seen within the boundaries of the 
county. The barn and other out-buildings are 
equipped with all conveniences required for the 
proper sheltering of stock and storing of grain. Ad- 
jacent to these is a fine apple orchard of 1 ,200 bearing 
trees, in prime condition and yielding bountifully. 
There is also an abundance of smaller fruits in their 
season. The property lies about seven miles north- 
west of Nebraska City, and forms one of the most 
.attractive pictures in the landscape of this region. 
Our subject came to this part of the county in 
the spring of 1857, ten years before Nebraska was 



admitted into the Union as a State, and when his 
youthful companions were little Indian boys of the 
Otoe tribe. They h.ad their little "set-to's," as 
youngsters will, and when the battle raged too 
strong the squaws came out and chased away the 
white boys. Upon one occasion, when the conflict 
was a little more serious than usual, our subject 
was threatened by an old warrior with losing his 
scalp, and. as may be supposed, hied himself to a 
place of safety as soon as convenient. 

The entire life of J\Ir. Cowles has mostly been 
spent on the banks of the Missouri, except the pe- 
riod spent in the mountains, he having been born 
in Atchison County, Mo., Dec. 18. 1849. His par- 
ents were Charles H. and Mary (Martin) Cowles, 
and he was the second son and child. The father, 
a farmer by occupation, died at his home in ^3*0- 
ming Precinct, April 14, 1888, when nearly seventy 
years old. (See sketch of C. H. Cowles.) He had 
been a resident of Nebraska for a period of thirty- 
four years, coming here in the spring of 1854. 
Until 1857 he lived in Nebraska City, when it was 
but a hamlet, but finally moved onto a farm in 
Wyoming Precinct, where he followed agricultural 
pursuits and became a prominent man in his com- 
munity. The wife and mother is still living at the 
old homestead. 

Mr. Cowles after leaving the district school en- 
tered Tabor College, Iowa, but in the meantime had 
taken a course in the Normal School at Peru. He 
was naturall3' fond of study, and made the most of 
his opportunities, and at the close of his last school 
term was well fitted for the future business of life. 
The first employment to which he turned his atten- 
tion was in connection with a nursery at Bloom- 
ing-ton. 111., which he operated about five years. 

In the fall of 1876 Mr. Cowles, desirous of see- 
ing something more of the Great West, crossed the 
plains by rail, and spending some time in Colorado, 
returned home in the f.all of 1880. He then took 
a trip East, traveling considerably over the East- 
ern States, then returning home again, set out for 
New Mexico, and spent some time in its mining re- 
gions, where he invested a portion of his capital, 
and from which he realized good returns. About 
1887 he returned to this count}^ and took posses- 
sion of the land which he now owns and occupies. 




I 

- ' 182 



OTOE COUNTY. 



While residing in New JNIexico Mr. Cowles en- 
gaged quite largely in stock-raising and ranching. 
He owns four separate ranches, which he still oper- 
ates, besides owning a sixth interest in a large com- 
panj' doing an extensive ranch business. His home 
place wa.s thirty miles west of Socorro, at Magda- 
lena, the terminus of the Magdalena Branch of the 
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. He also 
owns some valuable mining property in that dis- 
trict. 

Our subject, on the 7th of July, 1885, was united 
in marriage with Miss Lillj' White, at Zanesville, 
Ohio. This lady was born there Feb. 13, 1859, 
and is the daughter of Homer and Sarah J. (Cas- 
sidy) White, who are still living, and residents of 
Zanesville. Mr. White is a prominent insurance 
man, having been connected with some of the best 
companies in the United States, and being particu- 
larly expert in the adjustment of claims. 

Mrs. Cowles was carefully educated in her na- 
tive town, and was graduated from Zanesville High 
School in the class of '78. Later she became a 
teacher, and was very successful, occupying a posi- 
tion in the public schools of her native city for a 
period of seven years before her marriage. Of her 
union with our subject there .are two children : 
Fayzette Mae, who was born Sept. 17, 1886, and 
Clayton Earl, July 13, 1888. Mrs. C. is a member 
in good standing of the Baptist Church, and a very 
estimable lady, who has hosts of friends in this vi- 
cinity. Our subject is a sound Republican, politi- 
cally, but has no aspirations for offlee, and has very 
little to do with matters beyond the boundaries of 
his large estate, whicli can only be properly man- 
aged by close attention and calculation. 



/p^EORGE W. BROWN is one of the promi- 
jll (i=i nent farmers in Otoe Precinct, and one of 
^^4! tl'e early pioneers of Nemaha County in 
1865. He removed to this county in 1867, and es- 
tablished himself on his present farm, which com- 
prises 160 acres, and is situated on section 17. 
Upon this he has made excellent improvements, and 
is one of tlie well-to-do citizens. He played no 
mean part in the earlier history of the Territory', 



which is all the more creditable to him. because 
whatever has been accomplished in his life has been 
the result of his own ambition and continued effort, 
in wliich he has been supported bj' his wife, a most 
excellent lad}', devoted to iier liushand and chil- 
dren. 

The parents of our subject were Thomas and 
Margaret (Phillips) Brown, both natives of Cum- 
berland County, Pa. There they were married and 
lived until 1856, when the}' came to this State, 
bringing with them their two sons. John P. and 
George, the latter being at that time about twenty' 
years of age. Besides these they had two other chil- 
dren, viz: Mary S. and Eliza Jane, who were born 
in Pennsylvania. Mary is the wife of Martin L. 
Smith, of Federalsburg, Md., and Eliza Jane is the 
wife of Dr. John Cleland, of Davenport, Iowa. 

The native place of our subject is Bloorafield, 
Perry Co., Pa., and the date of his birth the 22d 
of February, 1832. He grew up at Carlisle, Pa., 
where his father had a farm, upon which, espe- 
cially after school days had passed, the two broth- 
ers assisted their father, and continued until the 
older brother went to Washington City to learn the 
carpentry trade. 

In 1853 the subject of our sketch joined his 
brother at Davenport, Iowa, where he was estab- 
lished in business. There he engaged in milling 
and worked by the month. In 1865 he came to 
Nemaha County and engaged in farm work, two 
years later removing to this count}', where he rented 
a farm, but w.as shortly established upon his present 
property. 

Our subject had not been long in Otoe County 
before he made the acquaintance of Myra, daughter 
of J. G. and Julia (Layman) Carmichael (see sketch 
of Mr. Carmichael). Mrs. Brown svas born on the 
8th of December, 1844, in Mifflin County, Pa., and 
was nine years of age when her parents removed 
West. After passing through the classes of the 
common school, she took the High School course at 
Nebraska Cit}', and made exceedingly good prog- 
ress. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were married at the resi- 
dence of her parents, on the 26th of September, 
1861, at Minersville, Otoe Precinct. 

There have come to Mr. and Mrs. Brown eleven 
children, whose names are as follows: Abbie T., \ r 



*► ir < • 



OTOE COUNTY. 



183 



Mary; Ediiie, who fiied when six months old; 
Thomas. Jennie; Lora. who died at the age of four 
3'ears; George Franivlin, William^. Ida, Maude and 
Carl. Abbie T. is the wife of .Tewett Thomas, one 
of the successful merchants of Neliraska City, and 
they are the parents of two children — Minnie and 
Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Brown may be justly proud 
of their children, to wliom they have been enabled 
to give a good education, and who appreciate all 
the care and provision made for them bj^ tiieir par- 
ents. 

When Mr. Brown looks back to his lieginning in 
Nebraska, it must be vvith exceeding tliankfulness, 
remembering that he started with but |!2.50, and 
that to-day, with his productive, well-kept farm, his 
beautiful home, his wife and children, he is among 
the most prospered and happily situated of the citi- 
zens of the county. During the past year (1888) 
he erected a very fine two-story frame house, very 
commodious and comfortable. It is supplied with 
the numerous appliances and conveniences gener- 
ally considered almost indispensaljle to the modern 
home. Beloved by his family, and respected in the 
community at large, lie stands in the front of Otoe's 
citizens. In politics he is a stanch Republican. 
The family attend the Southern Methodist Church. 



of Berlin Precinct, possesses the warrantee 
deed to 1,000 acres, and operates 200 besides, 
his home being within two miles of the town. He 
is a pojjiilar and pulilic-spirited citizen, intelligent 
and liberal, and in all respects a useful member of 
his community. Of German birth and ancestry, 
he is the son of Christ and Sophia (Harra) Shrader, 
who were natives of the Prussian Province of Meck- 
lenburg, the father born in 1 795 and the mother in 
1805. The paternal grandfather, Jacob vShrader, 
was a farmer by occupation, and spent his entire 
life upon his native soil, dying at a ripe old age. 

The father of our subject, when a youth of seven- 
teen years, enlisted in the German Army, serving 
against Napoleon. After the war was over he re- 
turned to his native town and became a weaver of 
custom work, which trade he prosecuted success- 



fully until the year 1862, and became owner of a 
small farm. On the 15th of October of the year 
mentioned Christ Shrader started with his family 
for America, and shortly after landing in New 
York City proceeded to Cleveland, Ohio, where he 
settled and lived seven months. Next he moved 
to Lee Coimty, 111., and spent his last years with 
his children near Dixon, his death occurring in 
September, 1869. The mother survived her hus- 
band until 1875, coming to NebravSlva and spending 
her last days with her children; she died when sev- 
entj^ years old. The six children of the parental 
famil}^ were: Sophia, a resident of this county; 
Mary, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio; Dora, living 
in this county; John, in Valp.araiso, this State; Fred, 
our subject, and Henrj% in Berlin. 

Our subject was born in the Province of Meck- 
lenburg, Prussia, Sept. 20, 1843, and remained with 
his parents on their little farm until a youth of 
eighteen years, in the meantime receiving a thor- 
ough education in his native town. He came to 
America with Ills imrents, crossing the Atlantic on 
the sailing-vessel " Columbus," taking passage at 
Hamburg, and after a two-months voyage, in which 
they encountered several severe storms, landed 
safely in New York City. Fred remained with his 
parents in Cleveland during their stay there, then 
accompanied them to Lee County, 111., and subse- 
quently was emploj^ed on a farm two years. He 
then began operating rented land, and was thus oc- 
cupied until March, 1869, When he determined to 
seek his fortunes on the other side of the Missis- 
sippi River. 

The first purchase of Mr. Shrader in this county 
was eighty acres of land in Berlin Precinct, upon 
which there had been no attempt at improvement. 
There was then not a mile of railroad west of the 
Missouri River. Mr. Shrader landed in this county 
with a cash capital of $4,75, and for two years after 
coming here operated rented land until he could 
begin the improvement of his purchase. Upon this 
he built a house, into which he removed in the 
spring of 1871, and thereafter proceeded vigorously 
in the task of building up a homestead. The near- 
est market was Nebraska City, and he battled with 
drouth, grasshoppers and other difficulties, making 
considerable headwa3', notwithstanding. He set out 



^k^ 



h 



••► 



184 



OTOE COUNTY. 



groves of cottonwood aiirl willow trees, and i)lanted 
an orchard of 250 apple trees, and in due time the 
first humble dwelling was replaced by a substan- 
tial and modern residence, with barns and the other 
necessary out-buildings. Later he added to his 
landed area, buying in 1874 eighty acres adjoining 
his first purchase at $6.50 per acre; two years later 
he bought 160 acres adjoining which was improved, 
and for which he paid $2,000; in 1879 he bought 
120 acres for $1,000; in 1880 he added 200 acres to 
his estate, paying for this the sum of $l,550;in 1882 
he secured 160 acres for $2,200; in 1883 he bought 
the 160 acres adjoining for $1,850, and the year 
following he added 120 acres of highly improved 
land, for which he paid $2,800; his last purchase 
was in the spring of 1887, and comprised a quarter- 
section under a high state of cultivation, for which 
he paid $5,000. His land altogether is now placed 
at an average value of $30 per acre. 

In the spring of 1888 our subject invested a por- 
tion of his spare capital in the merchandise store of 
Shrader Bros., in Berlin, an establishment which 
now carries $10,000 worth of goods, the largest 
stock in town, and enjoys a good patronage. In 
his farming transactions Mr. Shrader makes a spe- 
cialty of live stock, buying and feeding cattle, and 
shipping annually about three cars of these, be- 
sides two, or three cars of swine; he keeps about 
eighteen head of horses. To this industry is de- 
voted about 480 acres of his land, while he lets the 
balance to a tenant. 

Our subject, while a resident of Lee County, 111., 
was married, Feb. 14, 1869, to Miss Katie Albright, 
who was born in Somerset Countj^ Pa., May 4, 
1849. Mr. and Mrs. S. began their wedded life 
together in this county, and here their seven chil- 
dren were born, four sons and three daughters, 
namely: Emma, Ella, Albert, Charles, Fred, Sarah 
and Levi. Ella officiates as clerk in her father's 
store at Berlin; Charles also spends some of his 
time there. The other children remain at home 
with their father. 

On the 9th of March, 1888, our subject and his 
family were called to mourn the loss of the devoted 
wife and mother, a'loss which was not only deeply 
felt hy them, but by all who knew her. Mrs. Shra- 
der was a lady possessing all the womanly virtues. 



fulfilling the duties of wife and mother in the most 
praiseworthy manner, being kind and gentle in her 
household and having the welfare of her children 
deeply at heart. *She stood bravely by the side of 
her husband during his early struggles, being his 
efficient helpmate, a most kind counselor and wise 
adviser. She lived to seethe country around them 
developed into a prosperous community, and t(j 
enjoy those home comforts which she h.id so justly 
earned by her toils and sacrifices, and her name is 
held in kindly remembrance not only by her fam- 
ily, but hosts of friends and acquaintences. 

INIr. Shrader has always kept himself well posted 
upon current events, and votes the straight Re- 
publican ticket. He takes considerable interest in 
politics, and has done good service for his party in 
this section, frequently being sent as a delegate to 
the county and State conventions. He has been a 
member of the School Board ten years, was Super- 
visor eight years, and Assessor two years. He was 
a charter member of the German Lutheran Church 
at Berlin, with which he is still connected, and gives 
liberally and cheerfully to its support. He is a 
Trustee of the church property, and besides con- 
tributing largelj' in the erection of the building, 
solicited money outside, and has given freely of 
his time and means in the general welfare and i)ros- 
perity of the church. Berlin Precinct has within 
its borders no more useful or praiseworthy' citizen. 



•<3= 



=E>- 



ON. GEORGE FERGUSON, who is widely 
known throughout the county in his politi- 
cal relations, and who is at the head of a 
very successful business as dealer in stock, 
farm implements and vehicles in Dunbar, was born 
in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the 14th of 
August, 1 845. He is the son of William and Agnes 
Ferguson, who were natives of the same country and 
district. His father, who is now deceased, came 
with his family to New York in 1848, and settled 
nineteen miles south of Buffalo, removing in the 
year 1854 to Guernsey County, Ohio. 



k.^^,^'^^ 




Residence of Isaac Farley, Sec.19. Rock Creek Precinct. 




Residence OF Mrs. Cath ERINE M? AizzR ,5LC.2S.fN0ffTHj Russell Precinct. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



187 



Tlie suliject of our sketch was ediicateri in the 
schools of Guernsey County, Ohio, and qualified 
himself for teaching. In the year 1871 he went to 
Polk County. Iowa, and taught school until the fol- 
lowing spring; then he attended the Iowa Agricult- 
ural College at Ames, in that State, continuing 
until the summer of 1873, when he came to this 
county and engaged in teaching in Wyoming and 
the vicinity, continuing thus for five terms. Leav- 
ing the school-house and teacher's desk, he engaged 
in farming about six miles north of iSyracuse. Here 
he found every oppoitunitj- to put into practice the 
instruction received both from his father and at 
Ames. He continued there until April, 1888, and 
still owns the farm of eighty acres. 

Upon the 4th of August, 1881, Mr. Ferguson was 
united in marriage with Lorinda E. Gale, the daugh- 
ter of John and Elizabeth Gale, of iSheboj'gan Falls, 
Wis. Their marriage has been consummated by 
the birth of four children, of whom three still live, 
viz: Maude A., Wallace J. and Helen E. 

In former years Mr. Ferguson was active in the 
ranks of the Republican party, and was elected in 
the fall of 1878 on the Republican ticket to repre- 
sent Otoe County, Neb., in the Legislature. He 
served his term of office with satisfaction. Since that 
time, however, his political opinions have undergone 
a change, and he is now a prominent and active 
worker with the Prohibitionists, and holds the posi- 
tion of Chairman of the Prohibition party in Otoe 
County. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson are both mem- 
bers of the United Presbyterian Church, of which 
our subject has been an adherent about twenty 
years, and his wife about two. 



p^HOMAS F. McALEER. Among the young 
farmers and citizens of Russell Precinct and 
Otoe County Mr. McAleei- takes a promi- 
nent position. He is the owner of 160 acres of 
splendidl\' cultivated land on section 23, and oper- 
ates 640. He is extensively engaged as a horse and 
cattle dealer, and has been unusually successful in 
business in that connection. It goes without say- 



ing that there is before him a very propitious ca- 
reer. 

James McAleer, the father of our subject, was 
born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1810, 
and his mother, whose maiden name was Catherine 
Darcy, was born in County Leitrim of the same 
country. His father was an agriculturist prior to 
leaving his native country, which he did in 1839, 
coming to America. The voyage which promised 
so fair ended (iisastrouslj', for the vessel was 
wrecked on the Island of Nova Scotia, and he only 
escaped by swimming ashore. Obtaining work as 
a baker he continued there for two years, and then 
went to Boston, where he went into the marble 
business and worked as a polisher, which he had 
learned as a young man in Ireland. He' c(>ntinued 
theie until 1849, then removed to Providence, con- 
tinuing in the same business. Thence he went to 
Princton, 111., in 1863, and there operated forty 
acres of land in addition to his polishing, which 
was not discontinued. 

Coming to Nebraska in 1873. Mr. McAloer, Sr., 
purchased 160 acres of land from the Burlington 
& Missouri River Railroad Company, and went to 
work to improve the same, and at his death in 1888 
had 480 acres of splendidly cultivated land. lu 
politics he was a Democrat and faithful to his party. 
His wife came to America in 1846 alone, and landed 
in New York. From there she removed to Provi- 
dence, where she met her husband, to whom she 
was united on the 17th of July, 1853. She was the 
mother of seven children, whose names are as fol- 
lows: Mary E., James, Miles, John, Thomas, Frank 
and Bernard. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Provi- 
dence, R. I., on the 11th of May, 1863, and was 
about a year old at the time his parents removed 
to Illinois. He grew up upon the farm and was 
early made acquainted with all the various duties 
and labors connected therewith. His parents saw 
that he obtained a good practical education in the 
common school, and was thus in some measure 
fitted to take up his share of the activities of life. 
AVhen in 1873 his parents removed to Nebraska, he 
was ten j-ears of age, and he continued at work 
upon the home farm until he was about twentj'-one, 
when he entered with zest into the conflict of life 



:*^iU. 



•►Hl^^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



upon bis own account, and has been so successful as 
to become the owner of a quarter-section of very 
valuable farming land. He usually buys and feeds, 
preparatory to marketing, two carloads of cattle and 
five of hogs per annum. He has taken much pains 
to procure and raise Short-horns and Polled-Angus 
cattle, and has six' very valuable animals of the 
former variety, but his chief delight so far as stock 
is concerned is in raising Clj'desdale roadsters. 
He owns forty iiead of horses and ten fine mules. 
His propert3' in cattle is quite valuable and worthy 
of all the care he bestows upon them. 

Our subject is a member of the Catholic Church 
at Palmyra, and was prominent in tlie organization 
of the society and building of the church. The 
parents are also of the same religious faith. Polit- 
ically, Mr. McAleer is a Democrat, and takes an 
active interest in political affairs. Twice he has 
been called upon to act as delegate to the County 
Conventions. 

A view of the McAleer homestead is given on 
an adjoining i)age. 

— ^^#J*|— 

SAAC FARLEY, the present Assessor of Rock 
Creek Precinct, and one of its most successful 
agriculturists, owns and occupies a fine home- 
stead on section 19, which embraces 160 acres of 
•well-improved land with neat and substantial build- 
ings. He has a goodly assortment of live stock, 
and all the machinery necessary for the successful 
prosecution of his chosen calling. He has groves 
of fruit trees and shrubbery, and has surrounded 
himself and family with all the other comforts of 
modern life. A view of his fine farm residence 
with its environments is presented to our readers. 

Mr. Farley settled upon his farm in the fall of 
1882, having moved here from another in the same 
precinct. He came to Otoe County as early as 1869, 
of which he has since been a resident, and contin- 
uously engaged in farming pursuits. His native 
place is the Province of Ontario. Canada, he hav- 
ing been born in Peterboro, April 1, 1837. There 
he was reared and educated, making his home with 
his parents, Patrick and Mary (O'Rielly) Farley. 
They were natives of Ireland, and spent their last 



years in the Dominion, both dying at an advanced 
ago, the father having reached ninety-five years. 
The latter served under the Duke of Wellington 
during the French War, and was married before 
coming to America. The parental family included 
eight children, seven of whom are living. The 
parents were members of the German Catholic 
Church. 

Our subject was one of the younger members of 
the large family of children, and grew to manhood 
in his native Province, receiving a common-school 
education. He was married there to Miss Mary A. 
Nolan, who was also a native of the Province of 
Ontario, and was born in September, 1839. She 
made her home with her parents until her marriage, 
acquiring her education in the common schools. 
Her parents were natives of Ireland, whence they 
emigrated to the Dominion of Canada after their 
marriage, where they spent the remainder of their 
lives, and the father followed farming pursuits. 
They were members in good standing of the Cath- 
olic Church, people cai'eful and conscientious in 
their lives, and respected by their neighbors. 

Mrs. Farley has stood bravely by the side of her 
husband in his efforts to build up a home, laboring 
equally with him early and late for the comfort and 
well-being of their little family. They are the 
parents of six children, namely: Edward, Mary, 
Josephine, Helen, Joseph and John. Mr. and Mrs. 
F. are consistent members of the Catholic Church, 
in the doctrines of which they were reared in early 
childhood. Our subject, ■ politically, is a sound 
Democrat, and is serving his seventh term in his 
present office. 



/ip^ WASH GILES is well known throughout 
(|/ J—-, Wyoming Precinct as proprietor of the 
'^^j, "Living Water vStock Farm," and the "Ar- 
lington" herd of Poland-China swine, comprising 
some of the finest specimens of Poland-Chinas to 
be found in this section of the State. At the head 
of the herd of Poland-Chinas is Messenger, No. 
1884, S. P. C. R.,and although only fifteen months 
old has already made an admirable record. Mr. 
Giles has six other animals of the Poland-China 



■^•- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



189 



{ 



!= 



breed, and registered as follows: Ett, No. 2822; 
Grace (1st), No. 2820; Grace (2d), No. 2825; 
Cala, No. 2821; Arlington Maid, No. 2823, and 
Topsie G.. No. -3171. The herd was established in 
1882 with Otoe Prince, No. 2335, at the head. Mr. 
Giles has competed successfully with breeders all 
over this section of the country at the State and 
county fairs, in which many of his animals have 
come home with blue ribbons. 

The farm of our subject is finely adapted to stock- 
raising, and in this industry he has been remark- 
ably successful during his residence in this county, 
which dates from the spring of 1860. He was 
born in Peoria, 111., April 28, 1854, and is the 
son of Joseph Giles, a native of the Island of St. 
Helena. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Giles, 
was with the exile Napoleon at the time of the 
latter's death. 

Joseph Giles came to the United States when a 
young man, and located Jn Peoria, 111., where he 
married Miss Susanna Redfern. This lady, like her 
husband, was of P^nglish descent, and came to the 
United States when a child of thirteen years, locat- 
ing in Peoria, 111., with her parents. After mar- 
riage .Joseph and Susanna Giles lived in Peoria, 
111., until coming to Nebraska, in the spring of 
1860. The father purchased a tract of new land 
on section 11, in Wyoming Precinct, where, with 
his estimable wife, he labored industriously, and 
lived until March. 1885, when, retiring from active 
labor, they moved to Nebraska City, where they 
are now spending their declining years surrounded 
by all the comforts of life. 

Our subject was the youngest child .and only son 
of a family of six children, one of whom, a 
d.iughter, Ann, died when very young. He lived 
at home until his marriage in Wyoming Precinct, 
Dec. 14, 1876, to Miss Mary Martin. This lady 
was born in Utica, Venango Co., Pa.. Oct. 4, 1852, 
and is the daughter of John E. and Maria (Rey- 
nolds) Martin, a sketch of whom will be found 
elsewhere in this work. They came to Nebraska 
in 1857, and the education of their daughter Mary 
was conducted in the common schools at first and 
completed in the Normal School at Peru. Of her 
union with our subject there have been born two 
children: J. Roy, Oct. 1, 1877, and Carl M., June 



8, 1879. The family residence is a comfortable 
structure, and the out-buildings all that are desirable 
for the prosecution of both agriculture and stock- 
raising. The pens for the swine are equipped with 
everything that is necessary for their comfort and 
the success of the industry to which Mr. Giles 
gives especial attention. He is a man of decided 
views, keeps himself well posted upon matters of 
general interest to the intelligent citizen, and votes 
the Republican ticket. 



-Jfe- 



•>-»-«• 



^., APT. BEN S. PINDAR, who is one of the 
practical farmers of South Branch Precinct, 
farming 160 acres on the northwest quarter 
of section 33, and also well and favorably known 
thronghout tlie county, was born in Washington 
County, Md., on the 21st of May, 1836. He is the 
son of Benjamin and Sarah (Small) Pindar. His 
father was born in Camden County, Del., in 1800, 
and his motiier five years later in Berkeley County, 
Va. The grandfatlier of our subject, Edward Pin- 
ilar, made quite a record as a soldier of the Revo- 
lution under Washington, and was a nephew of 
Charles Lee of Revolutionary fame. '1 be maternal 
grandfather, Samuel Small, was of English descent 
but horn in Virginia. He also was one of the 
patriot heroes of 1776. 

The parents of our subject were married in 
Virginia, and there made their home. The father 
was an overseer of a plantation, and so continued 
for many years. Afterward they moved to Mary- 
land, where he engaged in farming. In 1847 the 
family removed to Henry County, Ohio, and eighty 
acres were purchased in the vicinity of Napoleon. 
There farming was carried on until 1867, when the 
property was soW, and the family removed to South 
Branch Precinct of this county, where in 1886 the 
father died. He had been bereaved of his wife in 
1867, when she had reached the advanced age of 
sixty-two years. They were the parents of four 
children, viz: Susan, Annie, Ben S. and Perry, 
the latter deceased ; he was in the war, and served 
in the same regiment as our subject, was taken with 
brain fever, and died at Nashville in 1862. 

The subject of our sketch staid at home until 



■*► 



•►■ 



u 



190 



OTOE COUNTY. 



he attained his majoritj', the j-ears of his boyhood 
beiiio; spent in the usual occupations of the comnnon 
school, after which he attended the full High .School 
course, lieing graduated therefrom, and afterward 
becoming his father's assistant upon the farm. He 
was eleven j'ears of age when the removal was made 
to Ohio. After that change of residence the chief 
work of his education was attended to, for bis High 
School course and more preparatory education were 
supplemented by three years in Heidelberg College 
at Tiffin. Until he was twenty-five years of age he 
taught school in various districts, and held a ver^' 
high certificate of ability. 

In 1861, at the time the first call for troops was 
made b3' President Lincoln, Mr. Pindar enlisted in 
the 14th Ohio Infantry, and served in Company F. 
The enlistment was made for three months, as was 
the case with nearly all the men, it being supposed 
that the war would be settled by that time. He was 
mustered in at Cleveland, Ohio, under Col. Stedman 
and Gens. Rosecrans and McClellan, and served 
chiefly in West Virginia. He was in the first battle 
of the war at Phillippi, then at Laurel Hill, Cheat 
River and Canick Ford, which ended the campaign 
in Virginia, and the term having expired, he, with 
others, was mustered out at Toledo, Ohio, on the 
18th of August, 1861. 

Re-enlisting the following day in the 38th Ohio 
Infantry, our subject was mustered in at Defiance, 
received the commission of a Lieutenant, and then 
went into service in Kentucky under E. D. Bradley. 
The first of the series of battles of that campaign 
was the battle of Wildcat, after which they were 
sent to Mills Springs, and became part of Gen. 
Thomas' division; then followed the battles of 
Perry ville, Stone River, Chattanooga, Chickamauga 
and Missionary Ridge. At Nashville he was pro- 
moted to be Captain, and served* in that capacity 
from that time. He was with Sherman throughout 
the Atlanta campaign, en route to the sea, and took 
part in all the engagements of that campaign. The 
hardest fighting experienced by the regiment which 
he served was at Jonesboro. At Chickamauga 
he was stunned by the explosion of a shell imme- 
diately above his head. Although he recovered 
sufficiently to leave the field, he never fully recov- 
ered his hearing, and when at Savannah in Febrn- 



•►Hh-^- 



ary of 1 865, his trouble had become so bad that he 
received an honorable discharge, with congratu- 
lations for gallant service. His discharge was pro- 
cured at his own request, as he felt it impossible for 
him to do good service, having almost entiiely lost 
the power of hearing. 

Leaving the military service, our subject returned 
to New York by steamer, and from there he went 
to Ohio. He [lurchased forty acres of land, and 
for one year continued farming. In the spring of 
1867 he started for this State, going by rail to St. 
Joseph, and from there by steamer to Nebraska 
Cit3'. Again taking the train at that place he came 
to this county and to South Branch. Here he 
entered a homestead claim for the 160 acres of 
prairie land which he has now made such a beauti- 
ful and productive farm. His property is well 
watered by a branch of the Nemaha River that 
winds its way through it. 

At Napoleon, in February, 1864, in order the 
better to enjoy his veteran furlough Capt. Pindar 
was united in marriage with Miss Eva H. Choat 
the daughter of Thomas and Louisa (Randall) 
Choat, both of whom were born in Maine, of 
English descent. They removed afterward to .Seneca 
County, Ohio, and took eighty acres of land be- 
fore it was at all settled for many miles around 
his home. The parents are both dead, but have 
left three children — William A., Liza J. and EvaH. 
William A. Choat was Colonel of the 38th Ohio 
Infantry, and did gallant service. He was shot in 
the breast upon the 1st of September, 1864, at the 
battle of Jonesboro. and fell upon the field. 

The wife of our subject was born in Thomaston, 
Me., in January of 1836. She was well educated 
and carefully nurtured and trained at home. For 
three j'ears she attended the college at Oberlin, 
Ohio, of National renown, and afterward served as 
a teacher; during the war she filled an appointment 
in the post-office department at Napoleon. There 
have been born to Capt. and Mrs. Pindar three 
children — Maud, Hazzard and Maggie. Maud is 
attending school at Toledo, Ohio, and the rest of 
the family are at home. 

Ever since the School Board District was organ- 
ized Capt. Pindar has been one of its members; for 
sixteen years he has been the Assessor of the pre- 




Residence OF C. A. Smith, 5ec.20.Hendric5 Precinct. 




iUoiULiUEOFj H Behrend5,Sec 19 FouR Mile Precinct 



h 



•9^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ciiict, and continues to hold the position. In the 
G. A. R. also he takes a prominent p.art; he is a 
member at Sterling of the Wadsworth Post No. 
99. His political relations have always been with 
tiie Republican party, of which he is a stanch 
adherent and hearty supporter. Mrs. Pindar has 
been a member of the Universalist Church in Ohio 
since the year 1859, and has never united with any 
organization locally. As a family, as well as in- 
dividuals, they are much respected by all who know 
them, and enjoy the hearty esteem of the com- 
munity at large. 



— ^'^^^liJt^i^iT^'^-^ 



( lai 



OH AN H. BEHRENDS is a fine represent- 
I ative of the farmers of Otoe Countj', and 
1 his large and valuable farm in Four Mile 
^^^i Precinct is one of the best managed and 
most attractive places within a radius of many 
miles. A view of this the publishers give in con- 
nection with this outline history of its respected 
proprietor. Mr. Behrends was born April 21, 
183o, in Hanover, Germany, vhich was likewise 
the birthplace of his father, Bernhard Behrends, 
who spent his entire life there engaged in farming. 
The mother of our subject was also born in Han- 
over. She also died in Germany. There were but 
two children, the subject of this sketch and his 
brother, Albert J . who resides in Nemaha County. 
Our subject was reared in his native land, and re- 
ceived the benefits of a sound education in its ex- 
cellent schools, which he attended quite steadily 
until he was fourteen years old. He then went to 
work on a farm, and from that time until 1853 
toiled hard to acquire a practical knowledge of 
agiicnllnre. In that j-ear he came to America to 
try life in the New World, hoping to be able to lay 
up a competence and to live in the comfort and 
ease that would be denied him under the existing i 
state of affairs in the Fatherland. He set sail from 
Bremerhaven in June, and landed in New Orleans 
seven weeks and two days later, with but a few 
dollars in his pocket. He went directly to Madison 
County, 111., and there found employment on a 
farm at |12 a month. He continued to work by 
the month there and in Sangamon County until 



1856, when the alluring accounts of the won- 
<lerfid fertility of the soil of the wild prairies of 
Nebraska, its bracing climate, and many other nat- 
ural advantages, determined him to come here and 
engage in agriculture, and he was soon voyaging 
up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to his desti- 
nation. He landed at Brownville in the month 
of July of that year, and shortly after selected 
a desirable location in Nemaha County, and when 
the land came into the market he entered his claim 
from the Government, paying $1.25 an acre for 
the land. He erected a log cabin to shelter him, 
and proceeded to develop his land. The country 
around was then mostly in a wild, unsettled slate, 
deer and other kinds of game were plentiful, and 
Indians were often seen lingering about their old 
homes. Brownville, fourteen miles distant, was 
the nearest market. Mr. Behrends continued to 
live there for four years, and, at the expiration of 
that time, he sold his partly improved claim at 
a good advance on the cost price, and bought 
160 acres in Rock Creek Precinct. Thirty acres of 
this tract were broken, but there were no build- 
ings, and he at once erected a house, and for two 
years he was actively engaged in agriculture in 
that precinct. At the end of that time he had a 
good chance to sell his place and make quite a sum 
of monej'. and he took advantage of it. He then 
bought a tract of wild prairie in tlie same precinct, 
built a comfortable house, broke the entire iract of 
land, and resided thereon until 1877. He then 
bought his present farm, which comprises 360 acres 
of land, exceedingly rich in all the elements that go 
to make it one of the most productive estates in 
Otoe County. It is finely located in Four Mile Pre- 
cinct, four miles southwest of Nebraska City, and 
its nearness to a thriving city and to good markets 
makes it of additional value. Mr. Behrends is a 
business-like, skillful agriculturist, and already has 
his land under good cultivation, and has erected a 
substantial and conveniently arranged set of farm 
buildings, and has one of the best and among the 
finest farmhouses in the precinct. 

Mr. Behrends was married, in 1 8G0, to Miss Annie 
Sophia Arends. a native of Hanover, and their pleas- 
ant wedded life has been blessed to them by the 
birth of sixteen children, only three now living, 
^ 



r 



•►Hl^ 



f 



192 



OTOE COUNTY. 



namely : Bernhard B., Maggie and Herman. They 
have a cozy, attractive home, and friend and stran- 
ger alike receive a cordial welcome and enjoy a gen- 
erous and unstinted hospitalit}- from host and 
hostess while under its sheltering roof. Mr. and 
Mrs. Behrends are esteemed members of the Lu- 
theran Church. In his political sentiments Mr. 
Behrends is decidedly independent. As a man of 
practical habits, sound principles and genial man- 
ners, our subject exerts a good influence in this com- 
munity', and is greatly' respected by his fellow- 
citizens. 



4 



eAMILLUS A. SMITH, Justice of the Peace 
of Hendricks Precinct, and one of its most 
prosperous and public-spirited citizens, owns 
a valuable farm on section 20. He is considerably 
interested in stock-raising, and ships numbers of 
cattle and hogs each year to the markets. 

The first recollections of our subject are of the 
modest home of his parents in Spring Township, 
Crawford Co., Pa., where his birth took ijlace Dee. 
11, 1843. He attended the village school, and his 
father having died when he was a lad. remained 
with bis mother until the outbreak of the Civil War. 
The family at that time having removed to Wis- 
consin, he enlisted in the 1st Wisconsin Infantry, 
and in the battle of Perryville, Ky.. was wounded 
in the left fore-arm, by reason of which he was con- 
fined in the hosjjital three months. Anxious, however, 
to rejoin his regiment, he returned to it while his arm 
was still in a sling, and participated thereafter in the 
battles of Stone River, Murfreesboro. Chiekamauga, 
Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge. Then, under 
command of Gen. Sherman, he marched to the sea, 
taking part in the meantime in most of the engage- 
ments of the Atlanta campaign. On the 25th of 
July, 1804, he was wounded at Atlanta in the right 
leg, and off duty one month. Upon rejoining his 
regiment he met the enemy in the fight at Benton- 
ville, and was with Sherman at the time of Johnston's 
surrender at Raleigh. He continued in the army 
until the close of the war, and received iiis honor- 
able discharge at the cit\' of Washington, D. C, 

<• 



then went with his regiment to Milwaukee, where it 
was disb.anded. 

Our subject now began farming near Trenton, 
Dodge Co., Wis., on a small tract of land which he 
had purchased, and where he continued until coming 
to this county. He started for Nebraska on the 1st 
of May, 1867, and made the entire journey over- 
land in a wagon. He crossed the Missouri on the 
3d of June, and seven days later homesteaded the 
land which be now owns and occupies. After pro- 
viding a shelter for his family he began the im- 
provement of his purchase, setting out groves and 
an orchard of 150 trees, besides adding from time 
to time the various conveniences required for the 
comfort of the famil}'. The land is watered by 
running streams and is highly productive. 

Our subject was married at Beaver Dam, Wis., 
May 1, 1867, to Miss Anna Robinson, who was born 
in Dodge County, that State, Sept. 2, 1848. Her 
father, Ichabod Robinson, a native of England, was 
born In 1816, and emigrated to America with his 
brothers when but a lad seventeen j'ears old. They 
settled first in Ohio, then removed to Kentucky, 
but after his marriage Mr. Robinson located in 
Dodge County, Wis., where he carried on farming 
until his death, in 1885. The wife and mother was 
in her girlhood Miss Sarah A. Davis, a native of 
Kentucky. Her death took place in Dodge County, 
Wis., in 1851. The household circle comprised the 
following children: Mary, Eliza, Samuel, David, 
Annie, Mattie and Sarah. The latter died when 
about thirty -three years old. Samuel and David 
served as soldiers in the late war, from which they 
came out uninjured, but upon the return home 
after receiving his honorable discharge, Samuel fell 
between the cars of a moving train and was in- 
stantly killed. 

To our subject and his wife there have been born 
five children, namely: Mattie, Arthur, Elmer, Anna 
and Ada. AVith the exception of Arthur, who is 
engaged in brickmaking at Lincoln, they are all at 
home with their parents. Mr. Smith is a true blue 
Republican, politically, one of the warmest sup- 
porters- of the principles of his party. Soon after the 
war he identified hiniself with the G. A. R., and is 
a member of Mansfield Post No. 56, at Palmyra. 
He has served .is School Moderator in his district 



r 



•► I I <•• 



ii^!-i. 



OTOE COUNTY. 



since the time of its organization, and has officiated 
as Justice of the Peace since the spring of 1881. 

The father of our subject was born in New York, 
in 1807. He served an apprenticeship at the shoe- 
maker's trade during his early manhood, but later 
became interested in agricultural pursuits, whicli he 
followed in Crawford County, Pa., where his death 
took place in 1846. The paternal grandfather, 
Israel Smith, served as a soldier in the Revolution- 
ary War, and subsequentlj- received a pension from 
the Government. The mother of our subject was 
in her girlhood Miss Perthina Bail. She was born 
in Chautauqua County, N. Y.,in 1815, and after the 
death of her husband lived in Pennsylvania until 
1859. Her death took place in 1879. The pa- 
rental household included six children, namely: 
Harriet, .Sarah, Americus, Orphilia, Camillus (our 
subject) and Orion. Americus enlisted in the same 
regiment in which his brother Camillus served, and 
was shot through the heart at the battle of Perry- 
ville; his remains now fill a soldier's grave at Perry- 
ville, Ky. 

Mr. Smith commenced at the foot of the ladder in 
life, and has seen many years of hard labor with 
drawbacks and privations. Now in the enjoyment 
of a pleasant and comfortable home, he is simply in 
possession of what he is honestlj' entitled to by 
reason of his industry and perseverance. Mrs. 
Smith is a lady of many amiable qualities, cirltured 
and hospitable, and their home, one of the most 
attractive in this region, is the frequent resort of 
hosts of friends. 

The view of Squire Smith's residence is presented 
in connection with this brief sketch of his life. 

•rW<, 

i^^^ALTON MASSEY, one of the substantial 
m^^ men of Otoe Precinct, enterprising and pub- 
^^^ lie-spirited, is essentially a Western man, 
having been born on this side of the Mississippi, in 
Gasconade County, Mo., forty miles from Jefferson 
City, April 15, 1837. His paternal grandfather 
was one of the first settlers of that State, taking ui) 
a tract of wihi land and following the pursuit of 
agriculture. He spent his last years in Missouri. 
The subject of this sketch took up his residence 



Ht^4^ 



in Otoe Precinct in the fall of 1862. His parents. 
George and Margaret (Branson) Massey, were also 
natives of Missouri, and there they both spent 
their entire lives, except a three-years residence in 
Tex.as. the father engaged in farming pursuits. 
Their family consisted of eight children, namely: 
Charles. Talton; Ann and Elizabeth, both deceased ; 
Thomas, who died young; Nancj', deceased; Sarah 
is the wife of James Russell, and they live in Idaho; 
and William. 

Mr. Miissey, our subject, was the second child 
of his parents, of whom he was deprived bj' death 
when but a boy. The children were then scattered, 
and our subject was tstken into the home of his 
uncle, Benjamin Simpson, in Barton County, Mo., 
where he lived until able to do for himself. He 
now commenced freighting (this was in 1857) 
across the plains, transporting merchandise from 
Westport, Mo., in wagons to Santa Fe, N. M. 
This was an experience in which he saw much of 
life in the wild West, meeting all kinds of men, 
and often making his waj' through difficulties and 
dangers. He was thus occupied two years, then 
returned to Barton County. Mo., where he purchased 
land and resolved to settle down. 

The next important event in the life of our sub- 
ject was his marriage with Miss Martha Ann Lucas, 
which occurred near the town of Lamar, in Feb- 
ruary, 1859. Mrs. JNIassey was born in Sangamon 
County, III., Aug. 10, 1840, and was the only 
living child of Allison and Louisa (Harper) Lucas 
Mrs. Lucas died when her daughter, Mrs. Massey, 
was an infant. 

Mr. Lucas, after the death of his wife, moved to 
Pike County, III., where Mrs. Massey was princi- 
pally reared ; then she removed with her father to 
Barton County', Mo. The Lucas family left Illinois 
and moved into Gasconade County, Mo., but, be- 
coming discontented, returned later to Illinois. 
They afterward moved back to Missouri, settling 
this time in Barton Count}', where Mr. and Mrs. M. 
were married. 

Our subject and his wife continued residents of 
Missouri until the fall of 1862, and then, on account 
of the troubles connected with the Civil War, de- 
cided to go farther North. On their way to Illinois 
Mrs. Massey was taken quite ill at Nebraska Citj', 



f 



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194 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and they were obliged to halt. Mr. M. engaged 
himself as a farm laborer, thinking to stay only un- 
til his wife was sufficientlj- recovered to proceed on 
their journey. He became pleased with the coun- 
try and the i)eople, and finally resolved to sta3' here, 
although not purchasing land until the spring of 
1866. He first secured 160 acres, and has now one 
of the best cultivated farms in Otoe Precinct. The 
twenty -two years of his residence upon it have been 
devoted to its improvement, and, looking over his 
fields and buildings, the proprietor has abundant 
reason to congratulate himself upon the result of his 
labors. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Massey there have been born 
eight children, tlie two eldest, Mary Jane and Will- 
iam H., in Missouri; the other six, Charles W., 
Louisa A., Isadora, George W., Sarah E. and Nancy 
A., were born in Otoe Precinct, this county. The 
eldest daughter is at home with her parents. Will- 
iam is a resident of Sterling. Jefferson Co., Neb ; 
he married Miss Ina R. Crook, of Nebraska City, 
and they have three children — Clarence C, Oda 
Pearl and Viva B. Charles W. is at home; 
Louisa A. became the wife of T. L. Nipps. and 
the mother of one child, Mary A., and died on 
the 6th of March, 1888. Mary A. is now living 
with her grandparents. Isadora is pursuing her 
studies in Nebraska City. George W., Sarah E. 
and Nancy A. are at home with their parents. 

My. Massey is a stanch supporter of the prin- 
ciples of the Democratic party. He has given es- 
pecial attention to the education of his children, 
and ihey form a bright and interesting group whom 
the parents regard with pardonable pride. 



ELIJAH W. ROSS ranks high among the suc- 
cessful, hard-working and manly citizens of 
•) Palmyra Precinct. He is one who does not 
live for himself alone, but has large interests in 
every enterprise or plan that will advance the pros- 
sperity of the district in which he resides, whether 
they be of an educational, religious, or merely po- 
litical character. He successfully farms 160 acres 



of good land on sections 20 and 29, and other 
things being equal, sees a large retuni for every 
investment of strength or finances that he may 
make. 

Our subject is the son of James and Priscilla 
(Young) Ross, both of whom were natives of New 
York State. In this family commingles both Scotch 
and German blood. His father, who is an agricult- 
urist, is now seventy-two years of age, and his 
mother seventy-four. Grandfather Ross was in the 
War of 1812 as a Captain, and merited special men- 
tion for gallant service. 

The subject of our sketch was the third of six 
children born to his parents, whose names we men- 
tion as follows: Peter, Artem us, Elijah W., Betsey 
A., Ella and Artemus. The second child and Ella 
are deceased. Elijah was born on the 12th of March, 
1839, in Oswego, N. Y. He was brought up on a 
farm, and continued at home until 1861, when he 
was united in m.arriage with Miss J.ane Dunlap, 
daughter of William Robert Dunlap, whose sketch 
api)ears on another page in this volume. Mrs. Ross 
was born on the 7th of August, 1841. 

After their marriage our subject and his wife 
made their home in New York State until 1871, 
when they came to this State with their three chil- 
dren. Until that time Mr. Ross had been engaged 
in sawmill work and in the general lumber trade, 
but since he came to Nebraska has given his atten- 
tion almost entirely to stock. The first experience 
in Nebraska in home life was in a dug-out, which 
served them for the first year and a half, after which 
they removed to their more commodious, comfort- 
able and pleasant home. They are the parents of 
seven children, whose names we mention as follows: 
Ella, Emerson, Emery. Manly, Ida, William and 
John. Ella is happily married to Samuel FuUwider, 
and is a resident of Sharon, Kan. ; they are the 
p.arents of two children. Emerson is a farmer at 
Turlington. 

Our subject and wife are members in good stand- 
ing of the United Brethren Church, of which or- 
ganization he has been the Treasurer. His political 
principles are those of the Prohibition party, and 
he takes a lively and active interest therein. They 
are both highly esteemed, and are cordially received 
in the most select circles of local society. 



•^^ 






:z^M^^rh^ 



•►Hh-^*- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



197 ii 



REDERICK BORCIIERDING is the ov\Tier 
of a very fine and produetive farm on sec- 
tion 3 of Delaware Precinct, and is one of 
tiie most worthy representatives of that usually 
most desirable class of citizens, viz., those who 
have emigrated to this country from Germany. He 
bears the national characteristics of intelligent, 
earnest, persevering and thrifty labor, and to this, 
doubtless, is owing the success that lias attended 
his agricultural efforts. 

Our subject was born in Hanover, on the 22d of 
November, 1842. He came to this country with 
his father in the spring of 1860; a settlement was 
made in Clayton County, Iowa. Tlie dawn of life 
in America was shrouded with gloom, overcast by 
the clouds of trouble and enveloped in the shadows 
of de.ath, for within two weeks after reaching Iowa 
Frederick Borcherding. Sr., was taken sick and died. 

The subject of our sketch never was privileged 
to attend the American schools, but at the same 
time has obtained a fair English education. He 
came to this county in the fall of 1868, and lived 
in Berlin Precinct until the fall of 1879, when he 
came to his present farm, which he has since culti- 
vated with assiduous care, seeing as a result thereof 
a continuouslj' growing success. 

While residing in CLayton County, Iowa, our 
subject was married, on the lOtli of October, 1866, 
to Eliza Abker. She was born in Clayton County, 
Iowa, of German parentage, and remained with her 
parents until her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Bor- 
cherding have been given seven children, of whom 
six survive, viz: Maggie, Annie, Eward, Jennie, 
Alfred and Josie. Alfred had a twin sister, who 
died at the age of one year and a half; she bore 
the name Alice. 

The total acreage owned by our subject is 480, 
all well improved and utilized for farming and 
stock-raising purposes. In starting our subject had 
practically' nothing; what has been obtained is the 
result of hard work, good m.anagement and thrifty 
care. He now has a good farmhouse and an ex- 
cellent barn that has recently been put up, stand- 
ing 40x42 feet and 34 feet high from the basement, 
which is eight feet from floor to ceiling. The base- 
ment walls are all of rock, and stand upon a good 
foundation. The cost of this building, exclusive 



of his own work, was SI, 400. The quarrying of 
the stone and the hauling of the same a distance of 
nine miles, besides other work upon the actual 
building, he did himself. Our subject and his wife 
are both members of the Lutheran Church and in 
good standing. They are well respected in the 
neighborhood, and enjoy the perfect confidence 
and esteem of all who know them. 

p^HOMAS H. ASHTON, M. D., an able and 
popular physician of Sj'iacuse, located intliis 
city in the month of March, 1886. He is a 
native of Brown County, Ohio, and was born to 
James and Cassandra (Sly) Asliton, on the 8th of 
March, 1841. His father was a native of Bucks 
County, Pa., and his mother of Clermont County, 
Ohio. The gre.at-grand father of the Doctor emi- 
grated from Ashlon, England, at an early daj', and 
settled in Pennsylvania. There his son .Samuel was 
born, brought up, and in early manhood married. 
He continued after that interesting event to follow 
the pursuits of husbandry until the year 1806. He 
then migrated to Oiiio, and three years later set- 
tled in Clermont County, making it his home for 
the remainder of his days. 

The f-ather of our subject was four years of age 
when his parents removed from Bucks Count}', Pa., 
an<l settled in the Buckeye State, where he grew to 
manliood. Upon leaving scliool he learned the trade 
of blacksmith, in connection with which he also fol- 
lowed farming. He removed to Defiance County 
in the same State in 1851, where he continued to 
live until 1886, when he died at a very advanced 
age. The longevity of this family has been per- 
haps one of the striking features connected with its 
historj', for almost every member has attained more 
than the usually allotted term of life. 

The mother of our subject is of Scotch and Hol- 
land-Dutch ancestrj', and the family may be traced 
for several generations in Virginia. The maternal 
grandfather of Dr. Ashton, Jacob Sly, with several 
friends and neighbors, migrated in the j'ear 1791 
to Cincinnati, Ohio. At the time of the Indian 
troubles of that region he was with Gen. St. Clair 
as a wagonraaster, and while thus engaged was in- 

■ > 






=4 



19S 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Y pre: 



jiirerl and left the service. Proceeding to Clermont 
County, lie settled down to farming, and it was at 
that homestead the mother of our subject was born. 
There she made her home until her marriage. Her 
death occuired in the jear 1 883. in Defiance Countj', 
Ohio, when she had reached the age of about eighty 
3'ears. 

The subject of our sketch was the seventh of nine 
children born to his parents. He was reared on the 
home farm, and pursued his early studies in the dis- 
trict school. At the age of eighteen he attended 
school at Defiance, and besides the studies of the 
prescribed curriculum also received instruction in 
Latin, the higher mathematics and literature. In 
1861 he entered the university at Ann Arbor, Mich., 
and was graduated from the department of medi- 
cine in 1863. ISoon after this he received a com- 
mission from Gov. Morton, of Indiana, as Special 
Surgeon to the Armj- of the Cumberland, and after 
thirt}' days of service was tendered a position upon 
the regular medical staff, serving thereon until the 
close of the war. 

During the time the Doctor was stationed at Kash- 
ville, Tenn., he attended the university in that 
cit}', from which he was also graduated. Later, and 
while stationed at Murfreesboro, he was taken with 
smallpox, and lay for several weeks battling with 
that dread disease. His splendid constitution now 
did him good service, and indue time be recovered 
and returned to duty, when he was given the charge 
of the pest hospital in that city, which contained 
usually upward of 100 patients. After holding 
this position for some time, he was transferred to 
the United States General Hospital No. 4, at Mur- 
freesboro. This hospital contained 284 beds, and 
was full nearlj' the entire time of his service, which 
continued until November, 1865, when the hospital 
was closed, and our subject returned to Defiance, 
Ohio. 

Dr. Ashton now began to practice his profession 
in his native place, where he soon achieved an envi- 
able reputation, and resided until 1882. He then 
went to Colorado to take charge of a health resort, 
but that not being a financial success, he came to 
Nebraska. Upon looking over the city of Syracuse 
and the surrounding countr}' he was favorably im- 
pressed with the outlook, soon opened an office, and 



speedily had made a reputation, entering upon a 
lucrative piactiee. 

The Doctor was married in Ohio in 18G5, and is 
the parent of two children — Merrill and Ethel. As 
a fair exponent of the intelligence and ability of the 
medical profession in Southern Nebraska, we give 
his i)ortrait, which, with those of his compeers, will 
be looked upon in later years with no less interest 
than that of the present time. 



/p5iE0RGE B. HENDRICKS, of Hendricks 
jll Q=, Precinct, enjoys the distinction of being one 
^^jj of its earliest pioneers. He is ])leasantly 
located on section 8, where he has resided for a 
period of over thirt}' years. His land, 160 acres in 
extent, has been carefullj' and skillfull}' cultivated, 
and yields in abundance the choicest crops of 
Southern Nebraska. Mr. Hendricks served as a 
soldier of the Union during the Rebellion, and his 
life has been that of the careful, conscientious and 
industrious citizen, one who has done good as he 
has had opportunity', and lived at pe.ace among his 
neighbors. 

Our subject is descended from two excellent 
Southern families, his father having been Hiram Hen- 
dricks, a native of Virginia, and his mother in her 
girlhood Sicily Thompson, who was born in Ken- 
tucky. Later they removed with their parents to 
Indiana, where their marriage took place. In the 
fall of 18-17 they removed to Iowa, where the father 
carried on farming until 1856, and during that year 
cast his lot among the earliest pioneers of Southern 
Nebraska. Coming to this county he ])re-empted 
160 acres of land not far from its southwestern lines, 
and the new precinct then in process of organization 
was named in his honor. He was chosen Justice of 
the Peace not long afterward, in which ofHce he 
served acceptably several years. He assisted in the 
organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
being one of its charter members, and his house was 
always open for religious services, and as the home 
of the itinerant preacher. 

This good man passed away in the fall of 1861, 
at the early age of forty-eight 3ears. The mother 
is still living, and has remained a widow for a period 



•^U 



-<»■ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



199 n 



of tweiit^'-seven ypais. She makes her home witli 
lier son at the olfl f;u-m. Their chihlren. eleven in 
number, were named respectively : Jane M., Louisa, 
David, Sarah; George B., our subject; Hannah, who 
died when about thirteen years old; Catherine; 
John, who died at the age of about one ye,ar ; Joseph, 
Maggie and Hiram. Those who survive, with the 
exception of two, are residents of Hendricks Pre- 
cinct. 

The suliject of this sketch was born in Delaware 
County, Ind., Aug. 7. 1842. He came with his par- 
ents to Iowa, and continued on the farm, pursuing 
his studies in the district school. He was a lad of 
fourteen 3-ears when the family came to this county, 
and has a clear recollection of the trials and hard- 
ships incident to pioneer life. In 1864, during the 
progress of the Civil War. he enlisted in a company 
of scouts sent out against the Indians under the 
command of Gen. Sully, and saw much of border 
warfaie, being among other engagements in the 
battles of Bad Lands, which continued three da3's 
without intermission. At the close of the war he 
received his honorable disharge, and was mustered 
out at Sioux City, Iowa. 

After returning from the army our subject took up 
a homestead claim of 160 acres in Hendricks Pre- 
cinct, but later crossed the plains four times to 
Denver, and once went as far as New Mexico for the 
pur[)Ose of freighting. Upon his return to Nebraska 
he confined his attention closely to his farm, and in 
time effected the improvements wdiich have made 
his home one of the most desirable in this section. 
He planted Cottonwood, ash and elm trees, an or- 
ch.ard of 100 apple trees besides the smaller fruits, 
and quite an extent of hedge for fencing. He put 
up a neat and substantial dwelling, has a good barn 
and a vineyard. He keeps a goodly assortment of 
live stock, and has the improved farm machinery 
necessary for the prosecution of agriculture in a 
profitable manner. 

The lady who has been the close counselor and 
companion of our subject for a period of nearly 
twenty years, was in her girlhood Miss Melinda E. 
Allstot, and they were wedded on the 28th of 
August, 1870. Mrs. II. was born in Dubuque. 
Iowa, March 22, 1804, and is the daughter of 
George and Nancy (Morgan) Allstot. the father a 



native of Kentucky, and the mother of Virginia. 
They were married in Indiana. Mr. A. was a 
wheelwright by trade, which he followed in that 
Stale until his removal to Iowa, when he turned his 
attention to farming. In 1870 he came to Lancaster 
Count3-, Neb., where he homesteaded 160 acres of 
land, but on account of failing health was obliged 
to abandon active labor. He was finally placed in 
the Insane Asylum at Lincoln, where his death took 
place in the fall of 1884. The mother is still living, 
and makes her home with her son in Lancaster 
County. 

The parents of Mrs. Hendricks had a family of 
ten children, namely: Susan, Kate, Sarah, John, 
George, James, Hannah, Melinda, Albert and Rob- 
ert. The latter is now deceased. To our subject 
and his wife there have been born seven children : 
Laura, May, Charles, William, Raymond. Nettie 
and Frank, all of whom are at home with their par- 
ents. Both parents and children attend the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church at S(jlon, and Mr. Hendricks, 
politically, gives his support to the Democratic 



party. 



--^'->^^i^^t^^io^^^^^^--^ 



RANK P. HAZELTON. a well-to-do farmer 



Ji of Hendricks Precinct, and pleasantly lo- 
cate<l on section 16, came to Nebraska in 
the spring of 1872, and purchased the eightj- acres 
upon which he has since labored and made good 
improvements. His farm buildings are neat and 
comfortable. He has a stream of living water, with 
a good supply of shade trees and an orchard of 
apples and the smaller fruits, besides the other nec- 
essaries for the comfort of his family. 

Our subject is of New England ancestry, his par- 
ents, Otis and Melissa (Graves) Hazelton, having 
been born in New Hampshire, the father in Spring- 
field, and the mother in Andover. After marriage 
they lived upon a farm in the Old Granite State 
until 1866, then migrated to Iowa, settling near the 
present town of Farmersburg, in Clayton County, 
where they remained five j^ears. Thence, in 1871, 
they removed to Lancaster County, Neb., where 
the father homesteaded 160 acres of land, and 
where they now live. 

The father of our subject, in 1862, during the 



•► 



•►Hf^^ 



200 



OTOE COUNTY. 



progress of the Civil War, enlisted in the 11th New 
llampshii-e Infantry', being njiistered in at Concord, 
apd served until the close, participating in many 
important battles. 'Ihese included Fredericksburg, 
the siege of Viciisburg, and most of the engage- 
ments of the Army of the Potomac. He received 
his honorable discharge at Washington, D. C. He 
is now a resident of Panama, Lancaster Co., Neb., 
where be has been Postmaster for some years, and 
is now arrived at the age of sixty. The mother 
died when comparatively a j'oung woman, in 1862. 
aged forty-one years. Their family consisted of 
three children, all sons: Frank P., our subject; 
Fredericic, a real-estate dealer at Norton, Kan., and 
Sidney, who lives with his parents. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Springfield, 
N. H., July 1 1, 1853. His first recollections are of 
the mountains around his boyhood home, where he 
remained until a lad of thirteen years, the family 
then moving to Iowa. There he passed several 
years, following after the manner of the sons of 
pioneer farmers, assisting his father and attending 
the district school. Later he became a student of 
the Western College, of Iowa, taking the scientific 
course and remaining two years. He was eighteen 
years old when the family came to Lancaster 
Count}', this State, and continued under the pa- 
rental roof until twenty. Subsequently he taught 
school for a period of five years. He was married 
in Panama, Neb., Oct. 12, 1879, to Miss Dora 
Brewer, who was born in Missouri, July 3, 1862. 
The parents of Mrs. Hazelton were Jacob and Susan 
(Smith) Brevver, the father a native of West Vir- 
ginia, and the mother of Ohio. Jacob Brevver mi- 
grated to the Buckeye State early in life, where he 
was married, and for a time carried on farming. 
During the first years of the Rebellion he com- 
menced freighting across the plains. In 1865 he 
settled in the vicinity of Hendricks, this county, 
where he engaged in farming, then sold out and 
removed to Seward County, where he now lives in 
retirement upon a competence. Mrs. H. was the 
youngest of the ten children born to her parents. 
Of her brothers and sisters six are living, and resi- 
dents of Nebraska. 

Otis Hazelton, the elder child of our subject and 
his wife, was born Nov. 9, 1880, and Clyde, the 



younger, Oct. 13, 1885. These interesting chil- 
dren comi)lete the household circle. Mr. H. votes 
the straight Republican ticket, and has been Asses- 
sor of Hendricks Precinct three years, serving also* 
as School Director in his district. Socially, he be- 
longs to the~I. O. O. F., being a member of Nemaha 
Lodge No. 32, at Bennet, in which he has passed 
all the Chairs. 



■^URGP^N F. KRAMER. The farm of this 
gentleman occupies a portion of section 20 
in North Branch Precinct, and comprises 840 
(^g// broad acres. It has for a period of eleven 
years been subjected to that careful course of cul- 
tivation which has made it one of the most valuable 
tracts of land in this section of Otoe County. It 
was but a stretch^of wild prairie when it came into 
the possession of its present proprietor, who settled 
upon it March 1, 1877. That he has made good 
use of his time is apparent from the fine improve- 
ments, including substantial buildings, thefruitand 
shade trees, the well-kept fences, the machiner}' and 
the live stock, the whole of which comprises a pic- 
ture delightful to the eye. 

In viewing the extent and value of this property 
the reader will not be surprised to learn that it be- 
longs to a native of the German Empire, hundreds 
of whose sons have assisted so greatly in the devel- 
opment of the great State of Nebraska. Mr. Kra- 
mer was born in the Province of Holstein, Oct. 3, 
1840, and is the son of Henry and Sophia Kramer, 
who were natives of the same Province as their son, 
and who spent their entire lives upon their native 
soil. Their family included thirteen children, two 
only of whom are living, who came together to the 
United States, and Jacob, the brother of our sub- 
ject, is now living on a portion of the farm of the 
latter, and possesses much of the industry and en- 
terprise which have distinguished our subject. 

Mr. Kramer received a good education in his 
native tongue, having been, in accordance with the 
laws and customs of his native country, placed in 
school at an early age, where he pursued his studies 
until a lad of fourteen years. The few j'edrs inter- 
vening between that time and manhood were em- 



•^^V-M^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



201 



plo3'ei1 at farming. At the age of twenty young 
Kramer delerminerl to seek his fortune on the other 
side of the Atlantic, and bidding farewell to the 
friends and companions of his youth, sailed from 
Hamburg in the month of May, and after a com- 
paratively brief voyage set foot upon American 
soil at Castle Garden, New York City. 

Our subject from the great metropolis proceeded 
westward to Chicago, 111, near which city he worked 
for a time in a hay-pressing establishment. Thence 
he migrated across the Mississippi River into Scott 
County, Iowa, where he was employed as a farm 
laborer first, and afterward in a steam gristmill 
about eighteen months. After his departure from 
the Hawkeye State we next find him working on a 
farm in Cooper County, Mo., and from there he 
came to Nebraska City in the spring of 1868. 

The first employment of Mr. Kramer in this 
county was as a farm hand near Nebraska City, but 
he determined to become his own man as soon as 
possible. His first step in this direction was the pur- 
chase of a team, bj' which means he engaged in a 
general transportation business, and later secured 
part ownership in a threshing-maciiine. Next he 
rented a tract of land in Wyoming Precinct, upon 
whicli he operated as a tenant for a period of seven 
years. At the expiration of that time, having accu- 
mulated a snug sum of money, he purchased the 
320 acres included in his present farm. The stim- 
ulus of ownership enabled him to make exceedingly 
good headway, and in the course of a few j'ears he 
found himself on the highway to prosperity. In 
1883 he added a quarter-section to his purchase, 
wiiich is devoted largely to the growing of grain, 
while he has no small number of cattle, horses and 
swine. These he feeds, and has all the facilities for 
tlie most profitable prosecution of this industry. He 
has thus been the means of developing a large area 
of North Branch Precinct, and in this manner con- 
tributed to its growth and prosperity. He has been 
a man of strict integrity and fair dealing, and enjoys 
in a marked degree the confidence of his neighbors. 

The marriage of our subject with Miss Mary 
Rodway took place at the home of the bride in Ne- 
braska City, and of this union there have been born 
nine children, namely: Lizzie, Charles, Isabelle, 
George, Eugene, Lulu, Maggie, 'Minnie and Mark. 



The eldest is sixteen years of age, and the young- 
est seven. They are all living at home. Mrs. 
Kramer is the daughter of Samuel and Mariah Rod- 
way, natives of England, and was born May 1, 1 853, 
in England. Her father is now deceased ; the mother 
is a resident of this county. Mr. Kramer cast his 
first Presidential vote for Seymour, and although 
meddling very little with politics keeps himself 
well posted upon matters of general interest to the 
intelligent citizen. 



^OHN McGINLEY. In the career of this 
gentleman is illustrated that of the self-made 
man, who was thrown earl}^ in life upon his 
own resources, and has by a course of per- 
severing industry attained a good position, socially 
and financially. He is now the owner of an exten- 
sive tract of land, consisting of 680 acres in Hen- 
dricks Precinct, and 172 in Delaware. His homestead 
is provided with handsome and substantial build- 
ings, and all the farm machinery necessary to the 
carrying on of agriculture after the most approved 
methods. Mr. McGinley as a citizen is liberal and 
public-spirited, and uniformly the encourager of 
those enterprises calculated to advance the welfare 
of the community, socially, morally and financially. 
The subject of our sketch was born in County 
Tyrone, Ireland, in 1830, and is the son of Patrick 
and Rosa (Kennie) McGinley, who were natives of 
the same county as their son. They emigrated to 
America in 1866, and coming directly to the West, 
settled in Delaware Precinct, this county, where the 
father died the year following at the age of fifty- 
six years. The mother is still living, and a resi- 
dent of Hendricks. The parental household in- 
cluded nine children, five of whom are living and 
residents of Nebraska. John was a young man 
twenty-two years of age when coming to the United 
States, having preceded the family a number of 
years. He sailed from Liverpool and landed in 
New Orleans, and thence proceeded to Cincinnati 
by steamboat. 

In 1878 our subject purchased 680 acres of land 
in Hendricks Precinct, this county, and has made all 
the improvements which have constituted his home- 



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202 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^1 



i= 



stead one of the most valuable in this part of Otoe 
County. The land is well watered with running 
streams, and pleasant groves scattered here and 
there form a grateful shade in summer and protect 
both man and beast from the blasts of winter. Ten 
acres are planted to orchards, and numerous other 
fine fruits add to the comfort and enjoyment of the 
family. 

Mr. McGinley was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
Feb. 14, 1858, to Miss Mary, daughter of James and 
Ellen (]\IeKinne) Sheridan, who were also natives 
of Ireland, born in County Donegal. The family 
started out for America in July, 1855, and the 
father died on the ocean. The family settled first 
in Cincinnati, where Mrs. McGinlej' was reared to 
womanhood, and remained with her mother until 
her marriage. The latter subsequently made her 
home with this daughter, and died at Dunbar, 
June 25, 1883, at the advanced age of eightr^'-four 
years. The parental family included nine chil- 
dren, of whom Mrs. McGinley w,as the fifth in order 
of birth. She was born in County Donegal, Ire- 
land, Ma}' 12, 1835, and was nineteen years old 
when she crossed the Atlantic. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. McGinley. ten in 
number, were named respectivel}' : Rosanna, Ellen, 
Lizzie, Marj', James, William, George, Francis, 
Maggie and Jessie. They are all living at home 
with the exception of Lizzie, who is the wife of 
Charles Flynn, a well-to-do farmer of Delaware Pre- 
cinct. They have one child, a daughter, Jessie. 
Mr. McGinley has been quite prominent in local 
affairs; he has served as Road Supervisor for a 
period of ten years, and is still holding the office. 
He has also operated considerably as a contractor 
for railroads and county bridges. He fulfilled 
several contracts during the building of the Mis- 
souri Pacific. He and his excellent wife were 
reared in the faith of the Catholic Church, of which 
they still remain devoted adherents, and attend 
services both at Palmyra and Nebraska City. Mr. 
McGinley, politicallj', is a stanch Democrat, and a 
warm supporter of the principles of his party. 
Mrs. McGinley is a lady greatly esteemed in her 
community, intelligent, refined, and possessing all 
the womanly virtues. 

When our subject came to this county Nebraska 



City was a hamlet of a few houses. He was one of 
the earliest settlers of Delaware Precinct, and has 
here upon his farm much valuable timber. He is 
considerably interested in stock, feeding exten- 
sively from sixty to 100 head each year, and is 
breeding mules, having on hand usually about 
twelve head. A man wide-awake and energetic, 
he has long been recognized as one of the most 
important and successful farmers of the county, in 
whose development and prosperity he has been no 
unimportant factor. He has watched its growth 
with the interest which is felt by every intelligent 
citizen, and in the development of one of its finest 
farms has added greatly to the value of its landed 
estate. 

^OHN B. HOSTETTER. a gentleman of 
more than ordinar}' intelligence, and a local 
l)reacher of the United Brethren Churcli, is 
also greatly interested in agricultural pur- 
suits, lie owns a good farm of eighty acres on 
section 9 in Palmyra Precinct, and possesses all the 
qualities of an honest man and a good citizen, one 
who has built up for himself a record on which in 
coming years his children will look with pride. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Mont- 
gomery County, Ind., Aug. 11, 1843, and spent 
his boyhood and youth after the manner of most 
farmers' sons in the pioneer days, conning his les- 
sons during the winter season in the little log 
school-house, and assisting his father during the 
seasons of sowing and reaping around the home- 
stead. He is the son of Sherman and Mary A. 
(Byrd) Hostetter, the father a native of Rock- 
bridge County, Va., and the mother born in Ken- 
tucky. 

The paternal grandfather. David Hostetter, when 
quite small took up his residence in Pennsylvania, 
thence emigrating to Ohio, and later to Mont- 
gomery County, Ind., about 1829. He was conse- 
quently one of the earliest pioneers of that region, 
and there he spent his last days. Sherman Hos- 
tetter's family consisted of the following children by 
his two marriages: Mary; two infants who died un- 
named; William H. ; Aaron B., who died youn 



?^r#-^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



-•^ 



203 



'■^ 



John B., our subject; Armilda, also deceased; Me- 
lissa R. ; Fronissa C. ; Sherman A. ; James D. ; Louis 
W. ; Margaret E. ; Allen H. and Edgar C. Of these 
nine are living, and residents of Nebraska and 
Indiana. 

Our subject claims that the scenes drawn by 
Eggleston in the '•Hoosier Schoolmaster" frequently 
resemble those which occurred during his boyhood 
and youth. He was a bright and observant lad, 
more than ordinarily mischievous, it is believed, and 
uever losing an opportunity of playing a harmless 
joke on his parents or comrades. His father was a 
leading man in the community, foremost in his 
encouragement of religion and education, and was 
the Trustee of Scott Tovvnship for a number of 
years. John B. grew to manhood on the farm, and 
before reaching his majority was married, Jan. 
20, 1864, to Miss Clarissa Wall, a native of Put- 
nam County, Ind., and born July 12, 1842. She 
also was the daughter of a farmer, ami had been 
carefuUi' trained to all housewifely duties, receiv- 
ing her education in the district school. Our sub- 
ject after becoming the father of one child was 
constrained to offer his services as a Union soldier, 
feeling it bis duty to leave home and family, as at 
that time there seemed little prospect of an immedi- 
ate termination of the war. He enlisted for a term 
of one year in Company F, 11th Indiana Infantry, 
and went with his regiment first to Baltimore. He 
saw very little of active service, and at the time of 
Lee's surrender the regiment was stationed upon 
the outskirts of the city of Baltimore, which city 
like scores of others in the North was made the 
scene of general rejoicing. In that city he re- 
ceived his honorable discharge in August, 1865. 

Our subject now returned home. His father at 
that time was a member of the Indiana Legislature, 
and by his advice, which coincided with the con- 
victions and wishes of our subject, the latter iden- 
tified himself with tlie Methodist Episcopal Church 
as a local preacher, his pious labors engaging the 
most of his time from that period until he came to 
Nebraska in the fall of 1881. He had uever lost 
his love for rural pursuits and life in the country, 
and accordingly souglit his home in the agricultural 
districts, purchasing eighty acres of land from the 
Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company. 



Upon this there were no buildings and no improve- 
ments. Mr. Hostetter proceeded after the manner 
of the pioneer settler to build up a home for him- 
self and family, in which labor he has met with 
success. Naturally industrious, and possessing ex- 
cellent judgment, he has labored with his hands 
to good advantage, while at the same time, by con- 
stant reading and study, he keeps himself well 
posted upon the various questions of the day. Fol- 
lowing in the footsteps of his honored father, who 
was first a Whig and then a Republican, he has 
striven to cast his influence in favor of the passage 
of those laws which should give to the people their 
highest freedom and most even justice. He has 
the satisfaction of reflecting upon the fact that his 
father assisted in the defeat of the Military Bill 
during his services as a Legislator, and thereby en- 
joyed the warm friendship of Gov. Morton and 
other eminent men. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Hostetter there have been born 
nine children, namely: Ida R., Lillian A., Sherman 
F., Marshall E.. Earl J., Eunice C, Mary E., Ray- 
mond E. and Addison L. The oldest daughter is 
now the wife of Samuel Pollett, a well-to-do far- 
mer of Palmyra Precinct; they have one child, 
Lena L The other children are at home with their 
parents. Mr. Hostetter is a strong advocate of 
temperance, and during the existence of slavery 
was bitterly opposed to the "peculiar institution," 
having had his convictions greatly strengthened by 
the reading of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" when a boy. He 
is a prominent member of the G. A. R., at Palmyra, 
in which he has served as Junior Vice and Chaplain. 

The father of our subject departed this life at his 
home- in Indiana, Dec. 6, 1868, when about sixty- 
one years of age. In the Legislature he was the 
Republican Representative from Boone County, 
Ind., at a time when the Union members were in 
the minority. At the time of the introdu(;tion of 
the Military Bill, over which there was so much con- 
troversy, the only hope of the Union men lay in 
"bolting" so as to prevent a quorum. It was 
agreed by the Democrats that the doors should be 
closed to prevent the departure of the Republicans. 
The father of our subject at the risk of his life 
coolly placed himself at one of the doors, and by 
main force kei)t it open. To his great relief an 



^t^ 






Hl-^- 



204 



OTOE COUNTY. 



joy the projecterl bill was thus defeated, and he re- 
ceived the congratulations of his constituents and 
brother members. Gov. Morton in person com- 
mended him highl}', and thereafter remained his 
earnest and admiring friend. 



'Tr^ ODOLPHUS J. VAUGHAN, of Russell Pre- 
\y^ cinct, although a blacksmith and wagon- 
tii \\\ maker by trade, is also fond of agricultural 
^^ pursuits, and consequently upon coming to 
this county established himself on a tract of land 
comprising the southeast quarter of section 16. 
Here he has built up a valuable and attractive 
homestead, and has surrounded himself with all the 
comforts of life. He has a blacksmith-shop on his 
place, and in this during the year saves himself a good 
many dollars, being able to repair his own imple- 
ments and shoe his own horses, and perform the 
same offices for his neighbors. His chief character- 
istics are industry and perseverance, in the exer- 
cise of which he has obtained a competency — -some- 
thing for a rainy day and for his declining years. 

Greene County, 111, was the early tramping 
ground of our subject, where his birth took place 
over fifty-one years ago, on the 18th of .June, 1837. 
His father was a farmer by occupation, and the earl}' 
life of Rodolphus J. was thus spent amid the quiet 
scenes of country life, where he became thoroughly 
familiar with farm employments as carried on in 
times that were comparatively early in the settlement 
of the Prairie State. At the age of twen ty-one years 
he began farming for himself in Marshall County, 111., 
to which he removed with his father in 1 885. In the 
biography of Charles E. Vaughan found elsewhere 
in this volume appears a sketch of the parental his- 
tory. 

Mr. Vaughan remained a resident of Marshall 
County, 111., until after the outbreak of the late 
Rebellion, and in 18G4 enlisted as a Union soldier 
in Compan}' D, 11th Illinois Infantry. He was 
mustered in at Camp Butler, Springfield, and was 
assigned to the Army of the Mississippi, and under 
the command of Gen. Grant went to the South. 
Soon afterward thej' joined the Red River expedi- 
tion, and our subject participated in the battles of 



Ft. Blakely, Spanish Fort, and some other minor 
engagements, obtaining a good idea of the hardships 
and privations of life in the army. At the 'ilose of 
the war he was mustered out at Baton Rouge, La., 
and later received his honor.ible discharge in Spring- 
field, 111. 

Returning to his old haunts in Marshall Count}', 
III., our subject resumed farming there, continuing 
thus employed until the si)ring of 1872. He then de- 
termined upon a change of location and occupation, 
and going to Washburn, 111., purchased a black- 
smith-shop, which he conducted until the spring of 
1878, then returned to the farm. In the spring of 
1881 he came across the Mississippi into this county, 
and located upon the land which he now owns and 
occupies. His farm and his shop together are the 
source of a handsome income. 

Our subject found his wife in Marshall Count\', 
111.. Miss Annette Sweet, to whom he was married 
Dec. 2, 1858. Mrs. Vaughan was born in Sanga- 
mon County, 111., March 10, 1840, and is the daugh- 
ter of Daniel and Elsie (Sweet) Sweet, who were 
natives of New York State, the father born at Bur- 
lington, Otsego County, in 1809, and the mother in 
Otsego County, in the year 1816. The maternal 
grandfather, a native of New York, was of Scotch 
ancestry and an old Revolutionary soldier. The 
father of Mrs. Vaughan removed to Illinois in 1820, 
and eight years later to St. Louis, Mo., where he 
engaged in brickmaking. He followed this occu- 
pation a number of years thereafter, manufacturing 
brick in the counties of Morgan, Greene, Sangamon 
and Scott, 111. In McLean County, 111., he followed 
butchering about twenty years, and at one period 
in his life engaged in farming. He is still living, 
making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Vaughan. 
His career has been quite eventful, he having when 
a young man served in the Black Hawk War under 
Gen. Henry. The mother d ied in Sangamon County, 
111., when middle aged, in 1849. Their family 
consisted of the following children : Oscar, Annette, 
Atheline, Martha L. and William B. 

Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan commenced the journey 
of life together in Marshall Countj', 111. There 
have been born to them six children, two only of 
whom are living. The son, Alva B., makes his home 
in the city of Lincoln, and is in the employ of the 



Htr^- 



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*► I I M - 



OTOE COUNTY. 



205 



Burlington & ]\Iissoiiri River Railroad. The daugh- 
ter, Cora L., is the wife of Mr. Frank Hull, a well- 
to-do farmer of Ru?sell Precinct. 

Ill politics Mr. Vaughan votes the straight 
Republican ticket. Religiously, both he and his 
estimable wife are meml)ers in good standing of the 
Baptist Church at South Russell, in the organization 
of which Mr. V. performed an important part and 
of which he is a Deacon. He has served as Road 
Supervisor two years, and soeiallj', belongs to the 
I. O. O. F. being a member of Lodge 2so. 447, at 
Washburn, 111. 

'Ml OUIS DAMME. The subject of this nana- 
I (^ tion became a resident of this county in 
1^^^ December, 1864, and has signalized him- 
self as a hard-working and enterprising citizen. 
This course has not been without its good results, 
for by it he has liecome the owner of one of the 
finest farms in Mc Williams Precinct. This prop- 
erty is pleasantly located on section 31, and com- 
prises 273 acres of improved land, with a set of 
good farm buildings. Mr. Damme located upon 
his land in the spring of 1868, with little means 
save his strong muscle and stout heart, and from 
that very modest beginning has arisen to an envia- 
ble position, socially and financially. 

Our subject was born April 1, 1843, in Franklin 
County, Mo., and is of German parentage. His 
father, Henry Damme, was born in Germany, and 
married a lady of his own country. After the birth 
of four children they emigrated to the United 
States, and soon after setting foot upon American 
soil made ther way to the southwest, across the 
Mississippi into Franklin County, Mo. Here the 
father engaged in farming, and died of the cholera 
early in the fifties, when about fifty-five years old. 
The mother had preceded her husband to the silent 
land, and Louis when a lad ten years of age was 
thus left an orphan. 

After the death of his parents our subject was 
taken into the home of his brother. William Damme, 
who lived in Franklin County, Mo., and with whom 
he remained until a youth of seventeen. After the 
outbreak of the late Civil War he enlisted in the 



■► I I 4* 



4th Missouri Infantry. Company E, under command 
of Capt. Moutwiler, mostly doing guard duty, and 
serving a period of eighteen months. Upon leav- 
ing the army he returned to his native county and 
soon afterward came to Nebraska. In Otoe County 
he was married, Feb. 17, 1870, to Miss Dora Rei- 
mers, a native of Germany, and who came to the 
United States with her parents when a young 
woman. They first settled in St. Louis, thence 
came to this county, and afterward moved to Kan- 
sas, settling on a farm in Barton County, where the 
father, Henry Reimers, is' yet living. The mother, 
Mrs. Mary Reimers, died in the s))ring of 1888, 
aged about fifty-five years. 

To our subject and his excellent wife there have 
been born six children, namely: Anna, Alvina, 
Julius, Bertha, Amy and Louis. The eldest is sev- 
enteen years of age and the j'oungest seventeen 
months. They all continue under the home roof. 
Mr. Damme votes the straight Republican ticket, and 
both he and his wife are members in good standing of 
the German Evangelical Church, of Osage Precinct. 
He has never sought office, and takes very little 
interest in political matters. His chief pilde is in 
being a first-class farmer, and in this respect his 
career has been one of which he may be proud. 

-^ .^-t^ ^ 



'jlpfiDWARD F. THORP is one who is. familiar 
fe] with every phase of pioneer life, having 
llt—^ always lived upon the frontier. He was 
born in Cayuga County, Ohio, on the 31st of Au- 
gust, 1834, to Garrett and Loranna Thorp, who 
were natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Benjamin 
Thorp, the grandfather of our subject, was born in 
New Jersey, and reared in that State upon a farm, 
but migrated to Pennsylvania, and was one of the 
pioneers of W.ashington County, whence he re- 
moved to Cayuga Count}' in 1808, and helped to 
develop that district. He entered a tract of Gov- 
ernment land which lay about eight miles from the 
site of the present city of Cleveland, where he 
cleared a farm, and made his home until his death. 
The father of our subject was eight years of age 
when the above-mentioned removal to Ohio was 
made. That supplied the scenes of his early life 

m^ 



1 



^^l-i. 



206 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and also of his early manhood. In that district he 
was married, purchased a tract of land near the 
old homestead, and cleared a farm from the wilder- 
ness, and made his residence there until the year 
1846, when he went to Allen Township, Hillsdale 
Co., Mich., and there repeated the process. He was 
in Michigan until 1856, and then again started 
West with team and wagon, taking his journej- 
tlirough Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, stopping in the 
latter State at Marshalltown, where he bought a 
tract of land and started to improve the same. He 
there made his home until the death of his wife in 
1865, then he sold out, and now resides with our 
subject. The maiden name of the mother of our 
subject was Loranna Scoville. She was born in 
Medina County, Ohio, and was a daughter of Ansil 
and Sarah Scoville. She became the mother of eight 
children. Our subject was twelve years of age 
when his parents went to Michigan, and attended the 
schools both of that State and Ohio, and received 
such instruction as they were capable of affording. 
As he grew stronger he became his father's assist- 
ant on the farm, and continued to live with his 
parents until 1857. In starting in life for himself 
he assisted in a sawmill at Eastport, which became 
a town of about 400 families, but the river having 
changed its course and taken the town site in its 
way, Eastport does not now exist. He was in that 
place for about two years, and then went to Mar- 
shalltown and improved a tract of land that he had 
bought there. In 1 860 he returned and worked in 
the same mill until 1861. From that time until the 
fall of 1868 he was working in the flouring-mill at 
the same place. 

Leaving the State of Iowa in 1868 our subject 
came to Nebraska City, where he formed a partner- 
ship with N. R. and M. E. Pinne3', his former 
employers, and bought the city mills, which he con- 
tinued to operate until the 26th of December, 1877. 
Upon that day the mills were burned and became a 
total loss. Since that time he refitted and operated 
a mill at Palmyra and another at Hamburg. In 
July, 1887, he commenced keeping hotel, and 
opened the Thorp House, and was abundantly suc- 
cessful. His excellent wife managed the hotel un- 
til June, 1888, when our subject received injuries 
tliat incapacitated him from working further at his 



trade, and from that time he has taken charge. It 
is only due to his wife, however, to say that her 
admirable management and happy manner secured 
for the house many friends and customers. 

The marriage of our subject was celebrated in 
the year 1863. He was then united in wedlock 
with Martha A. Nicholson, of Indiana. To them 
have been born four children, whose names are as 
follows: Milton R., Minnie E., Nora and Clyde A. 
In the Masonic fraternity our subject is quite well 
and favorablj' known, being a member of Western 
Lodge No. 2, the Alpha Council No. 2, Keystone 
Chapter No. 2 antl Mt. Olivet Comraandery No. 2. 



^ FREDERICK SMA.LLFOOT, one of the 
([( ^, most enterprising German farmers of Berlin 
^^^J Precinct, is pleasantly located on the south- 
east quarter of section 26, where he has a well-de- 
veloped farm and an attractive home. He has 
worked his way upward from an humble position 
in life and may be properly numbered among the 
self-made men of Otoe Countv, whose prosperity 
has been the result of their own industry and per- 
severance. Our subject when landing upon Ameri- 
can soil was alone and among strangers, with very 
little money in his pocket, and no friends to assist 
him to employment. His own honest face, how- 
ever, soon secured him a position toy which he was 
enabled to make his way comfortably, and since 
that day he has been climbing upward. 

Our subject was the fifth child and only son of 
C. F., Sr., and Johanna (Miller) Smallfoot, and was 
born in the Kingdom of Saxony on the 2d of March, 
1830. He was reared in the town of Sweckau, 
where he attended school until he was fourteen 
years of age, was confirmed in the German Lu- 
theran Church, and later apprenticed to the trade 
of wagon-maker. At this he was occupied until 
the year before coming to the United States, and 
that j-ear he employed in traveling over his native 
Empire. 

In the spring of 1854 our subject, then a young 
man of twenty-four 3'ears, made his way to the 
port of Bremen, and resolved to emigrate to Amer- 
ica. He took passage on a sailing-vessel, which. 



1- 



»► II < • • 



OTOE COUNTY. 



■207 



after forty-two days, and lying still four or five 
daj's in a ealm. landed safelj- in New York Citj'. 
Thence he made his way to Milwaukee, Wis., where 
lie secured employment at his trade, and later was 
occupied at this in Madison, Wis., for four years. 
At the expiration of this time he went onto a farm 
in Middleton Township, Dane County, where he 
had purchased forty acres, and where he lived until 
1869. In the spring of that 3'ear, selling out, lie 
came to this county. 

Settling in Delaware Precinct, Mr. Smallfoot 
operated on rented land for a period of eigiit years, 
and in 1877 purchased the land which lie now owns 
and occupies. This was a tract of raw prairie 
without a fence or building, and Mr. 8. therefore 
commenced at first principles to huild up a home- 
stead, lie devoted four acres to groves, set out 
an orchard of 100 apple trees, put up a house and 
barn, and in due time turned his attention largely 
to stock-raising. He now has besides his fine draft 
horses, good grades of cattle and Poland-China 
swine. His fields are laid off with hedge and wire 
fencing. He raises large corn crops, and is gener- 
ally successful. 

Our subject found a wife and helpmate in Dane 
County, Wis., being married there in A[)ril, 1866, 
to Miss Johanna Miller, who was born in the cit}' 
of Leipsic, Germany, Feb. 28, 1834. Mrs. S. came 
to America with tvvo brothers in 1853. Of her 
union with our subject there have been born six 
children, namely: August, Amelia, Ida, Edward, 
Augusta and Emma. Tlie eldest son is farming in 
Delaware Precinct; Amelia is the wife of William 
Gass, also lives in Delaware Precinct, and is the 
mother of three children; Ida, Mrs. Robert Bu- 
chanan, is the wife of a well-to-do farmer of South 
Branch Precinct, and the mother of one child; 
Emma married George Haffner, a farmer of Lan- 
caster County, Neb., residing near Firth. The 
other children are at home with their parents. 

Mr. Smallfoot cast his first Presidential vote for 
Buchanan, and is one of the most reliable sup- 
porters of the Republican party. Coming from a 
land believing in the thorough education of its 
children, he is always interested in the maintenance 
of schools, and has been a member of the School 
Board in his precinct for a period of six years. 



He is quite i)rominent in local affairs, and has 
served on the Grand Jur}\ He is a member of the 
German Lutheran Church in Berlin Precinct, to 
the support of which he contributes liberally', assist- 
ing in the building of the church edifice, and is 
esteemed as one of the pillars of the society. 

^. : .-.g^#^^^-^ 

^^ERHART HENRY MEYER is a member 
III <^ °^ '''^^ ^' ™ ^'^ Noelting & Meyer, the leading 
"^^^i hardware merchants of Nebraska City. He 
was born in Garnavillo, Clayton Co., Iowa, April 
11, 1858. His father, Deitrich Meyer, was a na- 
tive of German3', where he was reared and educated. 
When attaining to manhood he decided that the_New 
World held moi'e attractions for him than the old. 
as he thought that here he could better earn his wa}' 
to a competence and to a life of ease than in his 
native land. Accordingly' he crossed the waters, 
and making his way to Cincinnati, Ohio, lie found 
employment there as a stair-builder. He i-emained 
in that city until 1857, when he turned his face 
westward, and set out for Iowa with his famih', 
going by the way of the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers, and landing at Guttenberg. He located in 
the town of Garnavillo, where he engaged in the 
mercantile business, opening a general store. There 
were no railwaj-s in that section of Iowa at that 
time, and he received his goods b^' way of the 
river. He continued prosperously engaged in busi- 
ness there until his death in 1870. Since that time 
his wife and one of his sons have managed the busi- 
ness interests successfully. In his death his adopted 
county lost a valued and useful citizen, one who. as 
a good financier and a man of probitj-, was identi- 
fied with its best Interests. His wife, to whom he 
was greatly indebted for his high standing, was for- 
merly Margaret Kregel, a native of Germany. Her 
father, Gerhart Kregel, was likewise a German by 
birth, and he served in the German array during 
the Russian War. He came to America with his 
family and lived for a time in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
From there he went to Clayton County, Iowa, in 
1857. going by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 
He bought a tract of wild prairie land and improved 
quite a farm. He died in 1886, having attained 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



.^mh: 



the remarkable age of ninety-six j-ears. He had 
four sons and one daughter. Of the nine children 
horn to the parents of our subject, six grew to ma- 
turity : Margaret, wife of William Kregel ; John D. ; 
William ; Gerhart H. ; Emma and Lena, twins. 
Lena died in 1886. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in his na- 
tive town, and received his earl3' education in its 
public schools. Ke further advanced iiis education 
by attendance at a select private school, where he 
had the advantage of superior instruction. As soon 
as he was large enough to be useful he commenced 
to assist his father in the store, and- thus laid the 
foundation for an excellent mercantile training. 
When he was sixteen he went to work in a carriage- 
sliop, remaining thus employed for three years. He 
made his iiome with his parents until 1878, when 
he came to Otoe County, Neb., and the ensuing- 
three years was engaged as a clerk in tiie establish- 
ment of William Beckraan. He then started in 
business for himself by opening a clothing and gen- 
tleman's furnishing goods store in Syracuse. That 
he managed very protitabl}' in that town until 1883, 
when, seizing the fine opportunity offered to him 
in this city to enter the hardware business, became 
here and purchased a half-interest in it, and con- 
summated tiiK present partnership, b}' which ar- 
rangement both parties have been greatly benefited. 
They are men of enterprise; have a fine establish- 
ment, well stocked with the best articles in the line 
of goods that thej' carry, and they are extensively 
patronized, as their moderate charges and honest 
dealings deserve. 

Mr. Meyer was united in marriage with Miss 
Anna L. Mohrman, Nov. 18, 1881. Mrs. Meyer is 
a native of Clayton County, Iowa, and a daughter 
of J. H. and Mary Mohrman. The great sorrow of 
the married life of our subject and his wife was the 
death of their only child, their little daughter, Luln 
Grace, who was born July 23, 1885, and died April 
2G, 1887. 

"Dear little Lulu, by how tender a tie 
8iie links home upon earth to home in the sky." 

Mr. and Mrs. Mej'er are members of the Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church, and their influence and 
cordial co-operation are alwa3's extended to aid in 
any good or charitable work. Mr. Meyer is a 



young man of decided business talent.-keen, prompt 
and fair in his dealings, and he has already' gained 
an assured place among the solid, reliable mer- 
chants of Nebraska City, although he began at the 
bottom of the ladder, and is an entirely self-made 
man. He takes an intelligent interest in politics, 
and stands with the Republican party. 



OLIVER H. BUMFORD, one of the older resi- 
dents of Palmyra Precinct, and a inan who 
has scores of friends in this vicinity, owns 
and occupies with his estimable wife a pleasant and 
comfortable home, which comprises a small farm of 
eighty acres on section 16, Palmyra Precinct. He 
was born near the town of Pompeii, Onondaga Co., 
N. Y., Jan. 19, 1836, his home being about ten 
miles from the city of Syracuse. When a lad ten 
years of age his parents removed to Florence 
Township, St. Joseph Co., Mich., where the father, 
a blacksmith by trade, purchased twenty acres of 
land, and building up a good home, spent the re- 
mainder of his life. He retired from business a 
few years before his death, and passed away on the 
29th of August, 18.59, at the age of sixty-four 
3'ears. The mother has since made her home with 
her son, our subject, and has now reached the ad- 
vanced age of eighty -five. 

The parents of our subject, John and Patty Bum- 
ford, were natives of Massachusetts, and the father 
during his early manhood served as a Lieutenant 
in the War of 1812. The home circle was com- 
pleted by the birth of ten children. William is 
still living, and George died at the age of thirteen. 
The survivors are: Mary A., William, Paulina, 
Martha, and Oliver, of our sketch. The latter is 
the youngest of his parents' living children, and 
remained with them in St. Joseph County, Mich., 
until twenty -nine years of age. In 1864 he pur- 
chased a half-interest in a sawmill in Ionia County, 
but four years later removed to Mitchell County, 
Iowa, and settled upon a farm. Thence he came to 
Nebraska in 1872, and homesteaded eighty acres in 
Palmyra Precinct. In 1878, changing his location 
and occupation, he a-ssumed charge of a hotel at 

• •► 



1 



JL 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



-t^ 



209 



i 



^ 



Bennet, whieh he conducted one year, then with- 
drew, and engaged for two years following as clerk 
in a general store. 

We next find our subject engaged in general 
merchandising at Roca, where he operated success- 
fully two years, then unfortunately admitted a 
partner to the business, who proved to be a rascal, 
and who involved our subject in great loss. In 
1882, therefore, he returned to his farm, where he 
has since lived. 

Mr, Bumford, on the 13th of September, 1863, 
was united in marriage with Miss Georgiana Hen- 
derson, the wedding taking place at the home of 
the bride in Sturgis, Mich. Mrs. Bumford was 
born in July, 1844, in Constantino, St. Joseph Co., 
INIich., and is the daughter of Adam and Margaret 
Henderson, who were natives of Ireland and New 
York State respectively', and .spent their last years 
in Michigan. The family consisted of four chil- 
dren, namely: John, Oliver. Charles and Georgiana. 
Of these Mrs. Bumford is the only one living. 

Our subject has always talcen a warm interest in 
political matters, and has been a member of the 
Rei)ublican party since its organization. He was 
elected Assessor in the spring of 1887, and has also 
served as Justice of the Peace two terms in Ben- 
net. He was appointed a delegate to the Otoe 
County Republican Convention in 1886. He is at 
present a School Director in his district. Socially, 
he belongs to the A. F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. 
He is a man who has lived quietly and unostenta- 
tiously, pursuing the even tenor of his way as an 
honest man and a good citizen, his interests cen- 
tering mostly around his fireside. Mr. and Mrs. 
B. have no children. 



U' 



ILLIAM BECKMAN. The mercantile in- 
terests of the city of Syracuse find a most 
worthy and enterprising representative in 
the subject of this sketch. He has been a resident 
of this county for a period of twenty years, pitch- 
ing his tent here in the fall of 1 877. He first opened 
his eyes to the light near the town of Edwardsville, 
Madison Co., TIL, Oct. 6, 1853. His parents were 
natives of Berlin, Germany, and the father, Rudolph 



Beckman, was a farmer bj' occupation. Our subject 
was left motherless when an infant, and thus has no 
remembrance of her who bore him. AVhen but a 
lad of seven years lie vvas doubly orphaned by the 
death of his father. ' He was then given a home 
among strangers, and knows but little of his own 
people. He has no brothers, and his only sister, 
Dinah, Mrs.;,Frederickson, is a resident of Johnson 
County, this State. 

Young Beckman [after the death of his fatlier 
continued at the homestead two years, then went to 
the city of St. Louis, Mo., with J. H. Wagoner- 
His early education had been extremely limited' 
and he was thrown upon his own resources. He 
accepted the first position which presented itself as 
an employe in a coal yard, and was occupied four 
ye.ars. Then coming to this Stale, he located in 
Nebraska City, in the fall of 1868 becoming the 
employe of Buck & Jones, hardware merchants, in- 
tending to learn the tinner's trade. The firm, how- 
ever, soon closed up their business, and our subject 
was again left without a job. 

Mr. Beckman. however, continued his connection 
with the hardware business with the firm of Mohren- 
sticker & Clober, remaining with them sixty days, 
and then this firm also closed its doors. About 
this time he had the misfortune to sprain his ankle, 
and being unable to work contracted a board bill 
with M. T. Johnson, and to pay this was employed 
by Mr. J. in the dining-room of his hotel. Subse- 
quently he occupied the clerk's desk in the oflSce 
six months, but feeling that he was not adapted to 
the position of a hotel clerk withdrew, and became 
a clerk in a grocery store. From this he drifted 
into a store of general merchandising, where he w^as 
employed until 1877. 

Realizing most sadly the disadvantages of his 
neglected education, Mr. Beckman in the winter of 
1875 entered the Commercial College at St. Louis, 
Mo., and after diligent study was graduated from 
that institution six months later. Then returning 
to Nebraska City, he entered the employ of the same 
firm, the gentleman above mentioned, with whom 
he continued until the 1st of August, 1877. His 
pLan then was to establish himself at Tecumseh, in 
Johnson County, in liusiness, but failing to securea 
desirable location he returned to Syracuse, and be- 



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210 



OTOE COUNTY. 



came successor of J. S. McConncga, and has since 
been engaged in general merchandising with marked 
snccess. He has a neat and substantial residence in 
the eastern part of the city, and is the owner of other 
valuable town property. With the exception of 
1500 from his father's estate, he has attained'his pres- 
ent position, financiall}', by his own resolution and 
energy. During the time he was employed as a 
clerk he saved 11,000, having in the meanwhile lived 
economically and deprived himself of many of 
those things which tiie young man of to-da}' imag- 
ines he cannot do without. 

The lady who has presided over the household of 
our subject for a period of nearl}' ten years was in 
her girlhood Miss INIinnie E. Risser, to whom he was 
wedded Jan. 7, 1879. Mrs. Beckman was born in 
Franklin Center, Lee Co., Iowa, in 1856, and is the 
daughter of David and Christina (Hubach) Risser, 
who were natives of Germany, and are now resi- 
dents of Otoe County, where the.father is carrying 
on farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Beckman there have 
been born five children, n.amel^': Leona A.. Edward 
D., Frederick W., Grover R. and Amelia C. The3' 
are members in good standing of the German 
Evangelical Church, and Mr. Beckman, politically, 
votes the straight Democratic ticket. He takes a 
warm interest in local politics, and is frequentl3' 
chosen a delegate to the State Conventions. 






i-rs. 



1- 



JASPER A. WARE lives in one of the pleas- 
antcst homes in Nebraska City, a comrao- 
dious brick structure, which is finely located 
on an eminence, sloping gentlj' back from 
the street, one mile from the court-house, overlook- 
ing a beautiful stretch of country. Mr. Ware was 
for many years the leading banker of Nebraska 
Cit3\ and was actively identified with its business 
interests, but he now devotes himself to marketing 
and gardening. 

Mr. Ware was born in Todd County, Ky., March 
5, 1831. His father, Edmund Ware, was a native of 
Virginia, but his grandfather, Lewis Ware, was, it 
is thouglit, born in England, emigrating from there 
to America and settling in Virginia. He subse- 
quently moved from there to Kentuckj', and located 



near Frankfort, where he spent his last years. The 
' father of our subject was a boy when his parents 
moved to Kentucky, and there he grew to man- 
hood and married, Laura V. Anderson, a native of 
Virginia, becoming his wife. Her father. Nicholas 
Anderson, who, so far as known, was of Virgin- 
ian birth, was of English ancestry, and was a pio- 
neer of Kentuck}'. After marriage Mr. Ware 
moved to Todd County, K3'., and there bought a 
large tract of timber land, eight miles from Elk- 
ton and one and a half miles from Trenton. He 
cleared quite a large farm, and resided there until 
his death in I 855. When he first settled there he 
erected a set of log buildings, but before his death 
he replaced them by a good set of frame buildings. 
His wife died on the home farm in 1847. They 
were well known, and greatly beloved by the many 
who often shared the generous hospitality of their 
comfortable home. They were the parents of eight 
children, all of whom grew to maturity, as follows: 
.Sarah J.. Charles AV., Marj' A., Jasper A., Gertude, 
Susan B., Nicholas M. and Louisa. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in his na- 
tive county, and received a good, practical educa- 
tion in its schools. He remained in the home of his 
parents until he was nineteen, when he entered the 
mercantile business as a clerk in a general store 
with his brother in Trenton. He remained with 
him five years as a clerk, and then bought an inter- 
est in the store, but in 1857 he sold out his share 
in the business and started West, coming directly 
to the Territory of Nebraska, arriving here on the 
8th of May, that year. He bougiit a squatter's 
claim to nearly a section of land located in differ- 
ent parts of the county. He was at that time a 
single man, so did not establish a home, but boarded 
at the Planters' Hotel in Nebraska City for a time, 
and dealt in real estate. In 1859 he opened a 
bank, and was engaged in banking until 1871, do- 
ing an extensive business. In 18G6 he went to 
Omaha to make arrangements for opening .-i bank 
there in partnership with P. S. Wilson and J. W. 
Hugus, and operated that bank in connection with 
the one in Nebraska City until 1870. He invested 
large sums of money in realty, and at last found 
himself encumbered with over $10,000 worth of 
land at the very time when the markets were dull- 



h 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-i^h-* 



211 



est, inrleerl at a complete standstill. In conse- 
quence of this he closed liis bankin"- business, and 
has since devoted bis time to fai-miiij^ ami garden- 
ing-, at which he makes large profits. 

Mr. Ware w.as m.arried. Oct. 10, isfil.to Miss 
Ellen H. Kinney, and their pleasant wedded life has 
been blessed to them bj' the birth of four children ; 
Florence 1.. the wife of Richard S. Hall, of Omaha; 
Pollen, Grace L. and Norton. Mr. and Blrs. Ware 
and their family are devoted members of the Epis- 
copal Church. Mr. Ware is a man pf easy, digni- 
fied presence, and his genial, kindl}' manners have 
won him scores of friends. He is exceedingly 
public-spirited and liberal, and his record in all the 
relations of life shows him to be a tender husband, 
a devoted father, an obliging neighbor, a tried and 
trusty friend, and a loy.al citizen. He is a Demo- 
crat in his political views, and has done his adopted 
city good service as Treasurer. 



y" ILLIAM P. REDFIELD. The subject of 
this sketch, a well-to-do farmer of Belmont 
Precinct, was born in Parke County, Ind., 
Nov. 14. 1838, and is the son of Ptleg and Silena 
(Shewel) Redfield, of Middletown, Conn., and now 
deceased. The paternal grandfather, William Red- 
field, was of English ancestry, and served as a soldier 
first in the Revolutionary War, and later in the 
War of 1812. His ancestors settled in America 
about 1640, and his father, S.imuel Redfield. was 
the son of Capt. William Redfield, who was the 
seventh son of Theophilus, and he the eldest son of 
James, the name then being Redfln. The latter was 
a son of William Redfin, .also spelled " Redfen," 
"Redfyn" and '• Redfyne." Between 1630 and 
1639 members of the faniilj- were found on the 
south side of the Charles River, six miles from the 
city of Boston, where they owned four acres of land 
near the foot of what is known now .as Normanton 
Hills, where the renowned Elliott preached his first 
sermon to the Indians. He was awarded a clear title 
to this in 1642 by the proprietors of Cambridge, as 
the records show, and in 1646 he sold to Edward 
Jackson, and then his name disappeared from the 



records of Massachusetts, when it is supposed he be- 
came identified with the Connecticut famil}'. 

The father of our subject was reared in his na- 
tive county, received a common-school education, 
and became fainilinr with farming pursuits. He 
came to this county in 1856, whijc Nel)r.nska w.as a 
Territory, settling on the northeast quarter of sec- 
tion 20, near where his son now lives. The mother 
passed awaj' in 1858, and the father surviving his 
wife a period of eighteen years, died in 1876. 

Mr. Redfitld is the owner of eighty-six acres of 
well-cultivated land, and makes a specialty of fruit- 
raising. He is also fond of fine stock, and has a 
herd of handsome Jersey cattle besides Poland- 
China swine. 

Mr. Redfield was married, Nov. 19, 1862, to Miss 
Elrnestine, daughter of Marshall Pratt,.now deceased, 
who was a native of New York State, and who set- 
tled in this county in 1859. Of this union there 
were born five children, four of whom are living, 
namely: Marshall, Nellie, Emma and Gr.ace. Mar- 
shall married Miss Leota Jackson, is the father of 
one child, a scm William, .and lives in Wisner, this 
State; Nellie is the wife of Mr. Frank Sargent, of 
Otoe Precinct, and the mother of one child, a 
daughter. Edna. Emma is attending High School in 
Nebr.aska City; Grace, the baby, seven years of 
age, is at home with her parents. 

Mr. Redfield has been a useful man in his com- 
munity, intelligent .and public-spirited, and served 
as Justice of the Peace a period of four years. 
Both he and his estimable wife are members in good 
standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



Vl OHN DEIDRICII STUTT. A fine body of 
land thoroughly improved, under good man- 
agement, and embellished with neat and sub- 
stantial buildings, forms a picture of rural 
life most delightful to the e^'e. Such a homestead 
has the subject of this sketch built up in North 
Branch Precinct, the residence and main buildings 
being located on the southeast quarter of section 5. 
The entire estate of our subject, however, includes 
600 broad acres lying on sections 4, 5, 8 and 9. 
Everything that the hand of industry and taste 



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212 



OTOE COUNTY. 



"Mr* 



could suggest has been utilized for carrying on 
agriculture in the most thorough and skilled man- 
ner. Mr. Stutt makes a specialty of stock-raising, 
and in the prosecution of this industry has pro- 
vided himself with all modern conveniences, among 
the most conspicuous being a series of tanks by 
which the stock is watered with great ease and with 
regularity. The pens and sheds are in keeping 
with the balance of the premises, and comprise 
ample room for shelter and feeding. 

The subject of this sketch is a man of more than 
ordinary intelligence, having been finely educated 
in his native tongue, and has also adapted himself 
to the intricacies of the English language. He is a 
constant reader, and keeps himself well informed 
upon topics of general interest. He is a man 
who has traveled a great deal, seen much of the 
world, and has the faculty of making the most of his 
opportunities. He was given a thorough musical 
education, an art of which he was extremely fond 
and in which he was very proficient, but was obliged 
to resign his Professorship on account of an atfec- 
tion of the e3'es, which threatened him with great in- 
convenience, if not total loss of sight. 

Mr. Stutt is one of the oldest settlers of North 
Branch Precinct, and it is possible is its oldest liv- 
ing resident. His native country was the little 
Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, which during the 
war between France and Prussia was made a Prov- 
ince. There he first opened his ej'es to the light 
Feb. 21, 1821, in the town of Fredeburg, where 
he was placed in school at an early age, and received 
a thorough education in the German tongue. Upon 
completing his studies he commenced teaching, and 
was thus occupied a period of ten j'ears, six of 
these as Principal. His close application to books 
and music, especially, resulted in a partial loss of 
sight at times, and there being nothing else desir- 
able at which he could engage in his native land, he 
resolved in 1847 to seek his fortunes on the other 
side of the Atlantic. 

Mr. Stutt in the .fall of the year mentioned bade 
adieu to the scenes of his childhood and youth, and 
embarking on a sailing-vessel at the port of Bre- 
men, made an ocean voyage of eight weeks' dura- 
tion, landing in the city of New Orleans. Thence 
by steamer he proceeded to St. Louis, Mo., where 

•^» 



he employed himself in a furniture factory for six 
months. We next find him in Sangamon County, 
111., where he w.as occupied in a hemp mill two and 
one-half years. Later, in company with his brother 
Henry, he purchased 320 acres of unimproved land 
in Scott County, upon which they operated three 
years, then our subject, leaving the farm to the 
supervision of his brother, returned to Missouri and 
purchased 100 acres of land in the vicinity of St. 
Louis, where he operated successfully three years 
as a gardener. 

At the expiration of this time, Mr. Stutt, selling 
this property, made his way to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where he spent a winter, and thereafter purchased 
land in Canton County, Ky., eighteen .acres, for the 
sum of $110 an acre, which he devoted to garden- 
ing purposes. During the panic of 1857 business 
becoming far from being i-emunerative, he sold out 
at 160 per acre, and repairing to Chicago, III., em- 
barked in the retail grocery trade. One year of 
this, however, sufficed, and selling out his stock he 
returned to his Illinois f.irm, and prosecuted agri- 
culture there until 1802. In the spring of that year 
he sold out to his brother, and coming to this county 
homesteaded 160 acres of land in North Branch 
Precinct, raw prairie on sections 23 and 24. To 
this he secured a legal title, and then traded with 
Silas Gray for 120 acres on section 4. Prior to 
this, however, he had purchased 160 acres on section 
5, and to this had moved and already begun im- 
provements. 

Nebraska City .at this time was but a lumber-3%ard, 
with no machinery for dressing building material, 
and Mr. Stutt .accordingly had to have his building 
material dressed at Kenosha. A part of the first 
dwelling he erected is still standing, but was de- 
serted for the newer and more modern residence in 
1883. This latter is now flanked bj' a fine barn and 
an expensive windmill. The land has been brought 
to a high state of cultivation, while groves, orchards, 
and choice shade .and other fruit trees stand upon 
what was once the lonely prairie. Mr. Stutt has 
twelve acres devoted to an apple orchard and ten 
acres of native timber. His entire landed posses- 
sions aggregated at one time 720 acres, 120 of 
which he sold in 1886. He superintends the opera- 
tion of all his land, which is nearly all utilized in 



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OTOE COtTNTY. 



213 



his live-stock operations. Mr. Stutt ships usually 
every year two cars each of cattle and swine, and 
keeps about ten high-grade horses. His Qelds are 
laid off with neat wire and hedge fencing. 

Tiie marriage of our subject with Miss Catherine 
Aden took place at the home of the bride in Daven- 
port, Iowa, May 15, 1855. Mrs. Stutt, likelier hus- 
band, is also a native of Hanover, Germany, and 
w:as born May 2, 1840. She came to America with 
her parents in 1846, tiiey settling in St. Louis, 
where they lived until 1848. Of this union there 
have lieen born nine children, namely: Adelia, 
Adolph, Minnie, Arnold, Clara, Ernest, Otoe, Octa- 
via and Eugene. Adelia is the wifeof Gustav Witt, 
a farmer of North Branch Precinct, and they have 
two children; Adolph is married, is also farming in 
North Branch Precinct, and is the father of four 
children; Minnie is the wife of Charles Bush, a 
merchant of Ashland; Arnold is farming in North 
Branch; Clara is the wife of Charles Witt, a farmer 
of Syracuse Precinct; Ernest continues at home 
with his parents; Clara was graduated from the Peru 
Normal School, and has been engaged as a teacher 
for the last four yeais. 

Mr. Stutt has been a member of the School 
Board of his district since its organization twenty 
years ago. Politically, he is a stanch Democrat, and 
socially, is a member in good standing of the I. O. 
O. F. He has been Superintendent of a Sund.ay- 
school, and, with his estimable wife, belongs to the 
German Lutheran Church. His example is one 
from which the young men of to-day may take a 
useful lesson. 

The parents of our subject were Henr3' and Ade- 
laide (Wieging) Stutt, who were also natives of 
Hanover. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Stutt, 
fought against the first Napoleon in the war be- 
tween France and Germany. Grandfather John 
Ulick Wieging was blacksmith and farmer com- 
bined, and being a very engaging young man, mar- 
ried a wealthy lady, whose estate he afterward 
managed. Her first name was Elizabeth, but the 
latter name has not been preserved. The grandpar- 
ents spent their entire lives in their native Empire, 
llenr}' Stutt, the father of our subject, was a verj' 
talented man, a professor of music, and for more 
than ordinar}' proficiency in his art received a 



medal from the King. The fiftieth year of his 
residence and labors at one place was made the oc- 
casion of a fine celebration. He followed his pro- 
fession until the advanced age of eighty-three 
years, retiring ten years before his death, which 
occurred in August, 1882, he thus being ninety- 
three years old. The mother passed away a year 
previous to the decease of her husband, she also at- 
taining the ripe old age of ninety three 3'ears. The 
four children of the parental family were: Mary, 
who died when sixty years old ; J. Diedrich, our sub- 
ject; Henry, who is farming in Scott Count}', Iowa, 
and John, who died at the age of twenty-nine years. 



-^ 



"jfJOIIN WEBER is one of the successful 
I I stock-raisers and general farmers of McWill- 

dl iams Precinct, where he owns 344 acres on 
/ section 30, all well-improved and cultivated, 
fully ])rovided with buildings, miscellaneous ma- 
chines and implements that are indispensable to the 
modern farmer. The pasture and stables also are 
fully stocked with high-grade animals of consiiler- 
able value. 

Mr. Weber has lived upon his present property 
since the year 1877, although he had obtained it 
one year previousl}'. Before that time he had been 
a resident of Lee County. Iowa, and was born in 
Charleston Township of that county on the 2d of 
February, 1852, of German parentage. 

The father of our subject, John Weber, Sr., was 
born in Wurtemberg. There he was brought up, 
and learned the tailoring trade, and as aj^onng man 
was married to Lizzie Rhode, a native of the same 
Kingdom. They made their first home in the same 
district until after the birch of their two first chil- 
dren, then with their little ones came to this country, 
and settled upon a farm in Lee County, Iowa. 
There he continued, and was numbered among the 
prosperous farmers and worthy citizens. Recently 
he has retired from the active work of the farm, ami 
has reached the good old age of seventy-two years; 
his wife, who is still living, is sixt3'-six years of .age. 
They are lifelong members of the Lutheran Church, 
and have instructed their children in the same faith. 
Mr. Weber is and has been for many years a mem- 



^f^ 



211 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ber of the Democratic party, and was at one time 
somewhat active in political circles. 

The subject of our sketch is one of a large family 
of children, six only of whom are now living. He 
was brought up in Lee County, and attended the 
common schools there, after which he remained 
upon the farm with his father, whom he assisted 
until he became of age. He observed the twenty- 
third anniversary of his birth by celebrating his 
man-iage with Miss Catharine Hopp. who was born 
in Charleston Township Aug. 31, 1853. She is the 
daugbiter of Phillip and Lizzie (Frelk) Hopp, who 
are now living upon a farm in Osage Precinct of 
this county, which they obtained in 1877. 

The family of our subject and wife includes eight 
children, whose names are recorded as follows: 
Charles, William, Bertha, Lewis, John, Edward, 
Eda and Herman. Mr. and Mrs. Weber are attend- 
ants of the Lutheran Evangelical Church, and are 
well received in religious circles, as they are also in 
society at large. Our subject espouses the Democ- 
racy, and is deeply interested in political matters. 



•i- 



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^ 



-> 



'ffjOSEPH S. GRAY, an old resident of Pal- 
myra Precinct, settled on the western line of 
1 this county twenty-seven years ago, and for 
^^' a time his house was the resort of the weary 
traveler through this region when public places of 
rest and refreshment were few and far between. 
Many were the travelers who sought a grateful 
shelter under his roof while on their way from 
Nebraska City to Denver, Col. Of late years he 
has given his attention strictly to farming, and has 
the oldest apple orchard in Palmyra Precinct. He 
has brought his land to a fine state of cultivation, 
has a fair assortment of live stock, and although 
not living elegantly by any means is in the enjoy- 
ment of the comforts of life. 

Our subject, a native of Durham Countj', En- 
gland, was born in Pittington Parish, Nov. 18, 
1823, and received his education in the common 
school. His parents, John and Jane (Sheldon) 
Gray, were natives of the same county, and of pure 
English descent. His father w.is deputy foreman 
of a coal mine, and the parental family included the 



following children : Joseph S., our subject; Hannah, 
John and William, all in England; Robert in Iowa, 
William in Kentucky. Thomas and Isabella in Ray- 
mond, Neb. Three died in infancy. 

Our subject when twenty-five 3'ears old resolved 
to seek his fortunes on the other side of the Atlan- 
tic. Accordingly, on the 28th of March. 1848, 
he embarked at Liverpool on the sailing-vessel 
'•Sawatara," and set foot upon American soil in 
New York City on the 10th of May, 1848. Thence 
he proceeded directly to Carbon County, Pa., 
where he engaged in coal mining. He had been 
accompanied by his wife, to whom he was married 
in England, April 13, 1846, and who in her girl- 
hood was Miss Isabella Hughes. She was also a 
native of Durham County, and born May 1, 1826. 
Her parents were John and Dorothy Hughes, and 
the father was a coal miner bj' occupation. They 
spent their last years in England. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Gray were born two children, 
both of whom died in infancy in England. Our 
subject and his w;ife after a two-years residence in 
the Keystone State, removed to Ohio, and thence to 
Lawrence County in the same State, Mr. Gray still 
prosecuting his calling of coal miner. In due time 
he was promoted to agent and salesman, where he 
disposed of large quantities of coal, which were 
shipped by steamboats down the Ohio River, and in 
which business he was occupied until 1855. 

In tiie spring of the above-mentioned year Mr. 
Gray crossed the Mississippi and located in Fre- 
mont County, Iowa, where he engaged in farming, 
and continued to reside until after the election of 
1860. Then, having become a naturalized citizen, 
he cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham 
Lincoln. He was a warm admirer of the great 
emancipator who so thoroughly carried out his 
anti-slavery sentiments. Upon coming to the 
Hawkeye State he had purchased forty acres of 
land, and this he sold out at a good profit in 1861. 
With the proceeds he came to this count3^ and 
homesteaded 160 acres, for the cultivation of which 
he was amply fitted, having brought from Iowa 
three ox-teams. He also brought six head of other 
cattle and twenty -five head of hogs, the latter be- 
ing about the first of their kind brought into the 
precir.ct. He was looked upon by the neighbors as 
*^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



21 o 



quite wealthy. Tlie nearest of these was Peter 
iSibert, and continued so for many years thereafter. 
To our subject and his estimable wife tliere were 
born seven children, namely : Dorothy J., Joseph .S., 
Jr., James. Thomas, Belle, Hannah anil Eliza, all 
of whom are living and are now residents of Ne- 
braska. Mr. Gray during the earlier years of his 
residence here was quite prominent in local affairs, 
served as a member of tlie School Board, and was 
generally active in the enterprises set on foot for 
the good of the community. He is a member of 
the Old Settlers' Association, has served as Road 
Supervisor, and been sent as a delegate to the 
County Convention by the Republican party, of 
whose i)rinciples he still continues a warm supporter. 



Vlir^ M. KIRKHAM. Among the early pioneers 
IILiir of Nebraska who have been instrumental in 
developing her great agricultural resources, 
^and are still active members of her farming 
community, is the gentleman whose name stands at 
the head of this sketch. He was an early settler 
of Nebraska City Precinct, locating on his present 
farm in the }'ear 1856, and has ever since been 
numbered among the most industrious and thrifty 
citizens of this community. He is a native of Cory- 
don, the county seat of Harrison County, Ind., his 
birth occurring in that city on the 20th of Octo- 
ber, 1818. His father, Mieliael Kirkham, was born 
in Kentuck}-, a son of Henry Kirkham, a native of 
Ireland, and a pioneer of Kentucky, whither he 
went from his native land in early manhood, and 
casting in his lot with the early settlers, passed, it 
is supposed, the remainder of his life there. 

The father of our subject, it is thought, was 
reared in his Kentucky birthplace, but after mar- 
riage moved to Indiana, and became a pioneer of 
Harrison County. He was quite a trader, and used 
to traffic on the rivers. AVhen our subject was an 
infant the father went down the Ohio and Missis- 
sippi Rivers, and died while away from home. He 
left a widow and two children to mourn tlie loss of 
a kind husband and loving parent. Our subject's 
mother was thus left in poverty with two small chil- 
dren to care for, but she nobly shouldered her 



burden, and kept a shelter over their heads and 
provided them with food and clothing b}' taking in 
sewing. She subsequently married again, and con- 
tinued to live in Harrison County until her death. 
The subject of our sketch lived with his mother 
a part of the time, and with friends some of the 
time, until he was fourteen years old. Then, being 
a strong, well-developed lad, ready and willing to 
work, he chose a guardian, and was bound to learn 
a trade, that of carpenter and joiner, at which he 
was em]3loyed until he was twenty-one, receiving 
in return his board and clothes. He then started 
out in life for himself with two new suits of clothes, 
$5 worth of tools, $5 in cash, and plenty of pluck 
and resolution to make his own way in the world 
very successfully. He began his independent life 
in Laynesville, Ky., wTiere he found work at his 
trade, and was busily employed there until 1841. 
He then returned to Indiana, and was engaged at 
carpentering in Harrison County until the follow- 
ing year, when he decided to seek work at his trade 
in some of the new and growing towns beyond the 
Mississippi River. He proceeded on his journey 
down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Missouri 
Rivers to Libert}', Mo., and thence on foot to Union 
Mills, where he visited a few weeks. He then pro- 
ceeded by wagon to his destination, the town of 
Savannah, in Andrew County, which was then a 
new village, with but few houses. He at once ob- 
tained work as a carpenter, and actively pursued 
his trade there until 1849. In the meantime, in 
the year 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Tryphena Holland, who has actively aided him in 
the establishment of the comfortable, pleasant home 
in which they are passing their declining years. 
AVhen Mr. Kirkham left Savannah he located in Kan- 
sas City, then only an insignificant hamlet, com- 
prising a few small houses, of which more were 
built of logs than of sawed timber. He followed 
his trade there until the spring of 18.50, when he 
caught the gold fever, and started with others for 
California in the month of May. Making the jour- 
ney overland, he arrived at Diamond Springs in 
August, and the ensuing two years was busily en- 
gaged in mining. In May, 1852, he abandoned the 
rough, hard life of the mining camp, and with his 
savings started for home, going b}' the way of the 



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216 



otop: county. 



1 ' 



Isthmus of Panama and New York, and thence to 
Platte Count}', JNIo., where he bought a tract of 
improved land, and devoted himself to f.irming. In 
1856 Mr. Kirkham rented his farm, .ind came to tlie 
then almost uninhabited Territory of Nebraska, to 
seek on its fertile soil a location more suited to his 
purposes. He came with a horse and buggy to 
Nebraska City, and after examining the country 
roundabout, he selected the claim now comprising 
his iiresent farm, and as soon as the Government 
threw the land on the market he entered it at the 
land-office at Nebraska City. After buying his 
land and securing a title to it, he went back to 
Missouri for his family, and returned with them to 
their new home in September, 1856, bringing a 
part of their hovisehold goods in the wagon that 
served as a conveyance. Ever since that time Sir. 
Kirkham has been an esteemed resident of Ne- 
braska City Precinct. He is a prudent, hard-work- 
ing man, and by his energetic perseverance has 
improved the once wild prairie land that he pur- 
chased from the Government more than thirty 
years ago into a valuable farm, comparing favor- 
ably with his neighbors in respect to cultivation, 
neat and substantial buildings, and all else that 
goes to make up a first-class farm. 

]Mr. Kirkham is a sober, honest, upright man, 
and the respect felt for him by his fellow-citizens 
is but the just reward of a good life. In his re- 
ligious opinions he is a believer in the doctrines of 
the Seventh-Day Adventists; in his political senti- 
ments he is a Democrat. 

AVID M. HARP, farmer and carpenter 
combined, has a fine tract of land located 
(fi^y^^ on the southwest quarter of section 6, Hen- 
dricks Precinct, and watered by a branch 
of the Nemaha. He pursues his trade during the 
summer season, at the same time supei'intending 
the operations of his farm. He is a genial and in- 
telligent man and a useful citizen, taking an active 
interest in church matters, and casting his influence 
on the side of morality and good order. 

The parents of our su))ject, Daniel and Betsy 

(Voung) Harp, were natives of New York State, 

^•^ 



where they were married, and where the father 
pursued his trade of carpenter during his early 
manhood. In 1 840 he emigrated to Henry County, 
111., where he turned his attention to farming, and 
acquired a good property. In 1860 he ehangecl 
his residence to Monroe Count}', Wis., where with 
his estimable wife he is still living, retired from 
active labor. 

The parental household of our subject included 
nine children, four of whom are living, and resid- 
ing mostly in Wisconsin. David M. was the third 
in order of birth, and was a little lad six years 
of age when his parents removed to Illinois. He 
was born in New York, Dec. 16, 1834. He re- 
mained under the home roof until attaining his ma- 
jority, and learned the trade of a carpenter under 
the instruction of his excellent father. In 1857 he 
took up his residence in Clayton Countj^, Iowa, 
where he followed his trade until 1863. From the 
Hawkeye State he came to the western part of this 
county, making the trip overland with an ox-team, 
and homesteaded the land upon whicli he now re- 
sides. 

It is hardly necessar}' to say that our subject has 
labored most industriously to effect the improve- 
ments which the passing traveler now looks upon 
with admiration. He has two houses on his farm, 
his residence and a tenement. He planted ten 
acres of forest trees, making a fine grove, and has 
two acres of choice apple trees. His farm ma- 
chinery and live stock are fully in keeping with 
the demands of the progressive agriculturist. He 
purposes in due time to retire from active labor, 
having purchased ground in the city of Hendricks, 
where he intends building. 

Mr. Harp was married in Claj'ton County, Iowa, 
Oct. 22, 1859, to Miss Bessie Gould, who was born 
in Monroe County, Wis., Aug. 15, 1844. Mrs. 
Harp is the daughter of Solomon and Lucinda 
(Stanford) Gould, both natives of New York State, 
and the father engaged in the lumber trade, at the 
same time carrying on a sawmill. The family 
came to Nebraska about 1862, and the father died 
in Johnson County in 1874; the mother died some 
time before. Mrs. Harp was the youngest of their 
seven children. 

To our subject and his wife there have been born 
c^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



217 < i 



four children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, Ju- 
lia, died at the age of eight. The survivors are 
Edward, Joseijhiiie and Adah. The eldest is twenty- 
five years of age, and the youngest sixteen. Ed- 
ward married Miss Lulu Nunn, and is a carpenter 
by trade, the father of one child, and a resident of 
Hendricks; Josephine is the wife of William Rat- 
liff, of Hendriclvs, and the mother of three children 
— Bessie, Freddie and David. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Harp are members of the 
United Brethren Church, and usually attend serv- 
ices at Mt. Zion. Mr. Harp has officiated as Class- 
Leader a number of years, is a Trustee, and Super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school. He is one of the 
warmest advocates of Prohibition, and a zealous 
member of this political party. He has served as 
Constable in Hendricks Precinct for the last three 
years, and been a member of the School Board for 
a period of twenty years. 

\^^-^ ON. GEORGE W. McKEE. This gentle- 
If )Ji "^''■'^ '* established in business in Syracuse as 
i\^^ a dealer in grain and livestock. He is one of 
(^) the very early pioneers of the county, having 
settled with his mother, in the year 1857, about two 
miles west of the site of the city, at that time of 
course unfounded. He is a native of Delaware 
County, Ohio, and was born on tiie 10th of Junei 
1837. He is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Kel- 
len) McKee. The paternal grandparents of our 
subject were natives of Scotland, and in 1804 emi- 
grated to this country, crossing the Atlantic in the 
month of October, in a sailing-vessel, thus obtain- 
ing an experience in the realm of Father Ne[)tune 
not entirely delectable, seeing that the equinoctial 
gales were in full force, but these moving experi- 
ences were banisiied from their minds by an event 
more absorbing in interest, for while on tlie voyage 
a son was born to them, to wiiom was given the 
name Henry. 

Henry McKee grew to manhood, receiving his 
education and first instruction in trade in the State 
of Delaware. He was apprenticed to that of civil 
engineer, to which he seemed more attracted tlian 
any otlier. He was a careful and intelligent ap- 



prentice, and it was not long oefore he made his 
mark in his business. He became the husband of 
Miss Kellen, who was born in the State of Dela- 
ware. Of her family she knew but little, having 
been left an orphan in early childhood. Her hus- 
band removed to New York not long after their 
marriage, and was one of the surveyors of the first 
railroad in the United States. This work accom- 
plished, he settled in Ithaca in the State of New- 
York, and later removed to Ohio. In the latter 
State he died in 1853, having reached the age Of 
forty-eight years. Mrs. McKee came to Nebraska, 
and died upon the farm near Syracuse. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Henry McKee were born nine 
children, eight of whom it was their privilege to 
bring to mature years. These are as follows: James 
H., who was murdered in Texas during the war on 
account of his pro-slaveiy ideas; Sarah A., now the 
wife of John Roberts, of Long Beach, Cal. ; George 
W., our subject; John R., of Palmyra, Neb.; Clark 
Thomas, who died in 1861, in Leadville, Col.; 
Maria J., who died in Ohio; Belle, happily married 
to W. W. Lowe, and residing in Long Beach, Cal., 
and William I., of Syracuse. 

The subject of our sketch passed his early life 
upon a farm, and at the age of twenty came to Ne- 
braska, and helped to bring the farm to a high state 
of cultivation. In 1860, like many others, he went 
to Pike's Peak, but returned disappointed. In 
1863 he engaged in freighting on the plains, which 
calling he pursued until the year 1868, when he 
returned to Syracuse and settled to the pursuit of 
agriculture. Shortly afterward, in addition to his 
farm, he purchased an interest in a gristmill, which 
he operated for about eleven years, also carrying 
on a grain business, which he still continues. He is, 
perhaps, at once one of the most extensive and 
snccessful dealers in the county. He is the owner 
of about 500 acres of well-improved farming land 
in Otoe County, also an elevator in Syracuse, and 
his farm of 180 acres a little west of town, where 
he resides. He has spared neither time, trouble nor 
expense in making this a most desirable residence, 
and has upon it everything apparently that is 
necessary for pleasure, comfort and convenience. 
His property has been acquired by his thrift and 
assiduous lalior, for he received nothing from his ^ r 



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218 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



I 



parents, saving, perhaps, 100 acres of Linrl near Pal- 
myra, upon the death of his mother. 

Mr. McKee was married in the year 186S, and 
has become the parent of three children — Cora, 
Elmer and Blanche B. In all matters, enterprises 
and projects that have looked toward the advance- 
ment of the interest of the community and county 
his policy has been most liberal. He has always 
been deeply interested in educational matters, and 
the welfare generally of the rising generation. He 
was one of the organizers of the Otoe County Fair 
and Driving Association, of which he was the 
President the first two terms. He was also instru- 
mental in organizing the Sj'racnse Lodge of the 
Knights of Honor, and is a prominent member of 
the Masonic fraternity. In this he has served as 
Worshipful Master of Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 57, 
A. F. & A. M., of Syracuse, and in that ofHce was 
always an able worker. He has initiated many into 
the mysteries of the order and brought them into 
the light of its triluminous altar. 

Upon his farm our subject has given special at- 
tention to the raising and feeding of beef cattle 
and hogs for Eastern markets, and usiiall}- ships 
quite a large number annually. So successful has 
he been in this and his grain business that he is 
counted among the wealthy citizens of the district. 
His political aspirations and princijiles are sym- 
phonious with those of the Republican party, and 
he has frequently been called upon to act as dele- 
gate to County, District and State Conventions, 
his reputation among his fellows being that of a 
true, honorable, loyal and faithful Republican and 
citizen. In 1876 and 1877 Mr. McKee was honored 
by his fellow-citizens, who elected him to represent 
them in the State Legislature. This he did in a 
manner that has shown the wisdom of the choice 
and given all parties concerned every satisfaction. 



^/ OHN MALL A R is one of the prominent and 
I worthy representatives of the genus Gerraan- 
I ] American citizen, and is alike a credit to his 
(^^ native country and also that of his adoption. 
He is a capable and prosperous stock-raiser in Rus- 
sell Precinct, and in that connection utilizes 160 



acres of some of the best land in the county. His 
propert3- is situated upon section 34 of that pre- 
cinct. 

The father of our subject, Henry Mallar, was a 
native of Holstein, Germany, where he was a well- 
to-do merchant, continuing in his business until 
death claimed him in the year 187-2, when he was 
but forty-nine j'ears of age. The maiden name of 
his wife, the mother of our subject, who was also 
born in Holstein, was Anna Runpf. She was but 
twenty-eight years of age when she departed this 
life, in the year 18,58, leaving to the care of her 
husband four children, viz.: Geashen; Annie, now 
of Chicago; Henry, who followed the nautical pro- 
fession, and was drowned at sea after being ship- 
wrecked ; and John. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 12th 
of April, 1844, in the same district as his parents. 
Until he was twenty-one j'ears of age he made his 
home with his father. His time until that period 
was occupied by the accumulation of knowledge 
and development of liis intellectual faculties, and 
afterward he assisted his father in business and upon 
the farm. In beginning life for himself, upofi at- 
taining man's estate, he followed agriculture until 
the fall of 1870, then concluded to try his fortunes 
upon trans-Atlantic soil. He therefore sailed from 
Hamburg on the good ship"Simbrog," which landed 
him safely in New York after about fourteen days. 

Leaving New York our subject went to Daven- 
port, Iowa, where he worked upon a farm for nine 
months, then went to DuPage Count}', Iowa, and 
there worked on a farm for two years, and for the 
next six j'ears rented land; 1880 witnessed his 
removal and his settlement in McWilliams Precinct, 
where for three years he continued to rent land. At 
the end of that period he purchased 160 acres of 
prairie land still in all the wild picturesqueness of 
its virgin state, which he has transformed by the 
subtle alchemy of persevering, intelligent labor until 
it has become one of the finest farms in the district. 
Many points would present themselves for detailed 
mention, the difficulty would be in the selection. 
His property is made beautiful by shady groves of 
well-developed and valuable forest trees, covering 
perhaps three acres, and no less so by the well-kept 
hedges and other fencing. The orchard, which con- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



•219 



tains over 150 trees, woulii invite more careful .and 
close attention, wliilehis barn and other farm build- 
ings would be found fully to meet the varied re- 
quirements for the storage of grain and feed, and 
shelter for stock. 

The special efforts of our subject are in the direc- 
tion of raising high-grade cattle and horses, al- 
though large numbers of the best breeds of hogs 
are always on hand. Of horses he is perhaps more 
inclined to favor the Clydesdales, and is the owner 
of several magnificent creatures of that breed. 

The beautiful home of Mr. Mallar, splendidly 
located upon a fine, grassy slope, has its chief at- 
traction in the most excellent wife and happy chil- 
dren of om- subject. The maiden name of his 
companion in life was Emma Hostick, one of Ne- 
braska Citj^'s fair daughters. She has presented her 
husband with three children, whose names are as 
follows: Annie, Andalia and Bertie. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mallar are members of the German 
Lutheran Church in Syracuse, and our sul)ject holds 
the position of Trustee of the property. Ever since 
his naturalization in the year 1880 he has elected to 
vote the Democratic ticket, and is now accounted 
one of the stanch friends of that party in this 
county. 



^OHN L. HARRIS, one of the intelligent 
I thinkers and capable citizens of Palmyra 
Precinct, is a descendant of one of the good 
old families of Virginia, in which State he 
figured somewhat conspicuously in other years. He 
now resides on section 22, where he operates eighty 
acres of good farming land. He is the son of 
James N. and Elizabeth W. (Allen) Harris, who 
were born in Orange and Fluvanna Counties, Va. 
The great-grandfather of our subject, Samuel 
Harris, was a Government appointee in the Colo- 
nial days, and was of English family. He came 
from England in the eighteenth century, in order 
to fill the position assigned to him, and has left a 
record of faithful service. His son Samuel D., the 
grandfather of John L. Harris, was of Virginian 
birth. He followed the occupation of civil engin- 
eer, and was on his way to the Tcrritor3^ of Ken- 
tucky for the purpose of engaging in land surveying. 



and died; this occurred in 1816. The father of our 
subject was an agriculturist, and resided upon the 
old Harris homestead, cultivating the broad acres 
of the old home farm. He died there in the year 
1872, being then sixty-nine years of age. His wife 
departed this life in the year 1880, at the advanced 
age of sixty-eight years. They wei'e tb(! parents of 
six children, who bore the following names: John 
L. ; Mary E., who died in infancy; Sarah J., Emily 
M., Brown and Letiza D. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 7th of 
September, 1829, near Lexington, Rockbridge Co., 
Va. He grew up on a farm and assisted his father 
at blacksmithing, learning the business. The com- 
mon school provided him with an education. Until 
he was twenty-two years of age he resided at home, 
and a))out that time was united in marriage with 
Miss Mary E., daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Cam- 
den) Eskew, who were*also Virginians. 

The wife of our subject was born in February, 
1831, and was therefore twenty years of age when 
she was married. The young couple settled in their 
new laome, which was at Lexington, where Mr. 
Harris continued his blacksmithing business, which 
was quite extensive and kept him fully employed. 
After two years lie was induced to go to South- 
western Virginia in, company with two partners, 
with the intention of manufacturing agricultural 
implements, including not simply plows and har- 
rows, but those more complicated, such as feed-cut- 
ters, feed-mills, etc., under the firm name of W. J. 
Keller & Co. They erected factories at Wytheville 
in 1854, and made excellent progress until the 
crash of 1857, caused by Buchanan's free trade 
policy; then, being unable to collect from the far- 
mers, the firm became financially embarrassed. 

Not long afterward the wave of secessional feel- 
ing and agitation ran high, and in due course was 
followed by the war. Therefore Mr. Harris emi- 
grated to Missouri and settled in Pike County. Al- 
though a Virginian, and therefore presumably a 
Southern sympathizer, he never for one moment 
wavered in his loyalty to the Union. His business 
interests being established in Missouri, he was in 
haste to return to his wife and children, whom he had 
left at the old home with the promise of returning 
within three or four weeks. Being a first-class me- 



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220 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



chanir he \yas exempt from service in the Confed- 
erate Army, but he was kept in Virginia by first 
one tiling and then another, and was finally pre- 
vented from returning to Missouri. 

In 1869 Mr. Harris engaged quite extensively 
and successfully in the lumber business in Rock- 
bridge County, Ya., where he continued until 1874. 
The following five years he occupied himself in 
agricultural pursuits, linking, however, with that 
such work as might come to him in the line of his 
trade, which grew to be very extensive, and in 
time included the manufacture of carriages and 
wagons. When he went into the lumber business 
he involved himself in debt to the amount of sev- 
eral thousand dollars, but entering with heart and 
soul into ever}'' circumstance connected therewith, 
he came out very successfully. In the fall of 1880 
he left Virginia for Nebraska, coming to this county 
and to his present farm. 

The family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Harris includes 
seven children, three of whom, however, died in 
infancy. The surviving members of the family are 
as follows: 8andy, Adison V., Louis E. and Jessie. 
Sandy was united in marriage with Miss Moxley, 
of Virgmia, who has presented him with one son, 
John M.; Adison V. resides in Dawes County, this 
State, and is married to Miss INIary Meechara ; they 
are the parents of two children, viz: Lelia and Al- 
bert y.; he is engaged in the hardware and agri- 
cultural implement business at Whitney in this 
State. Louis E. is the owner of 320 acres of land, 
and proprietor of the White Clay Ranch in Dawes 
County; the maiden name of his wife was ]\Iiss 
Nannia Oliver. Jessie is still at home. 

The subject of our sketch has always been a strict 
Republican and a doughty defender of the princi- 
ples of his party. At the same time he lias never 
sought political preferment. He was ajipointed 
Judge of Elections of the Buffalo district of his 
native county for ten consecutive years, from 1870 
to 1880, accepting the position out of loyalty and 
earnest desire to promote fair play. For several 
years he has given the labor problem careful study, 
and is the recipient of communications from the 
Bureau of Industrial Statistics for the State of Ne- 
br.'^ska, indicating that his labor has not been in 
vain, and that his views, sound and practical, are 



calculated to nearly meet the demands of the case. 
Religiouslj-, Mr. Harris is allied to the Presby- 
terian Church, although he was reared in the doc- 
trines of the Methodist Church, and has always 
respected its teachings. He has had to contend 
with the common difficulties of life, financial and 
otherwise, but in spite of all lie may be pronounced 
a success. 



\fl ACOB PENN, who has farmed successfully 
in Delaware Precinct for a number of years, 
is the regular type of the honest Pennsyl- 
vanian, and was born in Washington County, 
that State, on the 3d of August, 1825. His father, 
William Penn, was a native of Maryland, and is 
still living in Washington County, Pa., being now 
ninety years of age. The mother of our subject, 
who in her girlhood was Miss Phebe Bane, was 
also a native of Washington County, that State, 
and is still living, having arrived at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-eight years. Jacob was edu- 
cated in the common school, and spent much of his 
early life assisting in a flouring-mill, and operating 
a carding-machine. Soon after reaching his ma- 
jority he was married, Nov. 19, 1846, to Miss 
Emeline, daughter of William and Maria (Claw- 
son) McCloiy. Of this union there have been born 
five children, all of whom, with one exception, died 
when young. The survivor is a son, William II. 
The others were named respectively: Ann E., ]Mary 
E., Abner B. and John N. 

Mr. Penn came to this count}' in the fall of 18.59, 
while Nebraska was a Territory, purchased a tract 
of land, and was joined by his famil}' in the follow- 
ing spring. The country was wild and new, and, 
like most of the people around them, Mr. and Mrs. 
Penn had little save their courageous hearts with 
which to beoin the struggle of life in a new coun- 
try. Their goods unfortunatel}^ were destroyed by 
fire in a warehouse in Nebraska City, and this at 
that time was indeed a calamity. They endured 
many hardships and privations during the first few 
years, at a time when their neiglil>ors were few and 
far between, and Indians and wild animals were 
numerous. Deer and wolves roamed unrestrained 



Htr4^ 



*^h 




(>^^Tr->->-;>^ ^/5^T.^--^ 



^Q,--^f^^!^^d-'-Zi£.jy^^ 



•^r^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



223 



over the prairies, and it was necessary, botli on ac- 
count of wolves and Indians, for the family to be 
safely housed at night. Our subject had selected a 
home ou the North Branch of the Little Nemaha, 
also called AVilson Creek, and in the course of a 
few years there grew up around them a population 
of intelligent people. The pioneeers all assisted 
each otlier, and were hospitable and kind, far be- 
yond the people of the present daj'. 

The pioneers amid their hardships and trials 
sought to train their children in the ways of moral- 
ity and religion, and preaching was held at the 
private houses, conducted first by a United Pres- 
byterian minister and later by a Baptist. A Baptist 
society was first organized in the valley, and serv- 
ices were often held in the house of ]\Ir. Penn, he 
and his excellent wife being prominently identified 
with the organization of the church of wliich they 
have now been members for a period of thirty-six 
years. They have watched the growth and de- 
velopment of Nebraska with warm interest, and 
during the course of well-spent lives have gath- 
ered around them hosts of friends. 



eHARLES R. STEDMAN, a leading mer- 
chant of Uiiadilla, commands a lucrative 
patronage, keeping a stock of general mer- 
chandise, including about everything necessar3' to 
the village or country household. He is a native of 
T'ioga County, N. Y., where his birth took place 
April 4, 1843. When a lad of twelve years he re- 
moved with his parents to Lee County, 111., where 
he acquired a common-school education and con- 
tinued on the farm until a youth of nineteen. 

The Civil AVar being then in progress, our sub- 
ject in the summer of 1862 enlisted in Company 
D, 75th Illinois Infantry, the regiment being under 
command of Col. John E. Bennett. He also served 
under Gens. Buell. Rosecrans and Thomas, and 
participated in many of the important battles of the 
war, namely: Perry ville. Stone River, Chicka- 
mauga. Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and 
Ringgold. The privations and hardships incident 
to army life had the effect to undermine his health, 
and for a i)eriod of six months, <luring llie year 



1864, he was confined in the hospital at New Al- 
bany, Ind. Later he returned home on a three- 
weeks furlough, tiien rejoined his regiment, remain- 
ing in the service until the close of the war, and 
being mustered out at Chicago, in June, 1865. 

Our subject, upon returning to civil life, began 
farming in partnership with his father, in Lee County, 
111., where he lived until 1875. In the spring of 
that year, with a desire to see the land west of the 
Mississippi, he came to this countj', and in company 
with his father purchased 320 acres of land in Rus- 
sell Precinct. Here they effected fine improvements, 
putting up good buildings, setting out groves and 
an orchard, and gathering about them all the con- 
veniences and comforts of modern rural life. In 
the fall of 1886 our subject, desirous once more of 
a change, traded his farm for a slock of general 
merchandise, and established in his present business 
at Unadilla, of which he has since been a resident. 
He has had a good trade from the start, being a 
man straightforward in his business transactions 
and prompt to meet his obligations. 

The marriage of our subject with Miss Clara M. 
Wells was celebrated at the home of the bride in 
.South Branch, Nov. 30, 1876. Mrs. Stedman is 
the daughter of Gilbert and Mary (Keliey) Wells, 
old and highl}' respected citizens of this county, 
and a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in 
this work. She was born near Warner, N. H., 
June 29, 1856, and after perfecting her studies in 
the Peru Normal School, developed into a teacher, 
which profession she followed for a time before her 
marriage. Of her union with our subject there are 
two daughters, Nellie and Alma, who are at home. 
Mr. Stedman cast his first Presidential vote for 
Abraham Lincoln, and since becoming a voter has 
kept himself well posted upon matters of State and 
National interest. For a number of years he sup- 
ported the principles of the Republican part^', but 
his warm interest in the temperance movement led 
him, in 1888, to identify himself with the Pro- 
hibitionists. He has been a member of the School 
Board of his district three years, was Deputy County 
Treasurer two j'cars, and has twice been sent as a 
delegate to the Nebraska State Convention. In all 
the offices which he has been called to fill he has dis- 
charged his duties in a most praiseworthy and con- 



•^ 



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f 



:^U 



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\ \ 224 



OTOE COUNTY. 



scientious manner. During the existence of the 
G. A. R. Post in Unadilla he was identified with it, 
and is also a member of the I. 0. G. T., at Unadilla. 

The parents of our subject, Knos C. and Malina D. 
(Wall) Stedman, like their son, were also natives of 
Tioga County. N. Y. The paternal grandfather 
was of English descent, and a native of Vermont. 
The great-grandfather served under Washington in 
the Revolutionary War. Enos Stedman was a far- 
mer by occupation, and also operated a sawmill on 
the Susquehanna River. He was greatly pros- 
pered, accumulating a snug fortune. In 1855, 
leaving the Empire State, he emigrated to Illinois, 
and purchased land in Lee County near the then 
embr3'o town of Dixon. He remained a resident of 
that section for a period of eighteen years, then, 
selling out, took up his residence in Freeport, but 
two years later, in 1875, crossed the Mississippi, 
and coming into this county located in Russell Pre- 
cinct, taking the east half of section 32. He im- 
proved the raw prairie into a well-cultivated farm, 
set out groves, an apple orchard and the smaller 
fruit trees, and effected all the improvements nec- 
essary for the comfort of the modern and progressive 
agriculturist. After a well-spent life he departed 
hence Aug. 1, 1886, at the advanced age of seventy- 
eight years. The mother is still living on the old 
homestead, being now seventy years old. 

Enos Stedman was a strong Republican, and a 
member in good standing of the Baptist Church. 
The mother of our subject was his second wife, he 
having been first married to Miss Eliza Wolverton, 
who became the mother of five children. These 
were named respectively: Ann, Alma, Elizabeth, 
Mary and Clinton. The latter, during the late war, 
did efficient service for the Union cause as a spy. He 
experienced many hairbreadth escapes unharmed, 
and is now a resident of Texas. At the outbreak 
of the Rebellion he was a resident of the Lone Star 
State, and was pressed into the rebel service. He 
deserted, however, and as soon as possible joined 
the Union forces. In the discharge of his duties 
he was captured several times by the rebels, but 
succeeded each time in making his escape. Of 
the marriage of Enos Stedman with the mother of 
our suliject there were born eight children, of 
whom (y'harles R. was the eldest. The others were 



•►Hh-^- 



named respectively: Enos J., Ezra F., Eva F., 
Minnie E., Herbert E., Carrie A. (deceased) and 
Wallace E. In this connection we present a por- 
trait of Mr. Stedman. 



RA D. CIIATFIELD is one of the capable and 
much esteemed citizens of Palmyra Precinct, and 
is the owner of an admirably cultivated fertile 
farm of 160 acres on section 10. His parents, 
Abraham and Jerusha (Cotton) Cliatfield, were born 
in Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively. 
Both were taken by their parents to the State of 
New York when they were children. They were 
married m Greene County of that State. His father 
died In 1864, aged sixty-four years, while his mother 
survived until 1885, and then passed to her long- 
home after a life of eighty-eight years. They were 
the parents of five children, viz: Ira D., Caroline, 
Samuel W., Emma and John H. 

It will be observed that Ira was the eldest child 
in the family of which he was a member. He was 
born in Delaware County, N. Y., on the 15th of 
February, 1821. Upon leaving school he engaged 
in the glove and mitten business, and the manufact - 
ure of tanned goods, After getting fairly started 
in business, he was taken sick with bilious fever, and 
after an illness of three months he recovered, but 
only to find that his partner had in the interim 
swindled him out of all his property. 

Starting afresh, our subject accepted the agency 
for Gen. H. Sampson and George W. Pratt, whole- 
sale tanners and leather dealers, becoming their 
head clerk, and remained with them for twelve 
3'ears. He was also connected for some years with 
the Whitney Chair Manufacturing Company, and 
served them in the capacity of chief clerk. 

Mr. Chatfield has been twice married. By his 
first wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Case, he 
became the parent of two children, Eli P., and liliza, 
who died when she was three months old. Upon 
the 1st of January, 1849, he was united in wedlock 
with Lydia Patterson, who was born at Green- 
wich, Washington Co., N. Y., March 12, 1826. 
This marriage has been fruitful in the birth of six 
children, viz: George H., who was drowned when 



r 



•► II <• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



22o 



i 



thirteen years old; Clara A., Julia E., Emma J., 
Irene P. and William N. Julia K. is happily mar- 
ried to Morris Dennis, of Syracuse, and is the 
mother of two children — Margaret and Emma; 
Emma J. is the wife of Mr. Page, of Syracuse, and 
is the mother of one child, John; Irene P., now 
Mrs. Michael McFall, of Cass County, has one lit- 
tle daughter, Anna Laura; Eli P. is at Wash- 
burn, Bayfield Co,. Wis., where he is a successful 
merchant; he married Miss Idia Parker, and their 
home circle includes three little ones — Eli P., Jr., 
Anna and John M. William N. is a teacher in 
the public schools of this county. 

Mr. and j\Irs. Chatfleld are members of the Epis- 
copal Church in this precinct, and in that circle are 
highly esteemed, as they are indeed in eyery other 
relation. Our subject has served the county as a 
Justice of the Peace, Assessor, Overseer of High- 
wiiys and School Director, and in every instance 
has done good work. In political matters he es- 
pouses the Rei^ublican cause, and is looked up to 
somewhat as a leader. He enjoys the heartiest con- 
fidence and esteem of his fellows, and is much valued 
as a citizen in the communitv. 



— l-^4=^^t^-^ 



[F^ GRACE W. MAX AIM. Among the prosperous 
if^i farmers of Palmyra Precinct the subject of 
iiv^ this sketch occupies no unimportant posi- 
(^) tion, being a wide-awake, intelligent citizen, 
and having as the result of years of industry and 
good management accumulated a fine property. 
The o-reater part of this represents a fine farm on 
section 20, where he has a commodious and tasteful 
residence, good barn and other out-buildings, a fair 
assortment of live stock, modern machinery, and all 
the other appurtenances of the well-regulated coun- 
try home. At the head of his household is one of 
the most estimable and intelligent of ladies, who, 
from a ripe experience in life, which has not been 
unmixed with many hardships and difficulties, has 
emerged an admirable specimen of womanhood, and 
in possession of those qualities of mind and heart 
which have secured her the homage and respect of 
all who know her. 

Our subject is the offspring of a good family, be- 



•> 11 <• 



ing the son of William T. and Hannah (Howland) 
Maxam, who were natives respectively of Jefferson 
and Herkimer Counties, N. Y. Grandfather Maxam, 
a native of Massachusetts, was of Welsh ancestry, 
and carried a musket in the War of 1812, doing 
good service with his rggiment at Sackett's Harbor. 
The mother's family also was of Welsh ancestry, 
and Grandfather Howland, also a soldier in the War 
of 1812, yielded up his life on the battle-field at 
Greenbush. 

The fatiier of our subject left the Empire State 
in 1833 and emigrated to Ohio, locating in Summit 
County, where he has since lived. During the 
years of his active life he followed the occupation 
of a farmer, but is now retired, having reached the 
advanced age of seventy -seven years. The mother 
died at the homestead therein 1873, when sixtj'- 
eight years old. They were the parents of four 
sons: Horace W., our subject, Alonzo A., who 
continues a resident of the Buckeye State; Samuel 
H., in Van Buren County, Mich., and Lewis L., who 
is engaged in farming, and resides near the city of 
Lincoln, in this State. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Adams 
Township, Jefferson Co., N. Y., Oct. 31, 1832. He 
was an infant of eleven months when his parents 
removed to Ohio, where his earliest recollections 
center, and which embrace some events which oc- 
curred when he was but two years old. He was 
reared to farm pursuits in Summit County, and was 
the typical boy, being mischievous, agile as a 
squirrel, and giving his parents no end of harmless 
trouble and annoyance. He studied his first les- 
sons in the district school, and later spent five terms 
at Twinsburg Academy. Subsequently he officiated 
as a pedagogue two terms. 

LTpon reaching his majority, young Maxam, leav- 
ing the home roof, migrated to Van Buren County, 
Mich., where he still followed farming, and met his 
fate in the person of Miss Mary E. McKay, to 
whom he was married Sept. 10, 1855. He con- 
tinued a resident of the Wolverine State until after 
the outbreak of the Civil War. He had now a 
little family upon his hands, and for this reason 
watched the conflict without participating in it 
until February, 1865. He could then rest easy no 
longer, and leaving his wife and three children in 



•<• 






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226 



OTOE COUNTY. 



good hands, enlisted in tlie 1st Mchigan Cavaliy, 
which was assigned to the Arm3r of the Potomac. 
He was not called upon to engage in active fighting, 
and the close of the war found him at Remount 
Camp, near Harper's Ferry, where he was mustered 
out, and later received his, honorable discharge at 
Cumberland, Md. 

Mr. Maxam now returned to his home and family 
in Van Buren Countj^, Mich., where not long after- 
ward occurred the dtath of his wife, who left four 
children, namely: Frank W., John N., George H. and 
Mary E. The latter died when six months old. 
The bereaved husband and father, taking his 
motherless children, now returned to Ohio, and 
lived with his father one year. In the spring of 
1868 he came to Nebraska, bringing his two eldest 
children with him, and for two years thereafter pre- 
sided over his household affairs himself, and home- 
steaded eighty acres of land which is now included 
in his present farm. 

In the meantime Mr. Maxam formed the ac- 
quaintance of Mrs. Hannah E. (Howard) Robey, to 
whom he was married Nov. 1, 1870, and who 
since that time has continued his faithful and affec- 
tionate partner, steadily alive to his best interests 
and tliose of their family. Mrs. Maxam was born 
in Boston, Mass., on July 29, 1828, and is the 
daughter of Sylvester andBetsej- (Haj-den) How- 
ard, the former a native of Jefferson County, N. Y., 
and the latter of Hopkinton, Mass. Sylvester 
Howard was a farmer by occupation, and served as 
a minute man at Sackett's Harbor during the War 
of 1812. The Howards were of English ancestry, 
and the first representatives in this country — three 
brothers — crossed the Atlantic during the Colo- 
nial days. To the parents of Mrs. Maxam there 
were born ten children, namely: Maj'nard, who 
died young; Charles A., Mary W., Amasa, Emery, 
Eda, Hannah E., Sylvester, Elizabeth and Abel T. 

Sylvester Howard, when his daughter Hannah 
E. was a child four years of age, removed to Penob- 
scot County, Me., and thence, in 1845, to Rock 
County, Wis. The now flourishing city of Janes- 
ville was then a hamlet of two or three houses, al- 
though the primitive court-house had been erected. 
Hannah E., in 1847, was married to C. K. Robey, 
antl they toi)k u\> their residence near the embryo 



town of Stoughton. where there were born to them 
four children, namelj': Jerome A., Mary F., John 
and INIelvin. After the death of her husband Mrs. 
Robey in the spring of 1868, came to this county, 
bringing with her two of her children, and home- 
steaded a claim on section 20, having for one of 
her nearest neighbors Mr. H. W. Maxam. The lonely 
condition of each, one with his two motherless 
children, and the other with her two fatherless little 
ones, suggested at not a very late date in the period 
of their acquaintance that the households might 
be combined with both pleasurable and beneficial re- 
sults, and their marriage accordingly followed in 
due time. Mr. Maxam in the summer of 1883 put 
up their present commodious dwelling, and has from 
time to time added those comforts and conveniences 
naturally suggested to himself and his excellent 
wife. He has now eighty acres of good land, and a 
homestead which invariably attracts the attention 
of the passing traveler as one combining all the 
elements of comfort and plenty. 

Mr. Maxam remembers distinctly the campaign 
of 1840, when he shouted for "Tippecanoe and Tj'- 
ler too." He has been a member of the Repub- 
lican party since its organization, is a strict temper- 
ance man, and has held the various school offices of 
his district. He has been greatly interested in the 
veterinary science, to which he has given consider- 
able study, and practices quite successfully among 
the equines of his precinct. He has also, a good 
knowledge of human ailments, and is often called 
upon to prescribe for his neighbors. His treatment 
is always very simple, he being strongly in favor 
of the homeopathic system of medicine. 



-5-Hi.^^^:^-i-J— 



r- 



"SP^ OBERT STAFFORD, one of the early set- 
\]i^ tiers of Nebraska City, was born in Burton 
ZllW, Caggles, Lincolnshire, England, Oct. 26, 
^^1818. His parents were Robert and Chris- 
tina (Wilkinson) Stafford, both also natives of En- 
gland, where they spent their entire lives. Our 
subject was the 3'oungest of ten children, and the 
only one coming to the United States. His father 
died when lie was a little lad eight years of age, 
and as soon as old i'nuu<;h Robert commenced to 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



-•► 



227 



work out and assist his mother in tlie maintenance 
of the family. 

For a time after the death of his father our sub- 
ject made his home with an Episcopal clergyman, 
where he received his board and clothes in rej ay- 
ment for the light labor he was enabled to perform. 
Next he went onto a farm, living with one man 
four years, and later was employed in a flouring- 
mill until twenty years of age. He then entered 
the employ of a very wealthy gentleman, who 
owned a large number of horses, and of these young 
Stafford was given charge. He was thus occupied 
until 1853, when, resolving to seek his fortunes in 
America, he resigned bis position, and, accom- 
panied by his bride, set sail for the United States, 
leaving Liverpool the last of March on the good 
ship "Plantagenet," and landing in New York City 
after a voyage of seven weeks and three dajs. 

Our subject now proceeded to the State of Ohio, 
and purchased a farm in Richland County, three 
miles from Shelby. This he sold in 1857, and 
started for the Territory of Nebraska, making the 
journey by rail to Davenport, Iowa, and thence by 
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Nebraska 
City, where he arrived on the 29th of April. This 
place was then but a hamlet, and the land a few 
miles west still owned by the Government. Deer, 
antelopes and wolves roamed over the prairies, but 
the young town was the headquarters for many 
emigrants and freighters, and business was already 
beginning to assume a lively aspect. 

Mr. Stafford took up a claim of Government 
land about ten miles west of the embrj'O town, and 
upon it erected a small house, but lived there, how- 
ever, only about two months. He then moved to 
Nebraska City, renting a log house on what is now 
North street, and purchasing a team, engaged in 
teaming and freighting. In 1858 he began the cul- 
tivation of his land, putting in first a crop of corn. 
Although the season was late, he realized handsome 
returns. 

During his residence in the Buckeye State Mr. 
Stafford had visited Iowa and entered 320 acres of 
land in Benton County. This he now traded for 
eight acres of land with a good frame house, near 
Nebraska City, and into this moved his family. In 
1859 he traded that property for his present home. 



at the corner of Sixteenth street and First avenue. 
Three years later he sold the land he had pre- 
empted, and with the proceeds erected a building 
on JMain street, where he engaged in business for a 
period of ftiurteen or fifteen years. He had for 
years previously practiced considerably as a veteri- 
nary surgeon, and to this still gives considerable 
attention, meeting with good success. 

Our subject was married in his native Lincolnshire 
in March, 1853, to Miss Louisa Pepper, who was 
born there, and is, like himself, of pure English an- 
cestry. Of this union there are four children liv- 
ing, namely: Annis; Ida, the wife of Rev. A. R. 
Lemon; Frederick and Nellie. A little girl named 
Florence died at the age of six years. 

K. BRADLEY, who is engaged in the real- 
estate and insurance business, is classed 
among the most active and enterprising of 
the citizens of Nebraska City who are taking a 
prominent part in promoting its growth. He is a 
native of Lexington, Ky., his birth occurring in 
that city April 13, 1827. His father, James F. 
Bradley, was boi'u in Franklin County, Ky., but 
his grandfather, Tliomas Bradley, was a native of 
Virginia, the date of his birth being March 5, 1761. 
The great-grandfather of our subject, Robert Brad- 
ley, was, it is thought, also born in Virginia. He 
was a descendant of an ancient English family, who 
were among tlie early settlers of Virginia, coming 
to this country with the Botetourt Colony, which 
located at Fincastle, Botetourt County, and were 
the founders of that town. The grandfather of our 
subject was reared in Virginia, and moved from 
there to Kentuckj% and was a pioneer in Franklin 
County. He took up a tract of land near the capi- 
tal of the State, and cleared a farm from the wil- 
derness, which he made his home until death. His 
wife also died on the home farm; her maiden name 
was Philadelphia Ficklin, and she was born Dec. 
15, 1768. 

The father of our subject was reared amid the 
pioneer scenes of Franklin County, and, although 
but a boy, he served in the War of 1812. After he 
had grown to manhood he went to Lexington, and 



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^ 



228 



OTOE COUNTY. 






was clerk in the post-office there for many .yenrs. 
In 1836 he gathered together his family and his 
household effects, and with two wagons and sis 
horses journe3'ed to Indiana, where he had decided 
to locate, and they cooked and camped by the way- 
side until they had reached their destination in 
Eush County. The family lived there four years, 
during which time Mr. Bradley taught school. In 
1840 tliey again started westward, traveling by the 
Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Elvers to a point in 
Platte County, jMo. There Mr. Bradley cast in his 
lot with the other pioneers, arid buying a tract of 
timber land, built a log cabin, and commenced the 
arduous task of clearing a farm. There were no 
railways in the West at that time, and all trans- 
portation was done on rivers. Hemp and tobacco 
were the principal products of the country. Mr. 
Bradley improved a fine farm, and spent his re- 
maining j^ears in the State of his adoption, dying 
in 1878, at an advanced age. He was a man of 
much intelligence, well educated, of a strictly up- 
right character, and was an influence for much 
good. He lived to see the wild, sparsely settled 
country, of which he was a pioneer, become popu- 
lous and prosperous through the efforts of such 
men as be. The maiden name of his wife, mother 
of our subject, was Nancy Keller, and she was a 
native of Faj'ette County, Ky. Her father, Jacob 
Keller, a Pennsjdvanian by birth, became an early 
settler of Fayette County, where he was quite ex- 
tensively engaged in the distillery business. He 
was of German ancestry, and spent his last years in 
Fayette County. The mother of our subject sur- 
vived her husband but a few mouths. She was in 
many respects a notable woman of marked charac- 
ter; she worked hard during her early life, and 
many weary hours found her cooking over the old- 
fashioned fireplace, or at the spinning wheel and 
weaving loom, that her family might be made com- 
fortable. No sacrifice was too great for her to 
make for her household, which comprised, besides 
her husband and herself, their twelve children, all 
of whom grew to maturity. 

The subject of this sketch was the second child 
of his parents, and he was but nine years old when 
tliej' moved to Indiana, and thirteen years old when 
they went to Missouri to make their home in that 

-^9 



State for the remainder of their lives. He was 
educated in the country schools, which were con- 
ducted on the subscription plan. He assisted his 
father on the farm, and remained an inmate of the 
parental home until he was seventeen years old. 
He then went back to Lexington, Ky., to live with 
his uncle, Josejjh Ficklin, who was then Postmaster 
of that city, and he clerked in the post-office until 
1849. Then, in the opening years of early man- 
hood, full of desires, ambitions, and energy of youth 
and health, he determined to try life amid the ex- 
citing scenes of California. He went by the over- 
land route, starting from Liberty, Mo., in the month 
of August, with about 100 others and nearlj' thirty 
teams, and arriving in San Diego, Cal., the last of 
the following December. From there he proceeded 
on a steamer to San Francisco, and thence to Pla- 
cerville, then called Hangtown, aud in that place 
he engaged in the mercantile business until 1851. 
He then disposed of his interests in the Golden 
State and returned to his old home and friends in 
Missouri, going by the Nicaragua route to New 
Orleans, and thence up the Mississippi and Missouri 
Elvers. He engaged in the mercantile business at 
Liberty, Mo., and later in Plattsburg, Mo., untU 
1864, when he came to Nebraska Cit}-, where he 
opened a general store. This city was at that time, 
before the introduction of railways in the State, the 
headquarters of the freighters across the plains to 
the mountains, and the greater part of his trade was 
with them. He continued in that business several 
years, and later engaged in buying and shipping 
grab: until 1884, when he established himself in his 
present business as a real-estate dealer and an in- 
surance agent. He has been prospered in his vari- 
ous business ventures, and is now one of the moneyed 
men of the city. 

Mr. Bradley was married, June 5, 1853, to Miss 
Lucy Lincoln, a native of Liberty, Mo. Her father, 
George Lincoln, a native of Kentucky, in 1820 re- 
moved from that State to Clay County, Mo., of 
which he was one of the first settlers. He improved 
a farm there, on which he made his home until 
deatli. The maiden name of his wife was Julia 
Ann Gatewood, and she is a native of Fayette 
County, Ky.; she is now living with a daughter in 
I'lattsburg, Mo. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



229 



Bradley has been blessed to them by the birth of 
flye children, namely: Eugene K., Graham L., 
George, Marshall and Julia. ]\Ii-. and Mrs. Brad- 
ley are members of the Christian Church, and their 
standing in the community is of the highest. Mr. 
Bradley is a Democrat in his political beliefs, and is 
a strong adyocate of the policy of his p.irty. 



OTHNIEL HOR.NE. Casliier of the Bank of 
Syracuse, owns one-third of Ihe stock in this 
institution, the balance being divided among 
nine others. It was organized as a private bank in 
1880, hy Messrs. Louis Hoeble and W. T. Peet, who 
conducted it until July. 1882. Mr. Home then 
purchased the interest of Mr. Peet, and in June, 
1886, the bank was incorporated under tbe State 
law of Nebraska, with a paid-up capital of §30.000. 
Louis Hoeble was chosen President, and Mr. Home 
Cashier, hut as the former is absent most of the 
time Mr. Home has full charge of the business, 
which, under his skillful management, is now in the 
enjoyment of a large i)alronage from the leading 
business men of the county. It has paid its regular 
dividends, and has a good surplus. Tlie building 
is owned by the bank, and the offices devoted to 
the transaction of business connected therewith are 
fitted up with modern furnishings and all the neces- 
sary appliances. 

The subject of this sketch began life at the 
modest homestead of his parents in Ontario County, 
N. Y., March 5, 1841. He is the son of John and 
Elizabeth (Niece) Home, the former a native of 
New Jersey and the latter of New York State. The 
family is supposed to be of German and English 
ancestry, but having pursued their lives quietly and 
unostentatiously, and not being exceedingly pro- 
lific, little has been preserved of the family records. 
John Home was a farmer hy occupation, and spent 
his entire life in the Empire State, passing away at 
the homestead in Ontario County about 1852. The 
mother after the death of her husband removed to 
Illinois, and died at her home in Lockport, Will 
County, about 1858. The parental household in- 
cluded four children, the eldest of whom, a son, 
Eichmond, was a wagon and carriage maker by 



trade, and died in Medina, Ohio, in 1886; Mary E. 
is tiie wife of William Samson, of Lockport, 111. ; 
OUiniel, of our sketch, was the third child; Addie 
F. is tiie widow of George Il.all, and resides in 
Chicago. 

At the time of the death of his father our subject 
was a lad of eleven years, and two years later the 
family removed to Medina, Ohio. Thej' lived 
there until 1856, then took up their residence in 
Lockport, 111. Olhniel, in common with his brothers 
and sisters, acquired a common-school education, and 
began his business career in Lockport, III., in 1856, 
as clerk in a general store. He was thus occupied 
until the summer of 1862, and in June of that j'ear, 
the Civil War being in progress, he enlisted as a 
Union soldier in Company G, lOOtii Illinois Infantry- 
and prepared to fight the enemies of his country. 

The regiment to which our subject was assigned 
was ordered first to Louisville, Ky., where it was 
made a portion of the Army of 'the Cumberland. 
Mr. Home participated with his comrades in many 
of the important battles of the war, being at Stone 
River and in all the battles of that campaign. The 
100th Illinois was first a part of the 1st Brigade, 1st 
Division and 21st Army Corps, and afterward a 
part of the 2d Brigade, 2d Division and 4th Army 
Corps. Mr. Home at an early date was promoted 
to Sergeant, and immediately after the battle of 
Stone River in January. 1863, was commissioned 
as Sergeant Major. On the loth of December, 1803, 
he was promoted to First Lieutenant, and on the 
3d of August, 1864, commissioned Adjutant, with 
which rank he was mustered out in July, 1865, the 
war having then terminated. 

Mr. Home was in all the battles of the Atlanta cam- 
paign with the exception of the first engagement at 
Atlanta, in which the brave Gen. McPherson was 
killed. From Lovejoy Station, in the vicinity of 
the beleaguered city, the 100th Illinois Infantry 
with the balance of the command returned to look 
after the army of the rebel General, Hood, and for 
this reason did not participate in the famous march 
to the sea. Mr. Home was at the battles of Chicka- 
mauga and Mission Ridge, and by his brave and 
faithful service secured not only the approval of 
his superior ofl3cers, but the friendship and good- 
will of his subordinates. 



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230 



OTOE COUNTY. 



After his retirement from the service Lieut. 
Home returned to Lockport, III., and resumed his 
old position as clerk in the store which he left 
previous to his enlistment. A year later he went 
from there to the Union stockyards, Chicago, as 
book-keeper for a commission firm, but in the fall 
of 1866 crossed the Mississippi into Blairstown, 
Iowa, where he was engaged in merchandising and 
the milling trade until January, 1874. The reason 
of the subsequent change was that he had been 
elected Treasurer of Benton County in the fall of 
1873, and at the date above mentioned assumed 
charge of his office, now taking up his residence in 
Vinton. Iowa. The duties of this he discharged 
until the 1st of January, 1877, then resigned, and 
became partner of a banking firm in Blairstown, 
where Le continued to live and do business until 
coming to this State. 

Mr. Home devotes his whole time and attention 
to the business of the Syracuse Bank, and is the 
owner of a good property, including a pleasant 
home within the city limits, and land outside. All 
that he possesses he has accumulated through his 
own industry, having at an early age been thrown 
upon his own resources, and is thus a self-made man 
in the truest sense of the word. His early experi- 
ences, however, instead of being a drawback, onl3' 
developed within him those qualities wliich have 
formed the basis of a most successful career, and 
have been the means of enabling him to take a 
position among the liberal-minded and progressive 
men of the day. He has alvva3's taken considerable 
interest in politics, and is an industrious worker in 
support of the Republican party, whose principles 
he believes to be those which shall sustain the 
Nation in its onward career to fame and glorj'. He 
has held various offices of responsibilitj' and trust 
in connection with local affairs, and at the con- 
vention which assembled in September, 1888, was 
nominated by his party as their candidate for the 
State Legislature, and was elected in the Novem- 
ber following. 

Miss Nellie Heidy, of LaFayette County, Wis., 
became the wife of our subject Sept. 15, 1870. She 
was born April 3, 1850, received a fair education, 
and remained a memi)er of the parental household 
until her marriage with our subject. Of this union 



there have been born three children, one of whom 
died in infancy. The survivors are sons, Frank and 
Othniel, the former born July 25, 1872, and the 
latter Aug. 13, 1879. The family residence is very 
pleasantly situated in the eastern part of the city, 
and forms one of its pleasantest and most attractive 
homes. Mr. Home, socially, belongs to the G. A. R., 
being Past Commander of Wadsworth Post No. 21, 
in Sj'racuse, is a member of the military order of 
the Lo3'al Legion, a Knight Templar, and Past 
Master of the Masonic lodges at Blairstown, Iowa, 
and Syracuse, Neb., and a member of the A. O. U. 
W., with which he has been identified since 1873, at 
which time he obtained membership in Lodge No. 
21, at Blairstown, Iowa. He is a favorite both in 
social and business circles, and a man always des- 
tined to be of note in his community. 

~v .^^ ^ 



(^p^llOMAS THOMAS, who is prosperously en- 
fff^^ gaged in the transfer business, is one of 
^/^Jy' Nebraska City's solid, reliable citizens. He 
was born July 11, 1830, in Champaign County, 
Ohio, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, 
Daniel Thomas. His grandfather, Thomas Thomas, 
was born either in Scotland or Wales, and, coming 
to America, he became one of the first settlers of 
Champaign County, Ohio. He kept a tavern in 
the town of Urbana for some years until his re- 
moval to Illinois, where he identified himself with 
the early pioneers of the State, and there passed the 
remainder of his life. 

The father of our subject grew to manhood in 
his native county, and after his marriage with 
Elizabeth Traverse, he moved to Hancock County, 
and became one of its pioneers. The country was 
for the most part a sparsely settled wilderness, with 
Indians still lingering about their old homes, and 
bears, wolves and other animals lurking in the 
swamps and woods. He bought a tract of tim- 
ber land, and during his residence there of nearly 
twenty years was busily engaged in improving a 
farm in the primeval forests of Ohio. He finally re- 
moved to Toledo, and resided there until about 1 860, 
when he came to Nebraska City. While the war 
was in progress he enlisted in an independent com- 



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Residence of John Caspers ,Sec.32 Rock Creek Precinct 







Residence or M. H. Wiles. Sec. H.DELAWAfrEPREciuc 




Residence of Hermann Arends,Sec.32. Rock Creek Precinct. 



•►Hh-*- 



OTOE COUNTY. 




pviiiy, and went forth to defend the frontier. At 
the close of the Rebellion he took up his residence 
in St. Joseph, Mo., and there his last years were 
passed. His good wife had preceded him many 
years before, dying in 1841. There were six chil- 
dren born of their marriage, five of whom grew to 
maturity, but our subject is th(i only one now 
living. 

The latter was in his eleventh year when he was 
deprived of the care and instruction of a kind, wise 
mother, and shortly after that sad occurrence his 
father broke up housekeeping, and the little lad 
was thrown on his own resources. But the pluck}', 
self-reliant boy soon found employment as a driver 
of horses on the towpath of the Miami Canal. He 
subsequently engaged in boating on Lake Erie one 
season, and two seasons on the Ohio and Jlississippi 
Rivers. He worked on the canal until the railway 
came, and continued his residence in Ohio until 
the fall of 1857, when he came to Nebraska CitJ^ 
b}' way of the canal from Toledo to Terre Haute, 
Ind., from there to Alton, 111., by rail, and thence 
by team to this State across Missouri and a corner 
of Iowa. 

During his residence in Ohio Mr. Thomas had 
married, in 1851, Miss Louisa Newhouse, a native 
of Switzerland. Her father, William Newhouse, 
was likewise of Swiss birth, and passed his entire 
life in his native land. After his death his widow, 
with the seven of the eight children born to her- 
came to America, the other child coming later. 
She located in Madison County. 111., and bought a 
tract of land, which her children farmed for her, 
and she resided there until her death. The pleas.ant 
wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas has been 
blessed to them by the birtii of three children, as 
follows: George H. ; Ada, the wife of John Myei-s, 
and Solomon J., all of whom reside in Nebraska 
City. 

The first winter of his stay in this part of the 
country Mr. Thomas was employed in a sawmill 
on the Iowa side of the boundary line. In the 
spring of 1858 he rented a farm five miles from 
Nebraska City. He had taken up a homestead 
claim the first winter that he was here, and broke a 
few acres and built a small house thereon, but 
early in 18C0 he went to the monntains to drive a 



team with a load of powder for the mines, and 
while he was gone some rascal jumped his claim. 
After that he employed his time wholly in teaming 
in Nebraska City for three or four years. Subse- 
quently he eng.aged in a wholesale grocery house 
shipping goods for about two years. After that he 
was emploj'ed in the store of Hawke Brothers for 
some time, and was then elected City Marshal. 
He served in that responsible office for eight years, 
and during that time the city was greatly indebted 
to him for the preservation of peace, an<l for its 
general prosperity, as he was a faithful and efficient 
officer. Since retiring from office he has confined 
his attention strictly to the transfer business, from 
which he derives a good income. He is a man of 
much force and energy, of sound principles, and is 
trusted by all who know him. 



^ OHN PETERSON. This gentleman, a resi- 
dent of Russell Precinct, hails from Den- 
mark and was born at Le Mark on the Place 
^^ Moen, Feb. iO, 1830. He was the eldest of 
nine children born to Peter and Christine Peterson ; 
the former died in 1876, being seventy-one years 
of age, and the latter, whose years told the same 
number, in 1879. The names of their children are 
as follows: John, Lors, Peter, Frederick, Hans P., 
Mary C, Sophia, Karn C. and Christian. 

The subject of our sketch remained upon the 
home farm until he was twenty-two years of age. 
and then had to serve four years in the regular 
army, after which he returned to the farm, remain- 
ing until 1862, when he determined to emigrate to 
America, and set sail from Hamburg for New 
York City. The voyage lasted eight weeks and 
four days. The tiresome and not altogether pleas- 
ant journey over, he found work in a brickyard at 
Perth Araboy, N. J., where he worked three 
months. He next went to Buffalo to work upon 
the railroad, at which he continued throughout the 
summer. From Buffalo he emigrated to Bedford 
County, Pa., and before long found work there also. 

On the 22d of Septemljer, 1864, the Civil War 
being in progress, Mr. Peterson enlisted in Com- 
pany B, 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry, which became 



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11^ 



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•2o 



OTOE COUNTY. 



part of the armj' under Sheridan. He was mustered 
in at Chambersburg. and from there went to Wash- 
ington and took part in nearly every one of the 
larger battles of the campaign, besides doing duty 
in reeonuoitering and skirmishing. He was mus- 
tered out and discharged ^t Alexandria, .June 9, 
18C5, after a service of nine months, in which time 
be had fought in many of the important battles of 
the war. Upon leaving the militarj' service our 
subject went back to Pennsylvania, and worked in 
a foundry until 1867; he then repaired to Chicago, 
111., and thence to Iowa City, continuing at woikin 
various foundries in these places until 1877, when 
he came to this State and settled in Russell Pre- 
cinct, purchasing eighty acres of land on section 
12. This he at once began to improve, and suc- 
ceeded in his labors beyond his expectations. 

Finallj', in 1884, receiving what he believed to 
be an advantageous offer for his farm, our subject 
traded it for his present property, and moved onto 
it. The house, barns, groves, orchard, and in fact 
all the improvements, have been made since that 
time, Mr. Peterson having prospered greatly. He 
is an esteemed member of the community, a con- 
sistent adherent of the Lutheran Church, and active 
in the ranks of the Democratic party, the princi- 
ples of which he has defended since becoming a 
citizen of this Republic. 

It is gratifying to note the results of a persistent 
industry, and the view which is shown of the 
Peterson homestead, perhaps, is the most forcible 
illustration of this which could be presented. It 
forms a reminder which will stand for years to 
come and do him honor. 

(S^^HOMAS DEAVEY, the owner of 240 acres of 
fine farming land on section 32 in Palmj'ra 
Precinct, is a very intelligent English gen- 
tleman of good education, who seldom meets his 
equal in matters of historj^ and general practical 
information. Among his manj' excellent qualities 
is the careful attention which he gives to the educa- 
tion of his children and his strong advocacy of 
temperance, he being a pronounced Prohibitionist. 
A native of Dorsetshire, England, our subject 



•^^ 



was born March 25, 1819, and is a son of George 
and Margaret (White) Dewej', who were also of 
English birth and parentage, and the father a local 
politician of considerable note, holding the office 
of High Constable, Court Bailiff, etc. He lived to 
be seventy j-ears of age, and, with his excellent wife 
spent his entire life upon his native soil. The 
father survived his wife, she being seventy-three 
years old at the time of her death. Their family 
consisted of two sons only, Charles W., and Thomas, 
our subject. The former is now deceased. 

Young Dewey grew^up amid the quiet scenes of 
country life, and at the age of twenty years com- 
menced to learn the trades of carpenter and wheel- 
right. These he pursued in the cities of Lynn, 
Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton, Sussex, Sea- 
ford and other places. He developed rare genius 
as a machinist, and in due time was given a position 
in the civil engineering department of the Govern- 
ment. 

Mr. Dewey when twent^'-nine years of age was 
married, March 4. 1848, to Miss Mary Ann Howell, 
who was born in Sussex, Sept 17, 1830, and whose 
grandfather was a native of Wales. She was the 
eldest of four children and the daughter of Richard 
and Mary (Elphick) Howell, who were natives of 
England, and spent their last years there. Their 
family consisted of seven children, four now living. 

Our subject and his wife began the journe}' of 
life together in the city of Lewis, England, where 
they lived until after the birth of four children. 
Mr. Dewey then decided to seek his fortune on 
another continent, and with his little familj' set sail 
from Liverpool on the 1st of May, 1867. Soon 
after landing upon American soil he made his way 
directly across the Mississippi to the newly ad- 
mitted State of Nebraska, and bought 160 acres of 
land in Hendricks Township. Two years later he 
homesteaded eighty acres of his present farm, upon 
which he has lived now for a period of nineteen 
years. The household circle after the emigration 
to America was enlarged by the birth of one more 
child. George, the eldest son, when about twenty- 
eight years old, went to Montana, and was murdered 
by the Indians; Margaret is married; Charles died 
in England at the age of six years; Annie is mar- 
ried; Thomas, a bright and promising youth, is a 

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t 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



^•^T* 



233 



student at the seminary in Bennet, fron? which he 
expects to graduate in the class of '91. William, 
born in America, died at the .age of nineteen years. 
Miss Margaret Dewey became the wife of Hiram 
Pound, a. well-to-do farmer of Hendricks Precinct, 
and is now the mother of three daughters — Clara. 
Mary and Bertha. Miss Annie Dewey married 
Ora Woods, another farmer of Hendricks Precinct, 
and is the mother of one child, Charles Albert. 

IjHOMAS H. ASHTON, of Syracuse Precinct, 
settled upon the land which he now occupies 
in the winter of 1870. It embraces 160 
acres on section 33, and presents to the admiring 
eye of the passing traveler an admirably regulated 
homestead, indicating on all sides the supervision 
of a man of more than ordinary good taste and 
business capacities. As a tiller of the soil Mr. Ash- 
ton has long been recognized as a success, and now, 
while passing down the sunset hill of life, is in the 
enjojinentof those comforts and luxuries which are 
the legitimate reward of industry, perseverance and a 
well-ordered life. As a pioneer of the county, one 
who looked upon it in its primitive daj's, and whose 
labors have contributed in a large measure toward 
its present wealth and prosperity, he is regarded 
with that tacit reverence and respect which can 
only be accorded men of his worth and standing. 

The childhood home of our subject was in Mon- 
mouth County, N. J., where his birth took place 
Nov. 30, 1797. His father, Samuel, w.as a native 
of Pennsj'lvania, and his mother, Mrs. Hannah 
(Johnson) Ashton, was, like her son, born in New 
Jersey. Both the Ashtons and Johnsons are of 
English extraction. Tiiomas H. was but a year old 
when his parents removed from New Jersej' to 
Fayette County, Pa., and the father was obliged to 
pay $7 per 100 pounds for the transportation of his 
family and goods over the mountains. 

In the spring of 1807 the Ashton family decided 
upon another removal, and this time took up their 
line of march to the vicinity of Marietta, Washing- 
ton Co.. Ohio. The mother onl^y lived three years 
afterward, her death taking place in the fall of 1810. 
\>y which calaniit\- eight children, six sons and two 
■^•- 



daughters, were deprived of her affectionate care. 
Of these Thomas H. is now the only survivor. 
The family after the death of the mother removed 
to Clermont County before its division, by which a 
part of it became Brown Count}'. 

The subject of this sketch pursued his first studies 
at New Haven, Fayette Co., Pa., in 1806. He at- 
tained his majorit}' in Brown Count}-, Ohio, and 
soon afterward purchased a tract of land at $1.50 
per acre, which he declared he would retain posses- 
sion of until offered §20 per acre for it. The [jeople 
around him made fun of this asseveration, but in 
the fall of 1851 he proudly disposed of his quarter- 
section of land for the snug sum of $3,000, an 
amount very near his expectations, which would 
have been fully realized probably had he waited a 
year or two longer. 

Mr. Ashton, now desirous of a change of occupa- 
tion, repaired to the town of Faj'ettevillc, Ohio, 
where he put up a large brick residence, purchased 
a stock of goods, and engaged in general merchandis- 
ing. In 1854 he removed to the northern part of 
the State, settling on a farm in Defiance County^ 
which he had purchased for $2,000, and where he • 
lived until the fall of 1870. Then, selling out for 
the snug advance of $5,000, he made his way across 
the Mississippi to this .State, and invested a portion 
of his capital in the land which he now owns 
and occupies. This purchase, however, was for 
the most part accidental, as he came to this State 
simply to visit his son in Nebraska City, and was 
persuaded by the latter to this step. The IGO acres 
for which he paid $2,000 is now considered worth 
twice that sum. The money which Mr. Ashton .at 
that time had left after paying for his land, he di- 
vided among his children, in true fatherlj' f:ishion. 

Our subject while a resident of the Buckej'e 
State was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth 
Cramer, Dec. 31, 1818. This lady, like her husband, 
was also a native of New Jersey, and was born in 
June, 1801. A kindly Providence smiled upon 
their union in the birth of nine children, but five 
of these were taken away before reaching mature 
years. Rachel, Mrs. Blue, is living with her son in 
Defiance County, Ohio; Benjamin D. is a practic- 
ing physician of Traverse City, Mich.; William 
died in this county, Jan. 5, 1886; Elizabeth F. is 

— — •P^ 



t 



234 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the wife of George Brechbill, who operates the 
homestead. Mrs. Elizabeth Ashtou fleparted this 
life at her home, Oct. IC, 1876. 

Mr. Ashton east his first Presidential vote for 
Monroe, when one of the political parties of the coun- 
try was known by the name of old-line Whig. Upon 
its abandonment he allied himself with the Repub- 
licans. He has voted f(jr every Republican Presi- 
dent from the fall of 1818 until 1884, when he was 
unable to attend the polls. Since 1819 he has been 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
which he served as Class-Leader and iSuperintendent 
of the Sunday-school, and held various other posi- 
tions of trust and responsibilitj' in connection there- 
with for many years. In his prime \\,e was strong 
and athletic, seldom knowing a day's illness. He 
reverts proudly to the fact that he never quarreled 
with a man in all his life, and never was a party to 
a suit in court. In 1883 he was stricken with 
paralj'sis, and has never fully recovered from the 
effects of this. He knows all about the difficulties 
and hardships of pioneer life. His land in Ohio was 
originally covered with timber, which he cleared 
and brought to a good state of cultivation. He 
had at first but fifty acres, and in the course of time 
added to it by 100. He was thrown upon his own 
resources at an early age, but this, instead of prov- 
ing a detriment, only stirred him on to renewed 
labor, and was in fact probablj' that which con- 
tributed largelj' to his success. He is a self-made 
man in every sense of the word. 

George Brechbill, a son-in-law of our subject, 
was born in Westmoreland County, Pa.. July 1 2, 
1831, and is the son of Henry and Marj' (Lose) 
Brechbill, who left the Keystone State about 1835, 
and took up their residence in Defiance County, 
Ohio. The father was a farmer by occupation, and 
both parents died while scarcely middle-aged, leav- 
ing four children, namely: Sarah. John, George 
and Abraham. George grew to manhood in Defiance 
County, Ohio, and at the same place, in 1856, was 
married to Miss Ashton; they came to Nebraska 
in 1871, and have since lived with our subject. 

Mr. Brechbill is an ex-soldier of the Union, hav- 
ing enlisted in the fall of 1863, in Company I, 9th 
Ohio Cavalry, which was assigned to the Army of 
the Cumberland, and went vt'ith Sherman on his 



famous march to the sea. Mr. B. was an active 
participant in some of the most important battles 
of the war. and after a brave and faithful service 
received his honorable' discharge in North Carolina. 
He is a stanch Republican, politically, and a mem- 
ber in good standing of the Methodist ?:;piscopal 
Church. Of his union with Miss Ashton there 
have been born five children, three of whom died 
3'oung, and Mary E. died when an interesting 
maiden of eighteen j'ears. There is thus left them 
onlj"^ one child, a daughter, Gertrude, who was born 
June 27, 1870. William Ashton, the sixth son of 
our subject, also served during the Civil War, in 
Company G, 38th Ohio Infantr3', from 1861 until 
its close. 



^?=^EORGE WRIGHT, one of the leading far- 
[|| ^=^ mers and stock-raisers of Otoe County, re- 
^^^ siding in Otoe Precinct, was an earl}' pioneer 
of this section of the country, and has witnessed 
almost its entire growth, of which he has been an 
important factor. While actively assisting in the 
development of the great agricultural resources of 
this region his labors have been well rewarded, as 
he IS now the possessor of a handsome propertj", his 
farms comprising 700 acres. 

Mr. Wright was born in Germany in 1835, a son 
of Michael and Rosina (Atlee) Wright, natives of 
Germanj'. They were reared and married in their 
native country and resided there until 1843, when 
they came to America with their familj', and lo- 
cated for awhile in Upper Canada. In 1 844 they 
came to the "States" and settled in Nauvoo, III., 
where Mr. Wright invested in town property. He 
enlisted from there to take part in the Mexican 
War, and served until the close of the war. He 
did not return to Illinois, but went to California, 
and never went back to his home. The mother of 
our subject died in Nauvoo, leaving five children: 
George; John, who lives in Rockport, Mo.; Susan, 
who married Lewis Lewis, and lives in Otoe Pre- 
cinct; Joseph and Mabel, who are now dead. 

The subject of this sketch was but eight 3'ears 
ol<l when he came to America with his parents. He 
commenced attending school in his native land 
when he was six j'ears old, and the remainder of 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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•235 



"T* 



liis education he securerl in the American public 
schools. He was ten years old when he had the 
.sad misfortune to lose a good mother, and his 
father going soon after to serve in the Mexican 
War, the children were separated, being taken by 
different friends, and our subject went to live for 
avvliile with a man in Nauvoo. In a short time 
he was talien by another man, who soon after 
moved to Dallas, and later to Olena, where he en- 
gaged in the mercantile business. Our subject was 
a bright, active lad, ambitious to obtain an educa- 
tion, so he attended school in both of the towns 
mentioned, and when not engaged in studying he 
assisted in the store. In 18o.i he concluded to 
come West to seek a home, and came directly to 
the Territory of Nebraska and to Nebraska City, 
arriving hereon the 1st of October. He found 
this place then but a village, with onl^' one brick 
buihling completed, and the greater part of the 
business was done in the part called Kearney. He 
soon secured a situation as clerk in a store at Ste- 
phens, Richardson County, which was then no vil- 
lage, only a trading-post for the Indians. In the 
following spring he gave up his clerkship and re- 
turned to Otoe County, where he found work on a 
farm at $20 a month, and he continued to work 
by the month or job until 1857. He then made 
claim to the northeast quarter of section 24, Otoe 
Precinct, and entered it from the Goveinment in 
the land-office at Omaha. He first built a log cabin 
on his land, but as he was then single, he con- 
tinued to work out until after his marriage in 1861, 
with Miss Susan Hanks. The year following his 
marriage he settled on his place, which has ever 
since been his home. By hard work, wise economy 
and judicious expenditure, he has acquired one of 
the largest and most valuable estates in Otoe 
County. He has inereasetl the area of his land to 
700 acres, all in Otoe Precinct, and nearly all im- 
proved. He engages in general farming and stock- 
raising with marked success, as is attested by his 
abundant harvests, and the fine, well-kept stock of 
good grades that roam over his rich pastures. 

Mrs. AVright has contributed her share in bring- 
ing about this prosperity, and their home is made 
cheerful and cozy b}^ her skillful hands and ready 
tact. Three children complete the family circle: 



Laura received her education at Mt. St. Scholastica, 
at Atchison, Kan. ; Mar}' is attending the common 
schools; Martha is now a student of the State Nor- 
mal School at Peru, Neb.; all are single and at 
home. 

Mr. Wright is a stirring, energetic man, and that 
he has been very successful in life he owes to his 
indomitable persistence in overcoming obstacles, 
and to his habits of industry, for he is an entirely 
self-made man. That through all the conflicts of 
life he has not fought and wrought for self entirely 
is proved bj' his liberality and generosity to others. 
He is a Democrat in his political sentiments, and he 
takes a lively interest in all that pertains to his 
adopted country. Mrs. Wright and her eldest 
daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South. 

-'e^^- ■ 



^f? HORRUM, a leading hardware merchant 
I {© '^^ Talmage, carries a full stock of the mer- 
jj^'K chandise pertaining to his line of trade, and 
has also added farm implements, wagons, buggies 
and other road vehicles. He is a man of means 
and standing, the owner of a handsome and com- 
fortable home on Main street, and in all respects a 
prominent and well-to-do citizen. 

Mr. Horrum established his present business in 
Talmage in 1886, and is rapidly building up a con- 
trolling trade. Previous to this he had been iden- 
tified with the brick manufactory of L. T. Spick- 
nail, which was established in 1881 near the village 
limits, and of which the output was as many as 
500,000 annually. From this factory came nearly 
all the brick used in the principal buildings built of 
this material in Talmage. In 1886 Mr. Horrum with- 
drew, disposing of bis interests to his partner, and 
invested his capital in his present business. 

Our subject came to Nebraska in the spring of 
1870, locating on a tract of land in the vicinity of 
the present village of Talmage, which, however, at 
that time had not been laid out. He engaged in 
farming, and became widely and favorably known 
to the people of this section. Previously he had 
been a resident of Cass County, Mo., to which he 
had removed from Dearborn County, Ind., landing 
on the other side of the Mississippi in 1869. 



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236 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Dearborn County, Inrl., was the early home of 
our subject, and where his birth took place July 6, 
1853. His father, William Horrura, was also a 
native of that county, to which the parents of the 
latter had come in the pioneer days, settling not far 
from the present site of Lawrenceburg. Grand- 
father Daniel Horrum was a native of New Hamp- 
shire, where he was reared, and married to Miss 
Polly Blodgett, and after the birth of a part of 
their family they emigrated from the Old Granite 
State to Indiana, locating in Dearborn County, 
where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mrs. 
Polly Horrura passed away about twelve 3'ears 
before the decease of her husband, at the age of 
seventy-six, being ten years younger than he. 
The latter was eighty-six years old at the time of 
his death. During his early manhood, for three 
years, he did good service in the War of 1812, and 
participated in some of the most important battles 
of that war. He was a Universalist in religion, and 
a man careful and conscientious in his dealings with 
his neighbors, possessing a strict sense of justice, 
which insured him the esteem and C(jnfi(lenfe of ail 
who knew him. 

William Horrum, the father of our subject, was 
reared and educated in his native county, and 
otherwise spent his time after the manner of most 
farmers' sons. His wife, the mother of our sub- 
ject, was Miss Polly Huston, a native also of Dear- 
born County, Ind., her childhood home being not 
far from that of her husband. Her parents had 
emigrated to Indiana from one of the New En- 
gland States, becoming residents of Dearborn County 
during its early settlement, and at a time when the 
country was inhabited principally by wild animals 
and Indians. The father of our subject, after his 
marriage, began the development of a farm from a 
tract of wild land, ujjon which he labored until the 
fall of 18G9. He then crossed the Father of Waters, 
and secured a tract of land in LaFaj'etle Precinct, 
Nemaiia County, this State, upon which he lived a 
number of years, building up a good farm, but 
which he left in the spring of 1887, and, retiring 
from active labor, took up his residence in the vil- 
lage of Taltnage, where, with his excellent wife, he 
is spending his declining years in ease and comfort. 
Both tiie parents have been members of the Chris- 



tian Church for many years, and liberally con- 
tributed to its support. Mr. Horrum gave the ground 
for the church edifice, which was built on a part of 
his farm. He was a charter member of the societ \', 
and it was largely through his encouragement and 
assistance that it was maintained during its first 
struggling years. Mr. H. in early life voted the 
old Whig ticket, but later identified himself with 
the Republicans. 

Leman Horrum was the eldest of the three chil- 
dren born to his parents, all sons, the other two 
being named Omer and Stephen W. His early 
education was conducted in the schools of Dear- 
born County, Ind., and later he was a student in the 
Normal at Peru, this State. He is a man of more 
than ordinary intelligence, and keeps himself well 
posted upon matters of general interest. Like his 
parents, he belongs to the Christian Church, and 
like his father, he is a stanch supporter of Repub- 
lican principles. He has with one exception ful- 
filled all the obligations of a good citizen, but still 
remains a bachelor, having, it is supposed, so much 
business upon his hands that he has not 3'et found 
time to attend to this most important matter. 



/^cA AMUEL SWANK. Longfellow has most 
^^^ truly remarked in one of his exquisitely 
|ll£_l| realistic poems, that "Into each life some 
rain must fall, some days must be dark and 
dreary'," but the problem that has stirred many 
hearts is, why so much more rain falls into some 
lives than into others. The subject of our sketch 
is one whose life has been constantly overshadowed 
by clouds of trouble and trial, and the sunlight and 
brightness have been fitful and intermittent, but at 
the same time his constant struggle and manful con- 
flict have resulted in the building up of an excep- 
tionally fine character, and beautifying a most 
appreciable spirit. 

The subject of our sketch is the son of Joseph 
and Littas (Van Metri) Swank, who were married in 
Kentucky, and from that State removed to Indiana. 
They were the parents of eleven children, and our 
subject, who vvas born on the 10th of January, 1827, 



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t^ 



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I 



4t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



237 



was their seventh child. The place of his nativity 
was Harrison County', Ind. AVhen about eleven 
months old, his parents removed to Montgomery 
County, where the father died when our subject was 
aliout four and a half years old ; being left thus early 
without paternal care and wealth, it is not surpris- 
ing that his education was limited by circumstances 
and for the same reason much curtailed. When 
twenty-one years of age, be went to Rock Island 
County^ 111. 

In 1847 Mr. Swank was united in marriage with 
Miss Sarah Walker, the daughter of Samuel A. and 
Nancy A. Walker, who was born in Madison County, 
111., in the year 1830. He became the owner of sixty 
acres of land at Rock Island. 111., and there remained 
until 1858, when he removed with his wife and 
child to Marshall County, Kan., where he settled. 
Later they became pioneers of Richardson County, 
Neb., and were there throughout the Nebraska and 
Kansas troubles that necessarily aroused so much 
strong feeling among the advocates of either side 
of the question. 

Leaving Kans.as. our subject removed to Missouri, 
and lived in that State at the time of the Civil War. 
July 3, 1863, he enlisted in the 13th Kansas In- 
fantry, and served in the Southwestern Division of 
the army. His militar}' career, while it did not 
bring him prominently before the people as a great 
soldier, was one of honor, devotion and patriotism, 
and, like so manj' others, he during that period per- 
formed every duty for home and native land in the 
best possible manner, and earned the reward that 
always comes to those who are swayed by high prin- 
ciples, and who faithfully follow the dictates thereof. 
At the conclusion of the war, with health impaired, 
Mr. Swank returned to Missouri and again took 
up the more ordinary avocations of life, remaining 
there with his family until 1 868, when he came to this 
State and took up his present homestead of eighty 
acres, which he succeeded in l)ringing to a very 
high state of cultivation by the help and assistance 
of others. From the time of his military service, 
and as a result thereof, his sight had begun to fail 
and he became almost blind, but in that affliction 
luas been supported and sustained by his own pa- 
tient spirits, and the affection of his familj'. 

The home circle of our subject included four chil- 



dren, viz: William E., Cora J., Caroline A. and 
Arthur E. William E. is married to Miss Tucker, 
of Nebraska, and resides in California; they are 
the parents of one beautiful little daughter, Lena. 
Cora J. is the wife of L. H. Bertz, and resides at 
Bennet; they too have a daughter, who is named 
Hattie J. Caroline A. is happily married to .James 
Malcomb, and has presented her husband with two 
children, who are named McCoy' E. and George 
Samuel. 

Our subject is in political affairs a stanch Repub- 
lican, but has been prevented taking the .active part 
he would have desired by reason of his blindness. 
Religiously, he is connected with the Latter-Day 
Saints, and is one of the consistent and devout mem- 
bers of that community. He is one of the capable 
and much esteemed citizens of his district. 



OATHAN D. FOSTER. The subject of this 
sketch, a very capable and intelligent man, 
is by occuptition a general farmer, mechanic 
and millwright. In the knowledge of these indus- 
tries he is pr.actically independent, for though he 
should lose every cent of his property, he has that 
which money cannot buy. He occupies a finely 
improved farm of 1 20 acres on section 3, in Mc- 
Williams Precinct, and is pursuing the even tenor 
of his way as an honest man and a good citizen. 

Mr. Foster came to Nebr.aska on the 1st of April, 
1880, from Davis County, Iowa, and soon after- 
ward settled upon his present farm. He had been 
a resident of the Hawkeye State for a period of ten 
j^ears, carrying on farming, and employing himself 
when opportunitj- presented as a mechanic. His 
early home lies on the other side of the Mississippi, 
in Washington County. 111., where he was born Oct. 
9, 1828. His father. Andrew Foster, a native of 
Campbell County, Ky., was a well-educated man, 
and for years engaged as a teacher. The paternal 
grandfather of our subject w.as an old Revolution- 
ary soldier, who after the independence of the Col- 
onists h.id been established, settled in the Blue 
Grass regions, and engaging in farming, there spent 
the remainder of his life, dying at a ripe old age. 
Andrew Foster was cut down in his prime, his death 



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238 



OTOE COUNTY. 



taking place at the home of the familj' in Washing- 
ton County, 111., when Xathan D., our subject, was 
a little lad of seven years. The mother, Mrs. 
Nancj- (Cos) Foster, subsequently became the wife 
of James Hall, of Alabama, and only lived to be 
middle-aged, her death taking place when she was 
forty-five years old. 

Young Foster continued to live with his mother 
until her death, when he was a youth of eighteen 
years. At the age of sixteen he had commenced 
an apprenticeship at the carpenter and millwright 
trades, at which he was employed until a man of 
thirty-two years, living mostly in the Middle States. 
In the spring of 18G0 he started across the plains, 
and for two years thereafter hunted for gold in the 
Nevada Gulch mines. He met with moderate suc- 
cess, and thence migrated to Virginia City, Mont., 
during the opening of the mines there. 

At this period the country was over-run by what 
were termed "road agents," and it became necessary 
for the citizens to organize themselves for their pro- 
tection. Mr. Foster was chosen Lieutenant of a 
company for the suppression of these outrages, and 
by his bravery and fidelity to duty was largely in- 
strumental in effecting the desired result, not, how- 
ever, until thirty- three desperate men had been 
executed by hanging. In the discharge of his du- 
ties he passed through many thrilling experiences 
and hairbreadth escajDes, and has to this day a re- 
volver captured from one of the most desperate of 
the outlaws, and one of the first to be hanged. It 
is a Colt's Navy, and Mr. Foster subsequently car- 
ried it for some time for the protection of his per- 
son. While in the mountains he became an expert 
hunter, having a reputation second to none in that 
region, and many were the buffalos, deer and ante- 
lopes which were l)rought down by his unerr- 
ing rifle. He also occasionally successfully attacked 
a mountain lion. He thus employed his time two 
or three months during the winter season. 

Mr. Foster, in the spring of 18G7, set his face 
eastward, crossing the Yellowstone River and the 
Missouri, and on his way back to his old haunts 
spent four years at Council Bluffs, Iowa. In this 
city occurred the death of his wife, Mrs. Marion 
(Cook) Foster, to whom he had been married at 
Council Bluffs in 1865. She was bom in Grant 



County, Mich., and came to Nebraska with her par- 
ents when a j'oung woman. She was a lady of 
many estimable qualities, and greatly mourned by 
our subject. There was one child born to them, 
Jennie, Nov. 1, 1867; she has married beneath her 
station, and our subject does not recognize her. 

In March, 1870, Mr. Foster was married a second 
time at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Miss Jane Sober, 
who was born in Ontario County, N. Y., and reared 
on the Western Reserve in Ohio. She came to 
the farther West alone ; her parents were the de- 
scendants of old New England families. She is the 
foster-mother of one child, Christian Robert, a 
smart little lad of seven j'ears. Mr. Foster, politi- 
cally, is a reformer, and liberal in his religious views. 
He has endeavored to follow the precepts of the 
Golden Rule, and, with his estimable wife, is a fa- 
vorite in social circles. 



Vi<^\OAri EMBREE purchased the land which 
I j) he now owTis in Russell Precinct during the 
li\,^ period of its early settlement, and here he 
has since remained, watching the growth and de- 
velopment of one of the most prosperous States 
west of the Mississippi. His career has been one 
filled in with industry, as is evinced in his posses- 
sion of one of the finest farms in this county. It 
includes 160 acres of land, which yields in abun- 
dance the choicest crops of Nebr.aska, and upon it 
are tlie buildings of modern style of architecture, 
amplj' adapted to the convenience of the proprietor, 
all the purposes of living, the shelter of stock and 
the storing of grain. Personally, the proprietor is 
one of the leading men of his county, one who 
enjoys in a marked degree the esteem and confi- 
dence of his fellow-citizens. 

Our subject is the offspring of excellent Quaker 
stock, and was born in Vermilion County, 111., 
Feb. 22, 1833. His father, Jesse Embree, was a 
native of Preble County, Ohio, whence he emi- 
grated early in life to Illinois, and in Vermilion 
County married Miss Mary IloUingsworth, also of 
Quaker parentage, and a native of that count3'. 
The paternal grandfather of our subject was of 
French descent, but his parents probably were na- 



^IC^ 



't^^ 




Residence OF W^ D Ashley, Sec. 31. Syracuse: Precinct. 




Residence OF G.W. Brown, Sec, 17. Otoe Precinct. 



^ 




ResidenceofTalton Mas5EY,Sec.22. Otoe Precinct 



■^•- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



241 



tives of England, whence, it is supposed, tliey 
crossed the Atlantic during the Colonial days. 
They settled in one of the Nevv England States, and 
the grandfather upon reaching manhood carried a 
musket in the War of 1812. On the mother's side* 
Grandfather IloUingsworth was of English descent, 
and also served in the above-mentioned war. 

Jesse Embree carried on farming in Vermilion 
County, 111., until 1840, and then moved across the 
Mississippi River into Washington Count}', Iowa. 
There in due time he became the owner of 500 
broad acres, purchasing first a half-section, and 
adding graduallj' to his landed estate. He was 
greatlj' prosjiered, and died in possession of a com- 
petency in 1858, at the age of fifty-one years. The 
mother had passed away seven years before, in 
1851, aged thirtj'-flve. Their six children were 
named respectively: Noah; Martha A., who died 
when twenty-two years old; Jehu H., Anna JI., 
Sarah J. and Elmina. The survivors are residents 
mostly of Nebraska. 

Oiu- subject remained under the home roof until 
the death of his father, having acquired a common- 
school education, and became intimately acquainted 
with the details of country life. He then rented 
the homestead for a number of years, and finally 
became owner of part of it, continuing there until 
the spring of 1870. Then, with a longing to see some- 
thing more of the West, and believing that he could 
do better elsewhere, he sold his interests in Iowa, 
and gathering together his personal effects, started 
overland with a team for Nemaha County, Kan. 
Upon his arrival there, however, not being pleased 
witli the outlook, he went north into Nebraska, and 
soon afterward settled on the land in Russell Pre- 
cinct which he now 6wns and occupies. It was 
then a quarter-section of raw prairie, upon which 
there was not even a shelter for his head. He be- 
gan operations in true pioneer style, and labored 
for a number of years under the disadvantages of 
a distant market, and the various other difficulties 
which beset the pioneer farmer. The perseverance, 
however, which he had inherited from his substantial 
P^uglish ancestry, served him well in this emergency, 
and in due time prosperity began to smile upon 
his labors. He brought his land to a good state of 
cultivation, set out five acres in a grove of cotton- 



HI-** 



wood, maple and walnut trees, divided his fields with 
four miles of hedge fencing, planted an apple and 
peach orchard, and in the midst of these erected a 
substantial and convenient set of farm buildings. 
His laud is amply supplied with running water, and 
possesses many natural advantages, whicli, com- 
bined with those which he has added, make it one 
of the most desirable estates of this part of Otoe 
County. 

Mr. Embree was married in Keokuk, Iowa, on 
the 17th of June, 1858, to Miss Margaretta, daugh- 
ter of Rev. F. F. and Rachael (Harris) Lj'on, the 
father a native of Wayne County, N. Y., and the 
mother of Macoupin County, Ky. The paternal 
great-grandfather was of French birth and ancestry, 
and his son. Grandfather L^'on, a native of New 
Y'ork, spent his last 3'ears in that State. The ma- 
ternal great-grandfather was a native of England, 
and married Miss McVey. He settled in Tennessee, 
and there was born his son, who became the grand- 
father of Mrs. Embree. 

F. F. Lyon was born in Scotland, whence he re- 
moved first to Ireland, and then crossed the At- 
lantic to the United States, locating in Tennessee, 
where he became the owner of 600 acres of land, 
upon which stands the present city of Nashville. 
From this propertj- he never received any benefit, 
however, as he had entrusted his papers to a law- 
yer who died, and the important documents were 
lost. Mr. Lyon then emigrated to Iowa, locating 
in Keokuk County, where for a number of years 
he oflSciated as minister of the LTnited Brethren 
Church. In 1878 he retired from the ministry, 
and now lives upon a farm in Jefferson County, 
Iowa, which is mostly devoted to stock-raising. 
He is also the owner of 200 acres of land in Rawlins 
County, Kan. Mr. Lj'on is quite healthy and act- 
ive, although seventy-two years of age; the mother 
is sixty-three. They are the parents of thirteen 
children, one of whom, Rachel J., died when three 
years old. The survivors are Nancy A., Marga- 
retta, Samuel T., William A., Clarissa, Frederick 
L., Mary E., John S., Demarcus N., Su.san I., Na- 
thaniel B. and Ulysses W. 

]Mrs. Embree was the second child of her parents, 
and was born in Jefferson Count}-, Iowa, July 25, 
1841. She received a common-school education. 



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f 



242 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and was carefully trained by an excellent mother 
in all the housewifely duties. Of her union with 
our subject there have been born eight children, 
two of whom, Ezra and Rachel N., died in infancy. 
The ■ survivors are Allen L., Oliver H., Frederick 
C, Jehu W., Noah M. and Mary E. Allen, Fred- 
erick and Jehu are located in Custer County, this 
State. Jehu was graduated from the Union School, 
at Gibbon, in Buffylo County, and is a young man 
of more than average ability, having a license to 
preach; he is also a successful teacher. Oliver is 
in Oregon; Noah is attending school at Gibbon. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Embree are members in good 
standing of the United Brethren Church, at Una- 
dilla, which ]Mr. E. assisted in organizing, therefore 
being a charter member, and is also a Trustee. He 
has officiated as Sunday-school Superintendent four 
years, and contributed liberally to its support and 
maintenance. His warm interest in the temperance 
cause led him in 1888 to identify himself with the 
Prohibition party. He has been connected with 
the School Board of his district for the last three 
years, and always gives a hearty support to the 
enterprises having for their object the general wel- 
fare of the community. 






^/fM LLEN BIGGS is one of the early settlers 
l@/4Hi of McWilliams Precinct, and indeed of 
il* Otoe County. He has lived on his present 
farm since the year 1864. The property, 
which includes 240 acres of improved and carefully 
cultivated, arable land, is situated on section 1. 
He has a very fine residence, which is of recent 
construction, and admirably situated amid sur- 
roundings tiiat indicate an appreciation of the 
picturesque as well as the more substantial profit. 

For four years previous to making his home as 
above Mr. Biggs resided in the vicinity of Ne- 
braska City, although he owned and was improving 
his farm on McWilliams Precinct during that time. 
Mr. and Mrs. Biggs started life hand in hand, hav- 
ing at the first practically nothing. By mutual 
help and incitement they began to make tbeir way 
in the woild. Our sul)ject had lived in Gentry 



County, Mo., for two years before coming to this 
State, but did not feel anxious to make it his 
adopted State and permanent home for the reason 
that tiiroughout the entire period of his residence 
there he had suffered from chills and ague. He 
was brought up in Jefferson and Campbell Counties, 
Tenn., where his parents had removed from their 
home in Indiana, where he was born in Decem- 
ber, 1822, making the change when he was about 
three j'ears of age. 

The father of our subject, James Biggs, w.as a 
native of Tennessee, and married his wife, Mary 
Gwinn, in the same State. They had lived but a 
few years in the Hoosier State wlien they returned, 
as above noted, to Tennessee, where, after attaining 
a good old age, they died. They were the parents 
of ten sons and three daughters; of tliese our sub- 
ject was the fourth child. He continued to make 
his home with his parents until he came of age, 
when he was married and began life for himself. 

The subject of our sketch celebrated his first 
marriage in Jefferson County, Tenn., the lady of 
his choice being Mary A. Flatford, who was there 
born and brought up. With her husband she re- 
moved to Campbell County, and there died in the 
prime of life, leaving four daughters and one son. 
The names of the daughters are as follows: Marga- 
ret J., Mary A., Sarah E. and Eliza A. All of 
them are married and living in Nebraska. The 
son,' William, is now deceased. 

The second marriage of our subject took place 
in Campbell County, Tenn. He then became the 
husband of Ruth Miller, a native of that county. 
After four years of happy wedded life this lady 
died. She had become the mother of two children, 
both of whom died in infancy. 

Mr. Biggs was once again married while still a 
resident of Campbell County, being joined in wed- 
lock with Catharine Thomas, who was born in that 
countj' on the 3d of April, 1836. This lady is the 
daughter of Joseph T. and Mary ( Bloodsaw ) 
Thomas, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. 
Biggs was educated in the schools of her native 
county, and lived with her parents until her mar- 
riage. She has presented her husband with eleven 
children, of whom four are deceased, viz: Matilda, 
George W., Lydia A. and an infant unnamed. The 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



243 



living ohildren are: James F., now married to Miss 
Lina Adams: Martha E., the wife of Mr. Timothj' 
Paine; George W., Isaac N., Ella C, Elsie M. and 
John A. 

Mr. and Mrs. Biggs have for many years been 
numbered with the membership of the Baptist 
Church, which they joined in Tennessee. Although 
not prominent in political circles, our subject is 
interested in all such matters, as a good and tnie 
citizen. He is numbered with the Republican 
party, and as a rule votes the ticket presented by 
the convention. 



\t'OHN E. CASSELMAN, brother of Franklin 
T. Cassehnan, is one of the wealthy citizens 
of the county, which has been iiis home since 
(^^/ tiie earlj' days of settlement. He settled in 
Otoe County in the spring of 1859. His farm is 
situated on section "20, Otoe Precinct, and comprises 
400 acres. His parents, Henrj' H. and Mary (Fry- 
mire) Cassehnan, were both of German extraction, 
although natives of Canada, where the family has 
been for several generations. His father was en- 
gaged as an agriculturist, and was quite well-to-do. 
He died at his Canadian home in Februarj', 187', 
aged seventy-three years. There also the mother 
died the following year, being seventy-eight years 
of age. Their family circle included seven children, 
viz: Michael H., Phillip A., Charles N., George H., 
Franklin T., John E. and Abram B. All but the 
latter still survive. Charles N. lives in Broome 
Countj', N. Y., the other three in Canada. 

The birth of John E. occurred on the 20th of 
September, 1835, in Duudas County, Canada, where 
he lived until he was nineteen, engaged chiefly in 
farm work, educational facilities being exceedingly 
limited. Leaving home in 1855, he went to Jeffer- 
son County, N. Y., where he worked on a farm for 
two years; then he joined his brother Franklin T., 
in Atchison County, Kan. In 1858 he started for 
California, but was taken sick at Ft. Kearney, and 
was sent back to Nebraska City, where he arrived 
in the fall of that 3'ear. There being much sick- 
ness there he went to Fremont, Iowa, and passed 
the winter. In the spring of 1859 he returned to 



Nebraska City, working for two years upon the 
farms one year with Mr. Davis, the latter year being 
spent with Sir. Pendleton. 

At the time of his return to Nebraska City our sub- 
ject had only $3. This practically is the beginning 
of his present prosperity and wealth. All his earn- 
ings he put into land, and was able to purchase his 
present property of 160 acres in the year 1868. 
The following year he was united in wedlock with 
Luc}' A. Emery, the estimable daughter of George 
and Sarah Emery, also natives of Canada, but resi- 
dents of Nebraska since September, 1865. They 
first settled in Nemaha County, and after two years 
went to Johnson Countj', removing to their present 
home at Crab Orchard in 1884, where they live 
a retired life, as is congenial to those of such ad- 
vanced age as they, being sixtj' -eight and sixty-six 
respectively. Their six children are mentioned as 
follows: Susan, Sarah, Lucy A., Frances A.. Elva 
0. and Robert G. Mrs. Cassehnan was born on 
the 6th of March, 1848, about twelve miles west of 
Brockville, Canada, and until her marriage made 
her home with her parents. She has presented her 
husband with five children, viz: Etta M.. Burton 
E., Carrie M., Sadie (deceased) and Lucy Mabel; 
all make their home with their parents. Mr. Cas- 
sehnan is giving his children the benefits of a good 
education. 

In September, 1861, our subject enlisted in Com- 
pany C, in the 1st Battalion of cavalry of Nebraska 
Territory. They left for St. Louis in October, 1861. 
The regiment was commanded by Col. Lowe, and 
with other independent companies from Minnesota, 
Iowa and Missouri, formed the Curtiss Horse Regi- 
ment, afterward the 5th Iowa. He fought in many 
battles, among them Chickamauga, Pittsburg Land- 
ing, Sugar Creek, Pulaski and Atlanta. He was 
discharged honorably at Nashville in 1864, after 
serving three years and thirty -seven days, with the 
record of a good, true and gallant soldier. He is a 
member of the William Baumer Post No. 24, G. A. 
R., Nebraska City. 

For seven years our subject has held various 
school offices, for two terms was Justice of the 
Peace, and has at all times been as a politician in the 
Republican ranks. He is a man very highly re- 
spected, a careful thinker, and of finest character. 



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244 



OTOE COUNTY. 



His wife also is abundantly worthy of every good 
and kindly word tliat could be spoken, and has been 
true in the most perfect manner to every obligation 
that has come to her as the result of her relation to 
our subject and their children, and is eminentl}' 
admired and respected in the community. 



#^ 




AMES HALL. A gentleman in the |)rime of 
life, intelligent, enterprising and well-to-do, 
the subject of this biography is one of the 
most valued citizens of Delaware Precinct, 
where he settled in the spring of 1881. He is now 
the owner of 200 acres of valuable land, finely 
located on section 10, which he has brought to a 
thorough slate of cultivation. His fields are laid off 
with neat and substantial fences of osage orange, 
and his farm stock and machinery are what would 
naturally be expected of the skillful and thorougli 
agriculturist. The residence and its surroundings 
indicate the existence of cultivated tastes and ample 
means. Adjacent is a flourishing apple orchard and 
groves of elm and cottonwood, while other fruit 
and shade trees add their embellishments to the 
general appearance of the premises. It is without 
question the home of the prosperous and well-to-do 
citizen. 

Our subject was born amid the Lowlands of Scot- 
land, in Roxburyshire, on the 3d of July, 1848. His 
parents, William and Mary (Murra}^) Hall, natives of 
the same county, were well-to-do and intelligent 
people, and the father now resides in Chicago, III., 
but the mother is deceased. The household circle 
consisted of five sons and one daughter, all of 
whom are living mostly in the United States. 

Mr. Hall received the advantages of the common 
schools in his native shire, and lived there until a 
man of twenty-five years. During his 3'outh and 
early manhood he was occupied in farming. He 
had been a lad thoughtful beyond his years, ambi- 
tious of doing well in the world, and being a man 
among his fellowmen. He believed that he could 
do better for himself in all respects on the other 
side of the Atlantic, and accordingly in the spring 
of 1 872 embarked on board an ocean steamer at 
Liveri)ool, anti fifteen or sixteen days later set 



foot upon American soil in the city of New York. 
He remained in the Dominion two years, then made 
his way to Marshall County, III. He was employed 
there as a farm laborer until 1881, then resolved to 
invest his capital west of the Mississippi. 

In the spring of 1881 Mr. Hall purchased 200 
acres of his present farm. There had been little 
attempt at improvement, and he set himself indus- 
triously at work to cultivate the soil and build up 
a homestead which would reflect credit upon him 
and those who should enjoy it with him. His labors 
have met with their legitimate reward, as all will 
acknowledge who have seen it. For a man who 
landed in America witli a capital of $2.50, it cannot 
be denied that he has done well, and that nature 
endowed him with more than an ordinary share of 
common sense and the faculty of good manage- 
ment. On the 3d of February, 1881, our subject 
was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Scoon, 
who was born in Roxburyshire, Scotland, Aug. 1, 
1850. Her parents, Robert and Mary (Nichol) 
Scoon, were also of Scotch birth and parentage, and 
are now deceased. 

Their family included ten children, who are now 
mostly in Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall there 
have been born a son and daughter, William and 
Mary, vvho are now six and one years of age 
respectively. Mr. Hall, politically, gives his sup- 
port to the Republican part}-. He is at present 
School Treasurer of his district and Road Super- 
visor, and, with his estimable wife, a member in good 
standing of the United Presbyterian Church. Public 
spirited and liberal, kind and courteous, as a neigh- 
bor and friend, he fulfills the ideal of the honored 
citizen and useful member of society. 



one of its most prosperous farmers, has in 
his homestead 240 acres of fine land, besides 
120 acres in another body. The former lies on the 
southeastern portion of section 12, and the whole 
is finely adapted to stock-raising, with which in- 
dustry the proprietor has successfully occupied 
himself for a number of years. He has discharged 
the duties of his present office since 1876, and is an 



^U 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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245 



old army veteran, having served as a Union soldier 
from the outbreak of the Rebellion until its close. 
He was first promoted to Corporal, later to Serge.int, 
and ofliciated in the latter capacity until receiving 
his honorable discliarge. 

The cliildhood home of our subject was in Prus- 
sia, where his birth took place Oct. 19, 1832. He 
attended the common schools of his native town 
until the age of thirteen years, and at that age also 
was confirmed in the German Lutheran Church. 
That same .year, 1846. his parents came to America, 
he accompanying them. 

The father of our subject, John George F. Xeu, 
was born in the Rhine Province, Prussia, in the year 
1801, and m.arried Miss Elizabeth Boeler, a native 
of Saxony, and who was born in 1802. The pater- 
nal grandfather, Mathias Xeu. also of German 
birth and ancestry, was a shoemaker by trade, and 
spent his entire life upon his native soil. Grand- 
father Boeler was chief engineer in a large coal 
mine near Schwal bach, and died within the confines 
of his native Empire. 

John G. F. Xeu learned shoemaking in his early 
manhood, at which he was occupied in his native 
Province until crossing the Atlantic. After his 
arrival in the United States he settled with his 
family in Dearborn County, Ind., where he followed 
shoemaking and farming combined. From Dear- 
born he removed into Ripley County, where he 
purchased forty acres of land, from which he im- 
proved a good farm, and where his death took place 
in January, 1853. The mother died in July, 1882, 
.at the home of her son Valentine, in Indianapolis, 
Ind. The four surviving children of the parental 
family are: Catlierine; Fred, our subject; Louisa 
and John P. Valentine is deceased. The husbands 
of Catherine and Louisa, after the outbreak of the 
Civil "War, enlisted in the same regiment as our 
sul)ject, and Lonis.a's husbtmd died in St. Louis in 
1865. The sisters and brothers are now residents 
of Nebraska. 

Mr. Xeu remembers considerable of his native 
Province and many of the incidents of preparation 
for the long journey to America. The parents and 
children journeyed from Rotterdam to London by 
rail, and at Liverpool embarked on board the sail- 
ing-vessel -'C^ueen of the AVest," upon which they 



were tossed about for thirty-two days, encounter- 
ing some storms, but finally landing in safety at 
New York Harbor. Young Neu remained with his 
parents until reaching his majority, and learned 
shoemaking under the instruction of his father, but 
did not work at the trade after reaching the age of 
twenty-one. His first independent farming opera- 
tions were begun on a tract of land in Ripley- County, 
Ind., and in 1855, when twenty-four years of age, 
he was married, and purchased forty acres in Riijley 
County. Upon this he Labored until entering the 
army, and his wife subsequently carried on the 
farm until his return home. 

Our subject enlisted Aug. 17, 1862, in Com- 
pany G, 83d Indiana Infantry, with his two brothers 
and two brothers-in-law, they being mustered in at 
Lawrenceburg. Their regiment w!is assigned to 
the 2d Brigade, 2d Division, 15th Army Corps, 
Army of the Tennessee, under command of Gen. 
Sherm.an. Mr. Neu with his comradea particip.ited 
thereafter in many of the important b.attles of the 
war, was in the fight at Chickasaw Bayou, near 
Vicksburg, at Arkansas Post, Champion Hills, Big 
Black River, in both charges on the 18th .and 22d 
of il.ay, at Vicksburg, and all through the siege 
following. After its surrender he met the enemy 
at Jackson, Miss., later at Tuscumbia, Ala., Mission- 
ary Ridge and at Chattanooga, where his regiment 
was .at the front, and Mr. Neu was in the very front 
ranks. Later he fought .at Resaca, Ga., D.allas and 
Kenesaw Mountain, and was near Atlanta on the 
22d of Julj', when the brave Gen. McPherson was 
killed. After the surrender of Atlanta they moved 
back to the vicinity of Chattanooga, following up 
Hood's retreat, then returned to Atlanta, and soon 
thereafter entered upon the f.amous march to the 
sea. Our subject was in all the battles of that cam- 
paign, and later marched with his regiment up 
through the Carolinas and to Washington, partici- 
p.ating in the grand review, and soon afterward re- 
ceiving his honorable discharge. Although endur- 
ing the hardships and privations common to the lot 
of the soldier, he w.as never wounded or captured, 
and returned with a fair degree of his old-time 
strength and good health. 

After being transformed from a soldier to a civil- 
ian Mr. Neu returned to his home and his family 



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24G 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 



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in Ripley County, Ind., but soon afterward sold his 
property there and spent the winter following in 
Southeastern Missouri. Thence in the spring lie 
journeyed by steamer to Nebraska City, and two 
days later proceeded by team to section 25, town 
y, range 12. purchasing in May, 1866, eighty acres 
of improved land, upon which he occupied himself 
for a term of seven years. In the meantime he 
greatly improved the value of the property, bring- 
ing the soil to a state of cultivation and putting up 
buildings with material hauled from Nebraska City. 

May 24, 1872, Mr. Neu sold his farm above 
mentioned, and changed his residence to his pres- 
ent place, whicli he had previously purchased. Af- 
ter his settlement here he had the usual conflicts 
attendant upon the pioneer of those days, together 
with grasshoppers and drouth, and he estimates 
that the labor of Ave j'ears thereafter was re- 
quired to place him where he started. Those days 
arc past, however, and he now looks around him 
on a fine estate, embracing a farm of 240 acres, 
with handsome and substantial modern build- 
ings, groves and orchards, and all other appurte- 
nances of the well-regulated farm. His land is well 
watered by Jordan and Spring Grove Creeks, and 
he has 100 acres of native timber. Ten acres ad- 
jacent to the residence are devoted to groves of 
hickory, walnut, oak and wild cherry trees, and his 
orchard comprises 350 apple trees, while he has the 
smaller fruits in abundance. His live-stock opera- 
tions include cattle and swine mostly, of which he 
ships of the former usually a carload annually and 
of the latter two carloads. His stock is mostly 
graded and his horses are particuhirlj' fine, includ- 
ing Cleveland Bays and Morgans. Large amounts 
of corn and grain are required to feed all this 
stock. 

Our subject was married near Brookville, in 
Franklin County, Ind., Oct. 4, 1855, to Miss Char- 
lotte S. Schwertfeger, who was born in Ripley 
County, that State, Aug. 30, 1836, Mrs. Neu has 
proved a most worthy helpmate and assistant of 
her husband, and of their union there have been 
born nine children, namely : AmielaL., Frederick 
S., Lizzie, Lena; George W., who died when five 
weeks old; John; Bertha, who died when thirteen 
months old; Henry F.,aud William J., who died at 



the age of seven years. The eldest daughter is 
the wife of Henry Anderson, a well-to-do farmer 
of Hendricks Precinct, and they have five children; 
Frederick married Ida Yener, and is farming in tlie 
vicinity of Hartwell, Kearney County ; Lizzie is 
the wife of Eugene Patterson, who is farming in 
Dawes County, and they have two children ; Lena 
married Mr. A. Dillon, who is farming near Lowell, 
in Kearney County, and they have two children; 
John is farming in Dawes County, and Henry is at 
home with his parents. 

Mr. Neu has held the position of Assessor about 
nine years and has been School Treasurer of his 
district six years. Socially, he belongs to Western 
Star Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Nebraska City, is 
also a Knight of Pythias, belonging to Eureka 
Lodge No. 7, and is identified with the G. A. R., 
both these lodges at Nebraska City. He is an ar- 
dent supporter of Republican principles, laboring 
manfully for the support of these in his own county, 
and being frequently sent as a delegate to the 
County and State Conventions. A useful man in 
his community, he is public-spirited and enterpris- 
ing, one having hosts of friends, both in business 
and social circles. 



EORGE H. BURGERT is one of the lead- 
ing citizens of Nebraska City, and has for 
several years filled one of its most responsi- 
ble offices, that of City Treasurer. He was born in 
New Bedford, Coshocton Co.. Ohio, Feb. 14, 1830. 
His faLher. David Burgert, was born in L.ancaster 
County, Pa., Nov. 20, 1795, and his father is 
thought to have been a native of Germany, who, 
coming to America some time during the last cent- 
ur3-, settled in Pennsylvania, and spent his last 
years in Lancaster County. The father of our sub- 
ject was reared in his native State, and when a 
30ung man started for the then Far West, and lo- 
cated in Stark County, Ohio, where he bought a 
tract of timber land .and cleared a farm from the 
wilderness. He then sold and moved to Coshoc- 
ton County, and again attempted the task of clear- 
ing a farm from the depths of the primeval forest. 
He first erected a log house, which was afterward 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



••► 



247 



r 



the birthplace of our subject, a; id with tiie aid of 
Ills sons he developed his land into a line farm. 
While a resident of Stark County he had engaged 
in the mercantile business, and when he moved to 
Coshocton Countj' he took with him his stock of 
goods and opened a store at West Bedford. He 
continued in business as a merchant about forty- 
five 3'ears, and then, having acquired a handsome 
competence, he sold out, moved to Cuyahoga 
County, and bought a farm near Cleveland, where 
he lived two or three years. He then removed to 
Toledo and built a home in that city, and lived re- 
tired from the active duties of life until his death, 
March 30, 1876. H^was a man of enterprise and 
considerable luisiness talent, whose reputation for 
honor and integrity was second to none. The 
maiden name of his wife was Eleanor Huett, and 
she was born in County Armagli, Ireland, July 2, 
1797, being of English ancestry. She died in New 
Bedford, Nov. 30, 1840. There were twelve cliil- 
dren born to her and her liusl)and, all of whom 
grew to maturity, namely : Elizabeth, Sarah, Daniel. 
Levi, Adam, Catherine, George H., James H., 
Mary A., Lucinda, Amos and Amanda. Nine of 
these are now living, Sarah, Daniel and Levi being 
deceased. 

The sul)ject of this sketch was the seventh child 
and fourth son of his parents. He grew to man- 
hood in his native county, receiving the prelimina- 
ries of his education in the district school, which 
was further supplemented by a term's attendance 
at the academy at West Bedford. He assisted on 
the farm and clerked in his father's store, and con- 
tinued to lie an inmate of his parents' home until 
1852. In 1850 he forme<l a partnership with Jacob 
Hocksteter, and engaged in the mercantile business 
with him in Bedford for two years. He then went 
to Indiana and spent a few months in Worthington. 
He returned to his native State after that, and in 
Cleveland engaged as a clerk in the boot and shoe 
store of Huett <fe Buj'ett for one year. The next 
year found him again in Worthington, Ind., where 
he sold goods for Langworthy & Blount. Two 
years later, in the fall of 1 857, he came to the Terri- 
tory of Nebraska, coming by rail to Jefferson City, 
and thence on a boat on the Missouri River to Wes- 
ton, and there, the boat not being able to stem the 



^h^ 



current, he and the other passengers took the stage 
to St. Joseph, and came from there on a boat to 
Nebraska City. Here he first found eraplo3'ment 
as a clerk for the Burnham Bros., remaining with 
them for a year and a half. Then he and others 
established themselves in the boot and shoe busi- 
ness. He associated with his partners for two years, 
and then bought their interest, and conducted the 
business alone until 1865. At that time he was ap- 
pointed Assistant Postmaster, an office which he 
held for nine ye.ars, discharging its onerous duties 
with characteristic ability and fidelity. In 1877 
Mr. Burgert's fellow-citizens showed their high ap- 
preciation of his great worth by electing him to the 
office of City Treasurer, and he was re-elected in 
April, 1878. So satisfactory has his administration 
of the affairs of this important and responsible office 
been that he was re-elected each year until 1886, 
when he was re-elected for two years. 

Mr. Burgert was married, Sept. 13, 1860. to Mara 
Louisa Haskell, and their happy wedded life has 
been blessed to them by the birth of the following 
children: Minnie E., wife of J. K. Bickel; Celia 
M., Xida E., George, Susie, Harriet and Am}-. 
Mrs. Burgert comes of old and well-known New- 
England ancestry, and she was born June 6, 1841, 
in Princeton, Bureau Co., 111. Her father, Jona- 
than Haskell, was a native of Newburyport, Mass., 
and a son of Noah H. and Judith (Stickney) Has- 
kell, natives of Massachusetts. His parents moved 
from their New England home to Ohio in the early 
years of the settlement of that State. The mother 
died there soon after their arrival. In his early life 
Noah Haskell had been a seafaring man, and was 
for many years Captain of a vessel. He remained 
in Ohio but a few years, and then went to Califor- 
nia, where he died. Mrs. Burgert's father grew to 
manhood in Ohio, and from there he went to Illi- 
nois, where, in Canton, Fulton County, he was mar- 
ried, April 9, 1840, to Harriet N. Loomis. She was 
born in Hinckley, Medina Co., Ohio, June 7, 1823. 
Her father. Job Loom is, was a native of M.assachu- 
setts, removed from there to New York about 1805, 
and in 1819 went to Ohio and was one of the first 
settlers of Medina County, the removal in both 
cases being made with teams. He bought a tract 
of timl)ered land in Hinckley Precinct, and made 



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•248 



OTOE COUNTY. 



that his home the rest of his days, until his death in 
1828. 

Mrs. Haskell's mother, Mrs. Burgert's grand- 
mother, spent her last yeaA in Georgia, where she 
died in 1854. Her maiden name was Zilpha Han- 
mim, and she was born in Southampton, Mass. Her 
father, Mrs. Burgert's great-grandfather, was, so far 
as known, a native of Massachusetts. He was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary War, and at one time 
was captured by the Indians. He was given the 
cliauce to run the gauntlet, and was successful and 
made bis escape. He spent his last years in Massa- 
chusetts. Mrs. Burgert's parents moved to Illinois 
in 1839, and settled in Fulton County. Her father 
was a man of more than ordinary mental capacity, 
and was accounted a genius by his friends. He 
was quite an extensive traveler, and visited many 
parts of the country. He died in Louisville, K}'., 
Nov. 19, 1883. His widow now resides with her 
daughter, Mrs. Burgert. 

Jlr. Burgert is a very capable man, of irreproach- 
able habits, and both in public and in private life 
bears a stainless character. He is honesty itself, 
and his word is as good as another man's bond. 
He regards his office as a sacred trust, and dis- 
charges its duties with an eye single to the best in- 
terests of the community. He and his wife are 
both active members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Mr. Burgert is a Republican in politics, 
and socially, he is a member of Frontier Lodge 
No. 3, I. O. O. F. 



^^Hi 



g"^v 



t- 



.^ HARLES E. VAUGHAN, a farmer in good 
(l( circumstances, widely and favorably known 

"^^7 throughout Russell Precinct, owns and oc- 
cupies 180 acres of land on section 2'2. He pur- 
chased in the spring of 1883 eighty acres, the next 
year twenty acres, later doubled the first amount, 
and has brought the whole to a fine state of culti- 
vation. The fertility of the land is augmented by 
streams of running water, and his buildings, of mod- 
ern style of architecture, convenient and comfort- 
able, are all that are required to meet the ideas of the 
intelligent and progressive agriculturist. He has 
groves, fruit trees, and all the other appurtenances 



of a well-regulated farm. It is hardly necessary to 
say that his time h.as been industriously emploj^ed 
since he has become a resident of this county, with 
results that should be eminently satisfactory'. 

The subject of this sketch, a native of Marshall 
County, 111., was born Nov. 20, 1853, and remained 
with his parents until reaching his majority. The 
latter were by name Thomas H. and Sarah J. (Cory) 
Vaughan, the father a native of Rutland, Vt., and 
the mother born in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, 
N. Y. Thomas H. Vaughan was left an orphan at 
a very early age, and made his home in Vermont 
with an aunt until reaching manhood. He then 
cast his lot with the early settlers of Greene County, 
111., where he pursued first his trade of shoemaker, 
but later changed his occupation to farming. 

The father of our subject in 1850 left Greene 
County, and purchased 160 acres of land in Mar- 
shall County, upon which he settled and spent the 
remainder of his life. He distinguished himself as 
an active and useful citizen, as one of the pillars of 
the Baptist Church at Washburn, and departed this 
life at the old homestead in April, 1871. The 
mother after the death of her husband joined her 
son C. E. in Nebraska, and is still living, being now 
seventy-one years old. 

The six children of the parental family were 
named respectively: Rodolphus J., Russell W., 
Amy E., Julia A. (who died when thirty-four years 
old), Charles F. (our subject) and Sumner T. 
Rodolphus during the late war enlisted as a Union 
soldier in an Illinois regiment, and is now in Otoe 
County ; Charles E. upon reaching his majority 
began farming on the old homestead for himself 
and was thus occupied five years. Then, desiring 
to see something of the farther West, he crossed the 
Mississippi into this county, first locating on sec- 
tion 27 in Russell Precinct, in the spring of 1880. 
Three j^ears later he removed to section 21, and in 
1883 purchased eighty acres of his present farm. 

The marriage of our subject took place in Berrien 
Count}', Mich., Dec. 19, 187G, the maiden of his 
choice being Miss Lillie M., daughter of Joseph A. 
and Elizabeth (Peck) Becker. The parents of Mrs. 
V. were both natives of Pennsj'lvania, whence they 
removed to the Wolverine State after marriage, 
where they still reside in comfortable circumstances. 



t 




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OTOE COUNTY. 



•251 



•► 



Their family consisted of eleven children, namely: 
Jacob J., John J., William H., Annie E., Lilly M., 
Adeline I., Mary A., Martin L., Sarah E., Ona M. 
and Oliver A. 

Mrs. Vaughan was born in the city of Harrisburg, 
Pa., Oct. 24, 1854. She was reared to womanhood 
in Michigan, and remained with her parents until 
her marriage. Of her union with our subject there 
are four children: Thomas Henry, born Oct. 29, 
1H78; Sadie S., Aug. 6, 1882; Elsie M., Oct. 2G, 
1885, and Russell J.. July 17, 1888. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. V. are members in good standing of the Bap- 
tist Church at South Russell, our subject being in- 
strumental in its organization and since that time 
ofBciating as Clerk. Politically, he is a straight 
Republican, has served as Assessor two years, and 
was a member of the School Board three years. 
Both ho and his estimable wife take a warm inter- 
est in Sunday-school work, Mr. V. officiating as 
Superintendent. Their house is the frequent resort 
of the many friends whom they have gathered about 
them by their kindly courtesies and cordial hospi- 
tality. 



jl^ ENRY P. FARNSWORTII. The subject of 
lj)i| this sketch, whose portrait is given upon the 
iiW^ opposite page, aud who is one of tbe very 
(^) first settlers of Russell Precinct, is further 
distinguished as being the oldest pioneer of this 
section, and also a veteran of the Republican party. 
He is an active politician, a strong and clear-beaded 
thinker, and a man who exerts much influence 
among his fellow-citizens. ])uring the Civil War 
he indicated his sentiments in the most jiractical 
manner by serving as a soldier in the Union Army, 
and bis entire career has been that of an honest 
man, a good citizen and a useful member of the 
community. 

Our subject was born on the banks of the 
Mississippi River, in Muscatine County, Iowa, Oct. 
22, 1845, and spent many hours of his boyhood 
sporting along the Father of "Waters. He remained 
a member of the parental household until a young 
man of twenty-two j'ears, acquiring bis education 
in the distric-t school. He was but a youth of six- 
-^« 



teen j'cars at the time of the outbreak of the Re- 
bellion, aud was obliged to restrain his patriotic 
sentiments until later in the conflict. After he 
was eighteen, however, he enlisted, on the 4th of 
May, 1864, in the 44th Iowa Infantry, being mus- 
tered in at Davenport. He went vSouth with his 
regiment under the command of A. J. Smith, do- 
ing guard duty mostly along the M. P. & C. R. R., 
and meeting the rebels in several skirmishes, dur- 
ing one of which he received a slight wound in the 
arm. Much as he desired he did not participate 
in any active battle, and received his honorable 
discharge on the 19th of September, 1864. 

After the war Mr. Farnsworth staid at home 
until the spring of 1869, and then, gathering to- 
gether his personal effects, started overland with 
a team for the young State of Nebraska. He was 
accompanied by his wife, and they crossed the Mis- 
souri River on the 20th of March, making their 
way directly to Russell Precinct, in this county, 
where our subject had already secured 240 acres of 
uncultivated prairie land. Upon it there were no 
buildings, and the first business of Mr. Farnsworth 
was to put up a house. He then set himself in- 
dustriously to the task of improving his property, 
and in due time began to realize the reward of his 
labors. He has now one of the • most valuable 
farms in this part of the county, with running 
water, native timber, and the soil brought to a 
good state of cultivation. He has planted groves 
and an orchard of 1 00 apple trees, besides the 
smaller fruits. That he has worked industriously 
cannot be questioned when we note the various 
items which form a most complete whole. For the 
construc^tion of his buildings the timber had to be 
hauled from Nebraska City, and to enumerate the 
many other difficulties and hardships under which 
he labored would take more time aud space than 
afforded within the limits of a brief biogra])hy. 

Our subject was married Feb. 20, 1868, at the 
home of the bride on the banks of the river near 
which he had played in his boyhood, to Miss Helen 
Burdett. This lady was born in the same county 
as her husband, Sept. 11, 1851, and is the daugh- 
ter of Humphrey and Esther (BenefiU) Burdett, 
the father a native of Kentucky and the mother of 
Indiana. Thev were married in Iowa, in 18.38, to 



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i 



252 



OTOE COUNTY. 



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which State the fatlier had emigratod during its 
pioneer da3'S. He became tlie owner of considera- 
hle land, but in 1873 left the Hawke^ye State and 
came to this county, locating in Palmyra Precinct, 
where he lived until 1885. He then changed his 
residence to Cheyenne County, Kan., and now 
makes his home with his children. He has arrived 
at the advanced age of eighty j^ears. The wife 
and mother died at her home in Palmyra Precinct, 
tliis county, in the spring of 1874, aged fifty years. 
Their five children were named respectivelj^: Marj^, 
William, Isabelle, Helen and Eliza. The latter is 
deceased. The others are residents mostlj' of Ne- 
braska and Kansas. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born eight children, namely: Humphrey M., 
who died when six years old ; Alonzo T. ; Delia, 
deceased; Ruth A., Frank, William, Sumner G. and 
Algia. The survivors are all at home with their 
parents, and form an interesting group, of more 
than ordinary intelligence. Mr. P'arnsworth cast 
his first Presidential vote for U. S. Grant, and 
is an ardent supporter of Republican principles. 
No man takes a warmer interest in the growth and 
development of his adopted country. He drew up 
the petition to the County Superintendent for the 
organization of the school district in which he now 
lives, and a similar document in connection with 
the organization of Russell Precinct. He is the 
only original settler living who was here at the 
time of the organization of the district. He taught 
school during his younger years in his native State, 
two years later in Unadilla, and also in Russell 
Precinct, District No. 6. He has served as Asses- 
sor and been a member of the School Board for a 
period of eight years. He is at present JNIoderator 
in his district. He was strongly urged by his fel- 
low-citizens, in the spring of 1875, to become a 
Republican candidate for Justice of the Peace, but 
declined. He has been frequently sent as a delegate 
to the various conventions of his party, and as an 
ex-soldier belongs to the G. A. R., being a mem- 
ber of the Chickamauga Post No. 119. In relig- 
ious matters he has been a member in good standing 
of the Christian Church since 1874. 

]\Iarshall Farnsworth, tlie father of our subject, 
was born in Williamstown, Vt., in 1815, and married 



•► 



Bliss Rebecca Daniels, a native of North Carolina. 
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Thomas 
Farnsworth by name, emigrated from his native 
Highlands in Scotland during his early manhood 
to the United States, where he was married and 
became the father of a family of ten children. The 
youngest of these was Marshall. The latter left 
New England as early as 1837, emigrating across 
the Mississippi into Muscatine County, Iowa, where 
he purchased eighty acres of land and began farm- 
ing in pioneer style. He was greatly prospered, 
and after the lapse of years became the owner of 
500 broad acres. After a residence of forty years 
in the Haw keye State, he sold out in 1881, and still 
pushing westward, took up his abode in Los An- 
geles, Cal., where he is now engaged in real-estate 
business. He is still active and in possession of his 
faculties, although having reached the advanced 
age of seventy-two years. The mother died at the 
homestead in Muscatine County, Iowa, in the fall 
of 1 869, at the age of fortj^-flve years. Henry P., 
our subject, was the eldest of their family of children. 
The others were named respectively : Eric D., Eliza 
E., John M.; George A., who died when an infant; 
Thomas E., when thirtj^ ye.ars old, and Norah E., 
when five years old. 

W.ILLIAM BALFOUR, of Wyoming Pre- 
cinct, owns one of the prettiest farms within 
its limits, and which, with its tasteful mod- 
ern buildings, forms one of the most attractive 
pictures of section 6, of which it embraces eiglity 
acres. On either side of the dwelling are beauti- 
fully trimmed evergreens, while other choice shrub- 
bery protects the homestead from the storms of 
winter and the heat of summer.- Tliere are fruit 
trees in abundance, an orchard of apples adds the 
finer varieties, which yield abundantly in their sea- 
son, providing the family with delicacies, anrl that 
which they do not use finds a ready market. Mr. 
Balfour has distinguished himself as a thorough 
and skillful farmer, and his stock-raising operations 
especially jneld him a handsome income. 

Onr subject took possession of the land which he 
now occupies iu the fall of 1«69, and the iniprove- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



253 




ments which we behokl to-flay are the result of his 
industry, as at the time of |)urchase there were no 
fences or buildings, in fact no attempt whatever at 
improvement. Mr. B. arrived in Nebraska in the 
spring of I8G8, from Lake County, 111., of which 
he had been a resident since 1 850. There also he 
was occupied as a farmer, although laboring for 
others, but in the meantime kept an eye out for 
the future, and saved something with which to 
cross the Mississippi. 

Mr. Balfour was born near the shores of tho Bal- 
tic Sea. in the city of Duyzt, Prussia, April 5, 
1845, and on his father's side was of Scotch an- 
cestry. His paternal grandfather, James Balfour, 
was born in the '"land of the thistle," whence he 
emigrated to Prussia, and was there married to a 
lady of German birth and ancestry, and there both 
spent their entire lives. His son James, the father 
of our subject, was thus the offspring of two of the 
best nationalities on the face of the earth. James, 
Jr.. who was one of three children born to his par- 
ents, was subjected to careful home training, and 
given a thorough education in the Fatherland, and 
when reiiching manhood was married to a most 
estimable lady, by whom he likewise became the 
father of three children, of whom our subject, Will- 
iam, was the youngest. The mother died while a 
young woman, and after her decease James Balfour 
brought his three children to America, and located 
on a tract of land in Lake Countj', III., where soon 
afterward he was again married, to Miss Louisa M. 
Hinman. This lady was of American birth, and out- 
lived her husband, James Balfour having died when 
fifty-five years of age. 

The father of our subject after the outbreak of 
the Civil War hastened to the defense of his adopted 
country, and such was the nature of his services 
that he was promoted to the First Lieutenancy in 
Company I, 45th Illinois Infantry. He served, 
however, a period of only seven months, his mili- 
tary career being cut short by a gunshot wound at 
the battle of Shiloh, which ultimately caused his 
death, the ball going through the right arm near 
the shoulder, necessitating amjjutation. Prior to 
this, at Ft. Donelson, he was shot through the same 
right arm, and the second wound naturally aggr.a- 
v.ated the first. lie had served as Captain in the 



standing army of Germany, .and was thus admirably 
fitted for the duties devolving upon him as a sol- 
dier of the Union. Mrs. Louisa Balfour is still 
living, a resident of Lake County, 111., and has now 
passed beyond her threescore years. She receives 
a pension from the Government. 

Our subject was but a lad when coming with his 
father to the United States, and completed his edu- 
cation at the Old Soldiers' College in Fulton, 111. 
So well did he improve his time with his books 
that he was given the position of teacher in the 
schools of Otoe County, Neb., where he was thus 
occupied several winters after coming to Nebraska. 
He was married in Wyoming Precinct, Nov. 15, 
1876, to Miss Ella Hughes. This lady was born in 
this county, Feb. 16, 1858, and is the daughter of 
George H. and Catherine (Rousch) Hughes, who 
were natives of Pennsylvania. Her parents were 
reared and married in the Keystone State, and 
came to the West about 1856, locating in Wyoming 
Precinct, this county, where the mother died when 
a little past middle life. The father, a practicing 
physician, then returned east as far as Indiana, and 
is now living in that State, being now well advanced 
in years. 

Mrs. Balfour was quite a young girl at the time 
of her mother's death, and was taken into the home 
of Mr. Bassett, of Otoe County, where she w.as 
reai'ed and educated, and became proficient in all 
household duties. She is now the mother of six 
children — Myrtle E., Cyrus L., W. Marvin, George 
S.. Carl A. and a babe named Max E. She is a 
lady of much intelligence, and highly esteemed 
among her neighbors. Mr. Balfour, politically, is 
a sound Republican, although having no desire for 
the responsibilities of ofBce. He takes pride in his 
farm and home, while at the same time giving his 
support and encouragement to the enterprises cal- 
culated to advance the interests of the i)eople 
around him. 

Our subject soon after the outbreak of the late 
Rebellion, inspired by the patriotism of his honored 
father, enlisted as a Union soldier, Dec. 5. 1861, in 
Company I, 45th Illinois Infantry, under command 
of Capt. O. A. Bridgeford and Col. John E. Smith, 
the latter of whom is now Maj. Gen. Smith, of 
Chicago. He was with his regiment at F'ts. Henry 






■2:,i 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and Donelson, but on account of the extreme ex- 
posure and hardi<bip endured on the march he was 
taken ill, and obliged to accept his honorable dis- 
charge for disability, returning home July 30, 1862. 
He was then only a little past seventeen years of 
aare. 



,^^EORGP] BROWNLEE. This worthy and 
ible citizen, whose home is situated upon 



11 (=■ capal 
il his f. 



P ' cin 



irm that comprises one-half of section 
33 of Palmyra Precinct, is a descendant of a long and 
distinguished line of Scottish ancestry of noble 
birth and family. The first member of the family 
to come to this country was William Brownlee, the 
grandfather of our subject. He came to the country 
as a young mau, and settled in Washington County, 
Pa., and took up agriculture. There he met and 
married the lady who became the mother of Eben- 
ezer Brownlee, the father of our subject. He be- 
came the husband of Miss Carson, and engaged in 
husbandry and cattle raising. Both still reside in 
Washington County. Mr. Brownlee, Sr., being sixty- 
three and his wife sixty-four years old. They are 
the parents of six children, to whom the appended 
names were given: Robert, George, James C, 
John S., Samuel and Jennie E. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 16th 
of August, 1851. in Donegal Township, Washing- 
ton Co., Pa., and was there brought up and edu- 
cated in the schools of the district. He began to 
work upon the farm at a tender age, and is in 
every regard a thorough, practical farmer. His 
education was limited to the advantages afforded 
bj' the common school, but he drew largely from 
the expensive and well-selected library that had 
originally been in the possession of his grand father, 
so that he is a well-informed man. 

After several years of work upon the farm, when 
our subject was about twenty years of age, feeling 
the need of further study, he entered the West 
Alexandria Acadcmj', and continued to attend the 
classes of that institution for two years. His father 
was the owner of certain Nebr.aska lands, and upon 
leaving the academy he came out to this State to 
take charge of them. He came to Palmyra Pre- 
cinct in 1872, and wentto farming and stock-raising. 



The first Merino sheep brought into Otoe County 
were brought by Mr. Brownlee, who imported them 
from Pennsylvania. The first consignment com- 
prised one carload, the second, which was made in 
1876, was of two double-decked carloads. He con- 
tinued the breeding and raising of sheep, and was 
exceedingly prosperous, and at one time had over 
1,000 head. In addition to the sheei) he has been 
quite extunsivelj' engaged with cattle and hogs. 

Mr. Brownlee was united in marriage, in 1876, to 
Miss Mary E. Craig, a former schoolmate, who was 
born in the vicinity of his own home on the 20th of 
August, 1852. She is the daughter of James and 
Elizabeth Mary (Dickey") Craig. They attended 
school and academy together for some time. Five 
children have been born to them, who bear the fol- 
lowing names: Lemuel M.. Kbenezer L., James C, 
Cora L., and Eliza, who died when seven months 
old. 

Although of Eastern birth, parentage, education 
and .sj-mpathies. Mr. Brownlee has become atypical 
Western man in all that appertains to the welfare of 
his adopted Stale, and the interests of the citizens 
there. He usually votes with the Republican 
part}', and lakes the deepest interest in matters 
where political economy is concerned. He and his 
family are most highly esteemed Liy the community 
at large. 



<» I^ILLIAM H. LOWE, of Four Mile Pre- 
A\A* cinct, is well known as one of the early 
W^ pioneers of Otoe County, with whose agri- 
cultural interests he is to-day so extensively identi- 
fied, and it has been his privilege not only to witness 
almost its entire growth, but to contribute largely 
to its material prosperity. Mr. Lowe may be said 
to have been a pioneer from his birth, as he is 
the son of a pioneer, and w.is bom amid the prime- 
val forests of Southern Michigan, in the very 
earliest j'ears of its settlement, and was thus reared 
amid pioneer scenes in that and other States, and 
many jears of his life were thus passed on the fron- 
tier of civilization. 

Mr. Lowe was born Jan. 1, 1829, .at Tecumseh, 
Lenawee Co., Mich. His father, Peter Lowe, was 
born in New Jersey, and was there reared and 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



255 



married, Charity Lamberson, likewise a native of 
New Jersey, and of Frencli descent, becoming liis 
wife. After marriage Mr. Lowe moved to Onon- 
daga County, N. Y., and tlien began his life as a 
pioneer, which did not cease until he had been an 
early settler in five States, and had assisted in the 
development of each. He bought timber land in 
Ouondaga County, and improved three different 
farms in New York, and then, seeking "fresli fields 
and pastures new," he removed to the Territory of 
Michigan about 1825, and located in that part of 
Monroe Count}' now included in Lenawee C'ountJ^ 
He bought wild land, erected a log house in which 
our subject was born, and lived there for some 
years, busily engaged in removing the tall, cent- 
uries old trees that he might clear a farm. In liis 
liumble home in that wilderness the saddest mis- 
fortune of liis life overtook him in the death of his 
devoted wife in 1829. In 1832 Mr. Lowe sold his 
land in Micliigan, and buying a tract of part 
prairie and part timber land in LaPorte County, 
Ind., he identified Iiimself with 'the early settlers 
of that State. But lie was evidently not satisfied 
with his surroundings there, for in 1833 he sold his 
land, and we next hear of liim in Illinois, the re- 
moval liaving been made with teams, and he passed 
in his journey through Chicago, then a small place. 
He staid in Rock Island County one year, and 
then shook the dust of tha Prairie State from liis 
feet, and pushed westward across the Mississippi to 
Missouri, and located in Cooper County, of which 
he thus became an early settler. He entered a tract 
of prairie laud from the Government, built a hewed 
log house, and improved quite a good farm. There 
were no railways there, and the only near market 
was Boonesville, on the river. In 1842 Mr. Lowe 
sold his farm in Cooper County and bought a large 
tract of wild land from the Government, in Atchi- 
son County, the same State, and he there made his 
final home. He imi)roved two good farms, and at 
his death in 1861 was quite well off in this world's 
goods. He was a man of marked energy of char- 
acter, of much shrewdness and ability, and his gen- 
uine worth commanded the respect of those who 
knew him. 

The subject of our sketch was but. an infant when 
his mother died, and an elder sister took charije of 



him. In the various moves that his father made 
to the frontier, he kept ahead of the primitive log 
scliool in which the children of pioneers often ob- 
tained their education, so that our subject never 
attended school until his father settled in Cooper 
CoHuty, Mo. Fortunately for him his sister had 
received a good education for those days, and she 
instructed her brothers and sisters at home. At the 
age of sixteen our subject left the paternal roof to 
make liis own way in the world, and the first year 
was employed as a farm laborer at $7 a month. In 
1847, during the Mexican War, he enlisted in the 
United States Armj-, with the expectation of go- 
ing to Mexico. His regiment, which was Icnown 
as the Oregon Battalion, was, however, sent to the 
Northwest Territory to guard the frontier, and 
was stationed at old Ft. Kearney, now Nebraslta 
City. Nebraslm was then an unorganized Terri- 
tory in possession of the Indians. Mr. Lowe 
remained at the garrison one month, was then dis- 
charged from the service, and engaged with Maj. 
Dougherty, who at the time had charge of the 
Government cattle which were herded on the river 
bottoms. In November of that year (1847) Mr. 
Lowe returned to Missouri and bought a tract of 
Government land in Atchison County, paying for 
it with monejf he had earned while in the service 
of the Government. The land was timber, and he 
rented other land for awhile until he could get 
enough of his own cleared for cultivation. In 1852 
he entered a tract of prairie land, settled on it, and 
improved a part of it. In 1854 he sold that, and 
in 1855, March 12, came to Otoe Countj^ and made 
a claim on the land on which he now resides. It 
had not been surveyed at the time, but when it 
came in the market he entered it at the land-office 
in Nebraska City. He has been a continuous resi- 
dent here since that time, and has witnessed almost 
the entire growth of Nebraska, Kansas, Western 
Missouri and Iowa. He now has a valuable farm 
comprising 637i^ acres under fine tillage, well sup- 
plied with suitable buildings and all the necessary 
farm macliinerj', so that in every respect his estate 
may be considered a model one. 

To the wife whose help and encouragement made 
his success possible, and who shares his prosperity, 
I\Ir. Lowe was united in marri.age Mareli 16, 1848. 



^^l 



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2o6 



OTOE COUNTY. 



She was formerly ]Mary A. Welsh, and was born 
April 18, 1828, in Jacteon County, Mo. Her father, 
James Welsh, was a native of North Carolina, and 
his father, Thomfis Welsh, was born in Ireland. 
He came to Americ-a accompanied by his wife, and 
settled in North Carolina, buying a tract of land in 
Haywood County, and resided there until his death. 
Mrs. Lowe's father grew to manhood in North 
Carolina, and after his marriage with Mary Gross, 
a native of Tennessee, he moved to Missouri, sev- 
eral families going at the same time, and the re- 
moval being made with teams and pack horses. He 
settled in Howard County as one of its pioneers. 
He bought timber land and built a log house, but 
he afterward removed to Jackson County, and was 
one of its very first settlers. He bought a tract of 
timber land there, on which he erected a log house, 
in which Mrs. Lowe was born. He continued to 
be a resident of that county until his death in 1847. 
His wife had preceded him to the better world in 
1844. Mrs. Lowe was carefully trained, and being 
sixteen years old when her mother died, many of 
the household cares fell on her young shoulders. 
She waa strong and self-reliant, and became a nota- 
ble housekeeper. She earlj^ learned to spin, weave 
and knit, and to her skillful hands the family owed 
their clothes. She became an excellent cook, and 
many an appetizing meal has shfe cooked before the 
old-fashioned fireplace, as it was not until 18.53 
that she had her first stove. The following is the 
record of the nine children, six of whom are living, 
who have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Lowe: James lives at Oberlin, Kan.; Francis M. 
lives in Ft. Calgory, Northwest Territory; Richard 
lives at lied Mountain, Col.; Lee is at home; Mary- 
married Henry Wlnton, of Nebraska City; Nancy 
Alice is the wife of Edward Lowe, of Nebraska 
City; Sarah L. M. was born June 2, 1858, and died 
Feb. 22, 1887; John Nicholas was born Sept. 28, 
1849, and died Oct. 9, 18.55; William Edward was 
born May 16, 1856, and died at tlie age of three 
years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lowe are faithful members of the 
Christian Church, and their religion shines through 
all their works. In the forty 3fears that they have 
traveled life's road together they have been true 
in all the relations of life to each other, and to 



"r 



those about them; as parents, their children have 
found in them their best friends; as neighbors, 
others have found in them safe and wise coun- 
selors and willing helpers; those in trouble have 
often found balm in their kindly expressed S3'm- 
pathj', and in their prosperity they have not been 
iinmindful of the unfortunate and needy, but have 
generously extended a helping hand. It is such 
people as these who raise the standard of morality 
and goodness in a community. In politics Mr. 
Lowe is a Democrat. 



ILTON F. MEEK is one of the younger 
but successful agriculturists of Otoe Pre- 
cinct, in this county, and operates ninety- 
five acres of fine farming land on section 
28. He was born on the 12th of .January, 1856, in 
Schuyler County, JIo. His father, Jefferson R. 
Meek, was born in Henry County, Ky., and brought 
up in Indiana, obtaining his education in the schools 
of that State. His mother's maiden name was Sophia 
Webster. Shortly after the marriage of his par- 
ents they settled in Missouri, being among the 
early pioneers of that State. There the mother 
died in 1858, leaving ten children. Those who bore 
the subjoined names alone gi-ew to mature years, 
viz.: Alfred, Susan, William, Frank, John, Nannie 
and JMilton F. By a second union the father of 
our subject became the parent of four other chil- 
dren. 

Until he w.as nine years of age Milton F. Meek 
lived in Schuyler County, but owing to constant 
depredations by lawless giierrilla bands, the family 
removed to Shelby Countj-, where he attended the 
district school and was brought up on the farm. 
In the summer of 1878 he came to Nebraska to 
pay a visit to his brother John, who had settled in 
this precinct in about the year 1873. He took a 
great liking to the covmtry, and was especially 
pleased at having the acquaintance of the lady 
whom he subsequently married. 

September 13, 1881, our subject was verj- happily 
married to Miss Grace Winyard, the amiable and ac- 
complished daugliter of John and Ann (Hodges) 
Winy.ard, the latter now l\Irs. Ann iMartin (see 



♦r:"- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



257 i ' 



her sketch for further items of interest). Miss Win- 
3'ard was born Dec. 3, 1862, upon the farm of 
her parents in this precinct. Her union has been 
blessed by the birtli of one child, whose name is 
Carlton L. jNIeek. 

Our subject and his wife are both earnest mem- 
bers of the Camp Creek Congregational Church, of 
which he has been a Trustee for several years. INIrs. 
Meek is the Secretary and Treasurer of the local 
W. C. T. U., which is in a flourishing condition, 
while her husband is no less active as a Prohibi- 
tionist. They are liighly esteemed in the community 
of which they are residents. 



IriljERNHARD HENRY NOELTING, a young 
l'i>C< man of enterprise, energy and recognized 
ability, is one of the foremost business men 
of Nebraska City. He is head of the firm of 
Noelting & Meyer, hardware merchants; he belongs 
to the Great "Western Fur Company, of which lie 
has been Secretary for some years; he is a Director 
in the Building and Loan Association, and is a 
member of the Board of Trade. 

Mr. Noelting is a native of Westphalia, Germany, 
born in the village of Wallenbrueck, count3' of Her- 
ford, twelve miles from the city of Bielefeld. His 
father, Herman Henry Noelting, w.as a lifelong resi- 
dent of the same place, making farming his occupa- 
tion until his death, while yet in the prime of life. 
There were two children born to him and his wife, 
our subject and his sister Catherine, who married 
Frederic Strunk, and now lives in the town of 
Berne, Count}' Bockum, Westphalia. The parents 
of the subject of this sketch were Herman Henry 
and Catharine M. E. (Wessling) Noelting, natives 
of Germany ; the father is deceased. The mother 
of our subject was born in the town of Werther, 
County Halle, Germanj', and is a daughter of 
Bernhard Henry and Katherine Ilsabeir (Pohlman) 
Wessling. She was married a second time, to 
Peter Henry Schwentker, and they have four daugh- 
ters. She still lives in the old country. 

Bernhard Noelting obtained a sound education 
in the schools of his native land, which he attended 
quite constantly until 1871, when he came to Amer- 



ica. He was quite young when he lost his father, 
but he was carefully trained by a good mother, and 
went forth into the world well fortified against its 
manifold temptations by the inculcation of good 
principles. After reaching the hospitable shores of 
this country, he proceeded immediatel}' to Ne- 
braska City, and soon found employment on a 
farm in Otoe County. He worked by the month 
there for two and a half years, and then returned 
to Nebraska City. Here he became a clerk iu the 
establishment of F. W. Rottman, and in the five 
and a half years that he remained with him he ob- 
tained a thorough practical knowledge of the ins and 
outs of trade. In the year 1880 Mr. Noelting started 
in business for himself, forming a partnership, and 
opening a hardware store under the firm name of 
Noelting, Kregel & Co. He has been in the busi- 
ness continuously since witii a change of partners. 
The first change was to Noelting & Rector in 1882, 
and in 1 884, after the death of Mr. Rector, Mr. 
Mej'er became his partner, under the firm name of 
Noelting & Meyer. This is the leading hardware 
firm in Nebraska City, has a well-stocked and well- 
appointed establishment, does a large business, and 
gives general satisfaction to its many patrons. The 
firm keeps a large supply of stoves, and they manu- 
facture their own tinware, pumps and windmills, 
and do a general gasfitting business. The present 
firm has a branch house at Union, Neb., which is 
well supplied with the same line of goods carried 
here, together with farm implements. 

Mr. Noelting has a keen, resolute, uncompromis- 
ing nature, and in his business and social relations 
his energetic character and practical sagacity find 
ample field for exercise. He is an active member 
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and a teacher 
in the Sunday-school. He is "strong in the faith, 
and seeks for the good and cherishes it." 



, EV. HIRAM HURST. After a long and 
active life of ministerial labor, this gentle- 
man has since 1884 lived retired, althoQgh 
jno less interested than formerly, before he 
attained the honor of the veteran in Gospel sol- 
diery. He now resides on section 1 of McWilliams 



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258 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Precinct, in the vicinity of Delta, where he has 
made his home since 1878, and of Nebraska since 
185.5. He has alw.a3's operated a farm in connec- 
tion with his preaching engagements, but gave the 
preference to the latter. His home was in Wj-oming 
Precinct from 1855 to 1878, when he took up his 
residence as at present. 

Our subject was ordained a minister of the Regu- 
lar Baptist Church some years after coming to the 
State, and has carried on that department of his 
life work with energy, spirit and effectiveness. He 
has been associated with the Baptist Church of this 
and Mills County, Iowa, and has built up several 
new churches, strengthening and reviving weak and 
semi-defunct organizations. The church at Delta 
in its organization and efHciencj-, and also the house 
of worship, are the result of his work, but only one 
of many instances that might be cited. The only 
reason for his leaving the pulpit and pastoral work 
was the failure of his health, which demanded tiiat it 
be transferred to younger and stouter, even though 
less able and experienced men. 

Mr. Hurst entered land upon coming to the State 
in 1855. He settled on and entered the same in 
Wyoming Precinct, and was one of the first in the 
county to do so. There he made his home, and 
brought up and educated a large family. He is a 
native of East Tennessee, and was born in Claiborne 
County on the 1st of March, 1821. His parents 
were West Virginians, and in that State his father, 
Joseph Hurst, was re.ared, married, and for several 
j-ears carried on farming. The maiden name of his 
wife, the mother of our subject, was RhodaMcNew. 
After the birth of several children Joseph Hurst 
and his wife moved to Claiborne County, Tenn. 
and there made a home for their little ones, but 
when their family had grown up, came to this State, 
where the father died aged seventy-eight years, and 
the mother about forty-eight years. They were 
for many years members of the Baptist Church, and 
were among the first to be baptized in Andrew 
County, Mo., whither they had gone from Tennes- 
see, and for a number of years had lived upon a 
farm. 

Our subject has been three times married. First 
in Andrew Count}', to Elizabeth Todd, who, al- 
though born in Indiana, had accompanied her par- I 



ents to Missouri in her childhood. They were 
neighbors to the familj' of Mr. Hurst, and fellow- 
members of the church. For some ye.ars after his 
marriage our subject continued farming in Missouri, 
moving later to Iowa, where he took a claim in 
Madison County in 1845, being perhaps the first to 
enter a claim in that county. After ten years spent 
in that district he removed as above mentioned in 
the year 1855 to Nebraska, where the old pioneer 
life was lived over again. Mrs. Hurst died in 
Wyoming Precinct, this county, when about fifty 
years of age, leaving eight children, viz: John M., 
who is now the husband of Hester Webb, and one 
of the successful farmers of the county; James H., 
who married Mollie Gray, and is one of the well-to- 
do farmers of Norton County, Kan.; William H., 
residing in the same county; Sarah, the wife of 
John Whetstone; Thomas Jefferson, at Edgar, and 
married to Josie Smith, of Cass County. Neb. ; 
Isaac N., who was married to Mollie Webb; Isabell, 
the wife of John Hughes, of this county, and 
Martha M., who is married to Steve Bales, of Tal- 
mage. 

The second marri.ige of our subject was cele- 
brated at Wyoming, the lady being Elizabeth Lewis, 
who was born in Indiana, but Mr. Hurst was not 
long to enjoy her companionship, as she died about 
one year after her marriage. Upon another occa- 
sion also our subject stood before the nuptial altar, 
and was united in marriage with Mrs. Ellen E. 
Wood, relict of Fred W. Wood. That gentleman 
was born in France. When but a little lad he ac- 
companied his parents to the United States, but 
subsequently was taken to England, where he was 
educated, and where he remained until he was of 
age. He then came to this country, and before 
long to Nebraska, locating in the western part of the 
State, where he met and married Miss E. E. Knox, 
now Mrs. Hurst. 

Miss Knox was born in Belmont County, Ohio, 
Nov. 25. 1844. and is the daughter of John and 
Agnes (Douglas) Knox. After the death of her 
mother she came with her father in the year 1856 
to Nebraska City, after tarrying in the State of Iowa 
for about four years. Soon after coming to this 
State Mr. Knox pre-empted land in West Otoe 
County, later in Th.ayer County, where he operates 



•> II 4* 



1 ^ <• 




f\ 



■2> 



ROCJ<FORD M. C. CHU/fCH . 



Residence OF A.J. Reynolds, Sec 29.5outh Branch Precinct. 




it^^m^^ 










Residence OF James Hunt, Sec. 7. South Branch Precinct. 




Mill and Residence of F. W.Schroeder , Sec.)?'. Syracuse: Precinct. 






' »» " ■ ^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



261 



liis farm. Mrs. Hurst made lier home with her 
father until her marriage with Mr. Wood, and has 
all her life been associated with agricultural life. 
She owns 160 acres of land, well improved and 
stocked, which her late husband obtained when a 
young man. He was by trade a mechanic in the 
line of carpenter. He died at his home in this 
county on the 8th of February, 1 846, at the age of 
forty-seven years. He was the father of seven 
children; two daughters, Katie A. and Katie E. are 
both deceased. The surviving children are named 
as follows: Charles W., May B.,Kate A., Lizzie G. 
and 8}'lvester H. By her second marriage there 
are four children, one. George H., being deceased. 
The remaining children are named as follows: 
Mary C, Edwin K. and Frederick H. 

Mr. Hurst still retains his membership in the 
Baptist Church, and is pleased to have his wife, two 
daughters and sons with him in that relation. Upon 
two occasions Mr. Hurst has been nominated for 
Kei)resentative of the county', but was defeated. 
For twenty j-ears he held the office of Justice of 
the Peace. Two sons of our subject were in the 
Rebellion, and represented the family in its patriotic 
devotion. One was wounded at Nashville, and the 
other honorablj- discharged, owing to ph3'sical disa- 
bility. Politicallj', our subject is a Democrat, and 
a stanch adherent of the party. 

ON. FRANCIS SIM, a well-known and 
wealthy citizen of Otoe County, was in for- 
mer days prominently identified with its 
pioneers, and is now one of its most pros- 
perous farmers. Since coming here thirtj^-two j'ears 
ago he has accumulated a large and valuable prop- 
erty, and the home that he has built for himself 
and family is one of the pleasantest in all Otoe Pre- 
cinct. He was born in County Cornwall, England, 
May 9, 1821. and his father and grandfather, both 
named Philip Sim, were natives of the same county. 
The latter was a farmer and a miller, and spent his 
entire life in the place of his birth. 

The father of our subject early learned the trade 
of wool-comber, but did not engage in that long, 
but went to butchering, and later was employed in 

-4* 



farming and milling. He remained a resident of 
Cornwall until 1850, and then came to America to 
live with his son. our subject, remaining with him 
in his home in Middletown, Conn., until 1856, when 
the son came to Nebraska, and he went to visit a 
nephew in Wisconsin. In the spring of 1 857 he 
came to Nebraska to make his home with his son, 
and died here in 1863. The maiden name of his 
wife, the mother of our subject, was Elizabeth 
Rowe, and she was a daughter of William and Jane 
(Dorrington) Rowe. She died about 1855 in her 
native town, in the county of Cornwall, England. 
There were four children born to her and her hus- 
band, three of whom grew to maturity. Our sub- 
ject and his father were the onlj' members of the 
family who came to the United States. 

Francis Sim was reared in his native town, and 
as soon as large enough he commenced to work in 
his father's mill, and learned from him the trade of 
miller. He was a very capable and spirited young 
man, and being ambitious to try life in the United 
States, where he thought his labor would be better 
remunerated, and that he would thus be enabled to 
gain a competence and establish a comfortable home, 
he set sail from Falmouth, April 19, 18-18, .and after 
a voyage of six weeks landed in New York City 
the following June. He made his way to Middle- 
town. Conn., where he found employment in a fac- 
tory for the manufacture of locks, hinges, etc. For 
three j'ears and ten months he was thus employed by 
one man. He then went to work in another factory, 
where squares, bevels and rules were made. At 
the end of a year he went to work in a pump fac- 
torj' for a year, owned by W. aiid B. Douglass. 
After that he opened a corporation boarding-house 
for the Russell Manufacturing Company, and was 
thus employed by that com pan}' until 1856, when 
he concluded to start West and try to secure a 
home where lands were chea|). 

During his residence in Connecticut Mr. Sim had 
married, in 1849, Miss Sarah M. Clark becoming 
his wife, and to her devoted assistance he is greatly 
indebted for his after success. She was born in 
Haddam, Conn., a daughter of Daniel and Wealthy 
(Burr) Clark, natives of Connecticut. There were 
ten children born of that marriage, four of whom 
are now living — Philip, William, John and Charles. 

■ » 



f 



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262 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Mrs. Sim departed this life April 11, 1880, leaving 
many friends to pay tribute to her worth. 

Mr. Sim's marriage to his present estimable wife 
togk place Dec. 3, 1880. She was formerly Miss 
Eliza Manery, a native of County Down, Ireland. 
Her father, John Manery, was born in the same 
county, and her grandfather, James Manery, was 
born in Countj' Armagh, Ireland, but he spent his 
last years in County Down. Mrs. Sim's father came 
to America in 1874, and settled in Thaj'er County, 
Neb., where he still resides. The maiden name of 
his wife was Eliza Kilpatrick, and she was likewise 
of County Down. Mrs. Sim came to America in 
1861, and resided in Quebec, Canada, until 18735 
when she came to Nebraska, and has lived here 
ever since. To them has been born a daughter, 
Elizabeth. 

When Mr. Sim came to Nebraska, in 1856, he 
went by steamer through Long Island Sound and 
up the Hudson River to Troj', N. Y., thence by 
rail to Buffalo, where he embarked on the lake for 
Detroit, from there to Chicago and St. Louis by rail, 
and from the latter point on a steamer to Nebraska 
Cit3', where he landed September 19. He bought 
a squatter's claim to a tract of land on section 23 
of Otoe Precinct, and he moved with his family 
into a log cabin standing on the place, and when 
the land came into the market he entered it from 
the Government at the land-of33ce in Nebraska City. 
Since then he has been very successful, and has 
added to his landed estate until he now owns 575 
acres of as rich and productive land as lies under 
the sunny skies of Nebraska. He has his land di- 
vided up into three fine farms, two of which are 
managed by his sons. Each of his farms is supplied 
with excellent and substantial frame buildings, and 
with all the appurtenances for conducting agri- 
culture in the most approved manner. 

In the thirty-two years that have passed since 
Mr. Sim came here to seek a home, he has witnessed 
the wonderful growth of Nebraska from an almost 
absolutely wild condition, with but few inhabitants, 
and with deer, wild turkeys, wolves and other wild 
animals roaming acrf>ss the boundless, uncultivated 
prairies, to a rich and powerful State, with magnifi- 
cent farms, thriving cities, busy towns and countless 
beautiful homes, with scarcely a trace of its former 



wildness, excepting, perhaps, in the more remote 
portions of the State. As a man of sound wisdom, 
ability and honesty, Mr. Sim became conspicuous 
among the early settlers of this State in Territorial 
days, and took an active part in public affairs. 
In 1863 he was elected as Representative to the 
Territorial Council, or Legislature. In politics he 
is a stanch Republican. 



if=T)REDERICK A. STUKENHOLTZ. Prosper- 
l^fgi ous and enterprising as a farmer, highly 
j^ esteemed in the community, and one of the 
most earnest supporters of educational and religious 
institutions, this gentleman is eminently worthy a 
place in a history of Otoe County. Moreover, he is 
one of its pioneers, and has done what has lain in 
his power to assist its onward and upward progress. 
He now owns 404 acres of splendid farming land, 
situated as follows: On section 29, sixty acres, on 
section 32. 160 acres, on section 31, 160 .acres, and 
on section 35, twenty-four acres. 

The subject of our sketch is the son of Frederick 
G. Stukenholtz, and was born near the city of Her- 
ford, Prussia, on the 2d of October, 1831. It was 
his misfortune to lose his mother when he was 
about four j'ears of age, her death occurring in the 
year 1835. ■ She left seven children, who bore the 
names here appended: Harmon H., Henny, Annie, 
Marj', Casper H., Frederick A. and Sophia. 

For the first thirty-six years of his life our sub- 
ject lived in Prussia, receiving a splendid home and 
good religious training, though his educational 
opportunities were very limited. His large enter- 
prise and love of liberty could not brook the re- 
straints of imperialism, and resulted in his coming 
to the " Land of the Free." He sailed from Bremen 
Sept. 14, 1851, in company with his sister Sophia, 
and arrived in New York on the 4th of November, 
1851. His first efforts to obtain work were made 
in Buffalo, where, beginning at the very bottom of 
the ladder, he began by cutting wood. After one 
year in that city he went to Lockport, Niagara 
County, and for two years worked upon a farm. 

While at Lockport our subject made the acquaint- 
ance of Anna M. E. llauptman, the daughter of 



•► I I <•• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



263 



i 



♦ 



Harmon and Catherine (Ilaabine) Flauptnian. who 
also loi^ked to the Fatlierland as tlie land of their 
birth. Their daughter Anna was the second of seven 
children born to them in their native land, and ac- 
companied them to this county, she being at the 
time about twenty years of age. 

In 1856 Mr. and Mrs. tStukenhoItz migrated to 
Jefferson County. Wis., but the following year came 
to this State, settling on the unbroken prairie, which 
was at that time entirely destitute of houses, homes, 
churches, schools, government or law, and almost of 
settlers. Life was held very cheap, and a shooting 
caused little or no remark. He took up a claim of 
eighty acres, and went to work with the splendid 
result that is apparent to all by a glance at his 
admirably cultivated and fertile, productive farm. 

The family circle of our subject included eight 
children, viz : An infant stillborn ; Annie P., Har- 
man II. (both deceased), Mary E., John F., Charles 
II., Ida (deceased) and Carrie. Mary P. is mar- 
ried to John Wellberger, of Otoe Precinct, and they 
have three little ones, whose names are Addie 
S., Nelson and Charles E. Carrie is the wife of 
John Maasr, of this precinct, and is the mother of one 
child. Ethel M. 

The religious home of our subject and his wife 
is within the pale of the German Methodist Episco- 
pal Church in Nebraska City, of which organization 
they were charter members, and our subject has 
been a Trustee from its commencement. He is not 
a leader in politics, but is a student and lover of 
the institutions &nd government of his adopted 
countr3', and alw.iys votes with the Republican 
party on National questions. 

-^ 



I 



/^j^\ RS. ANN MARTIN has been for many 
years identified with the various inter- 
ests of Otoe County, and is a lady of in- 
telligence and culture, an earnest temper- 
ance advocate, and very highly esteemed member of 
societ}'. Her home is situated upon section 28 of 
Otoe Precinct. Her parents, Richard and Grace 
(Balch) Hodges, were natives of England, and were 
the parents of six children, five of whom came to 
this country with their i)arents. Their first home 



in the New World was in Tompkins County, or. .as 
it is now called, Schuyler County, N. Y. The 
names of their children are as follows: Elizalteth, 
Janes; Palmice, who died in infancy; Ann, Maria 
and John R. 

The nativity of ]\Irs. IMartin dates from the 7tli 
of July, 1832, and her place of birth was near the 
city of Bath, Somerset County, England. When 
she came to America she was about eight years of 
age, and received her education in the common 
schools of this county, attending also at Peach 
Orchard Academy, Schuyler Count^^ Her mother 
died in the year 1847, at the age of fifty-nine years. 
The subject of our sketch began teaching in Schuy- 
ler County upon being graduated from the academy, 
and afterward taught in Chemung Countj', .and con- 
tinued to follow this profession in all about three 
years. 

In 1853, while upon a visit to her sister, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Jaquish, who resided at Barrington, in 
Cook County, III., our subject met Mr. John Win- 
jard, to whom she was afterward married. This 
gentleman Vfos born in England on the 21st of De- 
cember, 1827. He came to this country from England 
in 1849, and was farming in Cook County- at the 
time the acquaintance began. 

Mr. and Mrs. Winyard came to this State with 
their two children in 1858. They did intend to 
settle in Kansas, but becoming disgusted with the 
State after a short acquaintance, it being right in 
the midst of tlie Kansas and Nebraska troubles, they 
departed from their original intention and located 
three miles northwest of Palmyra Village, and Mrs. 
Winy.ard's husband died July 18, 1871. The father 
of Mrs. Winyard accompanied them to Nebraska; 
he died at the residence of his daughter in 1858. 
They were the parents of the following children: 
Amelia M.; Carrie E., who died when five ye.ars old; 
Libbie E., who died when two months old; Ilettie 
J., Grace E. and May A. 

Of the above-named children Amelia is now the 
wife of John Meek, a resident of Otoe Precinct; 
she had previously been married to John Carr, by 
whom she became the mother of two children — Ole 
F. and Preston W.; Hettie J. was the wife of Clar- 
ence B. Casselman, the well-known hardware mer- 
chant of Hendricks; she died in 1886. leaving two 



^^h^ 



1^ 

H^ 264 



"•►^P- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



children — Winnie M. and Frank W. Grace E. is now 
Mrs. Milton Meek, and lives on the old homestead; 
she has presented her husband with one bright, 
beautiful child, who bears the name Carlton L. 
Maj' A., who still makes her home with her mother, 
is single. 

The second marriage of our subject was celebrated 
in 1873, when she became the wife of Mr. Hiram 
Martin. He was a native of Oneida County, N. 
Y. Of this marriage one chUd was born, whose 
name is Maude L. Mrs. Martin is a member of the 
Congregational Church at Camp Creek, and is one 
of the prominent workers of the W. C. T. U., which 
has been in running order in this place for over 
two years. In this she is joined by her daughters, 
who are all actively engaged in the temperance 
cause, and are recognized leaders therein. 

«o« . i?' . ; i fl . t; » '?i «>-«o. 



•►Hh-<«- 



eHRlSTOPHER OELKE. Among the Ger- 
man-American citizens of Otoe Precinct, 
few are more loyal to the institutions and 
government of their adopted country, of higher 
character or more successful in business undertak- 
ings, than he whose life is herein sketched suc- 
cinctly. His home and farm are upon section 7 of 
the above precinct. His property comprises 1 34 acres. 

The subject of our sketch is the youngest of 
twelve children born to John and Catharine (Mj'er) 
Oelke. He was born on the 24th of Februarj', 1843. 
When his parents came to this country he was nine 
years of age. Their home was made in Clayton 
County, Iowa, where, about seven years later, his 
father died. After that event our subject began 
to work out upon the neighboring farms by the 
month. The following year he accompanied his 
brother-in-law, Henry Hyer, and came to this .State, 
where he followed the same course. The next 
year he went to Pike's Peak, but not being so suc- 
cessful as he anticipated he went to Virginia City, 
Mont., and worked in the silver mines for two 
years in the employ of a companj'. 

Leaving Montana Mr. Oelke went prospecting 
for himself, and developed a gulch mine on Silver 
Creek, and is reputed to have been the first to dis- 
cover silver on that creek, which was named bj' 



him on account of that event. Being desirous of 
making a change he sold his mine and bought 
stock in the Virginia City mines, but this was not 
a successful move. 

In 1865 the subject of our sketch returned to 
Nebraska and embarked in farming. In 1873 he 
celebrated his marriage with Miss Catharine Tlieile, 
the daughter of Frank and Margaret (Walder) 
Tbeile. She was born near Hamburg, and did not 
come to this country until 1870, when she was 
twent}' years of age, and came to Nebraska City. 
Her sister Lj'dia accompanied her in this long jour- 
ney, and both lived for a time in Nebraska City. 
There have been born nine children of this union, 
whose names are recorded as follows: Mary, Carl, 
Maggie, Chris Henry, Louis. Taj-lor, Arthur, Frank 
and Harry (twins). 

Mr. Oelke purchased 160 acres in 1880, and when 
the Missouri Pacific railroad was built he sold twen- 
t3'-six acres to that railroad for a town site, at $75 
per acre, on which is loc.ited the station and village 
of Paul. This left him his present property of 134 
acres, and since that time, by patient, persevering 
industry, he has brought it from an unimproved con- 
dition to its present productive, fertile state. His 
last improvement was the erection of a very pleasant 
and commodious one and a half story frame dwell- 
ing, whicii is designed to meet every requirement 
of home life, so far as such is possible. In poli- 
tics he is a stanch Republican, and has so been for 
many years, although not taking a very prominent 
place in political affairs. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. 
Oelke are members of the German Lutheran Church, 
where they are much esteemed, as the^^ are indeed 
wherever they ate known. 

^ .^^ «^ 



RUNE BRUNS. The property of this well- 
to-do farmer of Rock Creek Precinct com- 
|; prises 160 acres of fertile land, embracing 
the northwest quarter of section 20. Of 
late years he has been giving especial .attention to 
stock-raising, and keeps some excellent breeds of 
cattle and hogs. He has been a resident of this 
county for a period of twenty-six years, coming to 
Nebraska with his parents during its Territorial 



■•►-*- 



»► II <• 



.^h 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•2G5 



i 



(laj'S. He located on his present farm in March, 
1884, and during a comparatively !)rief residence 
upon it has effected some line improvements. 

The parents of our subject. Ocke and Fannj' 
(Wallmann) Bruns, were horn in what was then the 
Kingdom of Hanover, German}', which was also the 
birthplace of their son Brune, where he first opened 
his eyes to the light Nov. 15, 1853, and was the 
eldest son of a famil}' of five children. They set 
out for the United States in the summer of 1862, 
when our subject was a lad of nine years, embark- 
ing on a sailing-vessel, landing seven weeks later in 
the city of New York. They made their way di- 
I'ectly to Nebraska, the father selecting a tract of 
land on section 19 of McWilliams Precinct, this 
county, where he became owner of 170 acres, from 
which he has built up a comfortable homestead, and 
where, with his estimable wife, he still lives. The 
father is sixty-six j-ears old and the mother fifty- 
six. Both are members in good standing of the 
Lutheran Chureii, and people greatly respected in 
their community 

The first lessons of our subject were conducted 
in the schools of his native Province, but his edu- 
cation was completed in McWilliams Precinct, this 
countj'. Here also he was reared to manhood, and 
married Miss Gesine Yarenhorst, who was born 
near the town of Etzel, Hanover, .June 20, 1854. 
Her parents were Phillip and Gesine (Wall) Yaren- 
horst. Thej' were of pure German ancestry, and 
still continue residents of their native Empire, the 
father pursuing his calling of agriculturist, and be- 
ing now quite well advanced in j-ears. 

Mrs. Bruns was reared to womanhood in her na- 
tive Province, and came alone to America when 
twenty years of age. She also proceeded directly 
westward across the Mississippi to this county, and 
lived with her husband's parents in McWilliams 
Precinct until her marriage. Of her union with 
our subject there were born five children, the sec- 
ond f)f whom, a son, Rudolph, died when a bright 
and interesting lad of nine years. The survivors 
are three daughters and one son. and named respect- 
ively: Fannj-, Lena, Anna and Ocke. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bruns, like their parents before them, are connected 
with the Lutheran Church, and our subject, politi- 
^ ' cally, is independent, aiming to support the men 



whom he considers best qualified for office. He is 
a quiet and unassuming citizen, having no desire 
for official honors, preferring to give his undivided 
attention to his home and bis family. He has ful- 
filled all the obligations of an honest man and a 
good citizen, being prompt in his business trans- 
actions, and a member of the community whose 
word is considered as good as his bond. 



-^•- 



|E^OX. LOULS HOEBEL, President of the Bank 
Ijji; of Syracuse, and widely known throughout 
l^^^ the count}' as one of the large grain dealers, 
(^ having his headquarters at Hildreth and Up- 
land, was born in Freeport, Stephenson Co., 111., on 
the 17th of December, 1842. He is a son of Jacol) 
and Elizabeth Hoebel, who were natives of Bavaria, 
Germany, where they grew to years of maturity 
and were married. In the year 1842 they deter- 
mined to emigrate to the New AVorld, and upon 
effecting their purpose settled upon a farm near 
Freeport. Mr. Hoebel, Sr., became the owner of 
140 acres of good farming land, which he was en- 
abled to bring to an almost perfect condition for 
agricultural purposes. He erected first-class build- 
ings for the various requirements of the farm, and 
also a comfortable farm residence. 

The father of our subject died in the year 1882, 
after an active, and upon the whole, prosperous life 
of eighty-two years, having survived his wife, the 
mother of our subject, since the year 1857. They 
were the parents of six children, all of whom at- 
tained to years of maturity, but of whom two. 
Peter and John, are now deceased. The surviving 
members of the famil}' are: Jacob, whose home is 
in Stephenson Count}-, 111.; Phillips, who resides in 
Benton County, Iowa; Catherine, now Mrs. Sprat- 
ler, and Louis, the subject of this sketch. 

The early years of the youth and manhood of our 
subject were spent in his native county. He was 
brought upon his father's farm, and attended the pub- 
lic school near by. Between the two the work of his 
education went on, and when he was fifteen years 
of age he started to learn the trade of a tinner. 
This he followed at Freeport until he attained his 
majority, when he went to Benton County, Iowa, 

■> J *^ 



-11^ 



266 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and engaged in the hardware business with bis 
brother, and continued therein until the 1st of 
January, 1880. Our subject then came to Syra- 
cuse, and associated himself with Walter Peet as a 
partner in a banking-house, which they established, 
and which has become an incorporated bank, and is 
that over which our subject now presides. In 1886 
he embarked in the grain trade at Hildreth and Up- 
land, to which he has since given much of his time 
and attention. To say that he is successful is 
almost unnecessary, for the record of his life is that 
whatever he has undertaken he has conducted to a 
desirable finish. 

Mr. Hoebel became the husband of Katie Sauer, 
at Freeport, in June, 1865. This lady, who is the 
daughter of Ambrose and Terisa Sauer, was born 
at Baden-Baden, April 30, 1845. When her par- 
ents came to this country she was twelve years of 
age. They first settled at Freeport, 111., and en- 
gaged in farming. There have been born to our 
subject four children, whose names are as follows: 
Carrie, Ida, Fred and Edwin. 

The political relations of our subject are with the 
Democratic party. He was enthusiastically elected 
to represent his district in the Lower House of the 
State Legislature. He has also served one term in 
the State Senate. He is a prominent member of 
the Masonic fraternity, and is well received in it 
by his fellows. In addition to bis other business 
interests he is President of the Upland Banking 
Company, at Upland. He resides upon his farm, 
which is pleasantly situated near Syracuse, and is 
an extensive land-owner in other parts of this State 
and Kansas. He is a man of character, of business 
qualities, shrewd, of large intelligence, and one re- 
spected and esteemed by all. 



,HADAMANTHUS H. SCOFIELD, Prin- 
cipal of the public schools at Syracuse, 
traces his ancestry back to England, whence 
^the first representatives of the family in 
this country emigrated to America during its Co- 
lonial daj's. History records the fact that some 
time between 1594 and 1600 a boy was born in 
England, among whose descendants are now found 



-<•- 



noted Generals, eminent divines, and bright lights 
in nearlj^ every calling or profession in which man 
is engaged. The name of this boy was Daniel 
Scofield, and he must have been a venturesome 
lad, as it is believed he took passage in the "May- 
flower," which landed on Plymouth Rock in De- 
cember, 1620. There have now elapsed 268 years, 
and the Scofield family is scattered over the whole 
length and breadth of the land, having reached the 
tenth generation, of which our subject is a repre- 
sentative, and who probably aggregate 500 souls. 
Some time ago they formed an association for the 
purpose of holding annual reunions and preserving 
their records. The first meeting was held in 1866, 
at which time eighty-five members were present. 
The 3'ear following the meeting included 151 mem- 
bers, and the third session was attended by 212. The 
next meeting, appointed for Aug. 16, 1889, is to 
be held at the home of Levi Loomis, in Ashville, 
N. Y. 

Seymour Scofield, the father of our subject, was 
born in the town of Greenfield, Saratoga Co.. N. Y., 
in 1805, and enjoys the distinction of being the 
oldest living member of his race, although they are 
noted for longevity. He grew to manhood, becom- 
ing familiar with agricultural pursuits, and mar- 
ried Miss Eliza Scofield, a distant relative. During 
the year 1844 they took up their residence in Jef- 
ferson County, N. Y., where the father eliminated 
a good farm from the heavy timber. In 1856 he 
changed his residence to Chautauqua County, where 
he now resides, and though crippled in his lower 
limbs, possesses all his mental faculties in a high 
degree, and is a fine, handsome, intelligent and 
high-spirited old gentleman. The faithful and af- 
fectionate wife and mother, who has jouruej^ed 
with him for a period of fifty-seven years, is also 
living, and although seventy-seven j^ears of age, 
loolts as .young as a lady of sixty. 

This aged and honored pair became the parents of 
ten children, eight of whom are living, and residents 
mostly of New York and Pennsylvania. Rhada- 
manthus II., our subject, was their fourth child, 
and was born at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., Oct. 27, 
1839. He was but a boy when the family removed 
to Chautauqua County, and there secured his edu- 
cation in the common schools and academies. His 



I- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



parents being in limited circumstances, he made his 
own living from early youth, employing himself at 
whatever he could tind to do, and pa3'ing his way 
through school. He finally developed into a teacher, 
and having a thirst for learning, succeeded finally 
m entering the State Normal School, of Edinboro, 
Pa., where he was nearly prepared for graduation 
at the outbreak of the Reliellion. This crisis in the 
nation's history aroused the patriotism of the stu- 
dents generally, and our subject, with others, en- 
listed in a Pennsylvania regiment of infantrj-, but 
on account of phj'sical disability was in a short 
time discharged. 

Young Scofleld now resumed teaciiing in his 
native State for a time, and then visited "Whiteside 
County, 111., where he taught one term. The ex- 
citement of the oil discovery in Pennsylvania being 
now at its height, he visited the region where wells 
were being developed, but after experimenting 
there for a time, concluded there was nothing for 
him in that region, and returning to Illinois, taught 
school during the winter seasons, and spent his va- 
cations in traveling over different States. While re- 
siding in Morrison, 111., he made the acquaintance of 
Miss Lottie McDearmon, to whom he was married 
in September, 1868. Mrs. Scofleld was born in 
Aurora, N. Y., on the 22d of March, 1840, and 
early in life removed with her parents to Chicago, 
111., and later to Whiteside County, that State, 
where she was graduated from IMt. Carroll Seminary. 

Mr. and Mrs. Scofleld after their marriage set- 
tled in Chautauqua, N. Y'.,and our subject devoted 
himself to teaching. Later he assumed charge of 
the public schools at Blairstown, Iowa, and subse- 
quently held the same position at Iowa Falls and 
Sidnej^ that State. In 1883 he invested in land 
in Madison County, Neb., and had then made up 
his mind to become a tiller of the soil. He was 
obliged to abandon this project on account of the 
failing health of his wife. He then took charge 
of the schools at Madison, but was soon c6mpelled 
to resign his position. Mrs. Lottie Scofleld de- 
parted this life at her home in Madison, April 2, 
1885, leaving four small children — Ralph, Ernest, 
Hattie and Bertha. The home of our subject was 
then broken up, and his little girls were sent to 
Portland, Ore., to live with an aunt, while Ralph 



remained in Madison and Ernest was taken into 
the home of an uncle living in Missouri. For some 
time after Mr. Scofleld was unalile to confine him- 
self to any one place, but in 1886 was called to 
take charge of the schools at Syracuse, which he 
arranged according to the graded system, and in 
1888 graduated a class of four members. 

On the 7tli of June, 1887, Mr. Scofleld contracted 
a second marriage, with Mrs. Juana L. Sanderson, 
who was born in Lincolnshire, England, but came 
to the United States with her parents when quite 
young. She is a lady of excellent education, and 
has followed teaching for some years. She has been 
since her marriage associated with lier husband as 
assistant teacher in the schools of Syracuse. 

The Scoflelds, from father to son, through many 
generations, have been stanch supporters of Demo- 
cratic doctrines, and our subject is no exception to 
the rule. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and a sosial, 
genial, intelligent gentleman, who numbers his 
friends by scores, and whose home is a most at- 
tractive resort for the cultivated element of society. 



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i^^'HOMAS ANDREWS, of Russell Precinct, 
((^^ owns and operates a snug farm of 101 acres 
^^^ on section 30. His homestead is one illus- 
trative of peace and contentment, and his domestic 
affairs are presided over by a lady of more than 
ordinary abilities, both as a helpmate and house- 
keeper, the dwelling within being a picture of taste, 
cleanliness and beauty. St. Paul, during his jour- 
neyings and philosophizings, once remarked that 
"Cleanliness is next to godliness," and the intelli- 
gent individual will heartily coincide with him in 
this sentiment. Mrs. Andrews evidently believes 
entirely in tlie truth of it, and carries it out in her 
daily life. 

Mr. and Mrs. Andrews are approaching the after- 
noon of lives which have been well spent, during 
which they have lived at peace among their neigh- 
bors, and shed a good influence around them. 
Our subject is the eldest of twelve children, tiie 
offspring of Bartholomew and Philamela (Merriam) 
Andrews, who were natives of Litchfleld, Conn., 
the father born in 1790, and the mother flve years 



i^ 



t- 



.>-ll-^ 



2G.S 



OTOE COUNTY. 



.^h^ 



later, in 1795. The paternal grandfather, Lyman 
Andrews, was of English ancestry, but born in 
Connecticut, and the maternal grandfather, Thomas 
Merriam, was also a native of Connecticut, where it 
is supposed he spent his entire life. 

Bartholomew Andrews when a young man twenty- 
two years of age was drafted into the army dur- 
ing the War of 1812, but on account of illness vvas 
unable to serve. He had in the meantime with his 
parents taken up his residence in Saratoga County, 
N. Y., to which they had migrated when he was a 
little lad four years of age. There the parents of 
our subject were married. In 1815 they moved 
to Onondaga Countj', N. Y., where the father pur- 
chased sixty acres of heavily timbered land, from 
which he cleared a farm, where he erected a sawmill, 
and by means of the two together accumulated a 
fine property. There he spent the remainder of his 
days, his death taking place Oct. 12, 1867. The 
mother survived her husband a period of eighteen 
years, remaining a widow, and died on the 13th of 
April, 1885, at the advanced age of ninetj'. 

The twelve children of the parental family were 
as follows: Thomas, our subject; Gamsej'; Hannah, 
deceased ; Noah ; Caroline and Lavina, deceased ; 
Edwin, Titus; Curtis, deceased; Solomon, Clarissa 
and Almira, the two latter also]deceased. Solomon 
during the Civil War enlisted in the 3d Iowa Bat- 
tery, which was stationed most of the time around 
Little Rock, Ark., and after the expiration of his 
first term of enlistment volunteered the second time. 
He is now in Iowa. The surviving members of the 
family are mostly residents of Nebraska and New 
York. 

Thomas Andrews, our subject, the eldest child of 
his parents, was born in Onondaga Countj', N. Y., 
April 14, 1817. He made his home with his par- 
ents until reaching his majority, in the meantime 
receiving a common-school education. He then 
learned the cooper's trade, which he followed for a 
period of ten years. He was married while a resi- 
dent of New York State, after which he followed 
farming two years, then going to Walworth County, 
Wis., resumed his trade and lived there also two 
years, at the same time carrying on farming in a 
modest way. 

In 1853 our subject, seized with the gold fever. 



made his way to California, and in company with 
his brother staking a claim in Sacramento County, 
was engaged most of the time thereafter for a period 
of ten j'ears in hunting for the yellow ore. Not- 
withstanding his perseverance he met with indiffer- 
ent success, and 1863 found him on his wa}' to 
his old home in Onondaga County, N. Y. He lived 
there three years, then moved to Wisconsin. 

In 1875, once more crossing the Mississippi, Mr. 
Andrews purchased 240 acres of laud in Keokuk 
County, Iowa, in partnership with his brother, 
which they operated together until 1877, and then 
Thomas disposed of his interest in the property to 
his brother. With the proceeds he purchased 160 
acres in Jefferson, Iowa, which he sold in 1884, 
and determined to experiment upon the soil of 
Nebraska. The result was his purchase of the 
homestead whicli he now owns and occupies. Upon 
this he has made great improvements, setting out 
groves and an orchard and hedge, and otherwise 
gathering together the appliances forming the com- 
plete rural home. He has of late years given his 
attention largely to stock-raising, dealing in cattle, 
hogs and horses, the latter embracing the celebrated 
Hambletonians and Clydesdales. 

Mr. Andrews was first married in Onondaga, 
N. Y., Feb. 28, 1847, to Miss Julia A., daughter of 
Oliver and Clarissa F. Hill, who was born in that 
county Jan. 10, 1824. Her parents were natives 
respectively of Vermont and New York State, and 
the father a cabinet-maker by trade. They spent 
their last j'ears in New York. Of this marriage 
there was born one child only, Julia A., who is now 
the wife of John McGonogel, and resides in Onon- 
daga County, N. Y; they have two children. Mrs. 
Julia A. Andrews departed this life at her home in 
New York, in 1848. 

Our subject and his present wife, who in her girl- 
hood was Miss Mary A. Rush, were united in mar- 
riage in Keokuk County, Iowa, May 9, 1869. Mrs. 
Mary Andrews was born in Westmoreland County, 
Pa., Jan. 10, 1844, and is the daughter of Joseph 
and Catherine (Auttman) Rush, who were also 
natives of th.it county. They moved to Iowa in 
1858, where the father followed farming, and where 
he is still living, being now seventy years of age. 
The mother died Aug. 28, 1888. Of this union of ^ ' 




Residence of Lars Andersen Sec.30. Delaware Precinct. 



•►HI-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



271 iL 



J,H 



our subject there have been born five children, 
namely: Lovina; A. B., deceased; Cora, May and 
Rosa. The survivors are all at home with their 
parent". Mr. Andrews cast his first Presidential 
vote for Harrison, and is a stanch Republican "dyed 
in the wool." He has been a member of tlie School 
Board of his district for the past three years, and in 
religious matters belongs to the Baptist Church at 
Eden school-house, in which he officiates as Sujier- 
intendent of the Sunday-school. 

To Joseph and Catherine Rusli, the parents of 
Mrs. Andrews, there were born eight cliildren, one 
son and seven daughters, namely : Mary A., John, 
Lizzie; Susan, who died when about eighteen years 
old; Trac3'; Frances, deceased; Maggie, and Lucy, 
deceased. The last two were twins. Five of the 
children are surviving, and mostl3' residents of 
Iowa. 



bARS AKDERSEN. The Old World has 
, given thousands of the best of her sons to 
1 the development of the AVestern Continent, 
and among these the subject of this sketch forms a 
worthj' example. He is one of the most prosper- 
ous farmers of Delaware Precinct, where he owns 
160 acres of good land on section 30. By a process 
of careful cultivation he has brought it to a very 
fertile condition, and upon it has erected good 
buildings, including one of the handsomest resi- 
dences in this locality, a view of which appears on 
the adjoining page. He has done much of his own 
carpenter work, being a natural mechanic, and thus 
has s.aved an outlay of .hundreds of dollars. Our 
subject has an orchard comprising about 400 vari- 
ous fruit trees, and had last year over 100 bushels 
of fine peaches. 

Our subject presents most forcibly- the illustr.a- 
tion of the self-made man, as he began in life 
dependent upon his own resources. His earliest 
recollections are of a modest home in the Kingdom 
of Denmark, where his birth took place Feb. 23, 
1847. His parents were Anders Madsen and Else 
C. (Sorensen) Andersen, natives of the same Prov- 
ince as their son, and wliose household consisted of 



eleven children. Of these latter nine are living, 
and are residents of Denmark. 

]\Ir. Andersen received a common-school educa- 
tion, and during his youth and early manhood 
employed himself at farming. He continued upon 
his native soil until a man twenty-five years of 
age, and then, desirous of something better than the 
prospect held out to him there, set sail in the 
spring of 1872 for the United States. He made his 
way at once to Nebraska, and for several years was 
emplo3'ed as a Laborer in Nebraska Cit}'^ and vicin- 
itj-. In the meantime he saved what he could of 
his earnings, and finallj' rented a tract of land and 
commenced farming. He was thus employed until 
taking possession of his present land. 

Mr. Andersen was m.arried in tlie month of 
October, 1879, to Miss Christina Christensen, the 
wedding taking place at the home of the bride in 
Nebraska Citjr. Mrs. Andersen is the daughter of 
Christian Nelson and Meren (Jensen) Christensen, 
natives of Denmark, and was born Sept. 21, 1852, 
in Denmark. Of her union with our subject there 
is only one child living, a son, Cliarles, although 
thej' have been the parents of five. 

JNIr. Andersen upon becoming a naturalized citi- 
zen identified himself with the Republican party, 
the principles of which he is still a warm supporter. 
He, however, meddles very little with politics, and 
has no desire for office. He commenced from first 
principles in the building up of his f.arm, there 
having been very little attempt at improvement on 
bis land at the time of its purchase. He certainly 
deserves great credit for his achievements, which 
cannot otherwise than have been the result of per- 
sistent industry and the wisest management. He is 
esteemed among his neiglibors as an honest man 
and first-class citizen, and one emiuentl\' worthy 
of representation in this work. 



W.^ ERMAN WACHENDORF, ''mine host" of 
~ the European House and Restaurtint, at Tal- 
mage, is numbered among the energetic 
_ business men of the place, and one who is 

contrilniting his full quota to it.'; importance as a 




■^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



i: 



growing town. He came to the place in the spring 
of 1882, and put up a building, within which he 
established the first permanent restaurant and sa- 
loon in the place, and which he has since con- 
ducted in a highly successful manner. This being 
the beginning of his business career, his success has 
been a little bej'ond the ordinarj-, his good sense 
in a large measure supplying the lack of experience. 
Among the many views presented in this volume 
is one of the business place of this enterprising 
gentleman. 

A native of the Province of Hanover, Germanj', 
our subject was born Feb. 10, 1854, and crossed 
the Atlantic when a youth of eighteen years. Soon 
after setting foot upon American soil he proceeded 
to Lafayette County, Wis., where he engaged in 
farming, and in IMarch, 1875, was married to Miss 
Addie Koppamann. This lady was also a native of 
Germany, and came to the United States when a 
young woman. She onlj^ survived her marriage a 
few years, her decease taking place in Belmont Pre- 
cinct, Otoe County, this State, in the fall of 1880. 
Her death was caused by eating meat affected by 
trichina — the flesh of a pet pig which she had 
raised herself. Mr. W. and a daughter were also 
taken seriously ill from the same. 

Of this marriage of our subject there had been 
born two children, daughters, of whom Lizzie, the 
elder, is now living with an aunt in Burlington, 
Iowa, and Anna, with an uncle in Colsburg, Iowa. 
Mr. Wachendorf contracted a second marriage, 
Nov. 9, 1881, in Belmont Precinct, with Miss Celia 
Strochmann, also a native of Germany, who came 
to America when a young lady. Her father, Fred- 
erick Strochmann, is a resident of Nebraska Citj-. 
Of this union there have been born four children, 
one of whom, John, died in infancy. The sur- 
vivors are Celia, Lena and Dora T. 

John Wachendorf, the father of our subject, 
spent his entire life in his native Province of Han- 
over, Germany. He married a lady of his own na- 
tionality, INIiss Anna Robbins, who died when her 
son Herman was a lad nine years of age. The lat- 
ter came to this State after his marriage, and lo- 
cated first in Belmont Precinct, this county, where 
he established a little country store in the winter 
of 1879. He is developing into a thorough busi- 

^1 



ness man, is becoming fully identified with the in- 
terests of his adopted country, and uniformly votes 
the straight Demc)cratic ticket. 

<¥/ OHN SCHARP, of Wyoming Precinct, is the 
owner of a fine farm of 320 acres, pleasantly 
located on section 16. Upon this he has 
Labored industriously since the spring of 
1857, when he secured ownership to IGO acres, and 
b^an the building up of the homestead which is 
now looked upon with an admiring eye by all wlio 
pass by it. The buildings, tasteful and substantial, 
are eminentlj' creditable to the proprietor, and pos- 
sess all the conveniences required by the modern 
agriculturist. The fences are kept in good order, 
the live stock is well fed and sheltered, and the 
machinery for the prosecution of agriculture is of 
the latest improved pattern. JMr. Seharp occupies 
a prominent position in social and business circles, 
and has been no unimportant factor in the develop- 
ment of the liest interests of this part of tlie county. 

Our subject looked upon Nebraska during its 
Territorial da3's, having come to this county as 
early as 1857. ten years before it was admitted into 
the Union as a State. He settled then in Wyoming 
Precinct, of which he has since been a resident. A 
native of Denmark, he was born Feb. 9, 1843, and 
when a lad of fourteen years emigrated to America 
with his father, with whom he lived until reaching 
his majority. The father was accidentally killed 
by a runaway team in June, 1885. He was a far- 
mer by occupation, and was married in his native 
country to Miss Mattie Houschildt, by whom he 
became the father of six clfildren, five living, and 
all in Otoe, Neb. 

Our subject, when prepared to establish a home 
and domestic ties of his own, was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Katie Gruber, who was a native of 
one of the Rhine Provinces, Germany. She was 
born May 1, 1858, and came to America with her 
parents when a child nine years of age. The lat- 
ter were Jacob and Maggie (Young) Gruber, and 
after coming to the United States they crossed the 
Mississippi, settling in Cass County, Neb., where 
they are still living. Their family consisted of two 



•► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



273 



sons and six daiiglitei's, and Mrs. S. remained a 
member of the [larental iiouseiiold until her mar- 
riage. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born six children, one of whom, a son, Herbert, 
died in infancy. Tlie survivors are Mattie, Henry, 
Trinn, Herman and Melanie Rose. The eldest is 
twelve j'ears of age and the youngest fifteen months, 
and tlieyareall at home with their parents, forming 
an interesting group of which the latter may well 
be proud. Mr. Scharp has been a prominent man 
in his community, looked up to by his neighbors, 
and respected by all who know him. He votes the 
straigiit Republican ticket, but has carefully avoided 
the responsibilities of office, preferring to devote 
his time and attention to his fai'ming interests. 
From a modest beginning he has accumulated a 
good property, the result of his own industry and 
perseverance, he being from the first dependent 
upon his own resources. 



"w; 






»?w 



^^5$ W. OILMAN, f-ngaged in a prosperous drug 
il[ (^f) business in Talmage, also deals in all kinds 
^^i|) of stationery, silverware, jewelry, etc., and 
b}' his straightforward methods of doing business is 
in the enjoyment of a good patronage. He estab- 
lished in business here in June, 1885, and carries a 
full line of the articles pertaining thereto. He is 
one of the younger business men of the community, 
and bids fair to occupy a prominent position in the 
near future. 

Mr. Oilman is a true Westerner, having been 
born on the sunset side of the Mississippi, on the 
Platte River, at Cottonwood Springs, Oct. 27, 1862. 
He was one of the first white children claiming 
their nativity in Nebraska, his early home being 
only fifteen miles from Ft. McPherson, where the 
great conflict with the Sioux Indians took place in 
18G5. His father, J. K. Oilman, operated a ranch 
and a freight line from Nebraska City to Ft. Mc- 
Pherson, and lost during the Indian raids several 
thousand dollars' worth of cattle and mules. In 
addition to his other interests he was for a time in 
the employ of the Government, and also filled a 
contract of getting out ties for the Union Pacific 



Railroad Company. He dealt largely with the In- 
dians, and his intercourse with them was tempered 
with such good judgment that they became very 
friendl}' to him, and he acquired a perfect knowl- 
edge of their language, as also did his family, being 
able to speak it fluently. This was a great advan- 
tage to him, and after the general raids spoken of, 
the Indians never molested hira or his family. 

The father of our subject, with his estimable wife, 
was on the pkins a period of four years, during 
which time their son G. W. was born. He wore 
for his first suit a pretty buckskin outfit, which 
was made for him by an Indian squaw, and which 
he preserves to this day. It is hardly necessary to 
say that it is looked upon by his children and 
friends with a great deal of interest. The elder 
Oilman finally decided to return to the bounds of 
civilization with his family, and placing them in 
safety in Nebraska City, he again went to the fron- 
tier with S. F. Nuckolls, one of the prominent pio- 
neers of the State, and Ihej' began mining in the 
Wahsatch Mountains, in Utah Territory', remaining 
in that region for a period of eight years. Instead of 
getting rich, however, Mr. Oilman lost largely, like 
many others at that time. In 1876, in company 
with Robert Hauke of Nebraska City, he went to 
Dakota, and became the owner of thirteen acres of 
land, upon which is located the city of Deadwood. 
For some years he also owned two of the principal 
stores there, and the property was the subject of an 
extended litigation in which Mr. Oilman and his 
friend, Mr. Hauke, as plaintiffs, won their case each 
time, although necessarily at great exjjense. 

The father of our subject this time met with 
some success as a miner, then returned to Nebraska 
City, and not long afterward was seized with the 
fatal illness which terminated his life, Jan. 21, 1887. 
His was a very checkered career, and one in which 
he saw much of the world and men. He was born 
at the foot of Mt. Washington, in New Hampshire, 
July 3, 1829, and came of an old and highly re- 
spected New England family. During his younger 
years he frequently served as a guide for visitors 
to Mt. Washington, which then as now was a popu- 
lar summer resort. At the age of fifteen years he 
was given a Government position as engineer on 
the dry docks, at Pensacola, Fla., and thus early in 

9^^ 



•►Hl^ 



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M» 



i74 



OTOE COUNTY. 



1 ' 1 



life gained a good knowledge of general business. 
He was driven from Florida on account of the yel- 
low fever, taking passage on a lumber vessel, whicli 
was wrecked a few days later off the coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico, and he, with one of his companions, 
floated for three days on a piece of the wreck, and 
were picked up half starved and nearly exhausted. 
During this time tliey had saved a little flour, which 
they wet, and dried in the sun, and ate to keep life 
within them. Upon being rescued young Oilman 
sought his old home in New Hampshire, and re- 
mained there until reaching his majorit}', when he 
came to Nebraska. 

The mother of our subject was in her girlhood 
Miss Martha Fitchie, a notice of whose family will 
be found in the sketch of William Campbell, on 
another page in this volume. She survives her 
husband, and is now a resident of Nebraska City. 
She was a true pioneer wife and mother, a woman 
of more than ordinary intelligence and force of 
character, and amply fitted to battle with the diffi- 
culties of the varied career which she shared with 
her husband. 

The subject of this sketch received his education 
in the schools of Nebraska City, and entered upon 
his business career as clerk in the drug-store of Sloan 
& T3aker, with whom he remained three years, and 
subsequently was with James Reed for the same 
length of time. His wife was formerly Miss Grace 
E. Gregory, and a sketch of her family will be 
found in the biography of S. C. Gregory, elsewhere 
in this volume. Mr. Gilmau, as a citizen, is public- 
spirited and liberal, and politicalh% votes with the 
Democratic party. 

1 ASIL E. NEWTON, who is filling the honor- 
able and responsible position of editor of 
the Palm3'ra Pilot, and in that relation is 
widely known throughout the count}- and 
even beyond its oorders, is the worthy son of Ben- 
jamin H. and Amanda C. (Edmundson) Newton, 
who were natives of Ft. Smith, Ark., and Dalton, 
Ga., respectively. The Newton family is not alto- 
gether unknown iii history; the early representa- 
tives of this family came from France and settled 



in Louisiana in Colonial days. The father of our 
subject was a General and served on Wheeler's 
staff, in the Confederate Army, also under Long- 
street at Chickamauga, and under Joe Johnston at 
the surrender of that General after the war was 
practically closed by the action of Gen. Lee. The 
maternal side of the family represented the Union- 
ists, and their sentiments and feelings were very 
strong in that direction. Upon the announcement 
of the secession every house in Spring Place, ex- 
cept James Edmundson's, was brilliantly illumi- 
nated, and nothing but his high position and vast 
wealth prevented his being invited to take hasty 
leave. This gentleman, who was the grandfather of 
our subject, served as a State Senator for a num- 
ber of terras, and was eightj'-seven j'ears of age 
when he died. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 3d of 
January, 1865, at Ft. Valley, Ga. He attended the 
public schools of Arkansas, whither the family had 
removed, beginning to, attend the classes when 
about five j'ears of age. At the time of the death 
of his father the family were in good circumstances, 
thanks to his business enterprise and forethought, 
but in order to give her son every advantage and 
benefit in the line of education the mother began 
to teach school. At the age of thirteen j'ears our 
subject entered Hiwassee College, East Tennessee, 
and by diligent study was advanced to the head of 
his class, which position he retained almost until he 
was graduated, which he did with the class of '80, 
upon which occasion he filled admirably the posi- 
tion of valedictorian. He engaged as a news agent 
on the Southern railroads, continuing for about a 
year, then, in 1881, he came to Nebraska, and set- 
tled at Salem, in Richardson County. 

The marriage of our subject was celebrated at 
Salem, the lady of his choice being Miss Nora 
White, the daughter of George W. and Katie (Mey- 
ers) White. In spite of some o|)position at first on 
the part of the parents incidental chiefly to the age 
of their daughter, the earnest desire of the j'oung 
people was carried into effect, and they became 
one at Salem, Jan. 19, 1886, and with his beautiful 
young bride of fourteen years of age he came to 
Palmyra, and i)Ought out Benjamin Saunders, the 
owner of the Pilot, which pa[)er he has since edited 



•^f^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



in an able manner.- That his efforts are appreciated 
b}- the comiuunity is unquestioned, seeing that tiie 
circulation lias largely increased, and the general 
business of the office is a thorough financial success. 
The political sentiments of our subject are strongly 
Republican. 

fOB W. CASSEL. Among the practical, pros- 
perous farmers of Otoe County who are act- 
^^^ I ive in sustaining her great agricultural in- 
(^^' terests, aud who were numbered among her 
pioneers in the early days of her settlement, the 
subject of this sketch is worthy of more than pass- 
ing notice. His farm on section 29, Four Mile 
Precinct, with its well-tilled acres, its commodious, 
substantial buildings, and manj^ other valuable im- 
provements, is classed among the best in tliis part 
of the county. 

Mr. Cassel was born Dec. 7, 1835, in Warren 
C'ountj', Ind., and is a son of the Hon. John Cassel, 
a noted pioneer of Nebraska. His father w.as born 
in Newberry District, S. C, Aug. 14, 1801, his 
father, the grandfather of our subject, being a na- 
tive of the same district. The Cassels were of En- 
glish ancestr3% and settled in South Carolina in 
Colonial times. Tlie grandfather of our subject 
moved to Kentucky about 1805, and after to Ohio, 
where he became a pioneer of Warren County. He 
cleared a farm and resided there until about 1835, 
when he went to Indiana and settled in Fountain 
County, of which lie remained a resident until his 
death. The maiden name of his wife was Mary 
Huffman, aud slie was also a native of .South Caro- 
lina. 

The father of our subject was but a boy when his 
parents moved to Ohio; there he was reared and mar- 
ried, Sarah Thomas becoming his wife in 1827. She 
was born in W.aj'ne Township, Warren Co., Ohio, her 
father, Edward Thomas, a native of Pennsylvania, 
being a pioneer of that county. The maiden name 
of his wife, grandmother of subject, was Parmelia 
Wright. After marriage Mr. Cassel continued to 
live in Ohio until 1833 or 1834, and then started 
West with teams and located in Warren County, 
Ind., as one of its pioneers. He bought a tract of 



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timber land, and in the home that he built up there 
the subject of this sketch was born. The nearest 
market for some years was Chicago, 125 miles dis- 
tance, a small place at that time, and it used to take 
from ten days to two weeks to make the round trip. 
On one of these trips he was offered in exchange 
for his team forty acres of land now included in 
the city. He did not trade, as the low, swampy 
land was anything but desirable for agricultural 
purposes, and the town at that time gave no prom- 
ise of its present greatness. He cleared his land in 
Warren Count}- and resided there until 1856, when 
he sold his farm with the intention of making his 
future home in the Territory of Nebraska. Gather- 
ing together a part of his household effects, he and 
his wife and their eight children started on the long 
journey with four wagons and ten horses. Wher- 
ever night overtook them they camped and cooked 
their meals, and in the month of July arrived at 
Nebraska City. Mr. Cassel bought a claim from a 
squatter on section 32 of what is now Four Mile 
Precinct. Ten acres of the land were broken, and 
with the small frame house, into which the family 
immediately moved, constituted the improvements 
on the place. Deer, wild turkej^s and other wild 
animals still lingered in this section, but in the 
winter following the deer became easy victims in 
the deep snow that was not crusted hard enough to 
bear them, and they were nearly exterminated. Mr. 
Cassel improved a fine farm and was a resident here 
until his death, which was a great loss to the com- 
munity, as he was a man of sterling worth and 
strong eliaracter, who identified himself with the 
best interests of the county. He took part in pub- 
lic affairs, and in 1858 was elected to the Territo- 
rial Legislature. He was a firm supporter of the 
Union cause in the trying times that preceded the 
war. ISIrs. Cassel, who was in everj' respect worthy 
of such a husband, now lives with her daughter, 
Mrs. Thaler, in Palmyra, Neb. She has eight chil- 
dren living, namely: Joseph M., Job W., Parmelia 
(now the wife of William Thaler), Nancy, William 
H. H., James, Elijah T. and Edwin W. 

The subject of this sketch was the third child 
born to his parents, and he was reared in his native 
county, gaining his education in the pioneer scliools 
of the time, the primitive school-house where some 

a^ 



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' ' 276 



OTOE COUNTY. 



of his youthful days were passed being built of 
logs, with rude slab benches for the pupils to sit 
upon. When not in school lie assisted in the farm 
work, and when his parents removed to Nebraska 
he went with them, and in the same year took up a 
claim in the Missouri River bottom and entered it 
from the Government at the land-office at Nebraska 
City in 1857. In 1858 he traded that land for his 
present homestead on section 29, Four Mile Pre- 
cinct, adjoining the old homestead. It was a tract 
of wild prairie land at the time, and the next year 
he commenced its improvement by breaking quite 
a tract and planting a grove and orchard. In 1859 
he went to the mountains, crossing the plains, and 
in the fall of 1859 returned and sold his farm, staj'- 
ing here until the spring of 1860, when he again 
went to the mountains, and the following three 
jj^ears was engiiged in mining in different places in 
Colorado. He subsequentlj' took up the business 
of freighting from Nebraska City to the mountains, 
but at the end of a j^ear he again turned his atten- 
tion to mining, and for nearly two j^ears was thus 
employed in Virginia City, Mont. After that he 
returned to Nebraska City, and bought his old place 
back again with the capital gained in the Rockies, 
and has been a continuous resident here since. His 
farm comprises 240 acres of rich, alluvial soil, whose 
fertility and productiveness are practically inex- 
haustible. 

Mr. Cassel was married, in 1865, to Miss Mary 
Harmon, and their pleasant household circle is com- 
pleted by the presence of the four children who 
have been born of their union, namely: Luna, Wal- 
ter N., Albert and John. Mrs. Cassel comes from 
good old New England stock, and is herself a na- 
tive of Massachusetts, born in the town of New 
MarlI)oro, to Oliver and Luna Melissa (Norton) 
Ilarnion. Her father, who was a pioneer of Ne- 
braska, was born in the town of Suffleld, Conn., 
where his father, Alexander Harmon, was engaged 
in farming for many j'ears; he died in New Marl- 
boro, Mass. The maiden name of his wife, grand- 
mother of INIrs. Cassel, was Mary Hanchett, and 
she died in Rockford, 111., at her daughter's. Mrs. 
Cassel's father was reared on a farm, and after mar- 
riage located in New Marlboro, Jlass., and later 
moved to Canaan. Coun., where he bought a farm. 



which he managed successfully until 1855. In 
that year he sold all his propert}' in Connecticut 
and bought a farm in Aurora. 111., which was one 
mile south of and is now included within the city 
limits. He resided there until 1862, and then started 
with his wife and three children for the Territory 
of Nebraska, with two wagons and one carriage, 
bringing a small part of his household goods. After 
traveling twenty -one days they arrived at Nebraska 
City, and ]\Ir. Harmon bought the southwest quar- 
ter of section 27, Four Mile Precinct. The improve- 
ments consisted of sixty acres of broken land and a 
log house, and on that place he made his home until 
his death, Dec. 19, 1874. In the meantime he had 
added to his landed estates until he possessed 320 
acres, besides a tract of 160 acres in Palmyra. Mr. 
Harmon was a well-educated man, and used to 
teach in his younger days. He was an extensive 
reader, and at one time edited the agricultural de- 
partment of the Nebraska City Press. He was 
twice married; his first wife, the mother of Mrs. 
Cassel, died in Massachusetts, her native State, in 
1850. His second wife, whose maiden name was 
Rebecca Aldrich, died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a few 
years after her husband's death. There were two 
cliildren by the first marris^e and one child by the 
second. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cassel are conscientious members 
of the Baptist Church. They are true Christians, 
happy in their family relations, kind and helpful 
toward their neighbors, and those who have been 
unfortunate, or are in need, never appeal in vain 
to them for sympathy and assistance. Mr. Cassel 
takes a lively interest in the political questions of 
the day, and uses his influence to promote the in- 
terests of the Republican party, of which he is a 
stanch advocate. 

ENRY VOLLM ANN, a farmer of Otoe Pre- 
cinct, in good circumstances, first set foot 
upon the soil of Nebraska July 26, 1856, 
(^3) eleven years before its admittance into the 
Union as a State. He consequentl3' ranks among 
its earliest pioneers, and has contributed his quota 
toward the develoi)nient of one of its most prosper- y ' 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



•*^ 



277 



ous counties. His propei't3' embraces 140 acres on 
the southwest quarter of section 6, where he has 
instituted fair improvements, and brought his land 
to a good state of cultivation. He is a self-made 
man in the broadest sense of the term. In his 
youth he had the advantage of a common-school 
education, and iiy his own efforts has improved 
himself mentally by a course of general reading, 
and as a penman he is especiallj' fine. He has been 
a close observer of men and things, and has em- 
braced every opportunity to keep himself posted 
upon matters of general interest to the thinking 
man. Among the industries our subject is both 
carpenter and farmer, receiving his early instruc- 
tions from his excellent father, who was a mechanic 
and a builder of good repute. 

Our subject was born on the 4tli of Februar}', 
1830, near the city of Frankfort, in the Province of 
Hesse-Cassel, German}^ and was the elder of a fara- 
ilj' of two children only, the younger being his 
sister Elizabeth, who is now the wife of John 
Schmidt, and they live in Louisville, Ky. Our 
subject was named after his father and his sister 
after his mother. They also were of German birth 
and ancestry, and the latter died when her son 
Henry was about six years old. The father was 
married a second time, and of this union there were 
born four children, two of whom are deceased; the 
others emigrated to America, and are now residents 
of Indiana and Louisville, Ky., respectivel3'. 

In the spring of 1855 the family emigrated to 
America, settling in Louisville, Ky., to which city 
Henry, our subject, had preceded them in the j^ear 
1 853. There the father followed his trade, and 
lived to the advanced age of seventy-three years, 
his death taking place in 1873. Henry, Jr., served 
an apprenticeship of four years at the carpenter's 
trade, and was a young man twentj'-three 3'ears old 
wlien he came to America. He left Louisville in 
1855, and crossing the Mississippi, took up his resi- 
dence in St. Joseph, Mo., wiiere he followed his 
trade of carpenter, and from there went to Savan- 
nah, Mo., where he learned cabinet-making, and 
where he lived until coming to tlie Territory of 
Nebraska. 

Our subject, upon crossing the Missouri, in July, 
185G, located in the embryo town of Nebraska City, 



still pursuing his trade of carpenter, and invested 
his surplus capital in 140 acres of Government land, 
for which he paid $1.25 per acre. Here he was 
married two years later to Miss Ursula Schindler, 
who was born in the canton of Glarus, Switzerland, 
and is the daughter of Jacob and Anna (Zwecke) 
Schindler, who were natives of the same canton^ 
(For her parents' history see biograpliy of her 
brother, Deitrich Schindler.) Mrs. V. came to 
America in 1867, with her father and two step- 
brothers. Her father's fauiilj' consisted of six chil- 
dren, three of whom are now living. Of her union 
with our subject there have been born four sons and 
three daughters, namely: Henry; Anna, who died 
when twenty-five years old; Edward W., Emil, 
Henrietta, August and Maggie. Henry is at home 
with his parents; Anna married Emil Bourlier, and 
became the mother of one child, a daughter, Ida 
Anna, who is now living with her grandparents, the 
mother having died May 25, 1885. The remaining 
children are single and living at home. 

The Vollmann residence is a neat and tasteful 
structure, one and one-half stories in height, and 
adjacent is a well-built barn and other accessories 
of a well-ordered homestead. Mr. V. has planted 
fruit and shade trees, and gathered about himself 
and his familj- many comforts. He votes the 
straight Republican ticket, but has never sought 
the responsibilities of office. His residence is situ- 
ated within a stone's throw of the station of Paul, 
on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the road passing 
tiu'ough a portion of his farm. Its close proximity 
to the railroad renders his farm more valuable. 



bOUIS SCHACHT. This very prominent 
German farmer and wealthy citizen of Osage 
Precinct is, perhaps, the most widely and 
favorabl}' known of any man along the southern 
line of Otoe Count}'. He is the owner of 760 acres 
of valuable land, and is extensively engaged in 
stock-raising, breeding cattle, horses, mules and 
swine. Notwithstanding his extensive personal in- 
terests, he is more than ordinarily public-spirited 
and liberal, warmly interested in the establishment 
and maintenance of schools and churches, and all 



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278 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the institutions which will tend to elevate the peo- 
ple. He gives liberally' to religious organizations, 
and deeded two acres of land to one of the districts 
for a school building and grounds. This is only 
one example of his generosity, as he is the man to 
whom the citizens first apply for assistance when 
any enterprise is set on foot calculated to be of 
general good to the community. 

Equal in goodness witli her husband, and blessed 
with an abundance of sound common sense, is the 
wife of our subject, who presides with grace and 
dignit}' over his domestic affairs, and encourages 
him to every worthy ambition. Mrs. Schacht, al- 
though not having been a resident of the United 
States a very long period, has learned the English 
language very readily, and adapted herself rapidly 
to the customs of the people around her. Their 
home is one of the most attractive spots in the 
landscape of this region. The residence is tasteful 
and commodious, and the barns and out-buildings 
fully in keeping with the requirements of the pro- 
gressive agriculturist. The premises are well kept, 
good order and cleanliness seeming to be tiie para- 
mount objects. The well-fed stock ranging over 
the broad fields forms a most pleasing picture, and 
the air of comfort and abundant means at once 
strikes the beholder with admiration. 

The subject of this sketch was born in the Prov- 
ince of Westphalia, Prussia, on the 4th of June, 
1846, and is one of the younger sons of Christof 
and Wilhelraina (Brune) Schacht, who were natives 
of the same locality, and of pure German ancestry. 
The father was born in 1797, and when a youth of 
eighteen years entered the German army and 
fought under Frederick William III against the 
first Napoleon. At the close of the war he returned 
to the occupations of farm life, became an exten- 
sive land-owner, and spent the remainder of his 
days in his native Province. He lived to the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-five years, and died in March, 
1882. He had survived his estimable wifeaperiod 
of fourteen years, her death having taken place in 
1868, when she was fifty-five years old. A more 
extended notice of the family will be found in the 
sketch of William Schacht, a brother of our sub- 
ject, on another page in this Album. 

The boyhood and youth of Mr. Schacht were 



r 



spent under the parental roof, and in common with 
the youth of Germany he was given an excellent 
education. He was bright and ambitious to learn, 
and later attended the evening schools. At the age 
of eighteen j'ears, desirous of something better than 
the prospect held out to him in his native land, and 
also believing a change of climate would be bene- 
ficial to his somewhat impaired health, lie resolved 
to emigrate to the New World. Setting sail from 
the port of Bremen on the steamer "Maine," in the 
spring of 1864, he landed in New York City three 
weeks later, after a very stormy passage. Thence 
by rail he made his way to Franklin County, Mo., 
and a year later came by steamer to Nebraska City. 
Thence migrating to the southwestern part of the 
county, and being pleased with the face of the 
country, he purchased 200 acres of land, which is 
now included in his present homestead. It was 
then a tract of wild prairie, not a foot of which had 
been disturbed by the plowshare. Mr. Schacht at 
once set about the improvement of his property, 
devoting ten acres to the planting of groves, set 
out an orchard of 600 apple trees, together with the 
smaller fruit trees, and gradually erected the build- 
ings required for his comfort and convenience. In 
due time he invested his surplus capital in addi- 
tional land, 240 acres of which is in McWilliams 
Precinct. The balance is in Osage and Johnson 
Counties, Neb. He superintends the operations of 
the home farm and leases his other land. 

In the winter of 1872 Mr. Schacht, desirous of 
seeing his aged father, crossed the Atlantic, and 
spent twenty-six weeks among the friends of his 
boyhood and youth. This visit was the means of 
bringing about 100 of his German fellow-citizens 
to America, who settled mostly in Nebraska. Mr. 
Schacht has never regretted the day that he set foot 
upon American soil, and Otoe County has reason 
to congratulate herself that he located within her 
borders. 

Mr. Schacht was married in his native Province, 
June 4, 1878, to Miss Louisa Wellmann, who was 
born in what was then the Kingdom of Hanover, 
July 24, 1856. Mrs. Schacht is the daughter of 
Henry and Louisa (Ileitmma) Wellmann, who were 
natives also of Hanover, and the father a farmer in 
good circumstances. He, however, was cut down 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



281 



in his prime, dying in 1860, when but forty j'ears 
of age. The mother survived lier husband a period 
of twent}'-six years, remaining a widow, and died 
in the spring of 1886, at the age of sixty -seven 
years. They were tlie parents of four children — 
Caroline, Louisa, Carl and August. Tlie latter died 
when about twentj' years old. The others all sur- 
vive. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Schacht 
served in the German army during tiie wars against 
the first Napoleon, and spent liis last days upon his 
native soil. 

To our subject and his wife there have been born 
five children, one of whom, a son. Henry, died when 
two years old. The survivors, all daughters, Min- 
nie, Louisa, Matilda and Emma, are at home with 
their parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. .S. are members 
in good standing of the Evangelical Church, of 
Osage, in the organization of which our subject 
assisted, as also in the erection of the church build- 
ing. He has continuously been one of its chief 
pillars, officiating as a member of the Board of 
Trustees and as Treasurer. Politically, he votes 
the straight Republican ticket. He has officiated in 
his district as School Moderator ft)r the last three 
years, and Road Supervisor for two years. 

Mr; Schacht keeps from 150 to 300 head of cat- 
tle on his land, and ships by the carload. He 
usually keeps a herd of 500 head of swine, shipping 
about 200 yearly. Of horses and mules he has 
usually about twenty-five head. These animals are 
all sleek and well-fed, and form one of the attract- 
ive features of the farm. The passing traveler 
gazes long at this homestead with its evidences of 
thrift and prosi)erity, and carries away with him a 
picture of it in his mind for many a day afterward. 



^^ AYID BEASLEY. Otoe County has within 
its borders many who are engaged in the 
raising of stock, and by reason of their suc- 
cess therein have every right to be justly 
proud of their success. Among these may be men- 
tioned the subject of this writing, whose stock farm 
is upon section 1 of Belmont Precinct, where he 
gives almost his entire attention to the raising of 



Short-horn cattle and full-blooded Poland-CJuna 
hogs, with magnificent results. 

Our subject was born in Greenfield, Ohio, on the 
29th of December, 1817, to Isaac and Susana Beas- 
ley, natives of Kentucky. His father was a soldier 
in the War of 1812, and served with distinction; 
subsequently he became one of the first pioneers of 
Ohio. In 1819, with his family, he removed to 
Rush County, Ind., settling there in the midst of 
the primeval forest, surrounded by the original 
denizens and Indians. In 1827 the family emi- 
grated to Illinois, but the following year returned 
to Indiana, making their home in Montgomery 
County. In June of that year the death of the 
father occurred. 

The surroundings of our subject in the d.iys of 
his boyhood and youth were of somewhat primi- 
tive order, but quite in keeping with the pioneer 
life of that period. The school-house where his 
early education was obtained was rough, and as we 
would suppose, inadequate to meet the case. It was 
just such a log cabin as was usually found at that 
time, although now it has become an unknown 
quantitj', or almost so. 

The settlement of Mr. Beasley upon his present 
jsroperty dates from August of the year 1864. He 
is the owner of 179 acres of splendid land, where, 
however, as mentioned above, his chief attention is 
given to his stock, althougii some general farming 
also receives attention. His Short-horns are all of 
high grade, and many of them almost pure, and his 
herd numbers twenty-five. His hogs are, perhaps, 
the best in the country, some of them weighing as 
much as 500 pounds, and he could easily obtain the 
jjremium if it were his desire to enter them in an 
exhibition of stock. 

On the 22d of March, 1839, the subject of our 
sketch was united in marriage with Elizabeth John- 
sou, who was the daughter of Thomas Johnson, and 
was born in Maryland, near Harper's Ferry. She 
received a careful home training and manifested a 
most beautiful disposition, and noble, womanly 
character, and after a happy married life of thirty- 
eight years, died on the 5th of February, 1877. 
There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Beasley sixteen 
children; the sexes were equally represented in the 
family-, but only the following members of it are 



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282 



OTOE COUNTY. 



now -living: Harriet, Richard J., Mary E.. Amanda, 
Eliza Ann, Tiiomas, William, Susan C, Margaret 
and John (twins), Lewis and Mollie, all of whom 
are married. Mr. Beasley has thirty-eight grand- 
children and four great-grandchildren. 

Mr. and Mrs. Beasley united with the Methodist 
Church in their early years. Mrs. Beasley was a 
consistent and devout member of that communion 
for over forty years, and our subject still retains 
his connection therewith. He is ever ready to take 
up any resi)onsibility that comes to him as a citi- 
zen, and usuallj' deposits his ballot in favor of the 
Republican party. His first vote was for William 
H. Harrison. 

Among the portraits of leading citizens given in 
this volume may be found that of Mr. Beasley, and 
as a fitting companion picture we present that of his 
estimable wife. 



lEV. JOSIAH RITTER, a minister of the 
Lutheran Church, and a farmer of ripe ex- 
perience, is now living retired from active 
^^ labor upon the homestead where he settled 
in April, 1868. This is pleasantly located on sec- 
tion 25, in McWilliams Precinct, and forms one of 
the most desirable homesteads along the southern 
line of Otoe County. This, when coining into the 
possession of our subject, was an uncultivated tract 
of land, but now presents a fine illustration of the 
results of resolute industry and good raanagement. 
It comprises 2G0 acres, which have been brought to 
a careful state of cultivation, and upon which has 
been erected a set of substantial frame buildings, in- 
cluding a roomy and comfortable residence, a good- 
sized barn, and the other structures required for the 
proper care of stock and the storing of grain. Mr. 
Ritter raises good grades of cattle and other stock, 
and has always taken pride in the appearance of his 
homestead, keeping everything up in good shape 
and not permitting more than necessary waste or 
loss. 

The early home of our subject was in the little 
Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, March 8, 1823. 
His father, Gottlieb Ritter, was a vineyard keeper 
and wine-maker, and spent his entire life in liis na- 



tive land, passing away at the ripe old age of 
eighty-two years. The mother, Mrs. Doretha Rit- 
ter, also of German birth and ancestry, died about 
1875, prior to the death of her husband. Josiah, 
of our sketch, was the elder of their two sons, the 
other being Gottlieb, Jr., who still remains in iiis 
native country. 

Our subject, in common with the children of 
Germany, received a thorough education and lived 
in his native town until 1849, being then a man of 
twent3'-six years. In the fall of that year he crossed 
the Atlantic, and taking up his residence in Toledo, 
Ohio, engaged in the ministry. There, also, Nov. 
12, 1851, he was married to Miss Christiana D. 
Swartz, also a native of Wurtemberg, and the 
playmate of his younger 3'ears. They were be- 
trothed before Mr. Ritter came to America, and she 
passed from earth after having been the faithful 
and affectionate companion of her husband for a 
period of eleven years. In the meantime Mr. Rit- 
ter had taken up his residence in Bureau County, 
III., and he and his estimable wife had become the 
parents of three children, one of whom, a daughter, 
was taken away after the death of the mother. The 
two iiving are sons, Frederick and Adolph, the for- 
mer a resident of California, and tiie Latter married, 
and a farmer of Rock Creek Precinct. 

Mr. Ritter, Oct. 24, 1862, contracted a second 
matrimonial alliance, at Caledonia, Racine Co., Wis., 
with Mrs. Charlotte (Strangman) Weinmann. This 
lady is a native of Westphalia, Germ.any, and born 
May 24, 1828. She came to the United States in the 
summer of 1845, and was married in Racine, Wis., in 
1852, to Rev. John Weinmann, a minister of the Lu- 
theran Church. Mr. and Mrs. Weinmann settled 
in Baltimore after their marriage. Mr. Weinmann 
in 1858 crossed the Atlantic to his native home in 
Germany, and when readj^ to return home took p.as- 
sage on the ill-fated ship "Austria," which when two 
days' journey from New York Citj' was destroyed 
by fire. September 13, and all on board perished. 
Mrs. Weinmann, in her widowhood, was left with 
one daughter. Lydia, who is now the wife of Au- 
gust Engfer, and lives in Red AYing, Minn. 

After their marriage our subject and his present 
wife took up their residence in Bureau County, III., 
and Mr. Ritter had charge of tiie German Lutheran 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



•283 



Church at Hollowaj'ville for a period of seven 
years. Thence thej' removed to Davenport, Iowa, 
wliere he preached two and one-half 3'ears, and 
from there came to this county, in which he has 
labored as a minister for a period of fourteen jears. 
In the meantime he purchased land, and has built 
up the homestead which he now occupies. He re- 
tired from the ministry in the j-car 1842. While a 
laborer in the Master's vineyard he did good 
service. He organized the society, and was also 
instrumental in building the church edifice of the 
Lutheran denomination in this precinct, and in his 
labors has been largely assisted b\' his worthy' wife. 
They are the parents of three children — .John, 
Mary and William. The daughter is the wife of 
John Frerich, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere 
in this volume. 'J"he sons are at home with their 
parents. 

Mr. Ritter has become thoroughly identified 
with the interests of his adopted country, and is an 
earnest supporter of Republican principles. Dur- 
ing the Civil War he was greatly desirous of, join- 
ing the ranks of those who were fighting for union 
and freedom, but with the care of a young wife 
and child his duties seemed to lie at home. He, 
however, paid for a substitute, and felt that he had 
done what he could in the good cause. 



IL^ ON. .JAMES C. BOYD, a gentlem.-in of good 
Yf jV education and formerly Superintendent of 
■—^"^ the county schools, came to this section in 
(^j March, 1864, and was a resident of Ne- 
braska City and vicinity until the spring of 1867. 
He then secured a tract of raw prairie laud, eighty 
acres of which was broken, but aside from this there 
had been no attempt at improvement, no fences and 
no buildings. He has now a farm of 240 acres on 
section 2 in Delaware Precinct, all enclosed with 
good buildings, and one of the finest residences in 
his precinct. The latter is two stories in height, 
and the main part covers an area of 16x36 feet, 
while there is an "L" of one and one-half stories, 
16x24 feet, and still an addition to the "L" 16x12, 
one story. A veranda runs the whole length of 
the main building in front and across the "L" on 



one side. The buildings adjacent are iu keeping 
with the dwelling, and indicate in a marked manner 
the cultivated tastes of the proprietor. 

Our subject was born twenty miles from the 
cit}' of Knoxville, in Blount County, E. Tenn., 
June 10, 1837, and is the son of William Boyd, a 
native of the same place, and who is long since de- 
ceased. James C. was carefully reared, and com- 
pleted his education at Maryville College in his 
native county. He subsequently taught school 
three or four terms in Tennessee, and then set his 
face toward the West. Mr. Boyd upon coming to 
this county was at once recognized as a man of 
more than ordinary ability, warml3' interested in 
the establishment and maintenance of schools. He 
was elected County Superintendent in the fall of 
1879, and re-elected twice in succession, discharg- 
ing the duties of this ofHce for a period of six 
years in a most praiseworthy manner. He would 
have been reinstated again but desired to withdraw, 
and forbid his name being used again as a nominee. 
He has alwaj's been quite prominent in local affairs, 
and served as Assessor three or four terms. 

On the 26th of July, 1860, Mr. Boyd was united 
in marriage with Miss Sibby T. McCuUoch. and of 
this union there were born eight children, seven of 
whom are living, namely: Laura L., Emily E., John 
W., Charles F., Edward C, Mary E. and Albert L. 
Laura is the wife of Malcom Brown, of Papillion, 
this State; Emil}^ married Herbert G. Stillwell, and 
they live near Palmyra, being the parents . of one 
child, a daughter, Macy B.; John married Miss 
Julia Martin, and lives in Berlin Precinct. 

Besides the homestead Mr. Boyd owns 160 acres 
of good land on section 10 in Delaware Precinct. 
He is a man highly esteemed by his neighbors, and 
his wife, a most estimable lady, is a member in 
good standing of the United Brethren Church. 



iF^ ON. DAVID BROWN occupies a prominent 
\l)i, place among the pioneers of Nebraska, who 
'^^<^ have been so largely instrumental in the 
^) upbuilding of the State, have taken an act- 
ive part in the administration of its public affairs, 
and are now closely identified with its most impor- 



Hl^^ 



284 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



tant business interests. Mr. Brown is a resident of 
Nebraska Citj', where he is engaged in the business 
of loaning money and in selling real estate. He is 
also greatly interested in agriculture, and has 
owned and developed three different farms in this 
county. He now has a ranch of 3,000 acres in 
Frontier County, Neb., which is well stocked with 
fine graded cattle. He was born Nov. 8, 1837, in 
Penn's Manor, Bucks Co., Pa. His grandfather, 
also named David, was a native of the same county, 
where he was iirosperously engaged as a farmer, and 
where he spent his entire life. He was a man of 
keen foresight, and of more than ordmar}^ intelli- 
gence, and bis sound judgment made him invalu- 
able in the councils of his fellow-citizens. He was 
for twenty years Secretary of the Bucks County 
Insurance Societj-. He was a member of the So- 
ciety of Friends, and reared his children in that 
fai.th. Politically, he was a Whig until the forma- 
tion of the Republican party, when he became one 
of its stanchest supporters. In 1860 this good 
man passed to his reward, and Bucks County was 
called upon to mourn the loss of one of her most 
lo3'al sons. The maiden name of his wife, grand- 
mother of David Brown, was Sarah AVilliams, and 
she was a native of Abingdon, Pa. 

John Brown, the father of our subject, was a na- 
tive of the same town as himself. He was reared 
in his native county, and following in the footsteps 
of his forefathers, adopted the calling of a farmer. 
But his premature death in 1839, at the age of 
thirty-two, cut short a useful career and deprived 
the communitj' of one of its most valued members. 
The maiden name of his wife, the mother of David, 
was Mary Eastburn. She was born in. Solebury 
Township, Bucks Co., Pa., and was a daughter of 
Aaron and Mercy (Bye) Eastburn, natives of the 
same county, and members of the Society of Friends. 
Mrs. Brown resided in Bucks County until a few 
mouths before her death, when she went to Phila- 
delphia, and died at the home of her daughter 
there in 1866. She was the mother of four chil- 
dren: Harriet, the wife of Samuel B. Fox, of Phila- 
delphia; IMercy E.; David;' and John "W., who is 
engaged in a wholesale grocerj' business in Phila- 
delphia. 

David Brown, of tliis biogra})liical sketch, was 



but two years old when his father died, and he went 
to live with his paternal grandfather, with whom 
he made his home until he had grown to maturity. 
He was carefully reared and received the benefit of 
a fine education, attending first the district school, 
and he was then sent to a Quaker academj' at Falls- 
ington, Buclis County, and later to the Westtown 
Academy, Chester Co., Pa. He was thus amply 
qualified for the profession of teacher, which he 
adopted for a time, commencing to teach in his na- 
tive county at the age of sixteen, and continuing 
thus engaged for two years. After that he went to 
Philadelphia and entered a law and convej'ancing 
office as a student. He was thus employed for 
three 3'ears, earning his way by doing clerical work, 
looking up bills and drawing papers, and m the 
evenings he was an assistant at a public library. 
In April, 1859, Mr. Brown left his native State to 
trj' life in the great and growing West, coming by 
rail to Pittsburgh, and thence down the Ohio and up 
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Nebraska 
City. He spent a few days here looking about the 
countrj' and malting the acquaintance of the lead- 
ing citizens, to whom he had brought letters of in- 
troduction; he then returned to St. Joseph, whence 
he went to Kansas City. He soon concluded to 
come back to this part of the country-, taking a 
boat to St. Joseph, and thence he came on a stage 
to Nebraska City. The roads were bad at that 
time, rendering the journey a tedious one, the pas- 
sengers often having to walk and carry a rail to 
pry the stage out of the mud. This was the time 
of the great exodus to and from Pike's Peak, and 
Mr. Brown finding many intelligent men here out 
of work and out of funds, and all branches of busi- 
ness, especially the professions, more than full, in- 
stead of opening an office here as he had intended, 
started out in search of a suitable tract of Govern- 
ment land, thinldng to turn his attention to agri- 
culture. While traveling through the country on 
foot he had an opportunit}- to teach in Nemaha 
County, at a salary of $10 per month and board. 
He accepted the position, and taught three months. 
He then went to Missouri and located in Mound 
City, Holt County, where he was variously engaged 
as a teacher, lawyer and farmer. He rented land, 
bought stock, and was quite prosperously engaged 



^h-«- 



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>► II <• ■ 



t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



285 



in general farming until after the breaking ovit of 
war. In February'. 1862, lie again came to Ne- 
braska C'it3% bringing his stock along with him. lie 
rented land in Four Mile Precinct, and engaged in 
farming and dealing in stock. During that and the 
following summer he made several trips to Mis- 
souri to buj' cattle, and brought them to Nebraska. 
In the winter of 1862-63 he t.aught school in Four 
Mile Precinct. In the fall of 1863 he engaged in 
freighting across tlie plains, which in those days 
before railroads were introduced west of the Mis- 
souri was a very profitable business, as all transpor- 
tation to the different military posts and raining 
camps in the mountains was done with teams. Mr. 
Brown put three teams on the road and made one 
trip to Denver in the fall of 1863. The following 
winter he returned to his native State and spent the 
season in Philadeliiliia. In the spring he came back 
to Nebraska City, fitted up six teams, and loaded 
them with freight for Salt Lake Cit}', which he de- 
livered at the rate of eighteen cents a pound. On 
subsequent trips he received twenty-five cents per 
pound. At that time there was a great exodus 
from the vicinity of Salt Lake to Idaho, and he 
sold all his wagons at a high price, and returned 
home with his mules. Indians were plentiful and 
hostile at that time, as they continued to be the 
most of the time, until he discontinued the freight- 
ing business in 1867. During 1864, however, the}^ 
were the most troublesome, but Mr. Brown fortu- 
nately escaped attack that year, and it was not until 
the 3'ear 1867 that he had an encounter with the 
savages, which took place near Cheyenne Pass, but 
none of the whites were killed, and only one red- 
skin bit the dust. During the year 1868 Mr. Brown 
was engaged almost exclusively in farming, and in 
1869 he went East and passed most of the win- 
ter. On his return he established himself in the 
insurance business, continuing his interest in that 
until 1885, since which time he has engaged in 
loaning money and in selling real estate, besides 
managing his large farming interests. Mr. Brown 
was married, in 1871, to Miss Jennie L. Lombard, a 
daughter of Franklin Lombard, a native of Massa- 
chusetts. Of tliis marriage one son has been born, 
Herbert W. ]Mr. Brown is a man of sound educa- 
tion and of unusual abilit^r and character, and he 



has always since the early days of his settlement 
here plaj-ed an important part in the conduct of 
public affairs. His record as a Representative to 
the State Legislature, to which office he was elected 
in 1870, was such as to confer honor on himself and 
his constituency. In 1871 he was aiipoiuted Post- 
master of Nebraska City, and for five years served his 
fellow-citizens in that capacity to the general satis- 
faction of all. He is at present a member of the 
City Council, and looks well to the interests of the 
community. He takes an intelligent view of the 
political situation of the daj', and is a pronounced 
Republican. 



•►HK-^^ 



ATHROP ELLIS, a well-known and lion- 
ored resident of Four Mile Precinct, has for 
more than twenty j'ears been identified with 
its highest interests. He is prosperously engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, and from the wild prairie, on 
which he settled when first coming here, he has 
developed a fine farm, which, in point of cultiva- 
tion, comfortable buildings and neat surroundings, 
compares favorabl3' with the best in this locality. 

Mr. Ellis was born in Henrietta, Monroe Co., N. 
Y., April 30, 1818, and is a descendant of an old 
Connecticut family. His father, William Ellis, was 
born in that New England State, in the town of 
Norwich, and his father. Deacon William Ellis, was 
likewise a native of that State. He was a son of 
th.at famous New England divine, the Rev. John 
Ellis, a chaplain in the Continental Army during the 
Revolution. After the war he spent his last 3'ears 
in Connecticut, dying in 1805, at a ripe old age. 
Deacon Ellis, the grandfather of our subject, went 
into the army with his father to take care of his 
horse, and at eighteen j^ears of age enlisted and 
served in the ranks six months, and for that during 
the last years of his life was a pensioner. He 
taught school in Connecticut for many years, Imt 
finally removed from there to New Y'ork about 
1817, and located in Henrietta, where he bought a 
tract of land, improved a farm, and March 1, 1837, 
closed a useful life. 

The father of our subject enlisted in the War of 
1812, and served a short time. He married in his 



f- 



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286 



OTOE COUNTY. 



t- 



native State Miss Polly Lathrop, likewise of Con- 
necticut birth and ancestry, and a daughter of 
Asher and Temperance Lathrop. Mr. Ellis went to 
New York in 181G with his brother-in-law, Martin 
Edgcrlon, making the journey in a one-horse wagon, 
and he selected a tract of land in Henrietta. He 
then went back to Connecticut to settle up his af- 
fairs in that State, and in 1817 moved with his 
family, then consisting of his wife and one child, to 
his future home in New York State. He built a 
log house on his land, the one in which our subject 
was afterward born, and cleared quite a tract of 
land, on which he resided until 1821. In thatyear 
he went to Bergen, Genesee County, and bought 
another tract of land, which he Improved into a fine 
farm, and he there rounded out a long life of eighty 
years, dying in November, 1872. His estimable 
wife also died in Bergen. They were the parents 
of eight children, all of whom are living. 

Lathrop Ellis was the second child born to his 
parents, and he was reared in Bergen, receiving the 
preliminaries of his education in the LeRoy public 
schools. He was a tiioughtful, studious lad, and 
greatly desired to improve his education, so witli 
that end in view he worked hard to earn money to 
pay his tuition at the academy at LeRoy, N. Y. It 
was a classical school, under the supervision of 
Prof. F. W. Olmsted, where he pursued a thorough 
course of study, and he also attended the academy 
at Henrietta. With this sound mental equipment 
at the age of twenty-three be entered upon the pro- 
fession of teacher, and for some years was thus 
engaged in the winter seasons. In 1844 he went to 
Wisconsin by way of the lakes, and landing at Mil- 
waukee, then a village, penetrated into the interior 
in search of a suitable location where he could build 
up a home. He entered eight}' acres of land in 
Fond du Lac County from the Government, built a 
house, and then went back to New York for his 
promised bride. He was there married, in 1845, 
to Miss Almeria Vienna Ward, who was born in 
Genesee Count\', N. Y., Oct, 20, 1821. She was a 
daughter of Abel C. Ward, who was born in Kil- 
lingsworth. Conn., in 1796. His father, John Ward, 
was also a native of Connecticut, and it is supposed 
that his grandfather, Deacon Levi Ward, was like- 
wise a native of that New England State. He was 



a Deacon in the Congregational Church, and he 
removed to New York in 1808, and settled in Gen- 
esee County. He bought a tract of land of the Hol- 
land Purchase Company, and spent the remainder 
of his life in that county, dying at the venerable 
age of ninety-six. Mrs. Ellis' grand fatlier was 
reared and married in Connecticut, and moved to 
NewY'ork with his family in 1808, the removal 
being made with ox-teams through the wilderness 
to the town of Bergen, where he bought a tract of 
timber land. He cleared a farm, on which he spent 
his last years. The maiden name of his wife was 
Lucinda Meigs. The father of Mrs. Ellis was 
twelve years old when his father moved to New 
York. After attaining manhood he bought a tract 
of land in Bergen, on which he settled at the time 
of his marriage. For several years he officiated as 
a minister of the Congregational Church. In 1851 
he sold there, and moved to Fond du Lac County, 
Wis., where he bought a tract of land, and farmed 
tiiere for many years. He subsequently removed 
to the city of Fond du Lac, and lived there in retire- 
ment until his death at the age of seventj'-six. 

On his return to Wisconsin Mr. Lathrop Ellis 
brought a wagon, and at Milwaukee purchased a pair 
of oxen, and drove with his wife and one child to 
Fond du Lac County, a distance of sixtj'-six miles. 
He soon became identified with the public affairs of 
the county, and was made Deputy Surveyor in 1846, 
and served in that capacity for a short time, was 
then elected County Sarvej"or, and served for 
many years, resigning the office in the year 1866. 
From about 1850 up to 1863 he devoted most 
of his time to civil engineering on the line now 
known as the Chicago & Northwestern. He sur- 
ve^-ed from Watertowu to Lake Superior. A part 
of the time he had been quite extensively engaged 
in the lumber business, and when the first railway 
was projected in Wisconsin he was employed on the 
survey, and worked at that and on other railways 
in the State more or less for many years. In 1866 
he came to Otoe County, and bought a tract of wild 
land now included in his present farm. By the 
quiet force of steadj^ work, seconded by good man- 
agement, he has improved a good farm, whose well- 
tilled acres yield him an ample income. 

Six children have been born to our subject and 




A 



"^•- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



287 



•►HI 



liis wife, of whom the following is the record: 
Emma Jane married the Rev. George M. Darley: 
Myron L..the only son. is connected with the Quar- 
termaster's department in the regular army as 
wagonmaster in Arizona ;]\I. Adell married James H. 
McLellan; Celia F. married Amsdell Sheldon ; Dora 
married Dr. William A. Wj-man ; Vina M. is now a 
teacher in Cass County. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis gave 
their children good educations, and the daughters 
have all taught school. Mrs. Ellis, the mother of 
the children above mentioned, died at their home in 
P'ond du Lac, AVis., Sept. 10, 1861, and Mr. Ellis 
married his present wife, L. Marilla Ward, sister of 
his first wife, their wedding taking place in Fond du 
Lac, April 20, 1864. 

Mr. Ellis is a man of deep, earnest nature, and 
his liberal education gives him a broad outlook on 
life. He is progressive and practical in his views, 
and in his social relations he is genial, hospitable 
and helpful. In his wedded life he has been very 
happ}', as in his wife he finds a companion and 
friend, who can enter into his thoughts, and sym- 
pathize with him in his aims, and her cheerful, 
amiable disposition endears her to those about her. 
She is indeed a true '"homemaker." 

Mr. Ellis is a pronounced Republican in his 
political views, becoming a member of that parly 
on its formation. Jn his early days he was a Whig. 
and cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. W. H. 
Harrison, and now, forty-eight j'ears later, has 
voted for the illustrious grandson of the old hero 
of Tippecanoe, the Gen. Harrison of to-day, now 
President-elect. 



(|L^ L. WOOD, editor of the Nebraska Press, 
If jV was born in Iowa City, Iowa, Sept. 18, 
l^^ 1856. He went to Cincinnati, Ohio, when 
l^j) fifteen years old, to make his own waj', and 
was connected with the Canal Elevator Company 
until 1878, during the latter part of the time doing 
some newspaper work, for which he had always 
shown a predeliction. A year was spent in Colo- 
rado in various pursuits, and two years at the State 
University of Iowa, from the law department of 
which he was graduated in 1881. During these 
-.4» 



two years he was connected with the Iowa City 
Eepublican and other papers, and contributed to 
Eastern periodicals. He returned to Cincinnati from 
another AVestern trip in Juh', 1882, and for a year 
did more or less work on the Commercial-Gazette 
and the Cincinnati Enquirer, and at this time and 
later wrote poems and sketches for the Week (Cin- 
cinnati), the Current (Chicago), the Continent 
(Philadelphia), the Critic (New York), the Comet 
(Chicago), and other literary weeklies and minor 
magazines. 

Mr. Wood went toLeadville, Col., in April, 1883, 
assuming the city editorship of the Chronicle, was 
then city editor of the Democrat, and for a time 
managing editor of both papers. In June, 1885, 
he bought the editorial interest in the Nebraska 
Daily Press, which has prospered remarkably under 
his management, and is to-day one of the foremost 
papers of the great State of Nebraska. 

Mr. Wood was married, Sept. 3, 1885, to Miss 
Jennie Hanford, of Vinton, Iowa. 

—^ "#-f# ''^ 



^t~, ENRY OLIVER McCART, of Palmyra 
iJlD] Pi'^cinct, is operating a small farm in a ver}' 
1^^ thorough and skillful manner, making a 
i^) specialty of market gardening. His land 
lies on section 4, and embraces fort}' acres, which 
he has brought to a thorough state of cultivation. He 
completed, in the year 1888, a neat and substantial 
dwelling, and has around him all the conveniences 
and comforts of modern life. He raises horses, 
cattle and swine, also operates a boring and drilling 
machine, and his various interests afford him a 
handsome income. 

The offspring of most excellent ancestrj', our 
subject is the son of Henry and Massy (Wilkins) 
McCart, who were born and reared in Morgan 
County, Tenn., where also they were married. The 
paternal grandfather, Robert McCart, was a native 
of Virginia, whence he removed to Tennessee early 
in life, being numbered among its pioneer settlers. 
He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, under 
the command of Gen. Jackson, and participated in 
the battle of New Orleans. The great-grandfather 
was a scion of one of the best Scotch-Irish families 



♦^1 



h 



288 



OTOE COUNTY. 



in the North of Ireland, while on the Wilkins side 
of the house our subject traces a portion of his an- 
cestry to England. 

Grandfather Wilkins was of New England birth, 
but in early manhood went to Tennessee, and from 
there later to Marion County, 111. He w.as a farmer 
by occupation, and became a large land-owner in 
the Prairie State, where he spent his last years. 
The parents of our subject also became residents of 
Marion County, 111., where the father was greatly- 
prospered in his farming operations, but flnallj', about 
1855, with his wife wont Ijack to Tennessee, where 
they died within a few days of each other, when 
only middle aged, being the victims of an epidemic. 

The parental household included two sons and 
four daughters, namely: Mary A., Carrie N. C, 
Hannah E., Henry Oliver (our subject), Margaret 
and Louisa J. One besides our subject, Louisa, is 
living, and a resident of Kentucky. Henry O. was 
born in Marion Countj', 111., Dec. 25, 1838, and 
lived there until a lad of eleven years, when he 
accompanied his parents to Tennessee, tie and an 
elder brother remained on the farm there one year, 
then Henry, repairing to Nashville, eng.aged as a 
boat hand on the Cumberland River a few months, 
then returned to the farm. His brother subsequently 
moved to Illinois, but Henry remained in Tennes- 
see until the outbreak of the Rebellion. Their 
property, comprising a farm of 100 acres, lay ten 
miles south of Jamestown. 

Notwithstanding our subject was the child of 
Southern parents, he had been imbued with anti- 
slavery and LTnion sentiments, and upon the ap- 
proach of the great conflict went into Keiitucky and 
enlisted as a Union soldier in Company H, 12th 
Kentucky Infantry, being mustered in Oct. 3. 1861. 
for the three-years service. Although only twenty- 
three years of .age, he was thoughtful beyond his 
years, and was solemnly convinced of the justice of 
the Union cause and the wickedness of human slav- 
ery. He had in Tennessee seen the unhappy vic- 
tims of the peculiar institution tied up and whipped 
cruelly, and witnessed other scenes which could not 
fail to arouse the sympathies of a human being. 
He first saw the smoke of battle at Camp Hoskins, 
and in February, 1862, fought at Mills Spring, 
afterward at Shilob, and was subsequentl3' in many 



of the important battles of the war. During all the 
trials and hardships incident to arm}^ life he was 
sustained and encouraged by the consciousness of 
being in the path of duty. In going from the Ohio 
River to North Carolina with his regiment he, with 
his comrades, swam and forded rivers, and were at 
one time on the forced march of forty-two days, 
during which they saw little rest, and were indif- 
ferently supplied with food. 

At Corinth Mr. McCart, while serving on picket 
duty, was attacked with measles on account of the 
exposure incident to his position, suffering greatly 
both at that time and on account of the after 
effects, from which he has never recovered. He 
was obliged to accept his honorable discharge on 
account of disability, and return to his old home 
in Tennessee. Although able no more to engage in 
active fighting he lost no opportunity to assist the 
Union cause and encourage men to enter the ranks, 
frequently piloting them from Eastern Tennessee 
across the Cumberland Mountains into Kentucky 
for this purpose. On one of these journeys he was 
captured by guerrillas, but succeeded in making his 
escape. In February, 1863, Mr. McCart, having 
somewhat recovered his health, again entered the 
service, and was happy in being able to continue 
until the close of the war. 

Mr. McCart, before his re-enlistraent, was mar- 
ried, April 12, 1863, in Scott County, Tenn., to 
Miss Minerva Blevins. who was born in Wayne 
County, Ky., June 5, 1839. She is the daughter 
of Jonathan and Amy (Chittwood) Blevins, who 
were natives of Tennessee, and at an early day re- 
moved to Missouri, where they remained until 1866. 
The mother had died in 1841, leaving six children. 
The father is still living, being now a resident of 
Pulaski County, Ky., and having attained the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-nine years. He contracted 
a second marriage, and became the father of six 
more children. Six of his sons and daughters are 
living, and residents of the United States and Scot- 
land. 

After petice had been declared Mr. McCart re- 
turned on a visit to his old home in Tennessee, and 
for the purpose also of straightening up matters 
connected with his father's estate. A few weeks 
later he decided to make his home in Lawrence 



t 



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•►-Hl-^^ 



OTOK COUNTY. 



291 



•► 



Countj-, III., so lie returned there and established a 
market garden in the vicinity of Lawrenceville. 
In Ma^', 1867, he removed across the Mississippi 
into the young State of Nebraska. In this journey 
he was accompanied by his wife and one child. He 
homesteaded the forty acres which he now owns 
and occupies before the village of Palmyra was 
laid out, and first engaged in freighting from Ne- 
braska City to Lincoln, being thus employed during 
tiie winter of 1869-70 with a team of horses. On 
account of failing health he was obliged to abandon 
freighting for something that would allow him 
more rest and quiet under his own roof. He then 
purchased the necessary machinery for drilling 
wells, and has sunk hundreds of these within the 
confines of Otoe Count}'. Ten years ago, hovvever, 
he began turning his attention to marketgardening, 
in which he has met with flattering success. His 
stock embraces seven head of horses and fifty head 
of swine. 

To our subject and his excellent wife there have 
been born ten children, nine of whom are natives 
of this county. Merc}', the eldest, died in infancy, 
and Sheridan died when eleven j'ears old ; James 
died at the age of twenty months. The survivors 
are: Anna J., Daniel, Henry O., Jr., Hannah, Solo- 
mon, Winfield and Frank. 



FRANKLIN T. C ASTLE]SrAN, the cattle king 
of Nebraska, has pa^ised through a most 
unusual and exciting experience, and his 
life is filled with incidents of deepest interest, 
which deserve rather a 500-page volume than a 
brief sketch, such as is here absoluteh' unavoida- 
ble. Regretting that this should be so, it must 
suffice to present ohI}' the most prominent points. 
To add to the interest of the sketch we give a por- 
trait of the distinguished subject on the opposite 
page. 

Our subject is the son of Henry H. and Mary 
(Frymire) Castleman, and was born on the 20th 
of Maj', 1833, in the countj- of Dundas, Canada, 
He was reared upon the farm of his parents, and 
also learned blaeksmithing witli his l)rother, who 

■^9 



was then established in Tioga County, N. Y., but 
now lives in Broome Count}-, N. Y., with whom he 
staid two years. The ideas of "Western life fired 
his youthful ambition, and he started for the Far 
West, finally making his way to Kansas. Journey- 
ing by railroad to St. Louis, he went up the Mis- 
souri River to Leavenworth, and after a time 
continued his journey to Sumner, which is about 
four miles below Atchison, which was just then 
being laid out on the Missouri River. Here he 
made the acquaintance of the celebrated Albert D. 
Richardson, a traveler and writer of prominence. 
He also met Horace Greeley when he made his 
memorable trip to the mountains. In Colorado 
Mr. Castleman engaged in mining and prospect- 
ing. He discovered the Quartz Mill Lodi Mine in 
Leavenworth Gulch, which for a time was very 
rich, and took from it $4,000 worth of gold in 
thirty days. It proved, however, to be but of 
short duration, although valuable while it lasted. 
In 1865 he went to Southern Colorado and New 
Mexico on an exploring expedition under Gov. 
Gilpin, of Colorado Territory, and was emjiloyed 
in prospecting for him. Continuing about four 
months thus engaged, he returned to Denver, and 
was engaged as foreman of the Baker Silver Min- 
ing Company, remaining with it for about two 
and a half years. About that time he was taken 
very sick with rheumatism, and had to leave the 
mines, after which he was engaged by a contractor 
of the Union Pacific Railroad Comp.any, Mr. C. 
working four teams of his own. He remained in 
that employ until after the road was completed, 
and in the presence of a large concourse the ma- 
hogany tie was placed in position, and with a heavy 
silver mallet the completing spike, which was of 
gold, was driven home. His connections with the 
railroad being over, he went to Butler County. Kan., 
and tried farming there, but was taken with the 
ague, and after a number of years aljandoned it. 

In 1873 our subject sold his farm and engaged in 
the cattle business, in partnership with J. J. Cox, 
and pureh.asing 700 head of cattle at Wichita, Kan., 
they took them to Colorado, and prospered be- 
yond the most sanguine expectations. The part- 
nership was dissolved in 1877, and our subject 
realized as his share of tlie profits .nbout it2,000. 

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OTOE COUNTY. 



Taking tliis capital he went to New Mexico, where 
he bought 1 85 head of cattle, and then drove them 
back to Colorado. He continued in his business 
alone until 1885, and then sold out all his interest 
in the business to a great advantage. 

In 1865 Franklin T. Castleman enlisted m Com- 
pany C, of the Colorado Militia, under Col. Moon- 
light, to escort the mail up and down the Platte 
River, and was engaged for 100 days. At the end of 
that time Gen. Connor, from Salt Lake, Utah, as- 
sumed command, and they were discharged. About 
the time of the close of the war he wrote home that 
he was about to form an independent company 
and assume command of the same, and then carry 
the war into the enemy's country. He intended 
it simply for a joke, but his brother, supposing him 
in earnest, wrote him a letter severely upbraiding 
him. and requesting him if determined to enter 
upon such a course to write them one more letter, 
which would be a solemn farewell. As he wrote 
the "one more" letter they supposed he had done 
as he had jn-oposed. Years rolled on and he was 
believed by all his friends to be dead. Pat Mur- 
phy, an old acquaintance of the family in Canada, 
went out to the plains of Colorado, and to his 
greatest surprise discovered in the cattle king of 
whom he often heard, and whom he supposed to be 
dead, F. T. Castleman, and subsequently, after Mur- 
phy went back to Canada and reported the facts, 
the brother, J. E. Casselman, who was then a citizen 
of Otoe County, came to Colorado to visit his 
brother. 

Our subject is one of the rich men and most 
valued citizens of the county, and has hitherto 
enjoyed his life in single blessedness. His name 
is slightly changed since his going to Colorado, 
and occurred owing to the mistake in drawing up 
of certain legal papers, by which it was written 
Castleman instead of Casselman. To this probably 
is due the non-recognition of the name by his 
brother. After he sold out in Colorado he made 
a visit to his brother here, and subsequently bought 
the farm where he now lives, which comprises 480 
acres, and is one of the most highly improved and 
best fenced farms in Otoe Precinct. He carries on 
his farm according to the most advanced methods. 
His barns and out-buildings will compare favora- 



bly with the best in the county. His whole place 
bears the impress of thrift, care and neatness in its 
management. A view of his splendid place is 
given as a fitting accompaniment to this brief out- 
line history of the life of its owner. 



^^\ HRISTIAN BLUM. Among the prosperous 
Yf^ German farmers of Russell Precinct the 
^^^ subject of this sketch occupies a position in 
the front ranks. He came to this county from 
Mercer County, 111., in the spring of 1876, purchas- 
ing 143 acres of land on section 30. Here he has 
labored industriously and with fine results, having 
now a good set of farm buildings, an orchard of 
seventy-five trees with the smaller fruits, his fields 
enclosed with hedge and wire fencing, a fair assort- 
ment of live stock, and all the other requirements 
of the progressive agriculturist. There are displa3-ed 
on every hand the evidences of the genuine Ger- 
man prudence and thrift which have descended to 
him from one of the best nationalities on the face 
of the globe. 

The parents of our subject, George and Susanna 
(Hummel) Blum, were born in the Kingdom of 
Wurtemberg, Germany, where the father pursued 
his trade of wagon-maker, and carried on farming 
until 1857. Then, not being satisfied with the head- 
way he was making upon his native soil, he resolved 
to emigrate to America. Soon after setting foot 
upon the Western Continent he made his way to 
Mercer County, 111., where he purchased forty acres 
of land, and, with his excellent wife, spent the re- 
mainder of his life. The father died in the spring 
of 1867, at the age of seventy-three years. The 
mother had preceded her husband to the silent land, 
her death taking place in 1865 from cholera, when 
she was sixty-eiglit years old. The family con- 
sisted of three children of their own: John; George, 
who died young; and Christian, our subject; and 
Mary, an adopted daughter. The eldest son is farm- 
ing in Washington County, Iowa. During the late 
war he joined a regiment of artillery from Illinois, 
and was mustered in at Chicago. This shortly 
afterward proceeded to the South, where he partici- 
pated in many of the important battles of the war. 



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293 



iiK'luding tliat at Pittsburg Landing, and the siege 
of Mcksljurg. He served three years and escaped 
unharmed. Tlie adopted daughter, IMary, is mar- 
ried, and a resident of Mercer County, 111. 

Our subject was born in the Kingdom of Wur- 
temberg, May 2, 1836, and lived there with his par- 
ents until reaching his majority, receiving that 
thorough education commonly accorded the youth 
of the German Empire. He accompanied his father 
to America, they making the voyage across the 
Atlantic on a sailing-vessel, being thirty-three daj'S 
on the ocean. He lived five years with his father 
in Mercer County, 111., and in the fall of 1862 
proffered his services as a Union soldier, enlisting 
in Company C, 102d Illinois Infantry. He was 
mustered in at Preemption, 111., went south into 
Kentucky, and was assigned to the Army of the 
Mississippi, under the command of Gen. Sherman. 
He was in some of the most important battles of 
the campaign, namely: Perry ville, .Stone River, 
Murfreesboro, Lookout IMountain, Chickamauga, 
Chattanooga, and marched with the old hero from 
Atlanta to the sea. He was all through that memora- 
ble campaign, and at the close of the war went up 
through the Carolinas and was present in the grand 
review at Washington. Thence the regiment re- 
turned to Chicago, where our subject was mustered 
out and received his honorable discharge. He had 
now fully gained his title to American citizenship, 
and returning to the Prairie State resumed farming 
in Mercer County. 

The marriage of Christian Blum and Miss ]\Iin- 
nie Iluinel took place in Mercer County, 111., Jul}- 
26, 1865, and thej^ began to live together on the 
little farm of forty acres purchased by our subject, 
and there continued to live for a period of ten 
years. In the spring of 1875 Mr. Blum concluded 
to cross the Mississippi, and moved to Page County, 
Iowa, living there also ten j-ears. In the spring of 
1885 he came to Nebraska and located on the farm 
which he now owns and occupies. He has become 
thoroughly identified with the interests of his 
adopted county, which recognizes in him one of its 
most valued and useful citizens. 

Mrs. Blum is the daughter of John and Barbara 
(Boeck) Humel, who were also natives of Wurtem- 
berg, and emigrated to the United St.atcs in the 



spring of 1864, settling in ^Mercer County, 111. The 
father was a weaver by trade, but upon coming to 
America engaged in common labor. He departed 
this life in the spring of 1886. The mother is still 
living, making her home with one of her sons in 
Mercer County, 111. The six children of the pa- 
rental family were named respectively: John, 
Emanuel, Lewis; Qaroline, who died when thirty- 
three years old; Louisa and Minnie. Mrs. Blum, 
the youngest of the household circle, was a native 
of the same Province as her parents and her hus- 
band, and was born Juh^ 30, 1836. She came with 
her father's family to America and lived at home 
uutil her marriage. Her union with our subject 
has resulted in the birth of six children, the eldest 
of whom, a son, John, died when eleven years old. 
The survivors — Christian, Minnie, Mary, Emma 
and Sophia — are all at home with their parents. 
Mr. and Mrs. Blum were reared in the doctrines of 
the Evangelical Lutheran Church, to which the}^ 
still lojally adhere, being members of the church 
at Hopewell. Mr. Blum, politicall}', votes the 
straight Democratic ticket. He has no desire for of- 
ficial honors, preferring to relegate the responsibili- 
ties of office to somebody who would not make as 
good a farmer. 



ENRY C. HANDY is one of the prom- 
hient, enterprising and successful business 
men of the county, and the owner of an 
extensive farm in North Branch, his home 
on section 25, where he settled in the j'ear 
His property includes 700 acres, the home 
farm comprising 280 acres, all well improved and 
utilized for the purposes of stock raising and feed- 
ing, with which business he has been connected for 
about three years, and in that time has conducted 
business extensivelj' in twenty -eight different States, 
and in the Territories. 

Our subject was born in Colerain, Mass.. on the Uth 
of October, 1841, to Charles and Lavina (Ross) 
Handy. The giandfather of our subject, Charles 
Haudy. was born in Scotland, where he was brought 
up and came to man's estate. There also he was 
married, and made his first home. In an early da}' 



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294 



OTOE COUNTY. 



he came to the United States with a colony which 
peopled Colerain. His wife was born in the North 
of Ireland. 

The father of our subject wiis a stockman in the 
Broughton Market for over forty-five years, and 
was in partnership with H. C. Leland for twenty- 
two years. He continued in the business until he 
was seventy years of age, and died in the year 1867, 
about nine years after he had retired. His wife, 
who departed this life in thej'ear 1862, also attained 
the same age of seventy-nine years. They were 
the parents of ten children, of whom five are now 
living. 

The subject of our sketch was the youngest 
child born to his parents. When seventeen years 
of age he went to New York City, where his 
brother Charles was engaged in a wholesale bakery 
business. There he remained for about six j^ears- 
During the last two years he attended the Shel- 
bourne Falls (Mass.) Business College, where he 
received a thorough business education. At the 
age of twenty-three he sold out his bakery business, 
and for one year served as mail agent on the Cunard 
Line between New York and Liverpool. He then 
came West, and at Chicago entered the house of 
Austin, Leiter & Palmer as dry-goods salesman. 
He remained in the house one year, and for the six 
subsequent j'ears was on the road as their repre- 
sentative, covering in that time most of the AVestern 
States. At one time he made heavy sales in five 
different States, and carried a large jobbing trade. 

In 1871 our subject engaged in the wholesale 
jtrovision, grain and seed trade, but after a few 
months of successful business lost all by the Chicago 
fire, and was again ready to work for someone else, 
and entered the employ of the J. Russell Manu- 
facturing Company, for which he traveled four 
J'ears. He then engaged with C. H. Fargo, and 
served them until 1879, then again with Mr. Rus- 
sell until 1885. He had purchased a farm of 280 
acres in the year 1879, but had rented the same 
until the close of his engagiment with Mr. Russell, 
although he had made this his headquarters from 
1882. The marriage of Mr. Handy was celebrated 
in 1886, the lady of his choice being Ann P. Deane, 
who was born in St. Louis, Mo., in May, 1848. She 
is the daughter of J. Charles and Helen (Porter) 



Deane. Her father was for many years a Captain 
on one of the Missouri River boats, but upon leav- 
ing his vessel embarked as a grain merchant at St. 
Louis. There had been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Handy three children, who have received the names 
Charles H., Benjamin D. and Kate A. Mr. Handy 
is a member of the Northwestern Traveling Men's 
Association, and has been an active member. He 
has the reputation of having sold throughout 
twentj'-eight of the States and Territories of the 
Union, and of a success unusually marked. He has 
a large natural capacity for business, is pleasant 
and affable in manner, but thoughtful, shrewd and 
keen. His political sympathies are with the Re- 
publican party, of which he is an old and tried 
member. 



ENRY SHRADER, one of the most stirring 
business men of Berlin, is interested in both 
farming and merchandising, and possesses 
decided business talent, having from a cap- 
ital of ^200 built up a fine property. This includes a 
half-interest in the store and a good farm of ICO 
acres with modern improvements, lying on sections 
21, 9 and 12 in Berlin Precinct. Mr. Shraderhas for 
his life partner a verj' intelligent and efiicient lady, 
who nearly equals him in point of business talent, is 
w'ell educated and intelligent, and contributes her full 
share in maintaining the reputation of the familj'. 
In the sketch of Mr. Fred Shrader, the brother 
of our subject, which will be found on another 
page in this volume, will be noted the parental his- 
tory. Henry, like the balance of his family, was 
born in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg. Germany, 
first opening his eyes to the light July 3, i 850. He 
was a lad twelve years of age when he crossed the 
Atlantic with his parents, thej' sailing from Ham- 
burg ill October of 1862 on the ship "Colum- 
bus," the voyage occupying eight weeks and two 
daj's, and during which they encountered at one 
time a severe storm which continued three days, 
and which menaced the safetj^ of the vessel and all 
on board. They finally, however, landed safely at 
New York City, and our subject accompanied his 
parents during the removals thereafter from C'leve- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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•295 



Hh^ 



land, Ohio, to Dixou, 111., and from there to this 
State. 

Young Shrader commenced working for himself 
at the age of thirteen years, at the munificent salary 
of S3 per month, except during the harvest season, 
wlien he was given 84. He was thus employed in 
farming for a period of seven years, in the mean- 
time completing his education duiing the winter 
se.asons in the common schools. After coming to 
Nebraska in December of 1869, he was occupied 
at farming one year near Nebraska City, and in 
June of tlie year following purchased 120 acres of 
school land on section 16. Upon this there has 
been no attempt at improvement, and our subject 
commenced from first principles to build up a home- 
stead. He set out groves, erected buildings, culti- 
vated the soil, and lived there until 1881, when he 
removed to his present farm, which he had pur- 
chased the previous year. This, like the other, was 
raw prairie, and he proceeded as before to develop 
a farm with like results. His buildings are on 
section 7, and consist of a tasteful modern residence, 
a good barn, and all the necessary out-buildings for 
the storage of grain and the shelter of stock. He 
sold his first purch.ase in the year 1 887, and re- 
moved to Berlin, purchasing an interest in the stock 
of merchandise then owned by G. H. Hillman, and 
ventured upon a new department of business. His 
natural talent has carried him through this scheme 
successfully. The business is operated under the 
name and style of Schrader Bros. They carry a 
large stock of clothing, drj'-goods and groceries, 
and have in connection with this a millinerj' estab- 
lishment. They carry a stock of goods worth SilO,- 
000, and enjoy the patronage of the best people of 
this section. 

The wife of our subject was in her girlhood Miss 
Catherine Walch, and they were married in Ne- 
braska City, June 24, 1875. Mrs. Shrader is the 
daughter of Charles and Barbara (Neu) Walch, the 
father a native of Alsace, France, and the mother 
born in Byron, Germany. The paternal grand- 
father, Jacob Walch, also a native of Alsace, was a 
well-to-do farmer, and Grandfather Michael Neu, 
who pursued the same occupation, emigrated to 
America in 1839, and settled among the pioneers of 
Bureau County, 111., where he spent the remainder 



of his days. The parents of Mrs. Shrader were 
married in Bureau County, 111., where the father 
farmed until 1870, then came to this county. Here 
he purchased 160 acres in Berlin Precinct, upon 
which he made good improvements, and where his 
death took place in 1875, when he was but fort}'- 
two 3"ears old; the mother is still living at the old 
homestead. 

Besides Mrs. Shrader there was born to her 
parents only one other child, a son, Ch.arles, who is 
now with his mother. Mrs. Shrader was born in 
Bureau County, 111., Aug. 22, 1857. She was sub- 
jected to careful parental training, acquired a good 
education in the common schools, and received from 
her excellent mother lessons in those housewifely 
duties upon which the happiness of a home so much 
depends. Of her union with our subject there are 
five children, namely: Annie, Rudolph, Minnie, 
Ulka and Carrie. Mr. Shrader, politically, is a 
stanch Republican, and was a charter member of 
the German Lutheran Church at Berlin, to the sup- 
port of which he has given liberally, and officiated 
as Trustee and Secretary. He has represented 
Berlin Precinct in the County Board of Super- 
visors two years, and has been a member of the 
Election Board for a long period. The family 
occupies an enviable position in social circles, and 
among business men Mr. Shr.ader is given a place 
in the first ranks. 



■^1 OHN MICHAEL. The subject of this sketch 
bears the distinction of being the oldest pio- 
neer of Palmyra Precinct. Great have been 
the changes which have occurred since he 
first set foot on the soil of Nebraska, and no 
man has watched with warmer interest its growth 
and development. Prominent among its business 
and agricultural interests, he has been no imim- 
portant factor in bringing this commonwealth to 
its present proud condition. His labors have met 
with abundant reward, as he is now in the enjoy- 
ment of a beautiful home and a competence for his 
old age. In addition to this he has also fully es- 
tablished himself in the esteem and confidence of 
his fellow-citizens, being very popular, especially 



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206 



OTOE COUNTY. 



among the old settlers, who remember his ellicieiicy 
in other days, and the young extend to him that 
tactic respect and reverence accorded to those who 
have seen so much of life and been so useful in the 
world. 

Mr. Michael first arrived in Nebraska Territory 
on the 1st of April, 1857. He was then a man of 
twenty-nine years, having been born Feb. 15, 1828. 
His native place was Northampton County, Pa., 
and his parents were John and IMary (Warner) 
Michael, both natives of the Keystone State. John 
Michael, a farmer by occupation, was a hard-work- 
ing, industrious man, and the sons were taught 
those habits of thrift and economy which formed 
the secret of their success in life. The household 
circle included eight children, namely: Joseph, who 
died young; Thomas; John, our subject; Charles, 
George, David, James and Hannah. Of these our sub- 
ject and his sister Hannah are the only ones who sur- 
vive; the latter is a resident of Pennsylvania. The 
father of our subject, in the fall of 1877, left his 
Pennsylvania home and with his family emigrated 
to Nebraska. Both parents spent their last years 
at the home of their son John, and died within a 
year of each other, the mother in 1882, when sev- 
enty-six years old, and the father in 1883, at the 
advanced age of ninety-one. 

The Michael family were of substantial German 
ancestry, the first representatives in the United 
States crossing the Atlantic during the Colonial 
days. Our subject learned to speak the German 
tongue when but a boy, but on account of limited 
school facilities grew up with very little education, 
except what he picked up himself by reading and 
observation. He was taught at a very early age to 
make himself useful around the homestead, and 
when leaving it at the age of eighteen worked out 
at So per month. In 1852 he made up his mind to 
seek his fortunes west of the Mississippi. He first 
went to Iowa, settling in the vicinity of Dubuque, 
where he worked out by the month for a time and 
then engaged as teamster. With genuine German 
thrift and prudence he saved what he could of his 
earnings, and in the spring of 1857 came to Ne- 
braska with a capital of $300. This, however, 
should have been three times that sum, as he lost 
$900 on his contract for hauling building material 



for the seminary at Cascade, Iowa. In coming from 
Iowa to Nebraska our subject made the journey with 
a team of horses and a wagon, in company with 
Thomas Hunter and Henry Salladay. Mr. Hunter 
pre-empted land in the vicinity of Nebraska City, 
but Mr. Salladay soon afterward went back to Ohio. 
Mr. Michael located liis land along the western part 
of the county, on sections 7 and 8 in Palmyra Pre- 
cinct. His nearest white neighbor, for six months, 
was twentj' miles away, but Indians were jjlentiful, 
and having the good judgment to treat them kindly 
and in a discreet manner, they neither injured nor 
annoyed him. 

Mr. Michael up to this time was a single man, 
as he believed in laj'ing the solid foundations of a 
home before taking upon himself the responsibili- 
ties of a family. Having arrived at this point he 
was finally united in marriage with Miss Alary 
Spahule, the wedding taking place at the home of 
the bride, in Lancaster County, Neb., in September, 
1877. Mrs. Michael was born in German}^ Jan. 
22, 1859, and came to the United States with her 
parents when sixteen years old. Her parents, Jo- 
seph and Rosalia Spahule, were of pure German an- 
cestrj^ The father spent his last years in Kansas 
and the mother in Nebraska. Their family included 
nine children, five of whom are living; they mostly 
reside in Nebraska. 

Mr. and Mrs. Michael commenced their wedded 
life together in the log house which is still standing 
on the premises. This was replaced many years 
ago by a tasteful and commodious frame dwelling, 
and the barn and outhouses adjacent are ample evi- 
dence of the taste and means of the proprietor. Mr. 
Michael, besides carrying on the cultivation of his 
land successfully, has planted fruit and shade trees 
in abundance, including a large apple orchard in 
good bearing condition, and the choicest of all tlie 
smaller fruits. His land is well watered and very 
productive, and the source of a~haudsome income. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Michael there have been born 
four children, all sons — George, Charles, David and 
James. David died when seven years old, and 
James when three. The survivors make their home 
with their parents. Mr. Michael cast his first Presi- 
dential vote for Buchanan, and since that time lias 
uniformly' supported Democratic principles. He is 



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OTOE COUNTY". 



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297 



widely and favorably known throughout this part 
of the county, and has been foremost in the enter- 
jirises calculated for its development and progress. 
He was instrumental in forming the Old Settlers' 
Association, and is its Vice President. A work of 
this kind would by no means be complete without 
the name and a brief epitome of the character of 
one of the earliest settlers of Otoe Count}', among 
whom John Michael occupies no unimportant place. 



--^SS»«^^»^ 



«^5tf^««^»tf~ 



s^, HERMAN A. HOSTETTER. one of the 
most prosperous farmers of Palmyra Pre- 
cinct, would at once be singled out in a 
community on account of his fine stature, 
being six feet three inches in height and otherwise 
of commanding presence. He is also a gentleman of 
remarkable intelligence, and a citizen who enjoys in 
a more than ordinary degree the friendship and es- 
teem of those around him. The doors of his hos- 
pitable and pleasant home are alike open to friends 
and strangers, who are welcomed with that courtesy 
which bespeaks the gentleman born and bred. His 
property consists of a fine farm of 200 acres on 
section 20 in Palmyra Precinct, of which he took 
possession in the fall of 1883. He has labored to 
excellent advantage, being surrounded now with 
all the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. 

Sherman Hostetter, Sr., the father of our subject, 
a native of Preble County, Ohio, was a man of 
more than ordinary ability, cultured and intelligent, 
and one who exerted a wide influence during the 
years of his active life. He was warmly interested 
in the political questions of the day, a member first 
of the old Whig pai-ty and afterward a Republican. 
After taking up his residence in Indiana he was 
elected to the State Legislature, and was instru- 
mental in the defeat of the Militarj' Bill, which 
during the times of the Civil "War involved most 
important issues. On account of his efficiency at 
tills period, he became the warm personal friend of 
Gov. Morton, who extended to him that kindly 
confidence and esteem fully in keeping with his 
merits. Conscientious and upright in all his deal- 
ings with his fellowmen, he at all times steadily 
resisted the temptation to profit by that which had 



the shadow of dishonesty, as was finally illustrated, 
especially at one time, when Hon. G. S. Orth, Con- 
gressman-at-Large from Indiana, came to his house, 
and for three days sought to persuade him to in- 
vest in a quantity of whisky which could be pur- 
chased for a trifle, and by the disposal of which 
there was no question but that he would realize a 
fortune, as at that time was about to be passed the 
Internal Revenue Law, which would bring about this 
result. The father replied: "I have some boys 
growing up, and if I make my money in whisky, 
the}' will be justified in drinking it." No promises 
or threats could move him from the stand which he 
had taken, and the tempter departed, able to say at 
least once in his life that he had met a man gov- 
erned by principle. 

It is hardly uecessar}' to say that the father of 
our subject was first a 'W"hig, then a Republican, 
was also an Abolitionist, and by his political speeches 
in Indiana turned the tide of many an important 
question. For a period of fourteen years he la- 
bored actively in the cause of freedom and union, 
and rested from his earthly labors on the 7tn of De- 
cember, 1868, passing aw.ay at his home in Indiana 
amid the mourning of many friends and the regret 
of all who had known him. He had married in 
early manhood Miss Mary Ann Byrd, who was a 
native of Kentucky. They had removed from 
their native State in their youth, and they were 
married in Indiana. Of their union there were 
born ten children. Further mention of the family 
is made in the sketch of John B. Hostetter, which 
will be found elsewhere in this volume. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Montgom- 
ery County, Ind., Aug. 26, 1850, and spent his 
boyhood and youth upon a farm, receiving his ed- 
ucation in the common schools. This was exceed- 
ingly limited and conducted about fifteen days 
during the winter season. Living in the midst of 
a timber tract, he early became proficient in the use 
of the ax, and grew up familiar with the various 
other pursuits of farm life. 

Mr. Hostetter was married rather late in life, 
when a man of thirty-two years, in the fall of 1882, 
to Miss Sarah J., daughter of Thomas and Nanc}' 
(Smith) Pollet. He had before this continued un- 
der the parental roof as a member of his father's 

■» 



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298 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



household. Mrs. Hostetter was born near Oxford, 
in Preble Count}', Ohio. Aug. 5, 1853, and was the 
fourth in a familj- of ten children. Her parents 
were nativss of Ohio, and are now deceased. They 
removed from the Buckeye State to Indiana when 
she was a little girl seven years of age, and she 
spent the time mostly under the parental roof un- 
til her marriage. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hostetter after their marriage re- 
mained upon the old homestead in Montgomery 
County, Ind., until it was sold in 1883. They 
then came to Nebraska, and settled upon the farm 
where they now live. .Of their union there have 
been born three children — Bertha F., Clarence I. and 
an infant unnamed. It is hardly necessary to say 
that Mr. Hostetter is a stanch Republican, following 
in the footsteps of his honored father. In religious 
matters he is one of the most prominent members 
of the United Brethren Church, and Assistant Su- 
perintendent of the Sunday-school. Socially, he 
belongs to the I. O. O. F.. of Palmyra. 



(|J,_^ ERBERT G. STILLWELL, who, although 
[fjjj the owner of but eighty acres, successfully 
l^^ farms 240 acres, situated in Russell Precinct, 
'i^ the home farm being upon section 30, 
is the son of George W. and Louisa (Burdell) Still- 
well, and both the parents and son were born in 
Jefferson County, N. Y. The family is of German 
descent, but has been identified with American citi- 
zenship for several generations. The father of our 
subject was a farmer and worked eighty acres of 
land. In 1869 he went to San Francisco, and there 
kept a dairy and also ran a soda spring in Mappa 
Valley for three years, then removed to Richardson 
County, near Falls City, where he followed hus- 
bandry until 1874, then removed to this county, 
where he died in 1876, at the age of forty-nine 
years. 

Mr. Stillwell, Sr., enlisted in a regiment of New 
York infantry in the year 1861, and served until 
the close of the war. He was present at Bull Run, 
Gettysburg, and a number of other of the larger 
and more important engagements. He was a Re- 
publican in his political relations, and a Baptist 



in his religious faith. After the death of her hus- 
band the mother of our subject bought 160 acres, 
and supervised the improvement and operation of 
the same and still owns the property. She is living 
near San Francisco, and is fifty-four years of age. 
Three children came to call her motiier — Sarah E., 
Herbert G. and Daniel S. 

Tlie subject of our sketch opened his eyes to the 
light on the 21st of April, 1862, and was about 
seven years of age when his parents removed to 
California. He attended the public schools in the 
city of San Francisco for a year or two, and then 
his parents removed to Nebraska, and he of course 
accompanied them. After his father's death he con- 
tinued to make his home with his mother, and as far as 
was possible assist her in the maintenance of home, 
until he attained his majority. He then took charge 
of his mother's farm. In 1885 he spent six months 
in New York City in an express office, and in 
July, 1886, he crossed the continent to California, 
and there attended the Petalunia Commercial Col- 
lege, where he took a six-months course of instruc- 
tion, and then returned to Russell Precinct, and took 
up his present place in the beginning of 1887. It 
was at the lime partially improved, and he contin- 
ued that good work and brought it to its present 
super-excellent condition. He has from the first 
given much attention to stock-raising, chiefly of 
hogs and graded horses. 

Mr. Stillwell celebrated his marriage with Miss 
Emma E. Boyd at Dunbar, Neb., Sept. 8, 1887, 
His excellent wife is the daughter of J. C. and Isa- 
bell (McCulloch) Boyd. Her father was born in 
Blount County, Tenn.,and followed agricultural pur- 
suits; he removed with his wife and family to this 
State in 1863, and settled in Delaware Precinct, and 
engaged in farming, changing his residence to his 
present home in Dunbar in 1809. He is the owner 
of 400 acres, and superintends the working thereof 
himself. He has always been a member of the Re- 
publican party, and has several times been called 
upon to fill various offices. He was Assessor for 
three years and County Superintendent for four 
terms. 

Mrs. Stillwell was born in Blount County, Tenn., 
June 11, 1863, and is the second of seven chil- 
dren born to her parents. The names of her brothers 



•►Ht::* 



ers Y 




Residence of H ermann Teten,5ec.19. Rock Creek Precinct. 




Residence OF James Lewis , Sec 26//Vff/?rA'y) Palmyra Precinct. 



H-.^^^v«.^-.r -f i." 



--f«?eAs^ \J^-y-KJirr' 




Residence OF Christian Bischoff, 5ec.29. Rock Creek Precinct. 



•►Hl-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



301 



i 



and sisters are as follows: Laura L., John W., 
Frank C, Eddie C, Mamie E. and Albert L. She 
is a lady of culture and education, and liesides the 
usual instruction of the common schools she attended 
the Peru Normal School of this State for four years, 
fitting herself for the position of a teacher, and con- 
tinuing to follow that jjrofession with mqrked ability 
and success for thirteen terms. She has presented 
her husband with one child, who bears the name of 
Maey Bartlett. 

Mrs. Stilhyell is a devout member of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, and is the recipient of 
the cordial respect and esteem of her fellow mem- 
bers, as she is indeed of that of the comraunitj' so far 
as she is known. Onr subject is a member of the 
School Board at Russell, and has held that position 
since 1888. He is a firm Republican, and is alwa3's 
ready to take his stand with the party. He is a 
man of intelligence and character, and esteemed 
throughout the community. 



=E3- 



I^REDERICK PAAP. The career of the self- 
made man is finely illustrated in the subject 
of this sketch, who began life in America 
dependent upon his own resources, without means, 
a stranger in a strange land. He is now one of the 
leading farmers and land-owners of Berlin Pre- 
cinct, holding a clear title to 1,360 acres, which he 
has transformed from a tract of wild prairie to a 
highly productive condition. The homestead oc- 
cupies the southwest corner of section 15, and pre- 
sents one of the most attractive spots in the landscape 
of that region, being embellished with fine build- 
ings, a commodious and convenient residence, a 
substantial barn, and the pens and sheds required 
for the shelter of stock, of which the proprietor 
makes a specialty. Within, the home is presided 
over by a lady well educated, refined and hospita- 
ble, who has done her share toward the building 
up of the reputation of the family, and assisted in 
drawing around them hosts of friends. 

Our subject was born in the Grand Duchy of 
Mecklenburg, Aug. 31, 1839, and is the son of 
Frederick, Sr., and Mary (Scholtz) Paap, who were 



natives of the same place as their son. The pater- 
nal grandfather, Dedloflf Paap, was a cooper bj' 
trade, but served in the German array during the 
war between France and Russia. On the mother's 
side grandfather John Scholtz inclined more to the 
peaceful pursuits of .agriculture, being for a num- 
ber of j'ears overseer of a farm. Both spent their 
entire lives in their native Germany. 

The father of our subject occupied himself as a 
gardener near his native town until 1857, then re- 
solved to emigrate to America. He was accom- 
panied by his wife and children on the voyage 
across the Atlantic, and for two years thereafter 
lived in Cleveland, Ohio. In the spring of 1859, 
coming to this county, he purchased eighty acres 
of land on section 15, Berlin Precinct, for which 
he paid the sum of $70, all the money he had in 
the world. He commenced in true ijioneer fashion 
the development of the farm, and was prospered in 
his labors, building up a good homestead and sur- 
rounding himself with all the comforts of life. He 
doubled his original purchase, and there spent his 
last days, passing away Aug. 4, 1879, when sixty- 
nine years old. The mother is still living, making 
her home with her son William, in Berlin Precinct, 
and is now seventy-eight years of age. Their three 
children were named respectively: Frederick, our 
subject; William and Louisa. The two latter a,ve 
residents of this precinct. 

Mr. Paap attended the common schools of his 
native town until a lad of fourteen years, in the 
meantime learning the art of gardening of his 
father. After leaving the day school he pursued 
his studies at an evening school four j'ears longer. 
He came with his father to the United States when 
a youth of eighteen years, in 1857, making the 
voyage on a sailing-vessel, the "St. John," embark- 
ing at Hamburg and landing at New York six weeks 
and three daj's later. In the meantime they en- 
countered several storms, and at one time the ship 
took tire, but fortunately this was arrested before 
very much damage was done. 

Young Paap landed a stranger in a strange land, 
not being acquainted with a soul in America and 
almost penniless. He made his way to Cleveland, 
Ohio, where for two years he employed himself at 
whatever he coidd find to do, sometimes by the 



•►Ht^ 



^^^^4-^ 



^f^ 



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302 



OTOE COUNTY. 



month and sometimes by the day. In 1859 he re- 
solved to cross the Mississippi, made his way by 
rail to St. Louis, thence by steamboat to this county, 
landing in Nebraslva City. He was fortunate in 
securing emploj'ment on a farm, and worlied the 
first 3'ear for Dave Martin, receiving at the close 
in pa3'ment for his services $150. This seemed 
quite a goodly sum, as he had landed in Nebraska 
with $5. 

Our subject the second year of las residence in 
this county was employed at a hotel in Nebraska 
City. In 1862 he engaged in freighting to Denver, 
and later worked in John Bennett's mill, near Ne- 
braska City; 1863 and 1864 found him freight- 
ing again, and later he was employed in a wholesale 
establishment at Nebraska City. His journej'ings 
across the plains were invested with the usual 
dangers and hardships for those times, when the 
Indians looked upon the whites with very unfriendly 
eyes, and the traveler at no time felt secure either 
as regarded life or property. Mr. Paap, however, 
possessed a cool and temperate judgment, which 
enabled him to keep out of difficulty both with the 
rough white element of that region and with the 
Indians. During the early part of 1865 he was 
one of the company of home guards organized for 
mutual protection. 

Tlie eighty acres of land which our subject now 
occupies as his homestead proper was purchased by 
him in the spring of 1860, but he did not make 
any attempt at improvement upon it until after his 
marriage. Then, fortified by the assistance and 
sympathy of a good wife, he put up a modest 
dwelling, and in true pioneer style began the im- 
provement of his property. In breaking the soil 
the wife frequently drove the oxen, while Mr. Paap 
held the plow. After he had put in his first crop he 
began setting out fruit and shade trees, and has 
now fine groves and eleven acres planted with ap- 
ple trees, and choice fruits of the smaller varieties. 
In adding to his landed area he has paid all the 
way from $7 to $25 per acre, hut for none of it 
would he to-day take less than $35 per acre. This 
he has divided into six farms, each being supplied 
with groves, orchards, houses and barns. For the 
building of his present fine residence he was 
obliged to haul all the material from Neliraska 



1- 



City. It is handsomely finished and furnished, 
and supplied with all modern conveniences. 

Mr. Paap began at an early date his operations as 
a stock-raiser, and has been remarkablj^ successful. 
He keeps none Init good grades of animals, and his 
horses are especially fine, being draft animals of 
the Clydesdale stock. Of these he has seventeen 
head, besides a span of valuable mules. In his 
stock operations he utilizes 320 acres of his land, 
over which he has personal supervision, and rents 
the balance. 

The marriage, of F'rederick Paap and Miss Caro- 
line Sturm was celebrated at the home of the bride, 
in AVeeping Water, Feb. 2, 1864. Mrs. Paap was 
born in what was then the Province of Alsace, 
France. March 24, 1846, and received a careful 
education, becoming familiar with both the French 
and German languages. She accompanied her 
father's family to America when a young girl of 
thirteen years, in the spring of 1859. Her parents 
were Andrew and Madoline (Understock) Sturm, 
also natives of Alsace, and the father a prosperous 
farmer. The mother died in Germany in 1853. 
The family crossed the Atlantic on the sailing-ves- 
sel "Brockness," and not long after landing in New 
York City proceeded directly westward to Nebraska, 
locating in Cass County, where the father purchased 
320 acres of land. Upon this he settled with his 
family, effected good improvements, and there spent 
the remainder of his life, his death taking place in 
April, 1874, at the age of seventy-three years. The 
children of the parental household, five in number, 
were named resi ectively: Magdalene, Andrew, 
Sarah, Caroline and ISIary. The brother and the 
sisters of Mrs. Paap are residents of Nebraska. Her 
maternal grandfather served in the French army 
during the war between France and Germany, in 
1812. Grandfather Sturm during his early man- 
hood was the owner of a fine property, but for 
thirty-six years afterward was bedridden from an 
incurable disease, the expense of which consumed 
the most of it. 

To. Mr. and Mrs. Paap there have been born 
five children, namely: Omar, Alexander, Albert, 
Medora and Lj^dia, the latter twins. The eldest of 
these is twent3'-four years of age, and the younger 
ones ten. Tliey arc being trained and educated in 



■•►■ 



•►-11-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



303 



a manner befitting tlieir station in life. Mr. and 
Mrs. P. are charter members of tlie German Metli- 
odist Episcopal Churcli, at Berlin, and have always 
contribnted liberally and cheerfully to its sui)port. 
Mr. P. gave valnable assistance in erecting the 
church edifice, has been a Trustee for many years, 
and is Superintendent of the Sunday-school. Po- 
litically, he is a fervent supporter of Republican 
principles, and has done his party good service in 
this county, frequently being sent as a delegate to 
the State and County Conventions. He has also 
served on the Grand and t*etit Juries. He is a man 
who keejis himself posted upon current events, one 
with whom it is interesting and profitable to con- 
verse. 

LBEKT HAUPTMANN, one of the most 
substantial members of the farming eoni- 
li munity of Otoe Precinct, owns 240 acres 
of its most valuable land, pleasantly lo- 
cated on section 35. He is one of the nationality 
which has done so much in the development of the 
great State of Nebraska, of German birth and an- 
cestry, liis early home being in the Pi'ovince of 
Westphalia, Prussia, where he first opened his eyes 
to the light Jan. 7, 1829. 

Harmon H. and Anna Margaret (Isl.abince) Haupt- 
mann, the parents of our subject, were also natives 
of Prussia, the father born in the little Province of 
Westphalia, and living there until after his mar- 
riage and the birth of his children. In the j-ear 
1853 all the family came to the United States, set- 
tling first in Niagara County, N. Y.; thence, not 
long afterward, they removed to Jefferson County, 
Wis., and the year following to Nebraska. 

Albert, our subject, had, however, preceded his 
parents to America, and it was through his persua- 
sions that thej' joined him here. The father was a 
well-educated man, and both parents belonged to 
the higher classes. Upon coming to the West they 
crossed the Missouri River on the 1st day of July, 
1856, at a point upon which now stands Nebraska 
City, the site of whicli was then occupied by only 
a few wooden hovises. The father pre-empted 160 
acres of land, embracing the northeast quarter of 
section 35, building up a homestead which is now 



•►-It^ 



occupied by his grandson, George E. Hauptmann, 
and where the aged grandmother is still living, be- 
ing now eight^'-three years old. The father died 
Nov. 30, 1886, at the age of eighty-three years and 
ten^ months. 

The parental family included seven children^ 
u.amely: Albert, our subject; Elizabeth, Casper, 
Henry, Anna C. I., John Frederick and Willi.im F. 
Tliey are all well-to-do and residents of Nebraska. 
Albert was twenty-two j'ears of age when he came 
to America; he acquired an excellent education in 
his native tongue, his father being in good circum- 
stances and able to give his children the best ad- 
vantages. 

Young Hauptmann, when first setting foot upon 
American soil, emplo3'ed himself at farming in the 
vicinity of Saratoga Springs, N. Y.. and not long 
afterward wrote back to his parents, urging them 
to join him in America, and they did so before he 
came on to Nebraska. They lived for a time near 
Lock])ort, N. Y., and Albert preceded them to Jef- 
ferson County, Wis., in 1854, they joining him 
eighteen months later. 

Our subject, while a resident of Wisconsin, was 
united in marriage with Miss Anna Margareta Isla- 
bince Jacobmej^er, who was, like her husband, a na- 
tive of Prussia, and born April 2, 1838. She came 
to America with friends when a young girl of fif- 
teen years. Immediately after their marriage Mr. 
and Mrs. Hauptmann started for Nebraska, arriv- 
ing in Nebraska Cit}- on the 2d of June, 1856, the 
journey being made by team. Our subject at once 
pre-empted 160 acres of land, and for many years 
thereafter was, with his estimable wife, industriously 
employed in building up tlie homestead. His in- 
dustry and perseverance met with their legitimate 
reward, he being now surrounded with all the com- 
forts of life, with a prospect of a competence for 
his old age. He purchased additional land in 1878, 
and has brought the whole to a good state of culti- 
vation, erecting thereon substantial and convenient 
buildings. 

The houseliold circle of our subject .ind his esti- 
mable wife was completed by the birth of nine 
children, who, with the exception pf a daughter, 
Louisa, who died when an infant, are all living. 
They are n.amed respectively: Anna, Harmon A., Jay 



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Hf^ 



304 



OTOE COUNTY. 



H., Charles F., Lj-dia, Theodore, Hannah M. and 
Maggie. Anna is the wife of AVilliam Jewell, of 
Nemaha County, and the mother of three children 
— Lydia, AUie and Nettie. The others are at home 
with tlieir parents. Mr. Ilauptmann is a member 
ill good standing of the German INIethodist Episco- 
pal Church, and politically, votes with tlie Repub- 
lican party. He has never sought official honors, 
although officiating on the School Board of his 
precinct. His good wife and the mother of their 
children died Sept. 14, 1888, and is buried in Lee 
Cemetery, this precinct. 



^^^ILBERT WELLS, engaged in the real-estate 
ill __ and insurance business at UnadiJla, and a 
'^^5, gentleman representing a good amount of 
property, owns and occupies a small cottage in the 
town. A native of Sutton, Merrimack Co., N. H., 
he was born May 5, 1826, and until the age of 
twentj'-one years spent his time upon a farm, ac- 
quiring his education in the common schools. After 
reaching his majorit}' he commenced farming on his 
own account on his father's land, then purchased a 
farm for himself, which he afterward exchanged for 
village property' in Waterloo, N. H. 

After his marriage our subject removed to Dane 
County, Wis., settling in the viciuit}' of Stoughton, 
and in the spring of 185G purchased eight}' acres 
of land, upon which he operated as an agriculturist 
for a period of nine years. The fall of 1865 found 
liim west of the Mississippi, and located in South 
Branch Precinct, this county, of which he has since 
been a resident. 

The journey hither was made overland with a 
team, the party crossing the Missouri River at 
Nebraska City. Mr. Wells homesteaded and im- 
proved a claim on section 4, where he made good 
improvements, setting out groves of fruit trees and 
hedge fences. He was obliged to have his building 
material hauled from Nebraska Cit}', with which to 
put up a house and the various other structures 
required for his convenience. He subsequently 
added forty acres to his real estate, but this he has 
since deeded to his son. 

Mr. Wells, in the fall of 188G, removed from the 



farm to a home which he had purchased in Una- 
dilla, where he has a house and three lots on I 
street. Soon afterward he went into partnership 
with C. R. Stedman, in the grocerj' trade, but on 
account of failing health was obliged to abandon 
this. In the spring of 1888 he began dealing in 
real estate, and also became an agent for the Phoe- 
nix Fire Insurance Company, of Hartford, Conn. 
He is a man prompt to meet his obligations, straight- 
forward in his business" transactions, and in all re- 
spects a highly esteemed citizen. 

The parents of our subject were Benjamin and 
Lois (Wheeler) Wells, also natives of the Old Gran- 
ite State, the father born in Loudon and the mother 
in Sutton. Benjamin Wells was a farmer by occu- 
pation, and enlisted as a soldier in the War of 
1812, although not seeing any actual service. On 
the mother's side Grandfather Wheeler was an old 
Revolutionaiy soldier, and received an honorable 
wound at the battle of Bunker Hill. He spent his 
last years in Sutton. Both the Wells and the 
Wheeler families were of English descent. 

Benjamin Wells owned a farm of 100 acres in 
Sutton, N. H., and was fairly prosperous in his 
labors as a tiller of the soil. He was a member of 
the Baptist Church, and died about 1845. The 
mother, a member of the same church, survived 
her husband a period of ten years, dying in 1855, 
at the age of seventy-six. They were the parents 
of eight children, two of whom died in infancy; the 
others lived to mature years, but Benjamin, Luc}' 
W., James and George are since deceased. The 
survivers are Sarah W. and Gilbert. The sister is 
a resident of South Newbury, N. H. 

Our subject, in the fall of 1854, was married in 
Warner, N. H., to Miss Mary W. Kelley, who was 
the second child of Caleb and Susanna W. (Worth) 
Kelley, both natives of the Granite State. The 
father was of Irish ancestry, and a farmer in pros- 
perous circumstances, holding 200 acres of good 
land. His death took place in 1853, in his native 
State. The mother subsequently removed to Wis- 
consin, and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. 
Moses Emerson, at Stoughton, in 1878. Of their 
six children only three are living, namely: Mary 
W., LovinaM. and Lucy S. Thomas H., the 3'oung- 
est son. and twin brother of Lovina, enlisted in 



-^i 



t. 



•►Hl^ 



^T 



4« 



OTOE COUNTY. 



305 



iiHOMAS BELL. This gentleman is one of 
tlie most widely known and at the same 
time truly respected citizens of Palmyra, and 
a worth}" representative of the mercantile interests 
of this place. He is the son of William and Helena 
(Heron) Bell, who were natives respectively of 
Yorkshire and the county of Durham, England. 



the 7th Wisconsin Regiment for three years, in 
the earh* part of the War of the Rebellion. He par- 
ticipated in several hard-fought battles, and was 
once wounded. He died of smallpox in the hospital 
after honorably serving his country for two years 
and nine months. Samuel W. and Emily J. are also 
deceased. I 

Mrs. Wells was born near Warner, N. H.. Jul}' i 
Ih, 1835. She received a common-school educa- 
tion, and continued with her parents until her mar- 
riage. Of her union with our subject there h.ave 
been born five children, namely: Clara M., Jessie 
F., Llewellyn A., Forest J. (deceased) and Ermina 
L. Clara is tiie wife of C. R. Stedman, a merchant 
of Unadilla (whose biography will be found else- 
where in this work), and the motiierof two children 
• — Nellie L. and Alma R. ; Jessie married J. M. 
Brown, who is farming in Washington Territory; 
they have five children — Clarence O., Harry, Frank, 
Myrtle, and an infant unnamed. Llewellyn mar- 
ried Miss Nellie Balfour, and is farming in SoutL 
B.ianch Precinct, this county ; the have one child, a 
son, Hugh G. Ermina L. married H. E. Stedman, 
who is farming in Russell Precinct, and they have 
one child, Georgietta. 

Mr. Wells states that he was born a Democrat, 
reared a Republican, but votes with the Prohibition- 
ists. He .served as Justice of the Peace for four 
years in Sout.h Branch Precinct, was Assessor one 
year, and a member of the School Board several 
years. At Burr Oak he was Postmaster for a 
period of ten years, withdrawing from the otflee in 
the summer of J 882. He was at one time a mem- 
ber of the P. of H.. belonging to the Grange at 
Rockford. and afterward in his own school district. 
In the spring of 1870 he was the Census Taker of 
South Branch Precinct. 



His father was by occupation a farmer, and was a 
small land-o\vner in his native country. He died 
in the year 1858, aged sixty-eight years, at his home 
in England. His wife died in England after her 
son Thomas had left for America. She was ninety 
years of age, and almost until the last was a hale 
and healthful old lady. Grandfather Bell was a 
man of large knowledge, and was Principal of the 
grammar schools at Kirby, England, for many 
years. 

Our subject was one of a family of six children, 
who received the following names: Mary, Stephen, 
Jane, Frances, William and Thomas. Thomas was 
born on the 21st of May, 1824, in Yorkshire. He was 
from earliest childhood very delicate in health. 
His" education was received in the parish school, 
and he was allowed to continue longer than was 
usual. After leaving the institution he was ap- 
prenticed to a tailor for seven years. At the time 
he was twenty-one years of age he was possessed of 
just one sovereign sterling, representing in Ameri- 
can currency about $4.85. Until coming of age 
he had devoted his spare time and evenings ver}' 
diligently to his studies, and thus lai'gely increased, 
solidified and established his education. 

Upon coming to man's estate Mr. Bell began 
business for himself as a merchant tailor; consider- 
ing the almost insurmountable difficulties he had to 
contend with in beginning with practically nothing, 
he did remarkably well, and was very successful. 
When twenty-five years of age he was married to 
Miss Elizabeth Reed, the daughter of John and 
Hannah Reed, both of whom were natives of York- 
shire. They were the parents of eleven children, 
eight of whom were boys. Mrs. Bell was the fifth 
child, and was born in March, 1827. She was edu- 
cated in the schools of her native place, and re- 
ceived a fairly good English schooling. Her father 
was engaged extensively in business as adairym.an, 
and she was known as the "buxom dairy lass of 
Yorkshire" by her friends and companions. Her 
parents died in their native country. After their 
marriage in August, 1849, Mr. and Mrs. Bell con- 
tinued to live at IMarton, Yorkshire, for about eight 
years. He had studied theology, and become one 
of the prominent members of the church since he 
was .about seventeen years of age, and was fre- 



■ ► I I <• • 



•►^il-^ 



30G 



OTOE COUNTY. 






quently urged to take up the work of t!ie ministry. 
He became pastor of tlie church at Broughton, and 
served as its regularlj^ ordained pastor for six 
years. He filled charges at Broughton and Stocks- 
ley, continuing until the summer of 1851. In the 
fall of that year he accepted a call from the Park 
Head Church of Cumberland, which was one of the 
first churches built by the ejected ministers of the 
seventeenth century, for one Rev. George Nichol- 
son. 

While in pastoral charge in Cumlierland Mr. 
Bell taxed his constitution, which had never been 
the most robust, to such a degree that he was com- 
pelled to resign his charge, much "to the regret of 
the three congregations he had served, for under 
his able ministry the work had grown to an unex- 
pected extent, and the membership was nearly quad- 
rupled. Upon the advice of his physician he 
determined to try what the United States climate 
might do for him, and therefore sold out his prop- 
erty, and, accompanied by his wife and family, he 
set sail from Liverpool on the 3d of April, 1867, 
on board the steamship "Louiscana." He landed 
in the city of New York, after an ocean passage of 
twent3'-one days, unmarked by any especial note- 
worthy incident; but his destination was Nebraska, 
and he proceeded at once to the West. 

Before leaving England Mr. Bell had organized 
a colony consisting of over 100 Englishmen, and 
they came to Otoe County on or about the 1st of 
May, 1867. Almost without exception they took 
claims in the vicinity of Palmyra, and it acquired 
the name of the English settlement. Mr. Bell 
bought one-half of section 22, and immediately went 
to farming, whicli was an entirely new vocation for 
him. His health, however, began to improve from 
the first, and as he became more acquainted with 
the Government and institutions of the country he 
grew to like it more and more, and before long de- 
clared his intention of becoming an American citi- 
zen. He took out his first papers at Nebraska City, 
in the j^ear 1867, shortly after his arrival here. 

Richard Oakley, one of the colonists, built and 
stai'ted the first store in Palmyra. From this be- 
ginning the town has grown to its present position 
of importance to the surrounding country. Upon 
the urgent request of the Superintendent of the 
<> 



Home Mission Society of America, he accepted the 
position of pastor of the Congregational JMeeting 
at Palmyra. He took hold of affairs vigorously, 
organized the congregation, and set them to work 
as a church, and at his instigation they erected the 
church building. For four years and a half he 
continued to serve them faithfully and well, but 
the strain was more than he could bear, and at the 
end of that time through failing health he was com- 
pelled to resign his charge and return to farming. 

In 1877 our subject went West to Gosper Countj^ 
this State, and took up a pre-emption, and also a 
timber claim, intending to have settled there, but 
owing to the death of his eldest son, John R., he 
was unable to carry out his plans, and so continued 
farming in Palmyra Precinct. He now owns but 
a small farm of but twenty acres, not far from the 
town. Twelve acres are taken up with apple trees. 
He also owns several good store buildings in Pal- 
myra, and sixteen lots of village property, also two 
good residences. He has also his hardware store, 
where he does a large business under the name of 
Tliomas Bell. He and his son run a clothing store, 
and have an established business. He also handles 
upon an average 500 tons of coal annually. 

There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bell 
eleven children, viz.: John R., William, Thomas, 
Hannah, Jane H., Elizabeth, Thomas H. and Mary,' 
who were all born in England, and in this country 
the family circle was extended to admit Robert, 
and two who died in infancy. John R. died as 
above mentioned when about twenty-five years of 
age; William and Thomas also died in England; 
Hannah is happily married to Dwight AVait, and is 
the mother of four children; .Jane H. is the wife of 
Richard Oclvley, and is the mother of five children; 
Elizabeth lives in St. Joseph with her husband, J. 
H. Parker, who is m.inager of the Mutual Telegraph 
Company at that place; Thomas W. is in business in 
Palmja'a; Mary is at home, and Robert died in this 
State in 1878. 

In 1885 Mr. Bell was appointed Notary Public 
under Gov. Dawes, and for three terms has held 
the office of Justice of the Peace. For fourteen 
years he was School Moderator for District No. 8. 
He is a prominent member of the religious organiza- 
tion of Palmyra, and is a strong temperance advo- 






>► II <•• 



4 



otop: county. 



307 



cate, which lie has been in fact since he was about 
seventeen years of age. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican, and takes much interest in such matters. lie 
is eminently respected as a man, a citizen and a 
Christian, as are also the various members of his 
family. His influence fdr good in the community 
is quite large. He is now a strong Prohibitionist. 



ETER A. FLODIN. Among the extensive 

grain buj-ers and dealers of Otoe County, 

^_l^ is the gentleman whose history is herein 

•|1\ sketcheil. He is the owner of the 'lalmage 
Steam Elevator, of which he has been proprietor 
since July, 1888. He has been connected with the 
business for a considerable period, working for 
Jameson Brothers, and then purchasing the elevator 
and outfit, succeeding that firm in the business. 
Since he has had the business he has made strenu- 
ous efforts to enlarge the trade, and has prospered 
beyond measure in his endeavor. He is prepared 
to handle all kinds and quantities of grain, having 
an elevator possessed of a capacity of 10,000 
bushels. He commands and manages a trade avei'- 
aging 4,000 bushels per diem. 

Mr. Flodin came to Talmage from Leona, Kan., 
having been engaged there in the hardware and 
tinning trade for several years. He began business 
at that place in the year 1874, establishing first a 
blacksmith-shop, which was successfully operated 
for about seven years, after which he turned his 
attention to hardware, implements, etc., until com- 
ing to this place. In both he was a success, and 
had an extensive and profitable trade. 

.Sweden was the land of the nativity of the sub- 
ject of our sketch, and where his birth took place 
on the 27th of December, 1847. He was there 
brought up and educated, and learned the black- 
smith trade, which he continued to follow in his 
native country for about six years. In 1870, and 
while y€t a single man, he came to the United 
States, and stopped for a short time in Toledo, Ohio. 
Later he went on to Atchison, Kan., and subse- 
quently to St. .Joseph, Mo. ; in tlie latter place he 
followed his trade for two years, but at the end of 



•►Hl-^*- 



that period removed to Severance, Kan., and later 
went on to Leona, where he figured prominently in 
business circles until he came to this State. 

While a resident of Leona there occurred an in- 
teresting incident in the life of Mr. Flodin, being 
that of his union in marriage to Miss Ida R. Schock. 
This lady was born in the State of Ohio, where 
also her parents were born, but of German descent. 
.She came west to Leona in the j^ear 1870, and re- 
mained there until after she became of age. She 
is the daughter of Jacob and Maria H. (Sherry) 
Schock, who are still living at the above-named 
town, where Mr. Schock is a prosperous and well- 
established wagon-maker, carpenter and builder. 
Mrs. Flodin has presented her husband with three 
children, whose names are as follows: Carl E., Ber- 
tha H. and Nellie B. 

The subject of our sketch is a u>ember of the A. 
F. & A. M., and holds the position of Junior War- 
den of Trestle Board Lodge No. 162, of Talmage, 
of which he is an affiliate, and is also Trustee of 
the lodge and property. Politically, he is a sound 
Republican, and takes a deep interest in all political 
affairs. 

^pj RYSTAL S. WADE is one of the old settlers 
'|( of the State, and has made for himself quite 

^^Ji' a record as a miner, and in later j'ears, also 
as an agriculturist. His excellent wife and life 
companion is a lady of noble character, most de- 
voted in every domestic relation. Their home is 
situated on section 17, Otoe Precinct, where they 
own IGO acres, which is utilized for general farm 
purposes. 

The parents of our subject, James G. ami Eleanor 
B. Wade, were born in Ohio and Kentucky respect- 
ively, but were married and settled in Fountain 
County, Ind. They did not remain there for any 
considerable period, but removed to Fremont 
County, Iowa, in 1847, at which time there were 
but six families in the entire county. There the 
father died in 1860, when b\tt thirty-nine years of 
age, and was followed to the silent land in 1856 by 
his wife, who had attained the age of fifty-five 
years. Both were twice married. By his first union 
the father had three children. By her first marriage 



f 



•*-*=^ 



"^^ 



308 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the mother had six. Their union was blessed 
bj' the birth of five children, to whom were given 
the subjoined names — Barbara, Crystal S., Robert, 
Fleming and Antoinette. 

On the 29th of December, 1839, in Fountain 
County, Ind., was born the subject of our sketch. 
His earliest recollection is that of crossing the 
Mississippi at St. Louis in the course of the migra- 
tory journey. His boyhood days were spent in 
Iowa, and he grew up among the Pottawatomie 
Indians. Owing to the newness of the country his 
education was but scanty. Such as he received was 
obtained at Sidney, which was laid out in 1851. 
Being the only son left at home, the mother upon 
him rested large responsibility in regard to home 
affairs. 

It was in the spring of 1860 that our subject went 
to Colorado, for the purpose of seeking his fortune 
in the mines. Taking three yoke of oxen, a cow and 
his dog, he and his brother-in-law, John G. Graves, 
started west. Crossing the plains they reached 
Denver after a journey of about six weeks, and at 
once pushed on for the mines. He did fairly well 
in Colorado, but was hardly satisfied, and in 18(j2 
went to Montana, joining the companj' of gold 
miners in the vicinity of Virginia City, where he 
remained until the fall of 1864, when he returned 
to this county and purchased his farm of 160 acres, 
and settled down to improve it. 

The wedding of our subject and Miss Augusta 
Guy, a lady descended from the Guys of Scotland, 
which family at one time held the earldom of War- 
wick, and is a branch of the Scottish royal family, 
was celebrated on the 7th of December, 1865. She 
is a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Phillips) Guy, 
who were natives of Pennsylvania. The grand- 
father, Thomas Guy, was the first representative of 
the family to settle in this country, coming from 
Scotland many years ago, and settling in Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Leaving Pennsylvania the parents of Mrs. Wade 
removed to Davenport, Iowa, in the 3-ear 1844, 
coming to Nebraska in 1858. They settled in this 
county, where the father died in June of 1873, at 
the age of eighty-five years, and the mother de- 
|)arted this life in 1880, aged seventy-one years. 
Their union was fruitful in the birth of two chil- 



r 



dren, viz: Hiram and Margaret A. The latter was 
born on the 10th of February, 1849, at Davenport. 
She was nine years of age when they came to this 
State, where her education was continued in the 
schools of Nebraslta City. She has presented her 
husband with three children, viz: Delia, Edwin 
Guy and Ida Bell. Delia is the wife of W. H. 
Cockrain, of Nuckolls County, Neb., and they have 
two little ones, named Winnifred and Pearl: Edwin 
and Ida attend the Normal School at Peru, Neb. 
The subject of our sketch has held the office of 
Justice of the Peace for several years, and for two 
terms has been Assessor. Nine j^ears he held dif- 
ferent school offices, in each serving with conscien- 
tious thoroughness. Politically, he is a Republican ; 
witli|]his wife, he is associated with the Methodist 
Episcopal communion, of which they have been 
members for many years. 



y'lLSON McCONNELL. In Otoe Precinct, 
on section 33, a fine farm attracts the at- 
^J^^ tention of the passing stranger, not more 
on account of its neat appearance and seeming fer- 
tility and productiveness, than for its sightly loca- 
tion one-fourth of a mile from the Missouri River, 
commanding a broad and extensive view not only 
of a part of Nebraska, but of the adjoining States 
of Iowa and Missouri. The eye rests on one of the 
richest and most fertile farming regions in the 
world, and the low bluffs of the river, the gently 
undulating prairies stretching for miles on either 
hand, dotted with lovely groves of forest trees, 
planted by the early settlers, form a scene of un- 
surpassing beauty, one that a lover of nature never 
ceases to admire. The fortunate owner of the farm 
referred to is Mr. AVilsou McConnell, the subject 
of this sketch, who is here quietly passing the de- 
clining years of a useful life, surrounded by the 
loving care of his children, free from the burden of 
ill-health so often laid upon the aged, and able to 
enjoy the good things of life that he has gathered 
together tlirough long years of industry and shrewd 
management. 

Mr. McConnell was born in Belmont County, 
Ohio, April 13, 1811. His father, Robert McCon- 



T 




^ 



/ 



f^l 



,'?!i^"5?»' #. ' '-?vSA"" 




^^K^n£^{J 




1 



OTOE COUNTY. 



311 



^y 



iiell, was a native of Pennsylvania, and was tliere 
reared and manied. He moved from bis native 
Stnte to Oluo early in the present century, and be- 
came a pioneer of Belmont County. He lived 
there until about 1816, and then east in his lot with 
the early settlers of Harrison County, in the same 
State. He bought a farm there, and was success- 
fully- engaged in agriculture until his death. The 
maiden name of his wife, the mother of our subject, 
was Prudence Coleman. She was, it is thought, a 
native of Virginia, and died on the home farm in 
Ohio. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in the pio- 
neer home of his parents in Harrison County, and 
after his marriage he bouglit a farm near his father's 
homestead, and lived tliere for many years. At 
length he sold his place tliere and moved to Indiana, 
settling near Peru in Miami Countj', where lie 
bought a farm of 160 acres. In 1864 he traded 
for the land that he now owns and a tract in Kan- 
sas; the latter he has sold. In the fall of that year 
he bought a stock of general merchandise in Chi- 
cago, and, accompanied by his family, started west 
to find a suitable location to open a store, going by 
way of the railway to St. Joseph, Mo., then the 
western terminus of the railway, and from there 
proceeding on a steamer to Omaha. He did not 
consider the opening there favorable, so he returned 
to Atchison County, Mo., where he opened a gen- 
eral store. During that winter he sold his goods, 
and in the spring returned to Indiana and bought a 
hotel at Greencastle, which he managed until the 
following spring. He then sold out and returned 
to Miami County, and rented land until 1869. In 
the fall of that year he removed with his family to 
Nebraska to locate on his land, coming with teams. 
His land was at that time in a wild state, not a sod 
having been turned by the plowshare, and there 
being no buildings thereon, he rented a cabin near 
by, in whicli his family spent the winter. During 
that season he was busily employed in erecting a 
Commodious and comfortable hewed log house, into 
which his family moved in the spring of 1870, and 
in that year he made the first improvements on his 
land, which he has since brought into a high state 
of cultivation. 

The beloved wife of our subject, vvho so faith- 



fully aided him in his early struggles, departed 
this life at their home in Indiana, May 5. 1864, 
leaving behind her a pleasant memory of a life well 
spent, and full of all things that go to m.ake a good 
woman. Her maiden name was Rachel Hooper, 
and she was born in Harrison County, Ohio, Oct. 
29, 1819. Mr. McConnell has seven children liv- 
ing — Robert J., Mary E., John, Nancy, Joseph, 
Wilson and Rachel. All the sons have been mar- 
ried. The father of Mrs. McConnell was Jesse 
Hooper, a farmer and a tanner, who carried on 
both occupations in Miami County, and died there. 
Mr. McConnell is a good citizen, a man of stable 
character and steady habits, who is thoughtful and 
kind in his family relations, and whose neighbors 
always find him obliging and helpful, so that he 
full^- deserves the high esteem and considerati )n in 
which he is held b}^ all. In politics he is a Demo- 
crat. 

ENJAMIN D. TAIT, a prominent resident 
of Nebraska City Precinct, is a wide-awake, 
intelligent man, of fine business ability, and 
^^5>=s^ of sound principles and good habits. He 
personally superintends his farming, stock-raising 
and fruit-growing interests, and derives from them 
a substantial income. The father of our subject, 
James Nelson Tait, was a pioneer of Nebraska, and 
an early settler of Nebraska City, with whose com- 
mercial interests he was prominently identified for 
several years. 

Our subject is a native of Clermont County, 
Ohio, his birth occurring there Jan. 31. 1844. His 
father was James N. Tait, who was born in Spring- 
field, Mass., Dec. 19, 1816. His father, Joseph D., 
was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and at the age 
of fourteen he entered the English Armj- as a drum- 
mer boy, and came to America with his regiment 
during the War of 1812, and was present at the 
battle of Lundj-'s Lane. After peace was declared 
he settled in Massachusetts, and there married a Miss 
Holten, of New England birth. He subsequently 
moved from IMassachusetts to New York, and plied 
his trades of stonemason and plasterer in Oswego 



•• >M < • 



^ .".12 



OTOE COUNTY. 



! 



County, where he resided until his death. After 
mailing his home in this country he was alwaj'S a loyal 
citizen, and during the late war enlisted as drum- 
major, but the infirmities of age incapacitated him 
for the position, and he was soon discharged and 
lived but a short time. His wife survived him a 
number of years. 

The father of our subject, whose portrait we give 
on an accompanying page, was but a boj' when his 
parents moved from Massachusetts to New York, 
and there he grew to manhood. He remained in 
the parental home until he was nineteen, and then 
started out to seek his own living, traveling quite 
extensivel3', and doing odd jobs of work at anything 
that would pay. He finally settled down near Ba- 
tavia, Ohio, and was for some time engaged as a 
clerk, until he learned the trade of a miller, and he 
then operated a mill for the same man for whom he 
had been clerking. After marriage he established 
himself in the mercantile business in Clermont 
County, Oliio, and from there he went to Marathon, 
where he carried on the same business until 1858. 
In that year he wound up his affairs in Ohio, and 
came to the Territorj' of Nebraska, by way of the 
Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, landing in 
Nebraska City on the 1st of May. He went to Ne- 
maha County, and there made a claim, on which he 
built a small frame structure in which to live, broke a 
few acres of his land and raised a crop. Wild ani- 
mals, such as deer, prairie chickens, wolves, etc., 
were very plentiful then, and the deer destroyed his 
sweet corn. 

In the fall of the year, after he had proved up 
on his land, Mr. Tait moved to Nebraska Citj' and 
entered into the mercantile business. There were 
no railways nearer than Eastern Iowa at th.at time, 
and all transportation was done with teams or on the 
waters of the Missouri River, where steamboats were 
constantly pljing. Mr. Tait kept a general store with 
Talbert Ashton, under the firm name of Ashton <fe 
Tait. They were appointed agents for the different 
steamboat lines, leased the levee from the city, and 
had to collect wharfage and keep it in repair. This 
was for some time the headquarters of the freighters, 
who were engaged in teaming supplies across the 
plains to the different military posts and mining 
camps, and large amounts of freight were received 



and forwarded by the firm. Mr. Tait and his part- 
ner continued in the mercantile business together 
until 1865, and as agents of the steamboats until 

1868, when they dissolved partnership, and Mr. 
Tait retained the agency until his death. May 1, 

1 869, caused by accidentally walking off a high bank 
in the night, and sustaining injuries from which he 
died in a few hours. Nebraska City thus lost an 
energetic, enterprising citizen, one who had done 
much to extend its commercial interests. 

Mr. Tait and his wife were the parents of three 
children — Benjamin D., Joseph E. and Mary E. 
Joseph was born Feb. 17, 1847, and died Oct. 30, 
1 865 ; Mary married David W. Ferry, and resides 
in Nemaha County. The maiden name of the 
mother of our subject was Rachel Cramer, and she 
was born in Brown County, Ohio, Jan. 2, 1823. 
Her father, Benjamin D. Cramer, was born in Mon- 
mouth County, N. J., Oct. 16, 1799. a son of .Sam- 
uel and Rachel (Doughty) Cramer, the former 
supposed to have been a native of New Jersey, and 
the latter of New Goshen, Orange Co., N. Y. In 
1816 his parents removed to Ohio, going with 
wagons to Pittsburgh, and thence on ttatl)oats down 
the Ohio to their destination. Mr. Cramer bought 
a tract of timber land in Brown County, and there 
engaged in farming until his death. Mrs. Tait's 
father, grandfather of our subject, was but a youth 
of seventeen years when his parents moved to Ohio 
in January, 1817. He inherited a part of the old 
homestead after his father's death, and bought 
another pl.ace near by, and resided there some 
years. About 1852 he broke up housekeeping to 
make his home with his children, and in 1862 came 
to Nebraska to spend his last years with Mrs. Tait. 
The maiden name of his wife was Calista Granger, 
and she was born in Seneca County, N. Y""., a 
daughter of Ephraim and Dorothy (Lampkin) 
Granger. She died at the old homestead in Brown 
County, Ohio. 

Benjamin Tait. of this sketch, was a lad of four- 
teen years when he came to Nebraska with his par- 
ents, and he remembers well the incidents of pio- 
neer life here. He had gained the foundation of a 
sound, practical education in the Ohio public schools, 
and after a course in the city schools here, in 186 7 
was sent to Poughkepsie, N. Y'., to attend Eastman' 



,n's t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



313 



Business College. On his return home he became 
a clerk in his father's establishment, which situation 
he retained until the latter's death. From that 
time until the present he has been extensively en- 
gaged in general farming and fruit-growing. 

Our subject was married, March 8, 1882. to Miss 
Ida M. Sittler, and thej' have one child, Jessie. 
Mrs. Tait was born in Rock Creek Precinct, Dec. 
19, 1862. Her father, John Sittler, was born in 
Pittsburgh, Pa., a son of Michael Sittler, a native of 
Baden Baden, Germany, who on coming to America 
located in Pittsburgh. He subsequently moved to 
New Albany, Ind., and is now a resident of Nebraska 
Cit}'. Mrs. Tait's father was young wlieii his father 
moved to Indiana, and he afterward came to Ne- 
braska, and lived for some j-ears. The maiden 
name of Mrs. Tait's mother was Margaret F. Brown, 
and she was born in Mason County, III., to Jesse 
and Hannah (Streater) Brown. She is now the wife 
of William McLennan. Mr. and Mrs. Tait are 
valued members of this community, as thej- are 
frank, warm-hearted, charitable people, and every 
good work receives their encouragement and cor- 
dial support. In politics he is a stanch Republican. 



-^KS 



•^S»j»> 



^^ LARENCE B. CASTLEMAN is carrying on 
(l( a lucrative trade in hardware at Hendricks, 

^^( in the southwestern part of this county, 
where he has been established in business since 
June of 1 888. He is a careful and conscientious 
business man, and is a favorite in both social and 
business circles, and issteadil}' gaining ground, with 
the prospect in the near future of conducting one 
of the indispensable institutions of the city. 

Our subject is the scion of an excellent family^ 
being the son of Charles N. and Cordelia (Jenks) 
Caslleman, the father a native of Ontario, Canada, 
born in 1828, and the mother a native of New York, 
her birth taking place in 1834. They were married 
in Broome County, the latter State. The elder 
Castleman was a blacksmith by trade, serving his 
apprenticeship at Syracuse, of which he was a resi- 
dent ten years. Later he removed to a farm in 
Broome Countj', N. Y., where, with his excellent 



wife, he is still living, and in good circumstances. 
Their family included Ave children, namclj' : Clar- 
ence B. ; Jasper H., who is farming in Broome 
County, N. Y. ; Daniel A. and William C, in Colo- 
rado, and Franklin, at home with his parents. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Speeds- 
ville, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1856, and continued with his 
parents until reaching his majority, acquiring a 
common-school education. In December, 1877, 
leaving the Empire State, he came to Nebraska, and 
for five years thereafter was a resident eight miles 
south of Nebraska Cit3\ where he engaged in farm- 
ing. In 1882 he came to this count}', and took up 
a tract of uncultivated prairie land lying on section 
36 in Palmyra Precinct. He remained there four 
j-ears, in the meantime bringing about good im- 
provements. He then returned to his native State 
to visit his old friends, and soon after coming back 
to this county purchased another eighty acres ad- 
joining his land, upon which he labored until the 
spring of 1888. Then, desirous of a change of 
occupation, he invested a portion of his capital in a 
stock of hardware. Later he erected a fine build- 
ing in Hendricks, in which he placed a full line of 
everything pertaining to his trade, including agri- 
cultural implements. 

Mr. Castleman came to this county "fanc}' free," 
but soon became acquainted with one of its most esti- 
mable young ladies. Miss Hettie Winj-ard, to whom 
he was married at the home of the bride in Otoe Pre- 
cinct, in the southeastern part of this count}', Dec. 
20, 1882. Mrs. Castleman was born in this county, 
Aug. 10, 1860, and was the daughter of John and 
Ann (Hodges) Winyard, who were natives of En- 
gland, whence thej' emigrated to the United States 
in early life, settling with their parents in Illinois, 
where the}' were married. The father was a farmer 
by occupation, and the family came to Nebraska in 
18.'>8, while it was still a Territory. Mr. W. secured 
a tract of laud in Otoe Precinct, where he followed 
farming, and where his death took place in 1872, 
at the age of forty-five years. The mother is still 
living, and resides on the homestead. The house- 
hold circle included four children, namely: Millie, 
Hettie, Grace and May. 

Mrs. Castleman was a lady of excellent education, 
and taught school successfully for a period of six 



•►Hl-^^ 



•>-Ht 



ife 



OTOE COUNTY. 



years before her mariiage. bhe was a graduate of 
tlie Pennsylvania Normal 8ehool, but became the 
wife of our subject before completing the course. 
She became the mother of two children, Winnie and 
Frank, and died in Palmyra, this county, Feb. 11, 
1886. While a resident of Otoe Precinct C. B. 
Castleman was a member of the Congregational 
Church, in which he officiated as Trustee. He is 
now identified with the Presbyterian Church at 
Hopewell. Politically, he is a warm supporter of 
Kepublican principles. 



WilLLIAM E. KENNICUTT. The homestead 
of this early pioneer of Otoe County is one 
of the finest in Southern Nebraska. The 
farm comprises 160 acres of highly cultivated land, 
and on it is located a large and elegant residence, 
with finely constructed barns and outhouses adjoin- 
ing, the former set in the midst of an ample lawn with 
walks and driveways, and the latter comprising all 
the conveniences required by the modern and pro- 
gressive agriculturist. There is an abundance of 
shade and fruit trees, while shrubbery and flowers 
in the summer season serve to embellish the grounds 
and comjjlete the attractions of the place. Within, 
the home is presided over by a verj- intelligent and 
excellent lady, our sulijcct having been particularly 
fortunate in the choice of a wife and helpmate. The 
family is widely and favorably known throughout 
this section as a leading exponent of its education, 
and the cultivation which is one of the features of 
the social element of Otoe County. 

Our subject was born fifty-four years ago in Ful- 
ton County, N. Y., May 8, 1834, at the modest 
hom6 of his parents, whose property consisted of a 
farm in Mayfield Township. His father, James H. 
Kennicutt. was born in JIassachusetts, reared to 
manhood in New York, and was married in the 
latter State to Miss Abigail Wells, who was born in 
Hartford County, Conn. She was a teacher, and 
removed to Fulton County. N. Y., in her girlhood. 
The parents s|tent their last years in Hartford 
County, Conn. Of their six children, William E., 
of our sketch, was the eldest born; Mary F. is the 
wife of James Foote; John died in childhood; 



•► 



4mh. 



James H. died in 1868, in Montana; Jennie is the 
wife of Leonard Lewis, also a resident of Montana; 
Abby W. is the wife of C. W. Cook; they live in 
Montana. 

Mr. Kennicutt spent his childhood and youth 
after the manner of most farmers' sons, pursuing 
his first studies in the district school. At the age 
of thirteen years he entered the public schools of 
Hartford. Conn., where he studied a period of three 
3'ears, then returned to the farm, assisting his father 
in its various emploj-ments until reaching his ma- 
joritj'. He also learned the printer's trade in Hart- 
ford, Conn. He had, however-, already' conceived 
the idea of visiting the West, and when starting out 
in the summer of 1856 came directly to this county 
in company with Joseph Foote, landing in Nebraska 
City. They made their way to Chicago, 111., by 
rail, from there to Batavia by the same means, then 
purcliased a team of horses and a wagon, and pro- 
ceeded by this means on their journey, crossing the 
Mississippi on a ferry at Fulton, HI., and the Mis- 
souri at Minersville, then Otoe City. 

Our subject soon took up a pre-emption claim of 
160 acres, which is included in his present farm. In 
the spring of 1857 he commenced working for a Mr. 
Pendleton, but in the fall of that year went over 
into Atchison County, Mo., where he lived a 3'ear, 
and from there migrated to Fremont County, Iowa. 

In the fall of 1858 our subject, in company with 
Mr. Frank Squires, purchased a steam sawmill in 
Fremont County, Iowa, which they operated very 
successfully for a period of two years, and during 
which time Mr. K. laid the basis of his future pros- 
perity. He now disposed of his interest in the 
sawmill, and about this time, the spring of 1861, he 
had the happiness of welcoming liis father's family to 
this section. 

Mr. Kennicutt, in the fall of 1862, feeling assured 
that he was now able to support a family, was 
united in marriage with Miss Sophia, daughter of 
Henry and Jane (Smith) Adams, who was of an 
excellent family, and was born Oct. 14, 1840, at 
Holley, Orleans Co., N. Y. Her father was the 
second cousin of John Adams, second President of 
the United States, and she was the eldest child of the 
second marriage of both parents. Of the first mar- 
riage of her father there were born two sons — Tru- 



r 



>► 1 1 ^> 






OTOK COUNTY. 



315 



man H. and Nathaniel. Of the first marriage of 
her mother there were born two daughters — Mary 
J. and Henrietta McCrillis. 

Mrs. Kennicutt grew up amid the quiet scenes of 
country life, pursuing her first studies in the com- 
mon school, and at the age of ten years entered the 
academy at Ilolley, where she took a seven-years 
course, and developed into a well-educated young 
lady. When eighteen years old she came to Ne- 
braska, accompanied by her father, her eldest half- 
brother and the eldest half-sister, landing in Otoe 
County in the f.all of 1858. The motlier had died 
in Holley, N. Y., when her daughter Sophia was 
but eight years of age. The father now settled in 
the vicinity of Otoe City, which was then but a 
hamlet, where he occupied himself at farming, and 
is now deceased. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kennicutt commenced the journey 
of life together in true pioneer style, in a manner 
suited to their means and surroundings. Their first 
dwelling was a log house, where, notwithstanding 
their humble surroundings, the}' spent maii^' happy 
years. This was on tlie home farm of her father. The 
present residence was erected in tlie summer of 1861, 
and remodeled in 1882, and it is hardly necessary 
to sa}' that it lias taken years of labor to bring their 
farm to its present condition, and erect the build- 
ings whicli attract the admiring eye of the passerby, 
and form one of the attractive features in the land- 
scape of that region. The household circle has 
been completed by the birth of four children, 
namely: Harry A., Frank B., Allen McC. and an 
infant unnamed, now deceased. All the boys have 
been students at Doane College, in Crete. Henry 
is at present attending the School of Technology 
in Boston, Mass., making a specialty of civil engin- 
eering, and expects to graduate in the class of '91. 
Frank B. and Allen McC are at home with their 
parents. 

The winter of 185fi-57 Mr. Kennicutt recalls as 
one of the most severe that he ever experienced, 
and during which, being a single man, he made his 
home with Mr. Foote and Mr. Pendleton. He as- 
sisted in the organization of Hazle Dell School Dis- 
trict, which was one of tiie first organized in Otoe 
Count}', and was a leader in inany of the enter- 
^ ' prises affecting the moral and educational status 



of the community, He voted both times for the 
adoption of the State Constitution during the agi- 
tation of the question in 1860, and later in 1866. 
He cast his first Presidential vote for Lincoln, and 
since 1872 has been independent in politics. He 
has borne an honorable part in the development of 
Otoe County, and is respjcted as among its best 
citizens. 

— -^m- — 

AVID W. HERSHEY, M. D., one of the 
able and popular physicians of Nebraska 
City, and whose reputation is quite exten- 
sive in the county, was born in Amherst, 
Erie Co., N. Y. His father, John Hershey, was a 
native of the same county, while the grandfather, 
whose given name was Christian, was born in 
Maryland, and was, as far as can be gathered, of 
Swiss ancestry. He settled in Erie County when it 
was still uncleared timber land and without settlers. 
He cleared for himself a farm, and built his home 
and out-buildings from the timber felled under his 
own ax. 

The father of our subject was reared upon the 
home farm, and afterward, when at about the age 
of thirt3'-five, he entered mercantile life in Amherst 
and continued for about two years, then returned 
to the f.arm, where he followed agriculture until his 
death, in the year 1881. His wife, the mother of 
our subject, was Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and 
Chastren Welty. She died many years before her 
husband, leaving three children: Our subject; Mar- 
garet, who is a teacher at Buffalo, N. Y., and an- 
other little one who died quite young. 

The education of our subject was begun in the 
district schools, and he afterward entered the Gen- 
esee University at Lima, N. Y. In 1850 he elected 
to follow the medical profession, and began study- 
ing with Dr. L. J. Ham, at Williamsville, N. Y. He 
also attended the medical department of the uni- 
versity at Buffalo. At that time the eminent Doc- 
tors, White, Hamilton, Flint and Dalton, were 
members of the faculty of that institution, and he 
was privileged to study under those gentlemen. He 
was graduated from the university in Februarj', 
1854, receiving the usual diploma at that time. 
Dr. Ilershey beg.an the pr.aetico of liis profession 



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316 



OTOE COUNTY. 






at AVilliamsville, continuing there with unqualified 
success some years. In 1864 he was appointed As- 
sistant Surgeon to the 98tli New York Regiment of 
the National Guards; this regiment was mustered 
into the service of the United States at Elmyra, N. 
Y'., in August, 1864, and served for several months. 
He held this position until 1867, when he came to 
Nebraska City and opened an office for regular 
practice and surgery. Since that time he has con- 
tinuously followed his profession, growing up with 
the city, and has made for himself a name as a 
medical man that is an honor to his alma mater. 

In 1862 Dr. Hershey was united in marriage with 
Miss Josephine Emmons. Mrs. Hershey was born 
in Springville, Erie Co., N. Y.,and is the daughter 
of Dr. Carlos Emmons, now dead. Of this union 
four bright and interesting children have been bom, 
viz.: Hattie, who has become very successful as an 
artist; John, Margie and Herbert. John is at Union, 
Neb., engaged in clerking in a dry-goods store; Mar- 
gie is at home; and Herbert is attending school at 
home. 

Mrs. Hershey is a consistent member of the Bap- 
tist Church, and in religious circles, as in all others, 
is most highly esteemed. The Doctor is an active 
and tried member of tlie Republican party. He is 
quite prominent in political affairs, and belongs to 
the G. A. R. and the State iledical Society. While 
a resident of his native State, Dr. Hershey held the 
position of School Commissioner for the Third Dis- 
trict of Erie County a period of three years, doing 
efficient service in connection with the educational 
interests of that section, and after coming to Ne- 
braska City was for a time a member of the Board 
of Education. In this county he has held the office 
of Coroner for ten years; he has also been the County 
Physician a number of years. He is a member of 
Baumar Post, G. A. R., at Nebraska City. 



JAMES PALEY is one of the most enterpris- 
ing and successful citizens of Nebraska City, 
where he is carrying on an extensive marble 
business. He is well known throughout 
Otoe and adjoining counties, and wherever known 
is honored and respected as a good citizen, one 



who attends strictly to business, deals fairly and 
honestly, and is wide-awake, always keeping up 
with the times. He was born in the city of Leeds, 
Y'orkshire, England, Aug. 7, 1840. His father, 
Benjamin Pale}', and his grandfather, James Palej', 
were likewise natives of the same shire. The latter 
was a stonemason, and worked at his trade in dif- 
ferent parts of England, remaining a lifelong resi- 
dent of his native land. 

The father of our subject was reared in England, 
and learned the stonemason's trade of his father. 
He married Elizabeth Seaby, a native of Notting- 
ham, England. In the j'car 1 849 he came to America 
to seek a home, leaving his family in England 
until he found a suitable location. He first stopped 
awhile in Baltimore, finding work at his trade there. 
In 1851 he sent for his wife and two children, and 
six months after their arrival in Baltimore he re- 
moved with them to Warren County, Va., where 
he still followed his trade for a time. He subse- 
quently went to Fauquier County, in the same State, 
and later to Shenandoah County, also in Virginia. 
He was a contractor on the Manasses Gap Railroad 
when it was in process of construction. In 1857 
Mr. Paley moved to Sheridan County, Mo., and 
stopped there a short time. He then decided to 
try farming in Howard County, Mo., and purchased 
a farm there. He was also engaged at his trade 
there for a time. He finally disposed of his place 
in that count}^ and in Boone County, the same 
State, engaged in the marble business for two years. 
When the war broke out he again resumed farm- 
ing, renting a farm for two years in Atchison 
Countj^ Mo. At that time he was quite out of 
health, and he then took up his residence in Fre- 
mont, Iowa, and did but little for some time. In 
1863 he came to Nebraska City and resumed work 
at his old trade of mason, and was engaged in that 
until 1867. Again he became a farmer, taking up 
a homestead claim ten miles south of Lincoln. He 
improved a fine farm, and lived thereon for nine 
years. He then sold his property, settled up his 
affairs there, and returned to Nebraska City, where 
he lived for nearly a year. After that he went 
back to Missouri, and spent his declining years in 
Ray County, djdng Sept. 26, 1885, aged sixty- 
eight years. His wife had preceded him the year 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



317 



before, the date of her death being Oct. 7, 1884. 
They were people of genuine worth, whose useful 
and upright lives commanded the respect of all who 
associated with them. They were the parents of 
four children, two of whom died in infancy. Those 
living are our subject and his sister Elizabeth, wife 
of Charles H. Cates, of Jackson County, Mo. 

James Palej' was a lad of eleven years when he 
and his mother and sister set sail from Liverpool 
in the middle of May, 1851, to follow his father 
across the Atlantic. They landed at Baltimore on 
the 23d of the following July, after a long voyage 
of nine weelvs. After the removal of the family to 
Virginia, our subject commenced work with his 
father on the bridge that spans the Shenandoah 
Valley, his father being the contractor. He con- 
tinued in the emplo3' of his father until 1860, when 
he went to St. Louis and worked in a stone 3-ard 
under instruction for a year, and thus became an 
expert stone-cutter. After the breaking out of the 
war business was quite suspended, and he turned 
his attention to agricultural pursuits in Missouri 
for a year, and then engaged in the same in Fre- 
mont County, Iowa, for another year. In 1863 he 
crossed the plains as a teamster with a' freight 
train drawn by six pairs of oxen. lie went as far 
as South Pass, and then went back to Cottonwood 
Spring's, where he left that train and entered another 
bound for Denver. After his arrival in that city 
he worked as a stone-cutter for six months^ and 
then went to Central City, a mountain town forty 
miles distant, and there he mined for three months, 
and then worked at his trade until August. 1865. 
He then returned to Nebraska City, where he found 
work as a stonemason, among other work cutting 
stone for the present court-house. He continued 
as a stone-cutter until 1870, and then established 
himself in the marble business, and has been en- 
gaged in that continuously ever since. 

Mr. Paley was married, July 18, 1872, to Miss 
Nancy Anderson, a native of Ohio, and a daughter 
of Lewis and Ruth (Blunt) Anderson, natives of 
the 'same State. Mr. and Mrs. Paley are highly es- 
teemed by their friends and acquaintances, of whom 
thej' have manj^ They are attendants at the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and cordially sup- 
port every scheme for the social and moral ele- 

M» 



vation of the city. Altliough Mr. Palej' was not 
one of the earliest settlers of Nebraska Cit}', he can 
lay claim to the distinction of being an "old-timer," 
and it has been his privilege not only to watch the 
growth of the city from a small town to its pres- 
ent size and importance as the leading city of Otoe 
County, but to contribute thereto. by buOding up 
an extensive and flourishing business within its 
limits by his industry and shrewd management. So- 
cially, our subject is identified with Frontier Lodge 
No. 3, I. O. O. F.-; politically, he is a stanch Demo- 
crat. 

^ACOB W. WALDSMITH is prominently 

I I identified with the mercantile interests of 
^A I Nebraska City, as one of fts leading grocers, 
'^^Jj also with its social and religious circles, and 
he is influential in its public life. He is one of 
the self-made men who, coming to Nebraska in 
earl}^ Territorial da3^s with scarcely $20 in his 
pocket, cast in his lot with the energetic and wide- 
awake pioneers who had preceded him to this land 
of promise, and while actively assisting them and 
those who came after to develop the marvelous re- 
sources of the county, and give it its present emi- 
nence in commerce, agriculture, and all that marlvS 
an enterprising and prosperous community, has ac- 
quired a competence that will enable him to pass 
the evening of life in comfort and luxurj'^, free 
from the cares and anxieties that beset his early 
years. 

The subject of this sketch was born three miles 
northwest of Mifflintown, Juniata Co., Pa., April 
20, 1835. His father, John "Waldsmith, was born 
in Berks County, Pa., but his grandfather, William 
Waldsmith, was, it is thought, born in Germany. 
He was a farmer, and moved to Juniata County in 
1800, becoming an early settler there. He bought 
a large tract of timber land in the Tuscarora A^al- 
lej', and the village of Johnstown is now located 
thereon. He cleared a good many acres of his land 
and resided on it until his death. Several of his 
grandchildren now own and occupy farms that were 
included in his original purchase in the opening 
year of this century. 

The father of our subject was Init a boy wlien 



♦^h 



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318 



OTOE COUNTY. 



his parents moved to Juniata County, and there he 
was reared on a farm, always following agricultural 
pursuits, and resided there until his death. The 
maiden name of his wife, mother of our subject, 
was Martha White, and she was a native of the 
same county, and died on the homestead in 1847. 
There were twelye children born to that worthy 
couple. 

Jacob Waldsmith was twelve j^ears old when his 
mother died, and two j-ears later his father broke 
up housekeeping, and our subject had to seek a 
home elsewhere. In 1851 he went to Carroll 
County, Ind., and obtained employment on a farm 
at ^12 a month. He continued to work there as a 
laborer until 1857, and on the last day of Septem- 
ber, that .year, started for Nebraska, then a Terri- 
tory, going by rail to Alton, 111., then the western 
terminus of the i-ailway; from there b}' boat to St. 
Louis, and so on to Nebraska City, where he landed 
on the 16th day of October. Ho soon took a claim 
four miles northwest of the city, built a small 
shanty on the place, and there he and James R. 
Kendall spent the following winter, keeping bache- 
lor's hall. The settlements in the Territory at that 
time were confined to the river, while the interior 
was still owned by the Government. Deer were plen- 
tiful in this vicinity, as were also prairie chickens, 
and there were a few wild turkeys. In 1858 our 
subject worked for a time on the levee in Wyo- 
ming Precinct, and later was engaged in cutting tim- 
ber. In the fall of 1858 he built a log cabin on 
his place, to which he added a frame structure in 
the spring of 1860, and when married in the month 
of April, that .year, to Elizabeth Faunce, they com- 
menced housekeeping in that abode. ]\Irs. Wald- 
smith was born in Hancock County, 111., and is a 
daughter of Thomas and Haimah (Dixon) Faunce. 
The pleasant married life of our subject and his 
wife has been saddened by the death of four of the 
six children born to them. Leslie, the first-born, 
died at twenty-two years of age. He was a prom- 
ising young man of good habits, and was in part- 
nership with his father. Of the others, Charles 
died at the age of eight months; Junietta at the 
age of a year and a half, and Leoto at the age of 
fourteen months. The names of the children spared 
to bless the declining 3'ears of our suliject and his 



wife are: Rena, wife of J. L. Diefendorf, of Ne- 
braska City, and Amie C. 

Mr. Waldsmith drove the first breaking plough 
on his land in 1859, and in 1860 reaped his first 
harvest, a fine crop of corn. In the spring of 1859 
his cousin came from Pennsylvania and puitjhased 
a half-interest in his claim, and they bought some 
stock and farmed together until 1862. Our sub- 
ject then bought his partner's interest and carried 
on the place alone until 1865. In that year he sold 
his property here and moved to Cass County, 
where he bought a tract of wild prairie and timber 
land, of which eighteen acres broken constituted 
the only improvement. He planted that piece, 
fenced fifty acres of land, built a frame house for 
his family and sheds for the shelter of his stock. 
He had to draw the lumber for his buildings fourteen 
miles, and did nearly all the work himself, not 
hiring more than $50 worth of labor. He resided 
there until November, 1869, when he rented his 
farm and moved to Nebraska City to engage in 
teaming. In 1872 he traded the farm for Nebraska 
City property, and then engaged as a baker and 
confectioner, and from that drifted into the grocery 
business, to which he has since devoted his entire 
attention. He has built up quite a large trade and 
is now in very prosperous circumstances. 

Mr. and Mrs. Waldsmith are prominently identi- 
fied with the reorganized church of the Latter-Day 
Saints. He was the seventh person to join after 
the organization of the Nebraska District south of 
the Platte River, and a j'ear and a half later he was 
elected Elder, which position he has held since that 
time. He has had charge of the work of the church 
in this city since the society was organized here, 
and under his able administration it has flourished, 
and now owns, free from encumbrance, a substan- 
tial brick church on Second Corse street, between 
Sixth and Seventh streets. He is Superintendent 
of the Sunda^'-school, and is an active worker in 
it. Jlr. Waldsmith has also borne a conspicuous 
part in the government of the city, he having 
served two terms as Alderman, and was President 
of the City Council last year. Mr. Waldsmith was 
a Republican from the formation of the party, cast- 
ing his first vote for J. C. Fremont, imtil 1886, 
when he joined tiie rank of the Prohibitionists. He is 



•> n^ 



•^t 



»► II ^»- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



321 



a mau of great sagacitj* and far-reaching foresiglit, 
and combines a resolute, uncompromising nature 
with a just, kind and generous disposition. In him 
we have the example of a true Christian, an hon- 
orable and upright man. 



'OTM'^^'' 






%-^ ON. THOMAS B. STEVENSON, attorney- 
W)i\ at-law, Nebraska City, whose portrait is 
1^^ presented on the opposite page, is a fine 
(^) representative of the men of brain, unerring 
judgment, and sound business abilitj', who, coming 
to Nebraska in Territorial days, became promi- 
nenth' identified with the pioneers, and has been 
instrumental in tlie upl)uilding of this State, and 
has done mucli to further its financial prosperity. 
Tlie record of his life is indissolubly connected 
with the history of Nebraska City, with wiiose pub- 
lic interests he lias l)een identified from its early 
days. 

The subject of this sketch was born near Sack- 
ctt's Harbor, Jefferson Co.. N. Y., July 28, 1835. 
His father, Thomas Stevenson, was, from the best 
information that we have at hand, born in the 
county of Armagh, Ireland, came to America a 
young man, and located in Jefferson County, N. Y. 
He lived there until about 1840, when he moved to 
Kingston, Province of OnLaria, Canada, where he 
engaged in milling and resided until his death, 
about 1847. The maiden name of his vvife, mother 
of our subject, was Hannah Martin, and her death 
occurred previous to that of her husband. 

'Iheir son, of whom we write, was left an orphan 
at a very early age, and thenceforth was thrown on 
his own resources for a living. He w.as a briglit, active 
lad, and had no difficulty in securing work, being 
employed on a farm the following two years, re- 
ceiving his board and clothes in payment for his 
labors. He then commenced to learn the trade of 
cabinet-maker, but onl3' worked at that for one year, 
and then engaged as a clerk in a shoe store in 
Kingston, making himself useful in doing errands as 
well as indoor work. He was of a studious turn 
of mind, and being ambitious to obtain an edu- 



cation he attended evening school, and .as oppor- 
tunity offered, day school also. He continued to 
live in Kingston until he was fifteen years of age, 
and then went to Belleville, and attended school and 
clerked in his brother-in-law's store for three years. 
At the expiration of that time, having carefully 
saved his curnings, he went to Ohio and entered 
Antioeh College. He did chores about the college 
buildings, and in the evening tended in a shoe 
store to assist in paying his tuition and board in 
the institution of learning until 1859. Subsequently 
he taught school and attended college alternately 
until the winter of 1860-61. His brother-in-law 
having died, he had to return to Belleville and 
assist in settling the latter's business. In the spring 
of 1861 he went back to Ohio, and soon after was 
taken sick, and was unaole to do anything for 
nearly' a j'ear. In the spring of 1862 we find him 
in Chicago, studying law in the office of Lull & 
Smith, and in the fall of that year he was admitted 
to the bar at Ottawa. In the following winter he 
taught a term of school in Rome, Peoria Co.. 111., 
but his health continuing to be poor, and it being 
feared that he had inherited consumption from his 
mother, he was advised to go to the Pacific Coast, 
and at once started for California. He went to St. 
Louis, thence embarked on a steamer on the Mis- 
souri River bound for Hannibal, and from there by 
rail to St. Joseph. Mo., which was then the western 
terminus of the railway. There he took passage 
on a stage coach for Nebraska City, where he had 
some business to transact which had been intrusted 
to him by another gentleman. He was delayed 
there longer than he had intended to stay, partly 
on account of his business, and partly because of 
the illness of his traveling companion, and finding 
th.at even in that short time his health had been 
benefited by the salubrious, invigorating climate 
of Nebraska, he determined to locate in this city, 
and from th.at time has been one of its most promi- 
nent citizens. 

Even before the full restoration of his healtii Mr. 
Stevenson entered upon his long and honorable 
career as a distinguished jurist and civilian, wherein 
he has achieved many triumphs at the b.ar, and has 
ably filled some of the highest .State and local offices. 
He soon made the acquaintance of the leading citi- 



•►^l-4» 



4 322 



■•►Hl- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



zens of the State, among whom was Judge O. P. 
Mason, one of the most prominent lawyers in the 
Territory, and he formed a partnership with him 
for the practice of law. In that day there were but 
few settlers in the interior of Nebraska away from 
the river, and Indians still lingered and were fre- 
quently troublesome, and in 1864 an open outbreak 
occurred. Mr. Stevenson immediately offered his 
services to assist in quelling the Indians, enlist- 
ing in August, 1864, in Company A, 2d Nebraska 
Militia, and receiving a commission as Captain 
of his company, he marched to the frontier of 
Nebraska and Kansas, and there rendered valuable 
service in putting an end to the troubles with the 
red men. In January, 1865, he returned to Ne- 
braska City, ypas discharged witli his regiment, and 
was then appointed Acting Provost Marshal, serv- 
ing in that capacity until May, 1865. He ihen re- 
sumed his law practice with his partner, Mr. Mason, 
with whom he continued until 1867, when the latter 
gentleman was elected to the Supreme Bench of 
this State, and then he carried on the business of 
the firm alone, and is still conducting it, being one of 
the leading lawyers not only of the county but of 
the State. He is a practical man, well learned in 
law, and witty, forcible and brilliantas an advocate. 
Notwithstanding the pressing demands of his busi- 
ness, he has found time to take an active part in 
public life. He was a member of the first State 
Senate that met in Lincoln in I86'J. While a mem- 
ber of the State Senate in that year he formulated 
the present school law, and especially the system 
of dividing the school money among the districts. 
He was again in the State Legislature in 1885. He 
has taken a great interest in educational matters, 
and was a member of the City School Board for 
many ^-ears. For five terms he held the office of 
Mayor of Nebraska City, and to his able admin- 
istration of the city affairs its citizens are greatly 
indebted for their present prosperity. When he 
was first elected to the office the city was very badly 
involved financially, but by his skillful and shrewd 
management the debt was refunded and greatly re- 
duced. In politics Mr. Stevenson has always been 
recognized as one of the leaders of the Republican 
party in the State. He cast bis first vote for Abra- 
ham Lincoln, and he was a member of the con- 



•►HI-<«" 



vention that nominated Gen. Grant for President, 
and was one of his firmest supporters. 

Mr. Stevenson was married, in March, 1868, to 
Miss Annie Nicewander, a native of Virginia, who 
has filled the perfect measure of wife, mother, 
friend, and renders their pleasant home attractive 
not only to her own family but to all who are so 
fortunate as to share its hospitalities. Nine chil- 
dren have been born of this marriage. Those liv- 
ing are: Olla, Thomas, John, Nellie, Harry and 
Annie. Those deceased are: Thaddeus, Stanton and 
Frank. 

-«- #-# 5- 

, OBERT DUNLAP, who bears the reputation 
of an honest man and a good citizen, has 
carried on farming successfully in Palmyra 
jt;^ Precinct for the last twenty years. He 
owns 280 acres of valuable land, l^ing on sections 
22 and 21, where he has fair improvements, a com- 
fortable, though not elegant, residence, and ample 
storage for grain and shelter for his stock. 

Our subject was born in Vermont, Oct. 27, 1843, 
and is the son of William and Jane (Glenn) Dunlap, 
the former a native of Scotland, and the Latter born 
in Ireland, but of Scotch ancestry. A scion thus of 
a family which traces its ancestry to the best nation- 
alit}' on the face of the globe, he has abundant rea- 
son for self congratulation. 

William Dunlap when a young man removed to 
the North of Ireland, and carried on farming near 
the city of Belfast. There he was married, and 
soon after the birth of one child emigrated in the 
spring of 1843 to the United States. Settling in 
Vermont, they lived there a year, their son Robert 
in the meantime being added to the household cir- 
cle. From the Green Mountain State they removed 
to Greene County', N. Y., and were subsequently 
residents of Lewis, Ulster and Oneida Counties in 
that State, where the father pursued his occupation 
of farming with fair success. 

The Dunlap family in March of 1869, leaving the 
Empire State, crossed the Mississippi, the father hav- 
ing already selected his location in this county, where 
he was in due time joined by his family. He first 
pre-empted eighty .acres which was included in the 
farm now occupied by our subject, and which has 



M- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



323 



now been the family homestearl for a period of 
nearly twenty years. Subsequently he purchased 
120 acres, and the parents labored with a mutual 
interest for the building up of a home for them- 
selves and their children. They are both living to 
enjoy it, the father being now seventy years of age, 
and the mother sixty-nine. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 
five children, the eldest of whom, a daughter .lane, 
is a native of Ireland, and is the wife of E. W. 
Ross, of Palraj^ra Precinct; Robert, our subject, was 
the second child; John is in the lumber business in 
Michigan; James W. died when about twenty-four 
years old; Sarah E. is the wife of W. A. Hartley, a 
resident of Bennet, Neb. 

The first recollections of our subject are of his 
childhood home in Greene County, Vt., where he 
pursued his first studies in the common schools. 
His education was completed in the Empire State, 
and there he grew to manhood. He was a man of 
twentj'-seven j'ears when he first came to Nebraska, 
and in the meantime had become thoroughl}^ ac- 
quainted with the various pursuits of farm life. 
He had also engaged considerably in the lumber 
business among the hemlock regions of Lewis and 
Oneida Counties. At the time of coming to Ne- 
braska with his father's family he also homesteaded 
aclaim of eighty acres of laud, and there commenced 
to lay the foundations of a competency. Two years 
later, March 6, 1872, he was united in marriage 
■with Miss Ellen E. Rockwell, who became the 
mother of two children, both of whom died in in- 
fancy. Mrs. Ellen E. Dunlap departed this life at 
her home in Palmyra Precinct, Feb. 19, 1874. Dur- 
ing that year Mr. Dunlap was greatly afflicted, not 
only in the loss of his wife but one of their children 
and a brother. His crops were also partially de- 
stroyed by the grasshoppers. He, however, fort- 
unately had inherited in a marked degree the sturdy' 
courage of his excellent Scotch ancestry, and out- 
lived his discouragements, evading no duty, but 
endeavoring to make the best. of circumstances. 
Time, the healer, caused him to partially forget his 
losses. 

The present wife of our subject, to whom he was 
married May 24, 1876. was in her girlhood Miss 
Ada Ogram, who was born in Yorkshire, England, 



> ► I I 4> 



March 21, 1855. She is the daughter of John and 
Hannah (Johnson) Ogram, and came to America 
with her parents when a child three years of age. 
They settled near Fond du Lac, Wis., where the 
father engaged in farming, and whence he removed 
July 5, 1870, to this State. Mrs. Dunlap was then 
a 3'oung girl of fifteen years. She remained with 
hei- parents until her marriage ; they are now resid- 
ing in this county. 

Of this union of our subject there have been born 
six children, namely: Nellie J., Mary, George W., 
Robert G., Harvey and Florence M. Mr. Dunlap 
was formerly a Democrat, but since 1884 his warm 
sympathies vvith the temperance movement have 
led him to side with the Prohibitionists. Relig- 
iously, he is a member of the Presbyterian Church, 
of Palmyra, while his estimable wife belongs to the 
United Brethren. Mrs. Dunlap is a very amiable 
and attractive lady, and fulfills in an admirable 
manner the duties of wife and mother. Our sub- 
ject of late years has been considerably interested 
in live stock, usually keeping on hand about forty 
head of cattle and a large number of swine. Of the 
latter he usually ships a carload each fall. He is 
a man of good education, and has served as a Di- 
rector in his district. 

EV. GEORGE S. ALEXANDER. This gen- 
tleman was born in Cumberland, R. I., on 
the 10th of July, 1832, and is the son of Ira 
^^and Frances C. Alexander, natives respect- 
ively of Rhode Island and Vermont. The family 
is of Scottish ancestry, and its early representa- 
tives in this country settled in Boston in early 
Colonial days, prior to the burning of Deerfield, 
Conn., at which place some of the family were 
killed and others carried into captivity. The ma- 
ternal ancestors, also from Scotland, were among 
the early colonists in Rhode Island. His maternal 
grandfather, George Sherman, was a soldier in the 
War of the Revolution. The parents of our sub- 
ject were married in Cumberland, R. I., and there 
resided during the remainder of their lives, his 
father following the occupation of mechanic, supple- 
menting it by the working of a small farm. They 



=! 



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324 



OTOE COUNTY. 



were active members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and the family circle included five chil- 
dren, four of whom are living, viz: David; our sub- 
ject; Rachel, now Mrs. Thomas C. Wood, and 
Charlotte. 

The subject of this sketch commenced work in a 
cotton-mill at the age of fourteen, and afterward in 
the woolen-mills, where he progressed until he be- 
came a weaver, which he continued to follow for 
some years. He found time to attend school suffi- 
ciently to acquire the groundwork of an education, 
to which he added by constant reading and thought, 
until he had attained a general proficiency upon all 
current topics, and began teaching school when 
about twenty-one years of age. For a time he was 
engaged clerking in a store, in which he continued 
•until the year 1854. 

In the mental makeup of our subject there is a 
large preponderance of the devout, and his relig- 
ious experiences, linked with this mental property, 
produced the conviction that the duty devolving 
upon him was to take up the work of the ministry 
in the service of the Great Head of the church. 
Accordingly, upon the 30th of April, 1854, he en- 
tered the ministry and preached his first sermon in 
the town of Sandwich, Mass. From that point 
on and through the southeastern part of Massa- 
chusetts' he was engaged in preaching for about 
twelve years; then for one 3'ear at Westerly, R. I., 
and Norwich, Conn. In 1868 he came to Nebraska 
City and became the pastor of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, continuing in that office until 1871. 
His next charge was at Peru, where he remained 
for one year; next at Lincoln, where lie was sta- 
tioned for two and a half years as pastor of St. 
Paul's Church, and for a like period he served as 
Chaplain of the Nebraska State Prison. The win- 
ter of 1875 he served as Chaplain of the House 
of Representatives of Nebraska, and in 1877 as 
Cliaplain of the State Senate. In March of that 
year he resigned his position as Chaplain of the 
State Prison. The August following he went to 
Champaign County, 111., and in September joined 
the Illinois Conference, and preached in the State 
in Champaign and Piatt Counties for five years. 
At the end of that period, feeling that his health 
demanded a change, he came to Syracuse, and for 



four years served the church of his denomination 
in this cit^'. At the same time he purchased the 
Syracuse Journal^ and from that on continued as 
editor. He was the sole proprietor until July of 
1885, when he associated his son Arthur D. as 
partner. 

The subject of our sketch has been twice mar- 
ried, in tlie first instance, on the 11th of March, 
1856, at Eastham, Mass., to Abby G. Smith, a mem- 
ber of one of the oldest and most respected fami- 
lies of Cape Cod, being a daughter of Davis Smith, 
who was active during the War of 1812 in various 
enterprises as a privateersman. The family have 
always been extensively engaged in the deep sea 
fisheries. This lady died in Lancaster County of 
this State, on the 12th of September, 1876. By this 
union our subject became the father of eight chil- 
dren, whose names are recorded as follows: Arthur 
D., Alice M., George L., Lottie M., Hartley B., Irvin 
F., Minnie El., and also a son who died in child- 
hood. The first-named three of the surviving chil- 
dren were born in Massachusetts, the remaining 
ones in this State. 

The second matrimonial alliance was celebrated 
on the 20th of September, 1877, at Philo, 111., the 
lady being Susan M. Godding, daughter of Russell 
and Abigail Godding. This lady was born in Ver- 
mont, and is possessed of much innate refinement, 
which has been increased and perfected by educa- 
tion and culture. For twenty-five years she has 
been engaged as a teacher of art, the first half of 
which at the Providence Conference Seminary, East 
Sandwich, R. I., and the Quaker College, of Provi- 
dence, R. I. She was finally compelled to retire 
from the duties of this position, owing to failing 
health, but still devotes much time to painting and 
teaching. She has brought to her husband a well- 
cultivated mind and ripened intelligence, that has 
been at once a help and source of pleasurable de- 
light throughout the years of their companionship. 

In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Alexander is very 
widely and favorably known, both as a member, 
worker and lecturer. He toolv the first two degrees 
in the Pilgrim Lodge, Harwich, Mass., the third de- 
gree in the Marine Lodge, of Falmouth, Mass. The 
degrees leading up to that of the Royal Arch Ma- 
son were received in the Orient Chapter, of Ilyaa- 



Hh-^- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



32o 



nis, Mass., liis Council degrees in How.ird Council, 
AVesterly, R. I., and he was knighted 'in the Mt. 
Olivet Commandery at Nebraska City. Among 
brothers, fellows and companions he is regarded 
with much esteem, and among the Sir Knights as a 
true soldier of the temple. His historical lectures 
upon masonry have been well received by the fra- 
ternity, and those in outer circles who have been 
privileged to listen to them, and have been the oc- 
casion of many justly complimentary remarks. 



I'P^EV. CHARLES HEISE, a retired clergyman 
Ijkir of tiie Lutheran Church, having numbered 
/4i \y, a little more than his threescore years, is 
^p! living quietly at his farm on section 2, Bel- 
mont Precinct. He here has 240 acres of fine land, 
tlie operations of which are carried on by himself. 
He is a cultivated gentleman of excellent education, 
a quiet, unassuming citizen, who during the years of 
a well-spent life has full3' establislied himself in the 
esteem and confidence of all who know him. 

The childhood home of our subject was in the 
Province of Saxony, Prussia, where his birth took 
place Sept. 26, 1822. His parents were Samuel and 
Augusta Heise. who were alsc> of German birth and 
parentage, and who spent the greater part of their 
lives in Germany. Their familj' consisted of six 
children, who are now mostlj' deceased. 

The subject of this sketch completed the details 
of a very careful education in the g3'mnasium at 
Magdeburg and the University of Berlin. These 
institutions were conducted with that thorougliness 
peculiar to the schools of the Fatherland, and young 
Heise was thus fairly equipped for a career which 
has reflected great credit upon his natural talent 
and his fidelity to duty. 

In December, 1855, Mr. Heise embarked on a 
sailing-vessel at Bremen for the LTnited States, and 
soon after landing upon American soil was sta- 
tioned in Cincinnati, Ohio, as pastor of the German 
Lutheran Church, where he remained two j'ears. 
Thence he removed to New Bremen, that State, and 
had charge of the Lutheran Congregation there for 
a period of twenty-two years. From there he came 
to this count3' in March, 1880, and settled upon the 



-l-H- 



+-f— 



tllOMAS A. GILMORE. Upon section 12 
of Belmont Precinct is a general and stock 
farm, comprising 160 acres, which, whether 
notice be taken of the fields or pastures, buildings 
or residence, usually excites nothing but remarks 
of admiration and congratulation, and wortliily so, 
because it is one of the best cultivated and regu- 
lated properties within a very large section of the 
country. It is the jjroperty of the gentleman 



;» 



land which he now owns and occupies, forced to 
al)andon his pastoral duties on account of a throat 
trouble, which finally developed into bronchitis. 
Under his wise supervision many improvements 
have been brought about upon the place since he 
assumed ownership, and he is surrounded by all of 
the comforts of the ideal country home. 

Mr. Heise while a resident of Cincinnati, Oliio, 
was married, Jan. 10, 1858, to Miss Sophia Weh- 
nier. This lady was born Sept. 10, 1833, in Ger- 
many, and is the daughter of Cliristian and Catherine 
(Schriver) Wehmer, who were natives of Germany; 
the mother is residing in Cincinnati, Ohio, but the 
f.ather is deceased. The parental household in- 
cluded eight children, seven of whom are living, 
and residing mostly in the United States. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born eight children, seven of whom are liv- 
ing, namely: Oscar N., Walter S., Emil P., Otto C, 
Flora, Martha and Ida. Oscar married Miss Eme- 
lia Marqua, and is a practicing surgeon dentist of 
Cincinnati, Ohio; he is the father of one child, a 
daugliter, Viola. P^lora is the wife of Willis Rob- 
erts, who is occupied at farming in Rawlins County, 
Kan.; AValter is traveling on the Pacific Slope as a 
salesman for the carriage manufacturing firm of 
Davis & Co., of Cincinnati; Emil is employed at 
merchandising in Syracuse, this countJ^ The edu- 
cation of the j'ounger children, who are at home 
with their parents, is being conducted under the 
careful supervision of their father. All the family 
are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Heise 
lias very little to do with public affairs, preferring 
to devote his attention to his farming interests and 
his family. 



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.J/P^ 



326 



OTOE COUNTY. 



r 



whose name stands at the head of this biograph- 
ical epitome. The nativity of our subject occurred 
on the 17th of October, 18.54, in Morgan County, 
111. He is the descendant of an honored family not 
altogetlier unknown in historic annals. He is the 
son of .John W. and Frances (Wardell) Gilmore. 
His father, who was a native of County Derry, Ire- 
land, came to the United States when about eight- 
een years of age, and became one of New Orleans' 
successful merchants. He followed also the busi- 
ness of a pork packer, and at one time was the 
owner of a line of flatboats on the river, continuing 
that business relation for some fourteen years. His 
demise occurred June 19, 1872. 

The mother of our subject was a daughter of 
Thomas Wardall, of England. His father, Chris- 
topher Wardall, was a native of England, and was 
in the service of King "William, and served him as 
his armor bearer. He 'upon several occasions did 
his royal master good service, and after a fiercely 
fought battle saved the life of the king. In honor 
of the occurrence his name was changed bj^ the 
king from Wardal to Wardall, seeing that he had 
by his adroitness and skill in arms warded off the 
blow that would have been fatal to the royal soldier. 

The family circle of which our subject was a 
member numbered seven children, three of whom 
only are now living, namely: Elizabeth, John 
and the subject of our sketch. Elizabeth is now 
residing at "The Pines," the name given the home 
farm of our subject, and .John is one of the rising 
and successful farmers of Thomas County, Kan.; 
James, who died after reaching the age of thirty- 
eight years, was extensively engaged in business at 
the time of his death as a railroad contractor, and 
left large business interests which it had been his 
ambition and hope to finish. His bereaved wife and 
five daughters mourned his loss as one who had 
wellnigh perfectly filled the sacred relations of 
the home. His wife was the daughter of George 
Robinson, and bore the given name Susannah. The 
names of his daughters were as follows: Frances, 
Anna, Mabel, Effle and Catherine. 

The subject of our sketch is yet numbered among 
the free and untrammelled bachelors, and has been 
in no hurry to make anj' change. He is chiefly 
occupied with his farm, and takes just and laud- 



able pride in bringing it to the highest possible 
state of cultivation, and in the raising of the best 
possible grades of stock. He and his mother are 
both members of the Presbyterian Church. He has 
not taken a prominent part in political affairs, al- 
though usually voting with the Democratic party, 
and is not by any means anxious to accept any of- 
ficial seat, although he has several times been re- 
quested so to do. 

ICK A. NEliJMANN, the proprietor of a 
good farm on section 30 in Rock Creek 
Precinct, besides land elsewhere in this 
vicinity, located where he now lives in 
the spring of 1859, while Nebraska was a Terri- 
tory. He thus bears the honor of being one of the 
earliest pioneers of this county, and it is hardly 
necessary to say that the land of which he then 
took possession had been unbroken by the plow- 
share. He has labored industriously upon it for a 
period of nearly thirty years, and it gives ample 
evidence of the success which has crowned his ef- 
forts. The land has been brought to a high state 
of cultivation, and upon it have been erected good 
farm buildings, while from time to time have 
been added the conveniences and embellishments 
which have secured for it the reputation of being 
one of the most desirable homes in this part of the 
county. 

Mr. Neemann came to this region a poor man, 
having little capital save his stout heart and will- 
ing hands. In this respect, however, he was not 
different from his neighbors, so there were no ill- 
feelings on account of his poverty. He made his 
way to the Territory of Nebraska from Madison 
County, 111., in the spring of 1859, overland with 
a team, crossing the Father of Waters on a ferry. 
He had onlj^ lived in Illinois a few months, having 
settled there in the previous fall, soon after land- 
ing upon American soil. His earliest recollections 
are of a home in what was then the Kingdom of 
Hanover, Germanj^, where his birth took place on 
the 3d of December, 1825. His parents were Al- 
bert and Margaret Neemann, who were of pure 
German ancestry; the father died in Germany, and 



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4 



OTOE COUNTY. 



327 



the mother in Otoe County, Neb. Their family 
consisted of four sons and three daughters, most of 
whom are living in Nebraska. 

Our subject w.is reared to manhood in his native 
Province, and, like most of the children of Ger- 
many, was placed in school at an earl}' age and 
given a thorough education in his native tongue. 
Upon attaining his majority, in accordance with 
the laws of the Empire, he went into the army and 
served the Government a period of four years. 
Afterward, May 15, 1851, he was married to one 
of the associates of his youth. Miss Christina Wil- 
helmina, whose birthplace was not far from that 
of her husband. This lady our subject holds in 
the most affectionate regard, and acloiowledges 
with true manliness that she has been his able as- 
sistant in his efforts at securing a home and a com- 
petence. Their union h.is been blessed by the birth 
of four children, the record of whom is as follows: 
George S. married IMiss Coslia Rodermaker, and 
they are living on a farm in Mc Williams Precinct; 
Christina M. is the wife of Herman Jackal, who is 
in business in Hamburg, Iowa; Albert is the assist- 
ant of his brother George on the farm; John H. 
remains with his parents. Mr. Neemann since be- 
coming a naturalized American citizen has uni- 
formly supported Democratic principles, and, with 
his f."imilj% is connected in membership with the 
Lutheran Church. 



\fl — ^ ENRY HE YE, who is pleasantly located on 
rrjV section 23 in Belmont Precinct, is one of the 
■k^^ most intelligent and prosperous German 
'^) farmers along the eastern line of this county. 
A native of the then Kingdom of Hanover. Ger- 
many, he was born March 1 1, 1836, and is the son of 
John G. and Mary (Schultz) Heye, who were also 
born and reared in the Fatherland, where they lived 
until August of 1847. 

That year John G. Heye with his little famil}' 
emigrated to the United States and settled in 
Clayton Count}', Iowa, where the father carried on 
farming, and where his death took place in July, 
1883, after he had reached an advanced age. The 
mother had passed away in the spring of 1 850. The 



parental household included six children, only two 
of whom are living, our subject and his sister 
Mar3^ Mrs. Kruger, still a resident of Cl.nj'ton 
County. Iowa. 

The Indians were jnst leaving when the Heye 
family settled on their land in Iowa, and there were 
consequently no educational advantages for our 
subject or his brothers. He is, however, I)}' no 
means an ignorant man, as all through life he lias 
kept his eyes and ears open to what was going on 
around him, and by availing himself of every oppor- 
tunity for information, will pass for a man with a 
very good education. He was early made familiar 
with the various eraploj-ments of pioneer farm life 
and assisted his father in the development of his 
land, working from early morn till late at night. He 
was twenty-one j^ears of age in the spring of 1857, 
and on the 21st of November following was united 
in marriage with Miss Mary Oelka, the wedding 
taking |)lace at the home of our subject's father, in 
Clayton County, Iowa. This lady vvas also a native 
of Hanover, and born in August, 1835. Her parents 
were John and Maggie Oelka, the former of whom 
died about 18C0, and the latter is still living. 

Mr. and Mrs. Heje commenced the journey of 
life together upon a farm in Clayton County, Iowa, 
where they lived until July of 1861. The}' tlien 
changed their residence to this county, our subject 
taking up 160 acres of land on section 23, in Bel- 
mont Precinct. Their first dwelling here was a 
small house, and Mr. Heye at once commenced the 
improvenicnt of his purchase. He was greatly 
prospered in Ids labors, as the soil yielrled bounti- 
fully, and he gradually put up the buildings re- 
quired by the modern and progressive agriculturist. 
He is now the owner of 320 broad acres, with sub- 
stantial farm buildings, and his homestead invariably 
attracts the attention of every intelligent traveler 
passing through this region. He keeps numbers of 
cattle, horses and swine, carries on agriculture by 
means of the most improved machinery, and his 
barns afford ample storage for grain and stock. The 
whole premises has that air of i)lenly, comfort and 
broad hospitality which is so grateful to the eye 
and so cheering to those who are fortunate enough 
to be the friends of the family. 

Mr. Heye cast his first Presidential vote for Lin- 



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328 



OTOE COUNTY. 



coin, and has uniforuil}' supported the principles of 
the Republican party. He is thoroughl}- identified 
with tlie interests of his adopted count}', and in the 
development of one of its finest farms has contrib- 
uted largely to its wealth and importance. He has 
been quite prominent in local affairs, officiating as 
Road Supervisor, School Director, Assessor, and is 
at present County Commissioner. He is a man 
prompt to meet his obligations, and one whose 
word is considered as good as hi^ bond. 

To our subject and his wife there have been born 
nine childi-en, five only of whom are living, namely: 
Maggie, Mary, Frederick, Henry E., Jr., and George. 
The eldest daughter, Maggie, is the wife of Charles 
Braraer, a well-to-do farmer of Rock Creek Pre- 
cinct, and the mother of three children — Charles, 
Clara and Minnie. The other children of Mr. 
Hej'e continue under the home roof, and are being 
given the educational advantages in keeping with 
their station in life. 

Mr. Heye is liberal and public-spirited, and no 
man takes a warmer interest in the welfare and ad- 
vancement of his community. Although not a 
member of any religious organization, he believes 
in the establishment and maintenance of churches, 
and gives of his means to this object. He is widely 
and favorably known throughout Belmont Precinct 
and vicinity as one of its most prosperous farmers, 
and one of the foremost representatives of the 
nationality which has done so much toward the de- 
velo|)ment of the Great West. 



/RANK MEYER. One branch of the inter- 
ests of the traveling public is receiving 
good attention by the subject of this sketch, 
who is conducting a flrst-class livery stable in the 
village of Talmage. For this purpose he has an 
excellent outfit, double and single carriages, and 
fourteen head of horses, which are usuall}- all in de- 
mand. Besides the property comprising this es- 
tablishment, Mr. Meyer is the owner of a good 
farm of 240 acres in Osage Precinct, and which is 
svip|)lied with all necessary farm I)uildings, ma- 
chinery and live stock. 

Of this farm Mr. Meyer has been proprietor for 



•^h:^ 



a period of ten years, and upon it has effected many 
improvements during this time. Providence has 
blessed hini with a large measure of practical good 
sense, and this, added to his industry and persever- 
ance, has resulted in making him comparatively 
independent. He became a resident of this State 
in the spring of 1865, coming here in company 
with his father, Frank H. Mej^er, who is now de- 
ceased. Frank was then a lad of twelve years, hav- 
ing been born Jan. 26, 1853. 

The father of our subject was a native of the 
Kingdom of Bavaria, where he w.is reared and edu- 
cated, and where he married Miss Elizabeth Kerth- 
berger, a native of the same section of country. 
They were of pure German ancestry, and the elder 
Meyer during his early manhood learned the mil- 
ler's trade, w^hile at the same time he became fa- 
miliar with farming pursuits. Upon emigrating to 
America with their little family of seven children, 
the parents located in Gasconade County, Mo., 
where two more children were born, which com- 
pleted the household circle of six sons and three 
daughters. After the outbreak of the Rebellion 
Mr. Me\'er enlisted as a Union soldier in the 4th 
Missouri Infantry, and did brave and faithful serv- 
ice for a period of two years. Upon his return 
home he sold his Missouri land, and coming to this 
State located in Otoe County. He only lived until 
the following year, d3dng in 1866, when not quite 
fifty years of age. It has always been believed by 
his family that the hardships and privations which 
he endured in the army undermined his health and 
cut short his days. The mother is yet living, is 
now sixty-seven years of age, and makes her home 
in Talmage. with our subject. Her other sons and 
daughters are residents mostly of Xebrasloi, and all 
the family are connected with the German Catholic 
Church, of Nebraska Cit}-. 

Our subject was little more than an infant when 
he crossed the Atlantic with his parents, and re- 
ceived his education mostly in Gasconade County, 
Mo. He now owns and occupies the old farm 
which was secured by his father before the death 
of the latter. To this he brought a bride in the 
winter of 1887, having been married December 28, 
that year, to Miss ]\Iary Butsch. This lady was 
born in Lee County. Iowa, in 1864, and came to 





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nr^:. ^^. 



^OCxU^i^-l^ 



OTOK COUNTY. 



331 i^ 



•►Hl-^ 



this State with her parents in girlliood. She re- 
ceived a common-school education, and remained 
under tlie home roof until her marriage. Her father, 
Frederick Butsch, a resident of JlcWilliams Pre- 
cinct, is one of the most jirosperous German farmers 
of this county. Mrs. Meyer is a lady of much intelli- 
gence and goodness of heart, a wife who maintains 
a common interest in all that pertains to the labors 
of her husband, rejoicing in his successes and as- 
sisting him in his worthy ambitions. 

Mr. Meyer cast his first Presidential vote for U. 
S. Grant. He has served two years as Town Mar- 
slial, and is also Constable. 

ON. WILLIAM McLENNAN. Tiiis gen- 
tleman was one of the first lawyers to settle 
ill Nel)raska, and his name frequently oc- 
curs in the early annals of the State as one of 
its most distinguished officials. For several years 
he bore a conspicuous part in the legislative coun- 
cils of the Territory, and of the State after its or- 
ganization. He took a prominent part in the 
proceedings of the Constitutional Convention in 
1864; he was at one time District Attorney for the 
South Platte country, and he was once Speaker of the 
House in the State Legislature, during the sessions 
of 1869 and 1871. He has now retired from pub- 
lic life to his pleasant home in. the suburbs of Ne- 
braska City, and devotes his attention exclusive!)' 
to farming. 

Our subject was born Dec. 19, 1821, in Colum- 
biana County, Ohio. His father, Kenneth Mc- 
Lennan, was born in Inverness, Scotland, and his 
grandfather, Donald McLennan, was also a native 
of that country'. Tiie father of our subject and a 
brother, Donald, were the on!}' members of the fam- 
ily wlioever came to America. Donald had served 
in the P^nglish Army, had lost a leg at the battle 
of Waterloo, and, being a British pensioner, located 
at Halifax. The fatJier of our subject preferred to 
settle in the United States, and took up his resi- 
dence in Columbiana County, Ohio, for a few years. 
He rented land of his father-in-law, and was act- 
ively engaged in farming in that county until 



1826, "when lie souglit the wilds of Jefferson County 
to huihl up a home for himself and family'. He was 
an early settler there, and he entered a tract of 
Government land, heavily timbered, and proceeded 
to clear it for cultivation. He was very successful 
in his undertakings, bccomingquite wealthy and an 
extensive land-owner, having increased the acreage 
of his original purcliase to GOO acres of land. He 
died in 1834, having rounded out a useful and 
busy life, wherein he had won the respect of his 
fellowmen in the highest degree. The maiden 
name of his wife was Janet McLaughlin, and she 
was likewise a native of Inverness, Scotland. Her 
father, William McLaughlin, was also a Scot by 
birth, and he came to America about 1819 and lo- 
cated in Columbiana County. He entered quite a 
large tiact of land, and resided there until his 
death in 1833, at the remarkable old age of one 
hundred and one years. His wife survived him 
for some years, and died at the advanced age of 
one hundred and two years. There were eight 
children born to the parents of our subject, all of 
whom grew up, namely : Donald, Eliza, Margaret. 
Janet, Ann, William, Keunett and Eleanor. The 
three youngest were born in America, and the five 
eldest in Scotland ; the three eldest are deceased. 
Ann resides in Kansas, and the others in Ohio. 

The suliject of this sketch received his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of Steubenville, and 
subsequently was a student at Grove Academy, in 
the same town, for three terms. He commenced 
reading law at the age of twenty, with 0. C. Gray, 
a Steubenville lawyer. After remaining with him 
one year, he read under tlie instruction of the Hon. 
Edwin M. Stanton the succeeding year, and was 
then admitted to tlie bar. In 1846 he removed to 
Illinois and located in Carthage, Hancock County, 
where lie practiced his profession four years with 
good success. In 1850 he went to Keokuk, Lee 
Co., Iowa, and resided there until 1854, when he 
started for the Territory of Nebraska, which was 
then beginning to attract much notice as a favor- 
able place for settlement. He proceeded on the 
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers in the steam ferry- 
boat that he had had built in Columbiana County, 
and in which he had voyaged to Iowa four years 
previously, and when he arrived at Council Bluffs 



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332 



OrOK COUNTY. 



he marie bis liefldquaiteis there, and ran Ihe boat 
during the season of 1854. and then sold it- 
When going to Council Bluffs in May he had landed 
atNebraska Cit}% inspected tiie sui-rounding country, 
and, being much pleased with the pleasant scenery 
and the charming climate, during that month made 
a claim, with a view of locating here, to the land 
that he now occupies. After coming here to live 
Mr. McLennan built a steam sawmill and a board- 
ing-house on his land, in 1855, but the place where 
the mill stood has since been washed away by the 
river. Our subject has been a continuous resident 
of Nebraska since 1854, and has therefore witnessed 
almost its entire development, and has played no 
unimportant part in promoting its growth and pres- 
ent prosperity. AVhen he first came here he had 
nearly the entire Territory of Nebraska from which 
to select his land, and it was at that time, as far as 
the Indian titles had been extinguished, owned by 
the Government. The Indians still made their 
home here, and it was their favorite hunting-ground 
for antelope, deer, wild turkeys, and other game that 
was then very abundant. When he first came here 
Col. Downs and his family, who occupied the Gov- 
ernment building, were the only inhabitants of the 
present site of the city, then called Ft. Kearney. 

Mr. McLennan has been four times married. 
His first marriage was to Miss Sarah B. Hall, a native 
of Indiana, and it took place in November, 1857; 
she died in August, 1858. Our subject was a sec- 
ond time married, in October, 1859, to Miss Martha 
J. Hall, a native of Bureau County, 111., and she 
died in December, 1868, leaving two children — 
William E. and Mary J. Mr. McLennan's third 
marriage, which took place Sept. 15. 1870, was to 
Ella Ewing, a n.ative of Utica, N. Y. ; she died Nov. 
28, 1871, leaving one child, Ella M. The marriage 
of our subject to his present wife look place in 
December, 1876, and they have one child living by 
this union, Stella. Mrs. McLennan's maiden name 
was Margaret Frances Brown, and she was born in 
Mason County, 111., a daughter of Jesse and Hannah 
(Streeter) Brown. Her father was a graduate of 
the Military Academy at West Point, and became 
a resident of Richardson Countj^, Neb., in 1 860, 
and was one of the pioneers of the Territor3' ; he is 
now deceased. She has been twice married. Her 



first marriage w.as to .Tohn Siltler. and to them 
were born three children, namely: Ida, Gussie and 
Ernest. 

Our subject w.is elected District Attorney for 
the South Platte country in 1855, and was re-elected 
in 1857. In 1863 he was sent to the Territorial 
Legislature, and was a member of the Constitutional 
Convention in 1864. He was elected to the Legis- 
lature again in 1868. and was Speaker of the House 
in the session of 1869-71. He was nominated by 
Gen. Grant, in 1870, for the position of Assistant 
Attorney, but was not confirmed by the Senate. 
Mr. McLennan is a fine man. and he is univers.ally 
respected by all who know him for his many noble 
traits of character. He is well grounded in the law, 
and had he chosen to prosecute his profession would 
undoubtedly have attained a high position among 
the leading lawyers of Nebraska. Both in public 
and private life he has alw.ays boinie the reputation 
of one whose motives .are pure and whose acts are 
above reproach. He is now nearing old age. but 
his active mind still keeps pace with the progress 
of the world, and he is especially interested in the 
affairs and political situ.ation of his own country. 
In this connection we may state that he was in early 
life a Whig, later became a Democrat, but on the 
breaking out of the w.ar transferred his allegiance 
to the Republican party, and has been a firm sup- 
porter of its policy ever since. The portrait of 
this highly- esteemed and well-known citizen is 
given in connection with this brief sketch of his 
life. 



vREDERICK STAHLHUT, one of the 
wealthy men of Nebraska City, owns .and 
occupies a good property in its southwest- 
ern limits, and is carrying on a thriving dairy 
business, which he makes both pleasant and profita- 
ble, on account of the modern equipments and con- 
veniences connected therewith. He is a man of 
remarkable energy and perseverance, one who has 
always put his own shoulder to the wheel, and who 
lias accumulated a snug property by the exercise 
of his own industr}' and good judgment. His 
patronage is largely among the best residents of the 
city, and he is a man of standing in his community, 



t- 



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4 



-^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



333 



^h 



intelligent and well informed, and no unimportant 
factor in the building up of its business interests. 

Our subject emigrated from the Fatherland in 
the spring of 1867, when a j'oung man of twenty- 
one j-ears, and settled near Bloomingdale, 111., 
where he employed himself at whatever he could 
find to do, mostly working as a farm laborer by 
the month. He will be remembered as having 
later been the employe of .Joel Draper, a farmer of 
this county. Since old enough to think he liad 
made up his mind to be a man among men, to have a 
good home and property, and this resolution closely 
adhered to, has resulted in what we see around him 
to-day. He had very little means upon coming to 
America and nobody to depend upon but himself, 
but there had been handed down to him from his 
thrifty German ancestry those qualities of charac- 
ter by which he was enabled to push his way amidst 
every discouragement, and finally come out a victor 
in the struggle. He is now the owner of two farms 
in Otoe Count}', each embracing a quarter-section 
of land, and provided with good buildings. He is 
thus in the enjoyment of a handsome income, with 
the prospect of ease and comfort in his old age. 

The subject of this sketch was born near Sham- 
burg, in Germany, Jan. 10, 1845, and is the sou 
of Fred and Arnestenia Stahlhut, who spent their 
entire lives on their native soil, the father dying 
about 1872, at the age of sixty-four years, and the 
mother a few years later, in 1878, when sixty -nine. 
Fred .Stahlhut was a carpenter by trade, an honest 
and industrious man, who made a good living for 
his family and stood well among his neighboi's. 
The parental household included five children, 
three sons and two daughters, of whom Frederick 
was the youngest son born. The others were 
named respectively: Charlej' W., Whilem, Arnes- 
tenia and Angeline, and are all now in Germany 
excijpt our subject and brother, Charley W. 

Mr. Stahlhut was reared in the doctrines of the 
Lutheran Church, to which he still loj'allj- adheres. 
After attaining a business foothold with a prospect 
of something for the future, he was married, March 
19, 1874, in Xebra.ska City, to Miss Anna Huberle. 
Mrs. Stahlhut was born in Manitowoc County, Wis.. 
Oct. 14, 1857, and is the daughter of .Joseph and 
(Barbara) Huberle, who were n.atives of (Germany. 



and emigrated to the Badger State during its pio- 
neer days. The father engaged in farming, and, 
with his estimable wife, is still living, being now 
sixty years old, while the mother is fifty-eight. 
They were the parents of three children only : Anna 
and her brother .Joseph, and Louie, who died at the 
age of twenty-seven years. 

The parents of Mrs. Stahlhut left AViseonsin in 
the fall of 1865, and coming to this county settled 
in Rock Creek Precinct, where they now live. To 
our subject and his estimable wife there have been 
four children born — Horace, Louis, Minnie and 
Tillie. The eldest is ten years old and the youngest 
eight months. Mr. S. is a liepublican, politically, 
but meddles very little with public affairs, prefer- 
ring to give his attention to his business concerns. 



^1 OHN BEY. The subject of this sketch stands 
prominent among the prosperous German 
farmers of Nortli Branch Precinct, where he 
owns 240 acres of prime land, 160 on section 
14 and eighty on section 11. Thereon he has 
erected good buildings, and has all the appliances 
of the model country estate. He is a man well 
tiiought of b}' his neighbors, and when wes.ay tiiis it 
is enough. He has served as Assessor of his precinct, 
to which office he was elected in the spring of 1 886, 
and the duties of which he discharged with that 
conscientious care which is one of the distinguish- 
ing traits of his character. He is a man enterpris- 
ing and liberal-minded, alwaj's willing to contribute 
both time and means to the furtherance of those 
objects tending to the general welfare of his com- 
munity. The friend of schools and churches, he is 
especially interested in their establishment and main- 
tenance. He has for a wife a vci-y amiable and 
intelligent lad}', one who presides over her depart- 
ment of the farm in a most creditable and praise- 
worthj' manner, and contributes her full share in 
keeping up the reputation of the family and home- 
stead. 

Our subject was born in the Province of Hol- 
stuin, German}', Sept. 1, 1S51, where he lived with 
his parents on the farm and received a thorough 
common-school education, pursuing his studies un- 



•►-11^ 



334 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^\- 



til a 3'outli of sixteen years. The year following 
be determined to emigrate to America, and accord- 
ingly completed bis preparations for the jonrney. 
March 17, 1869, bidding adieu to the associations 
of his childhood, be took passage at the city of 
Hamburg on the steamer '"Saxonia," and two weeks 
later set foot upon American soil in the city of New 
York. Thence he came at once to this State, visit- 
ing first in Cass County, the home of an uncle, 
where he staid a week, and then made his way to 
Avoca Township, Cass County, where be entered 
the employ of a gentleman with whom he made bis 
home for a period of four years. At the expira- 
tion of this time he invested a portion of his capi- 
tal in a team of horses, with which be broke prairie, 
thrashed, and was similarly employed for two years 
following. 

About this time our subject, having made a 
pretty good start, secured for himself a wife and help- 
mate, and took up his abode in North Branch Pre- 
cinct, this count3', where he had purchased 1 GO acres 
of prairie land, and which is included in his present 
farm. Upon this not a furrow bad been turned 
and there were neither fences, trees nor buildings. 
He first provided a shelter for himself and bis 
young wife, and began gradually to cultivate the soil 
and set out groves, fruit trees and hedge fence. 
He was fortunate in selecting a piece of land well 
watered by a branch of North Branch Creek, but 
bis building operations involved large expense, he 
having to haul material from Nebraska City. After 
getting his farm under full headway he began rais- 
ing and feeding stock, and now ships annually a 
carload each of cattle and swine, and has in his 
stables some fine specimens of draft horses. About 
1883 be added to bis first purchase eighty acres of 
improved land on section 11 adjoining. The accu- 
mulation of his fine property has been the result of 
years of industry and perseverance, and for which 
he has been indebted to no one, if we may except 
his sensible and industrious wife. 

The lady above mentioned, and to whom our 
subject was married in Plattsmouth, March 30, 
1876, was in her girlhood Miss A. Sophia Schoe- 
maker. She, like her husband, is a native of Hol- 
stein, Germany, and was born Dec. 9, 1846. She 
came to America with her brother in 1867. Her 



parents, Peter and Anna Schoemaker, were natives 
of German}'. The father spent bis last years in 
Germany, and' the mother in Nebraska. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bej' became the parents of four interesting 
ciiildren — Annie, Freddie, Mathilda (deceased) and 
Bertha. 

Mr. Bej', after becoming a naturalized citizen, 
identified himself with the Republican party, of 
whose principles be is an ardent supporter. He has 
done good service for his party in this count}', and 
has been sent as a delegate to the County Conven- 
tions. He served as Assessor one year in bis pre- 
cinct, and has been a member of the district School 
Board for a period of nine years. He soon became 
familiar with the English language, and is a constant 
reader, keeping himself well informed upon topics 
of general interest. 

Both our subject and his estimable wife are 
charter members of the German Lutheran Cluirch 
at North Branch, in which Mr. Bey has been Trus- 
tee a period of ten years. He has also served as 
Secretarj' for the past six j'ears. He was instru- 
mental in the organization of the society, and has 
given liberally of his means for its support. He lias 
made an admirable record as an honest man and a 
valuable member of the community. 



IkM ARIUS BAUMGARTEN, one of the self- 
'// iW made, prosperous and popular citizens of 
Nebraska City, is a native of Denmark, 
and was born on the 24tb of November, 
1851. His father was Carl Christian Baumgarten. 
His grandfather. Otto Ludwig Baumgarten, was a 
native of Prussia, but went to Denmark when a young 
man, wliere lie followed his business, that of a harness- 
maker, settling in Assens, where he lived upward of 
fifty years, and in fact for the remainder of his life. 
There also his son, the father of our subject, con- 
tinued to make bis homo and engaged in business. 
The subject of our sketch was reared in his native 
village and learned his father's trade, continuing 
also to work at home until 1 878, when his i^arent was 
called to his long home. The maiden name of the 
mother of our subject was Maria Ohlson. She was 
born in Senderborg, Sleswick, but now resides in 



•►Hl-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



3.35 { ^ 



Odeiise Village in Denmark. She was the mother of 
seven children, only two of whom now live, viz: 
Amelia, who lives with her mother, and our subject, 
who was the only member of his family to come to 
this countr3\ 

All the education our subject received was in the 
schools of his native country, and prior to his 
reaching his fourteenth birthday. He came to Amer- 
ica in 1 878, on board the steamer from Copenha- 
gen, which landed him in New York after a voyage 
of three weeks. Spending one week in the metrop- 
olis, he came on to Chicago, where he remained 
for about the same length of time, and then went 
to Sidney, Iowa, where he was engaged working for 
the railroad company for about six weeks, and then 
he came on to Nebraska City, where he shortly 
after started as a harness-maker and repairer, with 
which he presently linked upholstering. After two 
years he became a house furnisher and upholsterer, 
and continued thus engaged with constantly grow- 
ing success. From that has grown up his present 
business, which is both extensive and a splendid 
financial investment. 

In August of 1881 the subject of our sketch was 
united in holy matrimon}' with Hannah Johnson, a 
native like himself of Denmark. She was born in 
that country at Iljoring, in the year 1861. They 
are both members in good standing of the Lutheran 
Church, and are both able and liberal supporters of 
the same. He has learned fully to appreciate the 
institutions and government of his adopted country 
and usually votes with the Democratic party. 



Jl'^EV. M. F. CAREY is the founder and Presi- 
R*^ dent of the Nebraska City Academy, which, 
although newly established, is one of the 
^important educational institutions of Ne- 
braska. It was opened in January, 1888, with 
twent3'-three pupils, and before the term closed in 
June there were eighty-five enrolled. The second 
term commenced in September under the most 
favorable auspices. A fine corps of talented and 
highly educated teachers is employed, comprising 
such notable instructors as Prof. William Valentine, 
lato Superintendent of Schools in Otoe County; 



Prof. Charles J. Gedge, a graduate of Cambridge 
Universit}', England; Miss Emma J. Evans, late 
Principal of the Third Ward School, Nebraska City ; 
Edwin F. Warren, a graduate of Yale College, 
lecturer on Civil Law; Clyde Watson, M. D., lect- 
urer on physiologj', anatomy and hygiene. 

President Carey was born near the Lakes of 
Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, Dec. 23, 1846. 
His father, M. R. Carey, was a native of the same 
county, and was a descendant of an ancient English 
family. He owned quite a large and valuable estate, 
on which he lived in retirement, spending his entire 
life there. The maiden name of his wife, mother 
of our subject, was Mary Fleming, and she was 
also^a lifelong resident of Countj' Kerry. There 
were six children born to the parents of our subject, 
three of whom grew to maturity, but our subject is 
the only one who ever came to America. He was 
reared amid the beautiful scenerj' of his native land, 
and was early sent to school, first attending the 
National school, and later a private college, where 
he was fitted for Trinit3' College, Dublin. He was 
graduated from that world-famed institution of 
learning in the class of '69. He was then selected 
as Principal of a school in the city of Cork, over 
which he presided for two years, and then resigned 
to enter the ministry. He was ordained May 1, 
1871, as a Deacon in the Church of Ireland, diocese 
of Kilmore, and located in the parish of Cloone. 
On the 22d of December, the same j'ear, he was 
advanced to the priesthood, as curate at Cloone, 
and while attending to the duties of his eurateship 
was also private tutor to the grandsons of the Grand 
Marquis of Head ford. After three years service in 
that parish, our subject was assigned to the rector- 
ship of Kilegar, where he remained three years. At 
the end of that time he returned to Cloone, and was 
tiiere until 1880, when he came to America and 
settled in New York City. He was there licensed 
to preach by Bishop Horatio Potter, and served as 
a supply in New York pulpits for nearly a year. 
He then accepted the appointment as rector of 
St. Thomas' Church, in Falls City, Richardson Co., 
Neb. At the exp'iration of three j'ears he came 
to Nebraska City to fill the position of President 
of Nebraska College. That institution was discon- 
tinued in 1885, and in the montli of May, that 



•► II <•• 



»► II < ■ 



336 



OTOE COUNTY. 



year, our siiliject was installed as rector of St. 
Mary's Cburch, and is still acting in that capacity. 
In 1887 he bought the college property, and in 
January, 1888, opened his academy, as we have 
before stated. He aL=o purchased[ iiis pleasant and 
attractive home on the corner of Fifth street and 
Second avenue. 

Our subject was married, in 18G7, to Mary Von 
Stein, a native of Corlvlrelaml. Her father, John 
Von Stein, was a prominent man in tiiat city, where 
he spent his entire life. Ilis ancestors were Dutch, 
and went to Ireland with the Prince of Orange, and 
became prominent in public affairs. Mr. and Mrs. 
Carey have two children — Kathleen Alice and Fred 
Arthur Von Stein. 

The Rev. Mr. Carey is one of the foremost 
scholars of the West, a gentleman of polish and 
rare culture, and is eminently fitted to move in the 
highest social, literary and scientitic circles. He is 
an associate of the Philosophical Society of Great 
Britain, and Fellow of the Society of Science, 
Letters and Art of Loudon. As a Christian min- 
ister, he is pre-eminent; of acknowledged ability in 
the pulpit, in his relations with the parish he lias 
not only sustained its character but added to its 
reputation and influence. It is generally conceded 
that the institution of learning of which he is the 
head is of great advantage to the city, the county 
and the State, as it is conducted under the highest 
principles, employs the most advanced methods of 
instruction, and cannot fail to make its mark on the 
rising generation, and elevate the tone aud literary 
tastes of the people. 



APT. ANDREW J. KLEPSER is promi- 
nently identified with the industrial interests 
of Nebraska City as a harness-maker. He 
has led an active and busy life, and has had a wide 
and varied experience, having visited and lived in 
many places in the western and southern portions 
of our immense country. He took an active part 
in the Civil War, and attained distinction and pro- 
motion as a thoroughly brave, patriotic soldier, and 
an intelligent, capable officer. 

Our subject was born in Salem, Ohio, July 10, 



1838, being a son of Jacob Klepser, who was born 
in Wurtemberg, Germany, Oct. 7, 1807. The great- 
grandparents of our subject were Andrew and Han- 
nah (Mutzer) Klepser, also native Wurtembergers. 
The great-grandfather of our sul)jeet wa.s a life- 
long resident of the Fatherland, and died at the ad- 
vanced age of ninety -nine years. The grandfather 
of our subject learned the trade of tailor, and fol- 
lowed it in Germany until 1817, wlien he came to 
America with his wife and five children, landing in 
Philadelphia in October. He located in Hunting- 
don, Pa., and opened a shop and pursued his trade 
there a few 3'ears. He then removed with his family 
to Martinsburg, Bedford Co., Pa., and there contin- 
ued in the tailoring business until liis death in 1844. 
His wife survived him many years, dying in the 
same place in 1872, at a ripe old age. They were 
the parents of eleven children, five of whom were 
born in Germanj^ and nine of whom grew to ma- 
turity: Andrew, Jacob, Jeremiah, Catherine, Fred- 
eric, Daniel, David; Elizabeth, who died in lier 
eighteenth year, and Maynard, who died in his 
twenty-fifth year. 

Jacob Klepser, the father of ovir subject, was ten 
years of age when he came to America with his 
parents. He had attended school four years in 
Germany, and after settling in the new home in 
Pennsj'lvania he went to the public schools for two 
}'ears. When he was twelve years old he became 
a self-supporting member of society, as at that age 
he went to work on a farm, where he earned at 
least his board and clothes, although but little 
more. He continued as a farm laborer until seven- 
teen years of age, and then commenced to learn the 
trade of harness and saddle maker, serving three 
years in Martinsburg for that purpose. He then 
did journeyman's work there and in Pittsburgh for 
sometime. In the year 1830 he went to Montgom- 
ery County, Ohio, and carried on his business in 
Salem for twelve years. He then located in Del- 
phi, Ind., removing his family and household goods 
with teams, as there were no railways in that ])art 
of the country. He opened a harness-shop in Del- 
phi, and was actively engaged at his trade there 
until 1856, when he sold out and started for the 
Territory of Nebraska, in June, with two wagons 
and four horses, accompanied by his wife .and three 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



337 



T 



children. They had cooking utensils, and cooked 
and camped by the way at night. They made such 
good progress that on the 25th day of July they 
crossed the Missouri River at Plattsmouth, Neb. 
Mr. Klepser selected a suitable site on the prairie 
twelve miles south of that town, and bought the 
claim of another individual from the Government, 
there being forty acres broken, and a log cabin on 
the place. The family took up their residence in 
this humljle abode, and he at once commenced to 
improve the land. This was in the verj' early 
years of the settlement of Nebraska, and the coun- 
try was in a wild condition, showing but little signs 
of its present populous and prosperous condition as 
a great and wealthy State. The settlements were 
confined to streams; deers and wolves were plenti- 
ful on the prairies, and in the interior and western 
parts of the State, or Territory as it was then, 
buffaloes still roamed; the Indians had been re- 
moved the ^-ear before, but used to revisit their old 
haunts on these prairies. Mr. Klepser entered land 
from the Government at $1.25 an acre, and con- 
tinued to reside in that place until 1865, when he 
sold out and came to Nebraska City. He immedi- 
ately established himself in his business as a har- 
ness and saddle maker, and has continuously carried 
it on ever since, meeting with great success, and 
building up a verj^ profitable trade, as he is a sharp 
and prudent business man. Mr. Klepser married, in 
March, 1833, Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Tunis Van 
Clefe, botli natives of New Jersey, and of Holland 
ancestry. Of this marriage four children have been 
born, namely: Catherine, wife of John D. Simpson, 
of Plattsmouth; Andrew J.; Letitia, wife of O. F. 
Johnson, of Plattsmouth; Luella, who was killed 
by lightning in the sixteenth year of her age. 

C'apt. Klepser was quite young when his par- 
ents moved to Indiana, and he was eighteen years 
old when they came to Nebraska City, but although 
this was over thirty 3rears ago, he can still give a 
clear and vivid account of that ever memorable 
journey, and of the hardships and privations of 
the early years of their life as pioneers. He as- 
sisted his father on his farm for awhile, and then 
went to Plattsmouth as a clerk in his brother-in- 
law's store, remaining with him until 1859. But 
for his restless, enterprising spirit, an adventurous 

M* 



life in California had great attractions, so on the 
1st of May, that year, he started with ox-teams, and 
crossed the plains and mountains to the "Golden 
State," arriving at Susanville, Cal., on the 1st of 
September. From there he went to Marysville, and 
thence to Sonoma to mine gold, remahiing there 
until the fall of 186'. He then abandoned the hard 
life of a miner, well satisfied with his gains, and 
turned his face homeward, starting on his return by 
the way of the Isthmus and New York, and thence 
to Indiana. In that State he spent the winter visit- 
ing friends. It was while there, in the spring of 
1862, that our subject commenced his military ca- 
reer, of whicii he has modestly withhold the record, 
all but the most meager details. We learn that he 
enlisted in the service, and assisted in raising a com- 
pany which was designated as Compan}^ A, and was 
attached to the 72d Indiana Mounted Infantry. He 
was mustered in as Second Lieutenant, and soon 
went to the front, where he took part in the battle 
of Stone River; was with Sherman from Chatta- 
nooga to Atlanta, taking part in the important bat- 
tles, and in the siege and capture of Atlanta. After 
the battle of Stone River he received deserved pro- 
motion to the rank of Captain for his cool courage 
and efficiency on the battle-field. In the fall of 1 864, 
having served his country faithfully for nearly three 
3'ears, he resigned his commission and retired to 
private life in Plattsmouth, where he opened a book 
store. He soon gave up that business, and com- 
menced freighting from Plattsmouth and Nebraska 
City to Denver and intervening military posts. He 
continued in that business until 1867, when the 
Union Pacific road was built, which of course re- 
stricted the freighting business, making it less neces- 
sary and also less profituble. He then turned his 
attention to farming in Cass County, and was busily 
engaged in agriculture there two years. At the ex- 
piration of that time he sold that place and bought 
another farm in Ashland, upon which he resided a 
year. We next hear of him in Plattsmouth again, 
where he engaged in the dairy business for a year 
and a half. From there he went to Kearney and 
Lowell, where he spent a few months, and thence 
proceeded to Texas and engaged in railroading for 
a short time, but a few months later he again made 
his appearance in his old home in Nebraska City. 



t 



338 



OTOE COUNTY. 



""r 



4 



He enteieil his fallier's harness-shop, and worked 
witli him for three years. But the old roaming pro- 
liensities were not cooled, he was not ready yet to 
settle down to a quiet, uneventful life, but must be 
up and off. This time the Territory of Dakota was 
the chosen scene of his travels, and for awhile he 
found a home there. He w.as employed a part of 
the time at his trade in Yankton, a part of the time 
was mining in the Black Hills, and part of the time 
was prospecting and railroading in Northern Da- 
kota. In 1881 he left Dakota and returned to Ne- 
braska City, where he has ever since resided, and 
immediately established himself in his present busi- 
ness. 

Capt. Klepser was married, in 1865, to Miss Ab- 
bie Buck, a native of Illinois, and theiu pleasant 
wedded life has been blessed to them by the birth 
of three children — Theodora, Elizabeth and John 
.1. The Captain and his wife occupy an honorable 
position in society in this community, and he is a 
member of the Western Star Lodge No. 2, A. F. &. 
A. M. After the stirring and adventurous life of 
his earlier years, he has now settled down to a quiet 
life, and pays strict attention to his business, which 
is in a flourishing condition. During all these years 
while traveling in different parts of the country he 
has been a keen and intelligent observer of men 
and things, and has gained a fund of useful and in- 
teresting information. 



ERNST GUENZEL is the proprietor of one of 
the best managed farms in Nebraska City 
Precinct; its proximity to a good market in 
a prosperous and growing city, its well-tilled acres, 
and its substantial .and commodious buildings, ren- 
der it one of the most valuable estates in Otoe 
County. A view of his fine place the publishers 
present on tlie adjoining page. Mr. Guenzel was 
born in Schleusingen, Prussia, Oct. 11, 1837. His 
father, Karl Guenzel, and his grandfather, Christo- 
pher Guenzel, were natives and lifelong residents 
of the same locality, where they followed the pur- 
suit of farming. The maiden name of the mother 
of our subject w.as Christina Frencel, and she was 
likewise a native of Schleusingen, Prussia, and is 

4i 



still living there at the advanced age of seventy- 
eight years. There were five children born to her 
and her husband, namely: Maria, Ernst, Johanna, 
Christina and Henry. Our subject .and his sister 
Johanna were the only ones who ever came to Amer- 
ica, and the latter, the wife of Peter Scharp, lives 
in Wyoming Precinct. 

Ernst Guenzel obtained a very good education in 
the excellent schools of his native land, which he 
attended from the age of six until he was thirteen 
and a half years old. After leaving school he de- 
voted three years and three months to learn the 
trade of shoemaker, and then followed that trade 
on his own account in his native place for one year. 
After that he resolved to seek a home in the New 
World, and in 1855, at the age of eighteen years, 
set sail from Hamburg in an American bound ves- 
sel on the 1 8th of October, and, after a weary voy- 
age of two months, landed in New York on the 20th 
of the following December. At th.at time he had 
but $1 1 in his pocket; but he had youth, health and 
a clear head in his favor, and with high courage he 
made his way to Dubuque, Iowa, where he worked 
at his trade in one shop for three years and three 
months. He subsequently visited Memphis, Tenn., 
spending two months there, and from there went 
to Westport, and later to Carrol ton, Mo., working 
at his trade in both places. In Carrolton he estab- 
lished a shop and carried on the shoe business for 
one year. In 1861 we find him in Nebraska, then 
a Territory, about to open a store in Nebraska City 
for the sale of groceries, ice cream and confection- 
ery. He was engaged in that until 1868, when he 
turned his attention to bottling mineral water. In 
1871 he sold out that business and bought his pres- 
ent farm, which comprises forty acres, and has since 
devoted his attention very successfully to agricult- 
ure. He has planted a variety of fruit trees, ap|)le 
and peach, and now has a fine orchard, from which 
he derives a good income, and lie also has quite a 
vineyard of choice grapes. Mr. Guenzel has erected 
a commodious brick house, in which he and his fam- 
ily have one of the jileasantest and coziest homes in 
the precinct. 

Our subject has been twice married. He was 
married to Miss Emma Oekle, July 13. 1865; she 
was a native of Hanover, Germ.-in}', and came to 



^1^ 



^ Ji^, 




Residence OF Ernst Guenzel,5ec. 15. Nebraska Cur Precinct 




RE51DENCE0F FRITZ D AM M A , 5e:C.33 . Os AGE PRECI NCT. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



341 



America wlien she was seven years old. Eleven 
children blessed their union, of whom the follow- 
ing six are living: Carl, Selma. Anna, Edward, Ida 
and Lulu. The faitliful wife and devoted mother 
passed to her reward March 23, 1887. 

Our subject was married to his present wife .July 
29, 1888. Her maiden name was Dora Wendt, and 
she was born in Mecklenburg, Germany. She came 
to America with her parents, Henry and Doro- 
thea Wendt, in 1857, and they settled in Daven- 
port, Iowa. She was married there to John Ilaac- 
Jver, a native of German_y, and she had two children 
by her first marriage, Ida and Julius. 

Mr. Guenzel is classed among the most intelli- 
gent .agriculturists of this community, and he well 
understands how to apply the best modes of culti- 
vation to the soil so as to obtain the richest results. 
He is a sturdy, sober, industrious man, well endowed 
mentally and physically, and is regarded as an 
upright citizen. He and his estimable wife are act- 
ive members of the Lutheran Church, and contrib- 
ute generously of their means to the support of the 
Gospel. In polities he is a Republican. 



'RED DAM MA, who was one of the first 
settlers of Osage, and also is one of the 
prominent and worthy representative Ger- 
man-American citizens, is at tlie same time one of 
the prosperous and intelligent farmers and stock- 
raisers of that precinct, and owns 760 acres of thor- 
oughlj' improved land, 480 on section 35, and the 
balance in McWilliams Precinct. His parents, Henrj' 
and Katie Damma, were born in Germany. They 
came to America in 1843, taking sliip at Bremen. 
Tiie ocean passage occupied a period of eight weeks. 
Then they were landed at the citj- of New Orleans 
after which they pursued their journey up the 
3Iississippi by steamer to St. Louis. From that 
city bj- means of wagons they went on to Franklin 
County, Mo., where land was purchased and a farm 
improved. This was the home of the family until 
1856. when the father died, after a sickness of about 
twentj'-four hours, thus closing a life of sixty 
years. The cause of death was cholera. His wife 
had died at the close of 1852, aged fifty-four years. 



The following are the names of their children : 
William, Minnie (deceased), Henry, Minnie (de- 
ceased), Frederick, August, Louis and Louisa. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Prussia on 
the 21st of March, 1837, and was thus quite young 
wlien his parents emigrated to this country. The 
scenes furnished by his first recollections are those 
of the home and its surroundings in Franklin 
County, Mo. He continued to reside with his par- 
ents until he was seventeen years of age, during 
that time imbibing the first principles of an educa- 
tion, and also beconiing practically acquainted with 
the farm and farm work. Upon leaving home he 
went to Illinois and there worked out upon a farm. 
In 1859 he went to Nebraska City and had so pros- 
pered as to be able to purchase his present property 
of 160 acres.' As most purchases of a similar na- 
ture were at the time, it was entirely witiiout im- 
provement, and what is to-day seen in the various 
departments is all the result of his work, intelli- 
gence, ambition and prosperity. 

In beginning life in this State our subject found 
that it was not bj' any means a path without obsta- 
cles, difficulties and hardships. There were many 
things to be put up with, experienced and over- 
come entireh' unknown to the farmer of the pres- 
ent. It is to his credit that he has made the progress 
he has. His nearest market either for the sale of 
produce and stock or the purchase of supplies was 
Nebraska City. Every piece of lumber used upoiv 
his house and buildings he had to haul from the 
same place. 

It is patent that Mr. Damma is prosperous in his 
undertakings and successful in the operation of his 
farm, for since taking the original 160 acres he has 
purchased 320 acres in Osage, all of improved land, 
fenced and hedged ; also 280 acres in McWilliams 
Precinct, so that the total acreage of his estate is 
760 acres, all of improved and cultivated land. He 
still superintends the home farm, the remainder he 
rents. He is now chiefly engaged in stock-raising, 
and is the owner of a herd of 150 head of very fine 
cattle. 

Our subject has been twice married. First in 
1863, in Franklin County, Mo., to Miss Christine 
Rhodenier. Her parents were born in Germany, 
but emigrated to this country, and settled in 



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*^* 



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342 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Missouri, where the\- still reside. Their daughter 
Christine was the eldest of seven children; she was 
born in Germany in the j^ear 1843, and died in 
Osage in the j'ear 18G9, leaving three children, viz: 
Louisa. George and Charles. Louisa is now mar- 
ried to August Butts, the well-known blacksmith of 
Talraage, and has two children, who bear the names 
Christine and Elsie. 

The second marriage of our subject was cele- 
brated in McWilliams Precinct, on the 1 7th of 
September. 1872. He then became the husband of 
Miss Annie Kaman, who was likewise a native of 
the Fatherland, where she was born on the 28th of 
June, 1845. Her parents, John and Minnie (Hou- 
tels) Naman, emigrated to America in 1873, and 
are at present living in Hendricks Precinct, where 
thej' farm eighty acres of land. Their daughter 
Annie was the eldest of eight children who formed 
their family circle. To Mr. and Mrs. Dammahave 
l)een born seven children, whose names we mention 
as follows: Herman, Minnie, Christine, John, Katie, 
Caroline and Matilda. 

Our subject and wife are both members of the 
Lutheran Evangelical Church at Osage, and were 
in fact charter members of that organization and 
helped largely in the building of the church. There 
they are highly respected, as they are also in every 
other circle in that community. Ever since he has 
understood the political situation in his adopted 
country Mr. Damma has been allied with the Re- 
publican party and voted its ticket. 

A view of Mr. Damma's place is presented on an 
adjoining page. 



^ )>.ILLIAM T. SLOAN has been engaged in 
the sale of farming implements in Nebraska 
City since 1871, and has established a 
large and prosperous business in that line. He is a 
native of Missouri, bom in the town of Otterville, 
Cooper County, May 11, 1834. His father, Will- 
iam Sloan, was born in Tennessee, and his father, 
Alexander Sloan, the grandfather of our subject, 
was a native of Kanawha County, W. Ya., finally 
removing from there to Tennessee. He was a gun- 



W 



smith by trade, and during the Revolutionary War 
was in the employ of the Colonists. About 1800 
he moved from Tennessee to Barren County, Ky., 
and in 1819 became an early settler of Cooper 
County, in the same State. He took up a tract of 
timber land there, and cleared a farm, on which he 
made his home the remainder of his life. 

The father of our subject was reared in his native 
State, and went from there to Kentucky with his 
parents. He subsequently- took uj) a tract of Gov- 
ernment land in IMissouri, and built a log house to 
shelter his family, the same in which our subject 
was born. It had no chimney, and his wife did 
her cooking b}- a fireplace outside. He kept sheep 
and raised flax, and his wife used to spin and weave 
all the cloth used in the family for years. There 
were then no railroads, no manufactories, nor any 
markets in that part of the country. Mr. Sloan kent 
stock, but all that he could sell to get cash was the 
fat steers, that would bring §12 apiece when driven 
to the Baltimore (Md.) market. There were very 
few wagon roads in the country at that early date, 
and often merchandise was packed on horseback for 
transportation. Mr. Sloan resided on the farm that 
lie had developed from a wild state until his death 
in 1870, at the age of seventy-five. He was greatly 
respected in the community where he had resided 
for so many yejirs, as he was a faithful, law-abiding 
citizen, and did his share in developing the coun- 
try. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of 
our subject, was Jane B. Alcorn, and she was born 
in Kentuckj' about the year 1803. Her father, 
James A. Alcorn, moved to the Territory of Mis- 
souri, and was a pioneer of what is now known as 
Howard County, being one of the earliest settlers 
there. At that time the Indians made their home 
there and were very hostile, and as a protection 
against them the settlers built a fort, in which they 
resided. Whenever they went to the fields to work, 
they alwaj's carried their muskets, yet, in spite of 
this precaution, it was not infrequently the case 
that a settler would be found massacred. Mr. Al- 
corn took up a tract of land, on which he located 
as soon as the Indian troubles ceased. He spent 
most of his last years with the parents of our 
subject. He was a man of considerable power, and 
was influential and prominent in imblic affairs, and 



•► 



^h^- 



->-ll 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



343 



at one time represented the Territory in Congress. 
The mother of our subject died on the homestead 
in Cooper County, Mo. She had eight children, 
namely: Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary A., James, 
William T., Virginia J., Pamelia J\I. and Arclii- 
bald R. 

He of whom we write was the fifth cliild and sec- 
ond son of his parents. When he was j^oung there 
were no free schools in Missouri, but in the winter 
season a school was kept on the subscription plan, 
and he obtained his education in such a school, as- 
sisting on the farm in other seasons of the year as 
soon as he was large enough to be of use. He lived 
with his parents until he was nineteen, when he 
went to Western Missouri, where he worked at the 
carpenter's trade until 1855. On the 22d of June, 
that year, he started for Kansas City with a freight 
train bound for Santa Fe, N. M. The train con- 
sisted of ten large wagons, each drawn by six pairs 
of oxen. ^Ir. Sloan went as an extra hand, and re- 
ceived $25 a month and board during the three 
months that it took to malte the round trip. From 
that time until 1868 he frequently made the same 
trip, after the first j-ear going as wagonmaster. He 
freighted between Kansas City, Leavenworth and 
Nebraska City to the various military posts in the 
West. He first visited Nebraska City in 1858, and 
was much pleased with its fine location, and in 
1863 he came here to settle, having resolved to 
make his permanent home here. He engaged in 
mercantile business for two years, and then began 
the sale of farm implements, in which he has been 
engaged since that time. 

Mr. Sloan was married, in 1862, to Miss Martha 
Berkley, who has faithfully shared his fortunes 
ever since. She is a daughter of Joseph Berkle}', 
and was born and reared in Kentucky. Mr. and 
Mrs. Sloan have two children — Maud and James R. 
Our subject and his wife occupy a high position in 
the social and religious circles of this cit}', and they 
are active members of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church, of which he is an Elder. Mr. Sloan 
is a firm believer in the doctrines of the Demo- 
cratic party, which has no more stanch supporter 
than he in all Nebraska. He is a man of good 
understanding, is exceedingly just and honorable 
in all his transactions, and exerts a good influence 



in his communitj-. He takes a marked interest in 
the welfare of the city and county, and as County 
Commissioner for two terms and a member Of the 
City Council he has contributed to the material 

prosperity of both. 

^, OIIN R. McKEE. The subject of this biog- 
raphy is regarded b}' a large majority of 
his felldw-citizens as one of the most popu- 
lar men on the western line of Otoe County. 
He is at inesent engaged in operating a livery sta- 
ble at Palmyra, but at the same time is active in all 
those enterprises in which the public are generally 
interested. A pioneer of this county, and one of 
its most capable and intelligent men, he has watched 
with keen interest its growth and development, and 
has been no unimportant factor in assisting it to its 
present prosperity. He possesses all the elements of a 
useful citizen, has been prominent in politics as well 
as in business circles, is public-spirited and liberal, 
and has given no small amount of time and money to 
the various enterprises set on foot having for their 
object the general welfare of the people. His home 
is on his farm a short distance south of the village, 
and forms one of the most attractive spots in the 
landscape of that region. The residence is built in 
modern style of architecture, and all the surround- 
ings are indicative of cultivated tastes and ample 
means. His family includes his accomplished wife 
and a number of interesting children, who, in the 
social circles of their community, enjoy the ac- 
quaintance of hosts of friends. 

The farm of Mr. McKee embraces 500 broad acres, 
which have been brought to a high state of cultiva- 
tion, and which occupy the larger portion of sec- 
tion 2, Palmyra Precinct. Our sul)ject has been 
familiar with agricultural pursuits since his boy- 
hood, having been born and reared amid the quiet 
scenes of country life. The place of his birth was 
in Bennington Township, IMorrow Co., Ohio, and 
the date thereof .June 5, 1839. His father died when 
he was a lad of fifteen j-ears, and he continued with 
his mother, assisting in the management of the farm 
until the summer of 1856. The mother then believ 



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irm 

ev- m 



344 



■•►Hlr 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ing that it would be for the best welfare of her boys, 
sold out her property in the Buckeye State, and 
moved to Iowa. To tliis step she had been per- 
suaded by her children. John K. was the eldest 
boy at home at that time, and still recalls the inci- 
dents of preparation, and the overland journey. 
They wintered in the vicinitj- of ]\Iontezuma, Powe- 
shiek County, and in the spring of 1857, changing 
their plans, came to Nebraska, landing in the limits 
of Palmyra Precinct on the 27th of April, unload- 
ing their goods two miles west of the present site 
of Syracuse. The mother had pre-empted 160 acres 
of land, and at first they were sheltered in a log 
cabin. The boys as soon as possible began break- 
ing the prairie sod, and in the following fall har- 
vested a good crop of sod corn. 

During the following winter, John R. McKee go- 
ing into Cass Count}-, attended school at j\It: Pleas- 
ant, and the next summer worked out by the month 
on a farm. He continued a resident of that county 
eighteen months, and on the 1st of January, 1862, 
was united in marriage with Miss Sallie, daughter 
of Jacob and Susan Lowe. Mrs. McKee was born 
in Pickaway County, Ohio, Oct. 1, 1840, and re- 
ceived a good education in her native State. Her 
parents had a family of five sons and five daugh- 
ters, and when one of her elder sisters, Kate by 
name, married Rochester Hedges, Miss Sallie ac- 
companied the young people to the "West. She had 
expected to return to Ohio after a brief visit, but 
through the persuasions of young ISIr. McKee, 
changed her intentions, and with him in due time 
took up her residence m Nebraska. 

Mrs. McKee, a very intelligent and cai)able lady, 
had made good use of her time in school when a 
girl, and employed herself as a teacher. After com- 
ing to Nebraska she taught the first district school 
in Syracuse Precinct. At the time of his marriage 
Mr. McKee was the owner of 120 acres, upon which 
the eastern portion of the village of Palmyra now 
stands. He, however, had lived at home with his 
mother, and in the meantime added to his first pur- 
chase a like amount adjoining, upon which he set- 
tled with his young wife. He had for his neighbors 
tliat first summer John Roberts, E. M. Brown and 
a Mr. Merwin, with their families. There were no 
other families within four or five miles. Nebraska 



Citj;^ was the nearest market, from which point 
they secured their provisions. A post-offlce was 
established here in 1865, and John Roljertswas the 
first Postmaster. 

During this period of the early development of 
the western part of Otoe County the subject of 
this sketch, although a young man, was among the 
most prominent of those who were active in its agri- 
cultural and business interests. His industry and 
enterprise had a marked effect in their influence 
upon those around him, and stimulated others to 
follow his example. He cast his vote and influence 
toward the adoption of the State Constitution in 
1867, and no man rejoiced more heartily when Ne- 
braska emerged from a Territory into a State the 
following year. He was at an early date a])pointed 
Postmaster at Palmyra, serving four or five years, 
and until the i\Iidland Pacific Railroad was com- 
pleted, and the station and post-oftice transferred 
to its present site. He then resigned in favor of 
Miss Dora Harrington. 

To our subject and his estimable lady there were 
born ten children, six of whom are living, and still 
continue under the home roof. An infant daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth, died at the age of eighteen months, 
and a little son, George, was taken from the house- 
hold circle when seven years old. The survivors 
are Florence B., Henry C, Guy B., Stella, Vinnie 
and Edmund. 

iNIr. McKee is now the owner of 1,000 acres in 
JPalmj'ra Precinct, all of which he purchased be- 
tween 1867 and 1888. He assisted in the organiza- 
tion of the first school district withta its limits, 
when it included an area of sixtj^ square miles, and 
hired the first teacher, a Miss Brown. He has been 
School Director for a period of eighteen years. He 
has always voted the straight Republican ticket, 
and during the late campaign (1888) served as 
Chairman of the County Central Committee. He 
identified himself with the Masonic fraternity in 
1869, being at present a member of Western Star 
Lodge No. 2, of Nebraska City. In his family Mr. 
McKee is the model husband and father, and gives 
the larger portion of his time and attention to the 
interests and happiness of those bound to liim by 
the ties of nature. 

The parents of our subject were He.iry and Eliza- 



•►HK-^- 



■•►Hl- 



•^f^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



345 



beth (Kellen) McKee, both natives of Delaware. 
They emigrated with their parents to tlie Buckeye 
State, where they were married, and afterward be- 
came intimately identified with its pioneer element. 
Henry McKee was greatly prospered in his labors 
as a tiller of tlie soil, and accumulated a comfort- 
able property. He was a strong Whig politically, 
a man of decided views, and one who kept himself 
well posted uix)n matters of State and National in- 
terest. His death took place in February, 1854, 
when he was forty-nine years of age. The mother 
died at the homestead near the town of Syracuse, in 
September, 1874, when nearly sixty-five years old. 
The five sons and three daugliters comprising the 
parental household, with one exception, all lived to 
mature j^ears. Clark died when twenty years of 
age, and Maria when an interesting child of thir- 
teen. The survivors are James, Sarah, George, 
John R. (our subject), Belle and "William. 



t 



vlL-^ ERMAN H. FASS, proprietor of the leading 
If" )|i clothing house of Nebraska City, is a wide- 
■^>^ awake and intelligent business man, who is 
(^J meeting with deserved success in his mercan- 
tile pursuits. He is a native of Hanover, Germany, 
born Sept. 11, 1847. His father, Conrad H. Fass, 
and his grandfather, Johan B. Fass, were born in 
tlie same locality, and there the latter, who was a 
merchant, spent his entire life. The great-grand- 
father of our subject, who was an officer in the 
French Army, is supposed to have been a native of 
France. 

The father of our subject was reared in the town 
where he was born, and received his education in 
the schools of the place. As soon as large enough 
he commenced to clerk in his father's store, and 
later engaged in the mercantile business in the vil- 
lage of Hessel on his own account, and also estab- 
lished a brewery. He died there in 1883, and his 
death was regarded as a severe blow to the business 
interests of the village. The maiden name of his 
wife was Margaret Falkerts, and she was likewise a 
native and lifelong resident of Hanover. To her 
and her husband were born seven children, six of 
whom grew to maturity, as follows: John Burns, 



Mary, Herman, Falkert, Annie and Christina. Her- 
man and Falkert are the only ones in America; the 
others live in their native land. 

The subject of this sketch passed his early 3'ears 
in his native land, acquiring an excellent education 
in the public schools, which he attended steadily 
until he was seventeen years old. He served one 
year in his father's brewery, and learned all the 
details of the trade. After leaving school his great 
desire was to come to America, the goal of so many 
of his countrymen, to see sometiiing of the country 
of which he had heard so much, and to establish a 
home of his own at some future time, if he should 
be prospered in life. With these ends in view he 
set sail from Bremen Sept. 11, 18G5, and landed 
in New York the following November. From 
there he went directly to Bedford, Ind., where he 
had no difficulty in securing a clerkship in a general 
store. At the end of three months he gave up that 
position and went to Illinois, where he engaged in 
dealing in live stock in Macoupin Countj-. After 
spending a j'ear there he went to Missouri, and lo- 
cated in Carrolton County, where he was engaged 
in his early occupation of brewer until 1868, when 
he revisited the Fatherland, and spent four months 
very pleasantly among his old friends. On his 
return to America he went l)ack to Carrolton 
County, Mo., and lived there until 1872, when he 
came to Nebraska City. Here he was employed as 
a clerk for a time, and then established himself In 
business. In 1882 he turned his attention to grain 
and general merchandise business, and was thus 
engaged until 1884. On the 2d of January of that 
year he was burned out, entailing a loss over the 
insurance of $3,000. He was not, however, dis- 
heartened \\y this severe blow to his financial Inter- 
ests, but with characteristic push and enterprise he 
opened a grocery store in a rented building a few 
days after the disaster. He carried on the grocery 
trade very prosperously until April, 1880, when he 
was obliged to vacate the store. On the 4th of 
June In the same year he opened his present cloth- 
ing establishment. This is a first-class store in ever^' 
respect, and he carries a fine assortment of goods, 
and gives general satisfaction to his numerous cus- 
tomers. 

In 1876 Mr. Fass was married to Miss Annie 



=t+^ 



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346 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 



t 



Bertha Damme, a native of Missouri, of German 
parentage, and four chilrlren complete their happy 
home circle — Annie, Herman, Katie and Bertha. 
Mr. and Mrs. Fass are members in high standing of 
the Lutheran Chureh, and in politics he is classed 
with the ardent Republicans of Nebraska City. Mr. 
Fass is a lo\'al citizen of this country, having great 
respect and veneration for its institutions and laws, 
but his heart still clings fondl}' to the Fatherland; 
he often thinks of the pleasant years of his youth, 
and likes to revive the memory of old associations 
by revisiting the scenes amid which his early years 
were passed, and in 1883 he a second time had that 
pleasure, staying among his old friends until April. 



"^ ACOB BEUTLER is the able managing edi- 
tor of the Nebraska Staats Zeitung, one of 
^^^ j the leading German papers of this .State. It 
^^/' is devoted to the best interests of the city 
and county, and is a fine exponent of the policy of 
the Republican party. Our subject was born in the 
town of Sembach, in Bavaria, Germany, Dec. IH, 
1869. His father, Peter Beutler, was a lifelong 
resident of the same village, and there learned the 
trade of wagon and carriage maker, which he pur- 
sued until his death in 1875. The maiden name of 
his wife, mother of our subject, was Mary Kinsinger, 
and Sembach was also her birthplace. She came to 
America in 1874, and settled in Nebraska City, 
where she still makes her home. She has seven 
children, namely: Annie, Jacob, Daniel, Lizzie, 
Christian, Mary and Arthur. All are in America 
except Daniel. Annie married Adam Schaefer, 
and lives in Nebraska Cit}'; Lizzie married George 
Hopp, and lives in Osage Precinct. 

Jacob Beutler attended school quite steadily 
while he remained in the old country, and obtained 
an excellent, practical education. He came to 
America with his mother when he was fifteen years 
Old, and further supplemented his education by a 
3'ear's attendance in the schools of this city. After 
leaving school he entered the office of the Nebraska 
City Press to work on a German paper published 
in that office. Six months later the paper was re- 
moved to Plattsmouth, and he went to vvork on it 



in that city for one year. At the end of that time 
he returned to Nebraska City, and was employed 
for awhile in the office of the Chronicle, and later 
in that of the Press. In 1880 Mr. Beutler thought 
he would like to trj' the mercantile business, so he 
went to Malcolm, Lancaster County, and engaged 
as a clerk in a general store. But to a j'oung man 
of his thoughtful, intelligent mind journalism held 
strong attractions, and at the end of a year became 
back to Nebraska Citj% and once again resumed his 
work in the printing-office of the Press. In 1881, 
in company with Charles Young, he bought the 
office of the Nebraska Staats Zeitung, and they con- 
ducted the paper together for a year, when Mr. 
Young sold his interests to Adam Schaeffer and 
Paul Schminke. Mr. Beutler has now for some 
time had full charge of the office and the manage- 
ment of the paper, and we may note in this connec- 
tion that he has been very successful in this; he has 
brought the paper to a high standard, and it has a 
good circulation. 

Mr. Beutler w.as married, in 1885, to Miss Paulina 
Kuwitzk}', a native of Bohemia. She came to 
America with her parents when she was quite j'oung. 
Her husband finds in her a ready sympathizer and 
counselor, and she is truly devoted to his interests. 
They are esteemed members of the Evangelical 
Church, and contribute liberally of their means to 
the support of the Gospel. Mr. Beutler is one of 
the most earnest and enthusiastic of the j'oung Re- 
publicans of Otoe Count}'. 

, ERRIN D. BABCOCK, Freight Agent of the 
Missouri Pacific Railroad and a resident of 
Sip^ Nebraska City, is one of the self-made 
I \ j'Oung men, and has before him' a brilliant 
future; to-daj', in spite of his age, he holds one of 
the most responsible positions connected with the 
above-mentioned compan}'. He is a man of fine 
presence, large ability, courtly manner and genial 
disposition, and by all who can appreciate such 
qualities he is held in highest regard. He was the 
first regularlj^ appointed agent for this place, and 
has held the position since October, 1887, and to 
his credit largely must be placed the fact that in 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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347 



T 



tlie corresponding month of the present year the 
freight receipts have more than quadrupled. Pre- 
vious to his residence in this city his home was in 
Lincoln. 

The birth of our subject occurred on the 25th 
of January, 1860, at Alburg Centre, Vt. He is 
the son of Thomas and Saphronia (Borrow) Bab- 
cock. The family is of English extraction on both 
sides. His father served in the Union Army for 
four years. He was promoted to be First Sergeant, 
and was accounted a gallant soldier. Fear was 
with him an unloiown quantity. His devotion to 
the old flag was unquestionable, and he found many 
opportunities of manifesting the same. He was 
taken prisoner at the battle of Welden Railroad, 
and after suffering the horors of Andersonville he 
died in that prison. 

The death of the father left his widow with three 
sons and one daughter, and of these our subject 
was the third child born. The mother, with the 
determination that only those possess who are sim- 
ilarly circumstanced, made it her life work to bring- 
up her sons so that they should be an honor to the 
cause for which their father had died, and should 
be prepared to fill honorable positions as citizens 
of the Republic. That the task then undertaken 
has been grandly completed it is unnecessary to re- 
mark, and is fullj^ substantiated b}' the subsequent 
history of the family. 

After completing the ordinary course of study 
the subject of our sketch entered the Vermont State 
Normal School .it Johnson. Subsequently being 
graduated from that institution, he entered the 
profession of the teacher, making his first effort at 
Cresco, Iowa, continuing in that place for four 
terms. Besides his jirofessional work he found it 
congenial and profitable for him to work upon a 
farm, which he accordingly did. Entertaining a 
desire about that time to enter the railroad service, 
he became a student of telegraphy, taking instruc- 
tions under the operator at Cresco. He learned 
with comparative ease, and was appointed to a posi- 
tion at Ramsey Junction, Minn. This he continued 
to hold with much satisfaction to the company for 
six months, but having a more advantageous offer 
from the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, 
he entered into an engagement with that company. 

-<• — — _.^^_^^_ 



and was stationed at Omaha, whence he went to 
Fairchild, Wis. After five months he was ap- 
pointed oper.ator at Augusta, Wis., for the same 
road, and continued there for two years. Then he 
became .agent at Neillsville, in the same Stiite, but 
after six months w.as sent to Ashland, where he 
w.-us retained for sixteen months as joint .agent for 
the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western and the 
C, St. P., M. & O. R. R. The wages being insuffi- 
cient, he determined to try the West, and choosing 
the Nebr.aska & Missouri Pacific Railroad, he en- 
gaged with th.at company on the 25th of August, 
1886, serving .as cashier and Ticket Agent at Lin- 
coln. He was appointed by President Clark of the 
comp.any to his present position on the 2d of Octo- 
ber. 1887. 

Mr. Babeock entertains very liberal views in re- 
gard to the religious position of others, and accords 
them every right to their opinions, if they be but 
honest in their investigations. The marriage of 
our subject was celebr.ited on the 15th of October, 
1884, at Neillsville, Wis., the lady of his choice 
being Miss Ella Barnes, of Augusta, in that St.ate. 
She is the daughter of H. S. and Catharine Barnes. 
To Mr. and 3Irs. Babeock there h.as been born one 
child, to whom h.as been given the name Bernice. 
The social circles of Nebr.aska City have cordially 
welcomed Jlrs. Babeock as a lady of truest worth. 

For several years the subject of our sketch has 
been an enthnsi.astic and devoted member of the I. 
O. O. F., and is at present the Noble Grand or 
Presiding Officer of Frontier Lodge No. 3, of Ne- 
braska City, in which high office his high personal 
character and manly qualities make themselves felt 
among his fellow-members, who entertain for him 
the warmest sentiments of regard, which is equall3'- 
true of those outside the lodge room and in the 
larger circle of life. 



ESLEY SPURLOCK, a citizen widely and 
// favorably known throughout this county, 
came hither in its pioneer days, and has 
contributed his full quota toward its growth and 
development. He traces his ancestrj- back to P^n- 
gland, the first representatives in this country being 



^ 



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348 



OTOE COUNTY. 



five brothers who crossed the Atlantic during the 
Colonial daj-s and settled in Virginia. There they 
and their descendants disting-uished themselves as 
active and enterprising citizens and good business 
men, building up comfortable homes and accumu- 
lating each a good property. 

The subject of this sketch was born in the jiart 
of West Virginia which was then Cabell, but is now 
Wayne County, Jan. 15, 1813, and is the son of 
Stephen Spurlock, a native of the same localitjr, and 
who was born March 19, 1786. The paternal 
grandfather, Jesse Spurlock, was a well-to-do farmer 
of that region, a very prosperous man, and promi- 
nent in public affairs. His estate at the time of his 
death included a number of slaves. Stephen and 
another son were strongly opposed to making 
mereliandise of human flesh, and in the division of 
the propert^y they took the slaves, setting a part of 
them free, while the other children were given the 
real estate. This, of course, was long before the 
outbreak of the Civil War. Stephen Spurlock also 
became prominent in his community, and was at 
one time Chaplain in the House of Representatives. 
He was fond of agricultural pursuits and spent 
most of his life in farming, He, however, never 
lost the spirit of piety which was evinced from his 
earliest youth, and joining the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, commenced preaching when a young 
man, and thus labored in the Master's vineyard for 
a number of years. He spent his entire life upon 
the soil of his native State, dying there Dec. 31, 
1870. 

Stephen Spurlock had married in early manhood 
Miss Nancy Amos, who was born Feb. 8, 1784, 
and died on the 1st of May, 1872. The parental 
household included seven children, namely: Cassy, 
Jesse, Wesley (our subject), Abigail, Milton J., 
Francis A. and Esther A. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to manhood 
in his native county, received a common-school 
education, and subsequently taught school on the 
subscription plan. He resided with his parents 
until the twentieth year of his age, when he was 
married, and settled on land given him by his father- 
in-law, and which was a part of the homestead of 
the latter. He lived there with his young wife 
until 1837. then sold out and set his face toward 



•► 



r 



the West. He made the journey via the Ohio. 
Mississippi and Dlinois Rivers on a steamer to 
Peoria, 111., then with his four-horse team drove to 
Knox County, and settled on land near which sub- 
sequently grew up the present flourishing town of 
Abingdon. A brother-in-law had preceded him to 
that point, and with him he remained until the 
spring following. Then going into Whiteside County 
he purchased a "squ.itter's" claim, near which the 
town of Albany grew up. He did not enter this 
land, although he improved about 100 acres of it. 
He sold his claim in 1840 and returned to Knox 
County, purchasing wild land south of Abingdon, 
upon which he m.ade some improvements, but 
which he finally sold, and crossing the Mississippi 
with teams, and accompanied by his brother-in-law 
and family, they both took up land in Wapello 
County, Iowa, being the very first settlers in that 
region. 

Wild game of all kinds abounded in that section 
at the time and Indians still lingered there. The 
latter received their last payment at the Agency 
that year, Mr. Sptirlock witnessing the procedure. 
The pioneer cabins were located in the timber on 
Rich Creek, but in the spring ]\Ir. Spurlock and his 
brother-in-law started out and made a claim twelve 
miles from the present city of Ottumwa, also erect- 
ing a log cabin there. Here thej^ decided to settle and 
proceeded in true pioneer style to battle with the 
difficulties around them. The nearest mill was 
thirty miles distant;, and not raising any wheat the 
first j-ear, corn constituted their principal bread- 
stuff. Mr. Spurlock had a number of sheep, and 
the wife and mother from the wool of these manu- 
factured tlie clothing for the family. 

Five years later Mr. Spurlock sold this property 
and returned to Knox County, 111., lived there two 
years, and then returned to Iowa, purchasing land 
this time in Warren County. This property was 
also wild and uncultivated, but civilization had be- 
gun to set Westward and our subject made better 
progress. He put up a set of frame buildings, but 
two years later changed his residence to JNIadison 
County, buynig again wild land near Winterset, 
where he improved a good farm and lived a num- 
ber of years, carrying on agriculture very success- 
fully. Then leaving the farm he purchased town 



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^^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



4 

351 ik 



^t 



property in Winterset, where he built a store, but 
remained tliere only one winter. His next removal 
was to Glenwood, in jNIills County, and there he 
rented a tract of laud until 1856. 

In 1857 Mr. Spurlock repeated again his pioneer 
experience, coming to the vicinitj- of Plattsmouth, 
this State, where he farmed two seasons, then 
purchased city proijerty, put up a good house, and 
lived there until 1 858. Returning to Mills County, 
he engaged in general merchandising in the tlien 
flourisliing town of Pacific City. Upon selling out 
a few months later he rented a farm near Nebraska 
City, where he lived a few years, then moved into 
the town limits, where he has since resided. 

Our subject was united in marriage with Miss 
Mary A. Barton, Aug. 9, 1832. This lady was 
born in Wayne County. Ya., April 13, 1815, and 
of their union there are nine children, namelj': 
Nancy, Burwell, Stephen, AVilliam H. II.; Nina, the 
wife of Charles W. Shcrfey, a sketch of whom ap- 
pears on another page; Ezra, Saunders; Mar3' A., 
the wife of J. D. Gihnan, of Falls Citj^, this State, 
and AVeslej^ W. j\Ir. and Mrs. Spurlock are mem- 
bers in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, witli which they have been identified for a 
period of fifty-five years. Mr. S. was a Whig, po- 
litically, during the early days, but upon tlie aban- 
donment of the old party allied himself with the Re- 
publicans. 






l^a^ AMUKL H. MORRISON is a well-known 
^^^ and honored resident of Nebraska City, 
|l\/_Jj) where he lias been engaged in the jewelr3' 
business since the days of 1867, and although 
not among the earliest settlers, he may be consid- 
ered a pioneer of this locality whose growth and 
development it has been his privilege to witness. 
He is a fine representative of the citizen soldierj', 
who fought so nobly to save the Union during the 
late Civil War, and his military record shows him 
to have been a brave and loyal soldier and an effi- 
cient officer, worthy of the confidence placed in 
his discretion and zeal by his superiors. He was 
born April 27, 1834, in Washington County, Pa., 
■^t 



and is a son of Samuel Morrison, a native of the 
same State. 

John Morrison, grandfatiier of our subject, was 
born in Chester County, Pa., and moved from there 
to Washington County. Pa., in the early days of its 
settlement. He was accompanied by his brother 
Henrj', and took up a tract of Government land in 
what is now Nottingham Township. That was in 
Colonial times, and Pennsylvania being under the 
jurisdiction of Virginia, he procured the title of his 
land from that colony, and the farm which he im- 
proved from that wild tract of land is still owned 
by his descendants, he having died there. The 
maiden name of his wife, grandmother of our sub- 
ject, was Mary Ilugbey, and she was a native of 
Ireland. She resided on the old homestead until 
the death of her husband, and then went to live with 
a son. Twelve children were born of their marriage, 
all of whom grew to maturity. 

The father of our subject was reai'ed in the home 
of his birth, and when young learned the trade of 
a tailor, which he followed a few years. He mar- 
ried Rachel Cooper, a native of Nottingham Town- 
ship, Washington Co., Pa. Her father, Frederick 
Cooper, was a lifelong resident of that counlj-, of 
which his parents were among the first settlers. 
The grandfather of our sul)ject learned the trade of 
millwright, and built and operated several mills. 
After marriage Mr. Morrison abandoned the tail- 
oring business and engaged in milling and fiirming, 
remaining a resident of Nottingham until iiis death, 
which closed a high!}- honorable and useful career, 
and deprived his community of one of its most 
trustworthy citizens. He served in the War of 
1812, and his descendants may well, be proud of liis 
gallant and daring conduct while a soldier under 
Gen. Harrison, he being one of the four brave men 
who vohinteeied to cross the Niagara River near 
Black Rock to spike the enemy's guns, in which feat 
the^' were successful. He was always a stanch 
Democrat in his political views, and took a deep 
interest in public affairs. His estimable wife spent 
her last years on the old homestead in Nottingham, 
Pa. To them were born twelve children, eleven of 
whom grew to maturity. 

Samuel H. Morrison was the ninth child born to 
his parents. He was reared in his native town and 



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352 



OTOE COUNTY. 



t Ini 



obtained the foundation of a liberal education in its 
district schools, subsequently attending a mercantile 
college, and also spending a term very profitably at 
an academy in the capital city of Michigan. He 
resided with his parents until he was sixteen years 
old, when he went to live with an elder brother in 
Virginia for a time. He then returned to his old 
home, and was an inmate of the parental household 
until he was eighteen years old. At that time he 
was appointed Deputy Recorder in Washington, Pa., 
retaining that office for one year. He was ambi- 
tious to perfect his education, and attended buff's 
Mercantile College after that for one season. He 
then adopted the profession of teacher, and taught 
two years in Washington County with gratifying 
suc(!ess. After that he went to Huntingdon, Pa., 
where he taught penmanship and bookkeeping one 
winter, and then went to Lancaster, Pa., and taught 
the same branches in the mercantile college there 
for one summer. He subsequently turned his at- 
tention to farming, but his health not being good, 
he was obliged to throw up that pursuit, and he 
went to Lake Superior, and was engaged as a clerk 
and accountant for the owners of the Minnesota 
mines for three months. We next hear of him as a 
hard-working student in an academy at Lansing, 
Mich., and as a teacher of penmanship evenings. 
He continued his studies for six months. Milwau- 
kee, Wis., was his next destination, and the ensuing 
year he was engaged in that city as a clerk and in 
writing cards. 

The breaking out of the Rebellion found our sub- 
ject engaged in his old employment as instructor 
in penmanship, and as clerk and bookkeeper for a 
milling company in Portage, Wis. At the first call 
for troops to defend the Union he did not hesitate 
an instant to offer his services to his country, lay- 
ing aside all personal aims and comforts to enroll 
his name among the other brave volunteers who 
went forth to encounter the deadly perils and hard- 
ships of Southern battle-fields that the3' might pre- 
serve the honor of the dear old stars and stripes, 
and to whose valor in the terrible years that fol- 
lowed we are to-day indebted that our flag waves 
over a free, glorious, undivided country. He en- 
listed April 19, 1«61, in Company G, Wisconsin 
Infantry, and was mustered in as a private. He 



went with his regiment to Washington in May, and 
joined the Army of the Potomac, and served under 
McClellan, Burnside and Hooker. Mr. Morrison 
very soon had an opportunity to witness and take 
part in a battle, and was present at the battle of 
Bull Run, the very first engagement of the war. 
He subsequently fought at Gainesville, Fitz Hugh 
Crossing, Ciiancellorsville, Gettysburg, and took 
part in many other important battles. In June, 
1862, he I'eceived deserved promotion to the posi- 
tion of Corporal; March 3, 1863, he was appointed 
Second Lieutenant, and his promotion to the rank 
of First Lieutenant followed on the 1st of July, his 
coolness and daring in the heat of battle and his 
executive ability as an officer having gained him 
the implicit confidence of his superiors. He was 
wounded at the battle of Gainesville, an ounce ball 
piercing his left lung, and he was not recovered 
sufficiently to join his regiment until four months 
had elapsed, a part of which time he had spent at 
home. In the battle of Gettysburg a minie ball 
passed through both limbs, but fortunately a com- 
rade wound a bandage around the limbs so as to 
stop the flow of blood, and thus saved his life. He 
was taken from the field in an hour and conveyed 
to a hospital, and thence, two days later, to a pri- 
vate house, where he lay six weeks. He then re- 
turned to his old home in Pennsylvania, and on 
account of his wounds he was discharged Jan. 15, 
1864. In the month of March, the same year. 
President Lincoln commissioned him as Second 
Lieutenant of the veteran reserve troops, and On 
the 15th of that month he was ordered to report 
with his command to Maj. Sidell at Louisville, Ky. 
In the following April Lieut. Morrison was ordered 
to take command of a detachment of unassigned 
troops at Camp Joe Holt, Ind., but in Ma3' he wiis 
relieved there and sent to take command of the 
83d Company, Veteran Reserve Corps, at Jefferson 
Gener.al Hospital. Jeffersonville, Ind., and in Au- 
gust the 84th Company, Veteran Reserve Corps, was 
added to his command, and he was made military 
assistant to the surgeon in charge, and commander 
of the post of four companies on duty there, and he 
held that position until January, 1866, when he was 
relieved from duty at that point, and he received 




•►Hl^ 



f 



OTOE COUNTY. 



■•►Hlr 



353 



1^ I nal 



his discharge from the army, in wiiich he had 
served so faithfully, June 30, 18G6. 

The Lieutenant after liis retirement returned to 
his Pennsylvanian home, and visited his friends 
there until October, when he sought the then Ter- 
ritory of Nebraska to begin life anew in its invig- 
orating climate. He came to Nebraska City, and in 
]\Iarch, 1867, established himself in the jewehy 
business, buying the stock and good-will of the 
store. He has since adcled the sale of musical in- 
struments, and is doing a fine business. Our subject 
is a frank, unassuming man, and well endowed with 
those qualities that make him an important social 
factor of this community. He is prominently iden- 
tified with the following organizations as a member: 
AVestern Star Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M. ; Key- 
stone Chapter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons; Alt. 
Olivet Commanderj' No. 2; William Baumer Post 
No. 24, G. A. R. ; and military order of the Loyal 
Legion of the U. S. Commander}' of Nebraska. 

Among the portraits of leading and well-known 
citizens of Otoe County ma}^ be found that of our 
subject. 

DOLPH ALBRIGHT is recognized in the 
farming community of Belmont Precinct 
as one of its best citizens and most success- 
ful agriculturists. He at one. time owned 
500 acres of land, but deeded most of it to his 
son, reserving for himself eighty-five acres, which 
constitutes his homestead, and a verj' neat and com- 
fortable one it is. His has been a career filled with 
industr}", during which, by his excellent manage- 
ment and perseverance, he has accumulated a com- 
petence, surrounding himself and his family with 
all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. 
The early home of our subject was in the Father- 
land on the other side of the Atlantic, in the town 
of Gandersheim, Brunswick, where his birth took 
place Feb. 16, 1833. His parents, Ludwig and 
Julia (Finkenstet) Albright, were natives of the 
same Province, and of pure German ancestry. 
They are now deceased. Their family consisted of 
seven children, of whom three are now living. 

Mr. Albright, in common with the children of his 
native countr}', was given a thorough education, and 



reared to manhood in his native town. In early 
youth he learned the trade of shoemaker, which he 
followed for a period of twenty years. At the age 
of twenty- two, believing he could do better upon 
the soil of America than in his native pjmpire, he 
crossed the Atlantic, and was settled for a time in 
Brooklyn, N. Y.. where he followed his trade until 
1856. 

At the date above mentioned our subject, turn- 
ing his face toward the Great West, crossed the 
Mississ'ippi, and coming to this county located first 
in Nebraska Citj^, where he followed his trade until 
the spring of 1870. He had in the meantime, with 
true German thrift and forethought, saved a snug 
sum of money, and invested a part of this in eighty- 
five acres of land in Belmont Precinct. Since that 
time he has made his liome in this locality', fo low- 
ing principall}' the pursuits of agriculture. He is 
accounted one of the most reliable citizens in the 
county, highly respected wherever known. 

Miss Louisa Schmidt became the wife of oursub- 
ject on the 26th of September, 1858, the wedding 
taking place at the home of the bride in Nebraska 
City. Mrs. Albright was born in the Grand Duchy 
of Hesse, Germany, Oct. 19, 1837, and came to the 
United States in September, 1855. Of her union 
with our subject there have been born seven chil- 
dren, five of whom are living, namely: Emma, 
Alex, Lucy, Minnie aiid M.arj'. Emma is the wife 
of Theodore AVirth, a well-to-do farmer of Belmont 
Precinct, and the mother of two children — Anna 
and Olive. Lucy married Mr. Oswald Wirth, a 
brother of the above-mentioned gentleman, who is 
residing in Belmont Precinct. The other children 
are at home with their parents, and being given the 
education and training in keeping with their posi- 
tion in life. Mr. Albright has been generous with 
his property as regards his children, and nothing 
l)leases him better than to see them prosperous and 
honored citizens. 

While a resident of Nebraska City Mr. Albright 
was a member of the Council for two terms, and he 
has also officiated as Assessor in Belmont Precinct 
four years. He was the Census Taker of this pre- 
cinct in 1880, and that same year was also ra.ade 
the candidate of the Democratic party for their 
Representative in the State Legislature. He was 



^U 



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354 



OTOE COUNTY. 



iplp 



reared in the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, to 
which lie loyally adheres, and which constituted the 
religious faith of his honored parents. Socially, he 
belongs to the I. O. O. F., and has passed all the 
Chairs in his lodge at Nebraska City. He is a quiet, 
unassuming man, who invariably commands the re- 
spect of both friend and stranger. 



.— -f4-^-- 



ANIEL RIEGLE wherever known occu- 
■ pies a high place in the estimation of those 
(i^j^^ by whom he is surrounded, and as one of 
the younger members of the farming com- 
munity of Palmyra Precinct, active and industrious, 
is apparently destined to a successful future. His 
chief interests are centered in the homestead, com- 
prising 160 acres on section 28, where he is giving 
his principal attention to stock-raising, and meeting 
with flattering success. He has had ample expe- 
rience among the various emplo3'ments of farm life, 
and entertains a genuine affection for the sweet- 
smelling soil, the growing ci'ops and the golden 
harvests. With his tastes lying in this direction, 
and tempered by that practical application which 
must be connected with every enterprise success- 
fully carried out, it is predicted for him that in the 
near future he will be a leading light among the 
business and agricultural interests lying along the 
western line of Otoe County. 

Winnebago Count}', III., was the early tramping 
ground of our subject, his birth having taken place 
one mile southeast of the beautiful little village of 
Davis, in a prairie region claimed to be the fairest 
in America. He first opened his eyes to the light 
Jan. 21,' 1849, and is the son of Jonathan and Eliza- 
beth (Hartzell) Riegel, who after lives of worth}' 
industry are enjoying the fruits of their labors in a 
comfortable home at Davis, 111. They are both 
natives of Pennsylvania, and of German ancestry. 
They emigrated from the Keystone State to North- 
ern Illinois after their marriage, and at a time when 
the territory comprising the counties of Stephenson 
and Winnebago had scarcely been disturbed by the 
plowshare. The father secured a tract of land from 
\ ' the Government, and with the primitive imple- 



ments at hand proceeded as best he could with the 
cultivation of the soil, while his family were shel- 
tered in a small house on the prairie. As years 
passed by, and the country around him began to 
be settled up, the pioneer who was in the advance 
guard, uniformly keeping a little ahead of his 
neighbors, began to gather around him modern 
conveniences, and in due time the uncultivated 
tract of land was transformed into a valuable home- 
stead. 

Among the other possessions of Jonathan and 
Elizabeth Riegle eleven children had come to bless 
their union, six sons and five daughters, of whom 
the subject of this sketch was the ninth in order of 
birth. They grew up intelligent and industrious, 
and following in the footsteps of their parents were 
"early to bed and early to rise," and if not becom- 
ing wealthy, became well-to-do and wise. Daniel, 
like his brothers and sisters, received careful home 
training, and at an early age imbibed those senti- 
ments of honor and integrity which have formed 
the liasis of a most admirable character. 

Our subject received only limited opportunities 
during his boyhood and youth, but made the most 
of them, and kept his eyes open to what was going 
on around him. He remained a member of the 
parental household, assisting in the development of 
the homestead until reaching manhood, and then 
determined to build up for himself a home beyond 
the Mississippi. In 1875 he had purchased 160 
acres of land in Palmyra Precinct, this county, and 
in the spring of 1878 resolved to settle upon it, 
and begin the establishment of a future home. He 
still remains a bachelor, his domestic affairs being 
presided over by himself. His land has been laid 
out with neat and substantial fences, and he has 
effected all the improvements naturally suggested 
to the thorough and skillful agriculturist possessing 
modern enterprise, and ambitious to keep pace with 
his neighbors. He has a good residence, while the 
barns, sheds and corn cribs adjacent provide ample 
accommodation for the storage of grain and the 
shelter of stock. To the latter he has given par- 
ticular attention, feeding and shipping each year 
numbers of cattle and hogs, and from which he 
realizes a generous income. He usually keeps a 
herd of seventy head of cattle and 125 head of 



-^ Ni l a. 



*► m ^^ - 



I 



^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



3o5 



swine, making liis purcliases usually' from liis neigh- 
bors, anrl his sales at Nebraska City and Omaha. 
Mr. Riegle in the multiplicity of his agricultural 
employments wisely takes time to keep himself 
posteil upon matters of general interest, and al- 
though never ambitious for office, is public-spirited 
and liberal to the extent that he believes in 
'•America for Americans," and protection for every 
man in the enjoyment of his free and equal rights. 
The principles of the Republican party appear to 
him the clearest exponent of these sentiments, and 
to this he accordingl}' gives his earnest support. He 
is a man who is genial and companionable in the 
social circle, and wherever his lot is cast invariably 
attracts to himself hosts of friends. 



-^-i«^<:S=|-i-4- 



^i: BSALOM TIPTON. The pleasant home of 
l@£JIi tiiis gentleman lies on the part of section 
31 wiiich has recently been attached to 
Nebraska City Precinct, and which is con- 
sequentl}' quite valual)le. Here he has 110 acres, 
the greater part of which he pre-empted from the 
Government, and to which he subsequently added, 
bringing the whole to a fine state of cultivation. 
In addition to general farming be is largely inter- 
ested in fruit-growing, and has a fine apple orchard 
of about 500 trees in good bearing condition, and 
700 cherry trees, besides the smaller fruits, several 
acres being deVoted to these also. Among his 
specialties is the raspberrj', of which he has 7,000 
plants, 4,000 blackberry and 100 blueberry, all of 
which are in a flourishing and productive condition. 
Mr. Tipton has been one of the pioneers in fruit- 
raising in this part of the county, and keeps him- 
self well posted upon modern methods of culture, 
and the new varieties which are constantly appear- 
ing. Prior to his arrival in Nebraska he had lived 
in Iowa and Missouri. He crossed the Missouri in 
the fall of 185-1, and located in this county in Sep- 
tember. He secured a warranty deed of his 
land as soon as it came into market, being very soon 
after the treaty between the Government and the 
Indians had been ratified. A portion of Jiastern 
Nebraska, however, had been exempt, although In- 
tlians were numerous at that time, and the settlers 



were obliged to pay tribute to them to keep the 
peace while waiting for the lands to come into mar- 
ket, which was accomplished in the early part of 
1856. 

Mr. Tipton was born in Holmes Countj', Ohio, 
Dec. 16, 1829, and comes of an old and highly re- 
spected family. His father, Luke Tipton, was a 
native of Maryland, and son of Luke, Sr., a New 
Eoglander, a farmer bj- occupation, and a soldier in 
the Revolutionary War. The latter was celebrated 
for his fine physique, and he made a brave and dar- 
ing soldier, who received the approval of his supe- 
rior officers for his courage and gallantry. After 
the war he went South, and died in Tennessee at 
the advanced age of about one hundred years. A 
brother who served with him in the American Army 
afterward settled in Maryland, where he spent the 
remainder of his life. The Tiptons are of "Welsh 
descent, and the first representative of the family 
in this country crossed the Atlantic at an early 
period in its history. He was a cooper by trade, 
and left his native soil under threat of being be- 
headed on account of political disaffection existing 
during the time of Cromwell, the same as was the 
great-grandfather of the President-elect, Gen. Har- 
rison. The original Tipton was placed in a barrel 
for safe transportation across the Atlantic, and set- 
tled among the Alleghany Mountains, where he lived 
partially secluded for a long period. The records 
indicate that he was one hundred and five j'ears 
old at the time of his death. 

Luke Tipton, Jr., the father of our subject, spent 
his boyhood days in his native Maryland, and had 
hardly got beyond these when his two brothers 
enlisted in the army and served in the War -of 1812. 
Before reaching his majority he accompanied his 
father to Ohio, where he was married a few years 
later to Miss Mary Young. This lady is a native 
of Penns3'lvania, and of Dutch ancestry. She re- 
moved with her parents to Ohio in her girlhood, 
where her parents died when quite well advanced 
in years. The young people emigrated to Iowa in 
1852, and lived in that State and Missouri until the 
death of the father, which occurred in Mills County, 
Iowa, in 1871, when he was seventy-three j'ears old. 
Mrs. Mary Tipton is still living, and makes her 
home with her son Saul, in Mills Countj-. Al- 



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356 



OTOE COUNTY. 



though eighty-seven years old, she is well preserved 
and active in mind and body. Both parents united 
with the Methodist Episcopal Church many years 
ago, and the father, politically, was first a Whig 
and then a Republican. 

Absalom Tipton, the subject of this sketch, was 
the fifth child and third sou of a family of five sons 
and six daughters. He was reared and educated in 
Putnam and Lucas Counties, Ohio, and attained his 
majority in the Buckeye State. He found his bride 
in the West, being married in the northeastern part 
of Missouri near the State line, to Miss Martha N. 
-Norris. This lady was born in LaPorte County. 
Ind., in 1833, and was the daughter of Thomas and 
Sarah (Brock) Norris, who spent their last days in 
Hamburg, Iowa. The father was a farmer by oc- 
cupation, and the parents were married in Indiana. 
They were very excellent and worthy people, greatly 
respected by their community, and making it the 
rule of their lives to do by others as they would be 
done by. The mother held to the doctrines of the 
Baptist Church, but Mr. Norris, although a Christian 
man, never identified himself with an}- church or- 
ganization. 

Mrs. Tipton was reared and educated in Indiana, 
whence she removed with her parents to Missouri, 
and under the careful training of a Christian mother 
imbibed those sentiments and principles by which 
she became possessed of all the womanly virtues. 
She was rcore than ordinarily intelligent, hospitable 
and kind among her neighbors, and most faithfully 
devoted to the interests of her family. By her 
union with our subject she became the mother of 
seven children. One of these, a daughter. Flora? 
died at the age of fourteen months, and twins 
died in infancy. Of the survivors the record 
is as follows: Oscar is farming in Logan County, 
Col., and quite prosperous; William married Mrs. 
Lizzie Bruner, and lives in Omaha; Cora remains at 
home with her father, attending to his domestic 
concerns and devoting herself to his comfort. She 
is a very intelligent 30ung woman, possessing largely 
the amiable qualities of her excellent mother. 
Schuyler is attending school in Nebraska City. 
Mrs. Martha N. Tipton departed this life at the 
homestead, Nov. 28, 187.5, deeply mourned by her 
family and a large circle of friends and acquaint- 



ances. Mr. and Mrs. Tipton identified themselves 
with the Methodist Protestant Church about 18.58, 
to which our subject has since given a liberal and 
cheerful support. Both he and his sons are stanch 
Republicans, politically, and have done good service 
for their party in this section. 



J "AMES WILSON. The home of this excel- 
lent old gentleman and his estimable wife is 
one to which their host of friends always 
love to repair, and at whose threshold the 
stranger is welcomed with equal courtesy. In their 
lives is illustrated the result of well-spent years, and 
in their ej'es the clear light of a good conscience 
and souls at peace with all the world. By years of 
industrj' and economy they have gathered around 
them all of the comforts and many of the luxuries 
of life, including the fine farm of 240 acres, which, 
witli its buildings and other appurtenances, forms 
one of the most attractive features of the landscape 
of Rusiell Precinct. The estate lies on section 12, 
and is a credit not only to the wise management of 
the proprietor, but to the county at large. 

The childhood home of Mr. Wilson was many 
leagues from his present one. his birth having taken 
[>lace in Norway, Jan. 19, 1835. His boyhood days 
were spent upon the farm of his father, .and later 
he learned the trade of ship carpenter, which he 
followed until a man of twenty-five j-ears. In the 
meantime he had received a common-school educa- 
tion, and was well fitted both by habits and train- 
ing for the battle of life. He had as a boy been 
bright and thoughtful beyond his years, and at the 
age of thirty-three years, not being satisfied with 
the prospects of the future held out to him upon 
his native soil, he resolved to seek the New World 
of which he had heard so much, and to which many 
of his countrymen were hastening. He accordingly 
set sail from Liverpool on the steamer "Etna," and 
after a stormy voyage of forty days set foot upon 
American soil in the city of New York. Thence 
he proceeded by rail to St. Joseph, Mo., and not 
long afterward we find him in Nebraska City. 
Thence he proceeded to the western part of the 
county, and homesteaded eighty acres of land. He 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



357 



and his little family were sheltered for a brief time 
in a small room, and he made it his first business to 
provide for their most urgent necessities. Around 
him stretehed tlie uncultivated prairie, and in order 
to put up a dwelling he was obliged to haul lumber 
from Nebraslia Citj', thirty miles away. His neigh- 
bors, however, had done the same, and he suffered 
nothing to discourage him as long as he was in the 
enjoyment of his health and strength. 

To Mr. AVilson, as to every individual who per- 
sistently labors and suffers himself to be dismaj'ed 
by no discouragement, his industry brought its le- 
gitimate reward. The soil under his careful culti- 
vation began to yield plenteously, and as time 
passed on he was en.-ibled to erect the buildings nec- 
essary for his comfort and convenience. In due 
time there appeared a comfortable frame dwelling, 
a barn and all the other necessary outhouses, while 
Mr. Wilson planted groves and an orchard of 150 
apple trees, besides the smaller fruits. Later he in- 
vested a portion of his surplus capital in additional 
land, adding eighty acres to the home farm and 
purchasing 160 acres on section 10. It has all been 
brought to a state of cultivation, and is the source 
of a handsome income. 

Mr. "Wilson came a bachelor to this county, but 
on ttie Gth of March, 1880, was united in marriage 
with Miss Celestia Mills, who was born near the 
city of Cleveland in Summit County, Ohio, June I, 
1848. She received an excellent education, being 
graduated from the Peru Normal School, and 
taught school two j'ears before her marriage. Her 
parents, Andrew and Jerusha (Dickinson) Mills, 
were natives of the Buckeye State and Connecticut 
respectively, and came here in the fall of 1869. 
The father purchased a quarter-section of land in 
Hendricks Precinct, in the southwestern corner of 
Otoe County, where the parents spent the remainder 
of their lives. The mother passed away in the fall 
of 1873, and the father in March, 1887. The latter 
was sixty-four years old. Their five children were 
named respectively: Celestia, Emma, Minnie, Rus- 
sell and Frank. Of tliese all are living, residing 
mostlj' in Nebraska and Dakota. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Wilson there were born three 
children, one of whom, a daughter, Laura, died 
when five months old. Eflie G. and Andrew are 



aged six and four years respectively. Mr. Wilson 
upon becoming a naturalized citizen allied himself 
with the Republican party, of which he has since 
been a uniform supporter. He has served three 
years in his school district, and socially, belongs to 
the I. O. O. F., at Weeping Water. He is a man 
who has been prompt to meet his obligations, made 
it a point always to live within his income, and one 
whose word is considered as good as his bond. 

Thomas Wilson, the father of our subject, was, 
like his son, born in Norway, and married a native 
of the same place. The elder Wilson was a wealthy 
ship builder, and he owned a farm of 500 acres in 
his native district. He died there at the age of 
sixty years, about 1855. During the invasion of 
Norway by England, in 1812, he did good service 
as a soldier in protecting his native land from a 
foreign foe. The mother, after the death of 
her husband crossed the Atlantic, and going to 
Salt Lake Cit\-, made her home with her daughter 
there until her death, which occurred Jan. 28, 1888, 
after she had reached the advanced age of eight}'- 
nine years. 



AVID STALL. This gentleman is widely 
and favorably known throughout Otoe 
County, in connection with his extensive 
business interests as a stock raiser and 
dealer, and enjoys quite a reputation as a farmer 
and thresher. His home is upon section 8 of Pal- 
myra Precinct, where he owns 240 acres of very 
fine farming land, but also operates 160 acres on 
section 11. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Knox 
County, Ohio, on the 14th of March, 1836, to Will- 
iam and Susannah (Firebaugh) Stall. This family' 
is of German extraction, and the original settlement 
was made in Pennsylvania, where the parents of 
our subject were married and made their first 
home, but removed to Ohio among the early set- 
tlers of that section of country. Our subject was 
the youngest of ten children born to them. 

The early days of David Stall were spent upon 
the home farm amid surroundings common to agri- 
cultural life. He began to work with his father 
when quite a little fellow, and at ten years of age 



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358 



OTOE COUNTY. 



received his first lessons in plowing, and began to 
woik at the thveshing-raachine when but twelve 
years of age. True, he was large and stout for his 
age, bright and intelligent, but it was undoubtedly 
quite an early day for a boy to begin the serious 
duties of life. 

Until his marriage, June 2, 1861, our[subject 
made his home with his parents, but at that time 
he was united in wedlock with Elizabeth Bechtel, 
and they began their new life on the farm he was 
born on. She was born in Ohio, in Tuscarawas 
County, June 14, 1834. Of this union there have 
been born four children, whose names are as fol- 
lows: Alonzo I\I., William H., Elizabeth E. and 
Alfred L. 

Selling the Ohio farm in the year 1803. Mr. and 
Mrs. Stall settled in Davis County, Ind.. and there 
Mr. Stall followed the combined occupations of 
farming and threshing, and owned 200 acres of 
land. In 1872 they came to Bennet, Neb., and 
purchase<l 400 acres, but this they sohl after one 
year, and then came to Palmyra, in iliis county, 
where they became the owners of 400 acres of 
land, well situated and calculated to meet his re- 
quirements as an agriculturist and stock-raiser. 
He has put up several valuable improvements in 
the line of farm buildings, and has also erected a 
very fine stone residence. He is the owner' of 
seventy head of cattle of the various varieties. 
The fall of 1888 was his eighteenth consecutive sea- 
son as a thresher, in which he is quite expert. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stall are members in good standing 
of the Baptist Church at Palmyra. Our subject is 
a member of the Anti-Horse Thief Association of 
Nebraska. Politicall}', he is a Repul)lican, and, 
although not a leader in political affairs, he is 
deeply interested in all current questions connected 
therewith. 



^p^ EORGE QUIBLE. The broad acres which 
[II ^— , constitute the estate of the gentleman above 
^^^ n.amed present one of the finest bodies of 
land in South Branch Precinct, being 380 acres in 
extent, upon which have been effected the modern 
improvements in kt>o|iing willi the progress of the 



present day and age. A neat and substantial 
dwelling, with barns, outhouses, shade and fruit 
trees, orchards, live stock and machiner}', forin a 
picture of prosperous rural life which is delightful 
to contemplate. 

The leading spirit in effecting the improvements 
ujjon a tract of land which was comparatively un- 
cultivated when he came upon it, is one of the 
most public-spirited citizens in his community, and 
while his farm indicates a vast amount of labor, he 
has yet found time to interest himself in the en- 
terprises calculated for the good of his community 
and the building up of its educational, moi-al and 
religious interests. To these jSIr, Quible has con- 
tributed liberally of his time &nd means, and many 
are the struggling but worthy projects which would 
have failed had he not aided them so generously. 
It is not to be wondered at then that he is held in 
the warmest regard by his fellow-citizens, and with 
one accord is numbered among the most useful 
members of his community. 

The family of our subject is of English ancestry, 
his parents being John and Annie Qviible, who were 
natives of England, and spent their entire lives 
upon the soil which gave them birth. Their fam- 
ily consisted of three children, of whom George 
was the youngest. He was born in England, Sept. 
10, 1832, and -when a child of five or six 3-ears, 
being orphaned by the death of his parents, came 
to America with friends who settled in Will County, 
111., where he lived with them until a youth of fif- 
teen years. Thej^ then returned to their native 
country, but .young Quible resolved to abide in 
America. He began working out by the month, 
and was thus occupied in Will Countj^ until the 
spring of 1859. He then came to Nebraska, while 
it was a Territory, and sojourned the first year near 
the then unimportant town of Nebraska City, 
where he engaged in farming. lie next moved to 
another tract of land near liy, operating this one 
year, returned to town again, and in the spring of 
1866 took possession of the land which he trans- 
formed into his present homestead. He fii'st pur- 
chased 160 acres, upon which he effected various 
improvements, reducing the soil to a productive 
condition. He has an orchard of 200 trees, con- 
siderable wire fencing, and in 1880 added to his 



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:?^ri--<» 




Residence of Edgar Clayton , Sec. 2A. Otoe Precinct. 




Residence of Geo. Qui ble,5ec.29. South Branch Precinct 



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I 



OTOE COUNTY. 



3G1 



real estate by the purchase of 160 acres. His land 
is well watered, and the soil has yielded generously 
under his wise management. 

Mr. Quible was married, April 22, 1857, in Lock- 
j)ort. Will Co., 111., to Miss P^mma A., daughter 
of John and Marietta (Bassett) Nichols. The par- 
ents of Mrs. Q. were natives of New York State, 
where they spent their entire lives, dying, however, 
when only middle aged. Their daughter Emma 
was then taken into the home of an aunt in Canada. 
She received a common-school education, and of 
her union with our subject there have been born 
seven children, one of whom, Ira, died when two 
years old. The survivors are: Ella M., who was 
born in Illinois; Etta M., Ernest B., Henry G., 
Rhoda and Cora E., the others all natives of Ne- 
braska. Ella is the wife of F. S. Ilazelton, a real- 
estate dealer of Norton County, Kan., and the 
mother of one child, a daughter Edna; Etta mar- 
ried Frank D. Arnot, who has a cattle ranch in 
Cherry County; they have two children, Pearl, 
and an infant son Ralf. The other children make 
their home with their parents. Ella and Etta 
taught school considerably before their marriage, 
the former for a period of seven years and the lat- 
ter five years very successfully. 

For a number of years Mr. Quible was largelj' 
interested in the cattle business, and engaged in 
herding at one time from 1,000 to 1,500 head, and 
had from sixty to 100 of his own. He cast his 
first vote for John C. Fremont, at the organization 
of the Republican party, and has since given his 
earnest support to this part3^ He has always been 
interested in the maintenance of schools and 
churches, and given of his means as he was able 
for their advancement. Mrs. Quible is an active 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at 
Rockford, of which their daughter Rhoda is the 
organist, being a young ladj' possessing more than 
ordinary musical talent. All the children take 
naturally to music, learn readilj' and sing with 
taste. Mrs. Q. has been a teacher in the Sunday- 
school for some time. Our subject, aside from be- 
ing a member of the School Board for a period of 
nine years, has invariably declined official honors, 
and although elected Justice of the Peace and As- 
sessor several times, he would not consent to serve. 



In the view of the Quible homestead which will 
be found in this connection, are illustrated the dili- 
gence and taste which have been exercised in its 
construction, and which reflect credit upon the pro- 
prietor in a most admirable manner. The self-ap- 
pointed surroundings of an individual are usually 
a safe index to his character. 



<j^DGAR CLAYTON, an early settler of Otoe 
|fe] County, is one of the most extensive farmers 
/ijrr^ in Eastern Nebraska, his landed estates com- 
prising more than 1,000 acres of the richest and 
most valuable farming land to be found in all the 
country around; the greater part of it is located in 
Otoe Precinct, where he has his home, and the re- 
mainder is in Nemaha County. It is under high 
cultivation, is amply supplied with substantial, con- 
veniently arranged farm buildings and all the 
necessary machinery for conducting agriculture suc- 
cessfully; is well stocked, and, altogether, is consid- 
ered one of the best managed and most profitable 
farms in the vicinity. 

Mr.' Clayton is of English birth and ancestry, 
Berlvshire, England, being his native place, and Suf- 
folkshire that of his father and grandfather, both 
named Robert. The latter was a farmer, and spent 
his entire life in his native shire. The father of 
our subject was reared in the home of his birth, but 
after marriage removed to Berkshire, and there 
rented land and engaged in agricultural jjursuits 
until 1868. He then came with his family to Amer- 
ica, hoping to better liis financial condition. He 
settled in Otoe Precinct, and in the following year, 
1869, died in his new home. The maiden name of 
his wife, mother of our subject, was Sarah Watts, 
and she was born in Suffolkshire, England, and was 
a daughter of Isaac Watts. . She survived her hus- 
band's death but ^ one month, dying on the home 
farm. To this worthy couple were born six chil- 
dren, namely: Betsy, Robert, Emma, Edgar, Belle 
and Ephraim. Bets^' and Robert never came to 
America; Betsy is still living in England, and Rob- 
ert was in Australia the last time he was heard from. 
The rest came to America and are all living. 

pjdgar Clayton was reared until sixteen years of 



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i i 362 



OTOE COUNTY. 




age in his native county, and was carefully trained 
by wise parents to a practical, useful life. But lie 
was a lad of more than ordinary energy and am- 
bition, and at that youthful age determined to go 
forth from his old home to see the world and to 
seek the fortune that often rewards the venturous 
and the daring. The limited space of this biogra- 
phy forbids our following him in the long voyages 
that he made to many strange lands in the ensuing 
years, or to relate the sights and exciting incidents 
of his travels; we can but give a brief resume of 
the countries that he visited. He first set sail from 
London for Australia, where he engaged in mining 
in the interior for seventeen months. He then spent 
a month in 83'dney, and from there went to the isl- 
and of New Zealand. After a few months' stay 
there he returned to Australia, and spent a while in 
the cities of Sydney and ISIel bourne, whence he 
went to Hadley. We next hear of him in Van Die- 
men's Land, and then in King George's Sound. He 
subsequently visited different parts of the Mauri- 
tius Islands, the Cape of Good Hope, St. Vincent, 
the Madeira Islands, and from thence returned to 
his old home and friends in England. Four months 
later he again started on his travels, this time visit- 
ing scenes nearer home, going first to Ireland, then 
to Scotland, from there to France, and then back to 
England, making the trip in two months. In all 
his travels he had not visited America, so in 1855 
he set out for this country, and after landing in 
New York City made his wa}' to the western part 
of the State, and spent the ensuing winter in Ilone- 
oye Falls. Genesee County. In the spring he started 
for the Great West, coming by rail to Iowa City, 
then the western terminus of the railway, and from 
there he crossed the State of Iowa, going all that 
long distance almost wholly on foot to the city of 
Council Bluffs, then but a small hamlet. He staid 
there but a short time, and then continued his 
journey to Sidney, Neb., where he stopped one 
week before proceeding to Nebraska City, perform- 
ing the journey between the two places on the back 
of a pony that he had purchased in the former city. 
There he found onlj^ a small collection of houses, 
there being, perhaps, less than 100 people living 
there at that early date. The country round about 
was in a wild state, being sparsely settled, and In- 



dians still lingered about their old haimts. He 
staid here but a few days, and then began his wan- 
derings again, starting for Kansas, and riding on his 
pony over the plains of that State about a month. 
He, however, found no location that pleased him 
better than Otoe County, and following an Indian 
trail he returned to this vicinity-, and being pleased 
with the advantageous situation of the site of Otoe 
Precinct, he decided to settle here, and secured a 
claim on section 24, the southeast quarter, now in- 
cluded in Otoe Precinct, and when the land came 
into the market he entered it from the Government 
at the land-office in Nebraska City. When he first 
located on it he kept bachelor's establishment in 
the rude log cabin that he. found on the place. 
Later Tie erected a frame house, which, in its turn, 
has given way to the present commodious brick 
residence in which he and his family make their 
home. He has also erected a fine frame barn and 
other necessary buildings. By superior manage- 
ment and untiring industry Mr. Clayton has accu- 
mulated a large and valuable property, and he has 
added to his landed estates until he owns more than 
1,000 acres of as good land as the sun ever shone 
upon. 

Mr. Clayton was married, in 1870, to Miss Elea- 
nor Horn, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of 
James and Ellen Horn. Mrs. Clayton died in 1881, 
and her family was bereaved of a devoted wife and 
a loving mother, her neighbors of a kind friend. 
Two children were born of that marriage, Eleanor 
and Nettie; they are both students at the State 
Normal School at Peru, Neb. To his present wife, 
who so pleasantly dispenses the hospitalities of their 
charming home, Mr. Clayton was married in 1882. 
Mrs. Clayton's maiden nam(! was Sarah Church. 
She is a native of Iowa, and a daughter of Reu^ 
ben and Lydia (Little) Church. For sketch of her 
parents see history of Reuben Church. 

As will be seen by perusing this sketch, Mr. Clay- 
ton possesses a full amount of the ability, enter- 
prise and decision of character that mark the men 
who have been leaders in the work of developing 
the marvelous agricultural resources of Nebraska, 
building up lier towns and extending her commer- 
cial interests. He is public spirited and takes pride 
in contributing to tlie various schemes for the iin- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



363 



provement of Otoe Preeinct and Otoe County. He 
is open hearted and gives generously of his abun- 
dance to the needy. He is a man of wide experi- 
ence and varied information, sturdy and independ- 
ent in his views of men and things, and is in his 
political affiliations a strong Republican. A view 
of Mr. Clayton's homestead is given on an aucom- 
pauying page. 



<fp»)DWIN MOORE, a well-to-do English farmer 
fe) of Russell Preeinct, crossed the Atlantic 
D ' — -< ? when a young man twenty-one years of age. 
with no capital save his strong hands and resolute 
nill, determined to carve out for himself a good 
name among his feilowmen, and a position worthy 
of tlie efforts of any honest man. He had been 
thrown upon his own resources early in life, his 
mother having died when he was a little lad five 
years of age, and when a lad of twelve j'ears he 
commenced the struggle of life on his own account. 
His career has been one so far of which he need not 
be ashamed. 

Our subject was born in Lincolnshire, England, 
Jan. 19, 1848, and is the son of William Moore, a 
native of the same county. The latter married a 
Miss Gibbons, who was also born in that locality, 
and they became the parents of five children, 
namely: Mary A., jGeorge, Joseph, Edwin and 
William, all of whom are in America. Mary, Joseph 
and William are residents of Lee County, 111., and 
George lives in LaSalle County, that State. After 
the death of the mother, which occurred in 18,53, 
the father of our subject emigrated to the United 
States, and for four years thereafter resided in 
New York State, where he was occupied at farming. 
Thence he changed his residence to LaSalle County, 
111., where he purchased eighty acres of land and car- 
ried on farming until his death, which occurred in 
January, 1886, wben he was seventy years of age. 

After the death of bis mother our subject was 
taken into the home of his maternal grandfather, 
and received a limited education in the common 
school. He remained in England until reaching 
bis majority, and in 1869 set sail from Liverpool, 
and tA'elve days later landed in the city of Quebec, 



Canada. Thence soon afterward he came into the 
States, and joining bis father in LaSalle County, III., 
emplo3'ed himself at farm work until the fall of 
1877. He had in the meantime saved what he 
could from bis earnings, and purchased a tract of 
land near his father, upon which he farmed two 
years. The result of his labors not being entirely 
satisfactory, be resolved to cross the Mississippi, and 
coming to this county purchased eighty acres in 
Russell Precinct, the ownership of which be still 
retains. He has set out groves and an orc^bard of 
100 apple trees, besides trees of the smaller fruits. 
Much of his land is enclosed by neat wire fencing, 
and it is all well watered by running streams. He 
has been prospered in his labors as a tiller of the 
soil, and added 160 acres to his first purchase, hav- 
ing now a fine farm of 240 acres, all under a good 
state of cultivation. Tlie residence is a neat and 
substantial structure, while the barn and other out- 
buildings reflect credit upon the proprietor. 

Our subject, while a resident of LaSalle County, 
III., wns married, Dec. 4, 1872, to Miss Sarah A.. 
daughter of John and Sarah (Young) Cottew, who 
was born in that county, Oct. lH, 1853. The par- 
ents of Mrs. Moore were natives of County Kent, 
England, whence tbey emigrated to America about 
1845, and settled in LaSalle County, 111. Tbe3' 
were among the earliest pioneers of that region, 
and the father, securing a tract of land, carried on 
farming successfully for a number of years. He 
became the owner of 240 acres, upon which he 
erected good buildings, and gathered about him 
the comforts and conveniences of the modern 
farmer. He has now retired from active labor, 
and at the age of seventy years is still living upon 
the old homestead. The mother died in 1887, aged 
seventy-three years. Their five children were named 
respectively: Abram, William, Harriet, Mary A. 
and Sarah A. William during the late war enlisted 
in an Illinois regiment, and yielded up his life in 
the Union cause. The surviving children are resi- 
dents of the United States. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Moore have been born seven 
children, namely: John W., James M., Flora M., 
Charles H., Nettie, Joseph and Harrison. The 
eldest of these is thirteen years of age and the 
youngest is a babe. Mrs. Moore is a ver^' well- 



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erliicated and Intelligent lad^', a first-class Iiouse- 
keeper. and well versed in those little arts which 
have so much bearing upon the comfort and happi- 
ness, of a household. The dwelling both within 
and without is remarkably neat and tidy, and it 
would seem as if Mr. Moore and his wife were in 
liarmony upon the question of cleanliness and good 
order. 

Mr. Moore east his first Presidential vote for 
Grant, and since becoming a naturalized citizen 
has uniformly supported Republican principles. 
He has been a member of tiie School Board in his 
district for the last five years, and in religious mat- 
ters belongs to the Episcopal Church. Mrs. Moore 
is a memljer of the United Brethren Church. 



^^EORGE W. BOYER, an honored resident of 
[|[ gj— , Nebraska City, with a pleasant home beauti- 
^^^l fullj' located on Kearney Heights, is a suc- 
cessful and well-to-do farmer, whose farm, lying in 
Four Mile Precinct, is one of the most valuable in 
the county. Mr. Boyer was born in Stark County, 
Ohio, Sept. 9, 1825. His father, Peter Boj'er, was 
born in Pennsylvania, and was there reared and 
married, Elizabeth Binkley l)ecoming his devoted 
companion and helpmate. She was likewise a Penn- 
sylvanian bj' birth and breeding. Yov some time 
Mr. Boj-er kept a tavern at Sinking Springs, Berks 
County', and it being before the era of railroads, all 
transportation was done with teams, and he used to 
furnish entertainment for the teamsters and their 
horses. 

In 1818, accompanied by his family, Mr. Boj'cr 
went down the Oliio River to Ohio, and settled in 
Stark County, buying there a tract of land. After 
a residence there of four years he moved to Knox 
County', and vi^ent into the nulling business, hav- 
ing purchased a mill for $1,700, and he operated it 
to its fullest capacity, night and day, for four 
years. He found a ready market for the flour that 
he manufactured near Lake Michigan, shipping it 
to that point by team. He also established himself 
in the mercantile business, carrying it on in con- 
nection vvitli tiie mill until 1837, then, selling the 



latter for 3i4,.500, disposed of his other property^ 
and again took up his march for the West. 

Mr. Bo3'er next went by way of the Ohio and 
Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis, his family accom- 
panying him; thence up the Missouri River to 
Lidependence, then a small place of about 400 in- 
habitants. He then proceeded with a team to Platte 
Purchase, and located in that part now included in 
Buchanan County. The city of St. Joseph had 
then no existence, there being simply a trading- 
post on its present site, kept by a French-Canadian 
named Rubedeux, who had a family in St. Louis, 
and a large family of Indians at the trading-post. 
Mr. Boyer and two partners who were employed in 
the United States land-office tried to buy Rube- 
deux's claim, and he at last consented to sell, but 
backed out and laid out the city himself about 
1844. 

The father of our subject was one of the first to 
buy a lot, for which he paid $100, paying for it in 
wheat at twent^'-flve cents a bushel. After the city 
was laid out its growth was quite rapid for those 
daj'S, and it fiuallj' became important as an outfit- 
ting post for freighters, who were engaged in draw- 
ing freight to the various military posts and settle- 
ments in the West. The country was then in a 
wild state, sparsely settled, and with plenty of wild 
game, such as deer, turkejs, antelopes, etc. Mr. 
Boyer made a claim, and soon made arrangements 
to purchase of the Government 1,600 acres of land, 
but before he had paid for it he was robbed of his 
monej'. In the face of this discouraging fact he 
did not give way to despair, but with characteristic 
energy he immediate!}' set about making up the 
deficit by collecting the money owing him in the 
county. He took cattle in i^ayment, which he drove 
all the way to Philadelphia, Pa., and there sold 
them at a good price. His trip occupied six months, 
and after his return he entered his land, and built a 
hewed log house on the place, and at once com- 
menced making improvements. He was extensively 
engaged in farming there until his death in 1856, 
at which time Buchanan County, Mo., lost one of 
its most useful and wide-awake citizens. 

Mr. Boyer was a straightforward man, keen and 
sharp in his dealings, but always to be found on 
the side of honesty and right. When he first set- 

4^ 



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365 



tied in Buchanan Coiintj', Weston, thirty-five miles 
from St. Joseph, was llie nearest market, and there 
he sold bacon from one to one and one-half cents 
a pound, oats at seven cents a bushel, wheat at 
twenty- five cents a bushel, and good three-year-old 
steers were sold for i!.3 or $4 apiece, the hide being 
worth more than the live steer. The mother of our 
subject died on the old homestead in INIissouri tlirce 
years after the death of her husband. They were 
the parents of twelve children, nine of whom grew 
to maturitj'. 

George Boj'er was a lad of twelve years when he 
accompanied his parents in their removal to Mis- 
souri, and he remembers well the incidents of the 
pioneer life in that State where he grew to man- 
hood. He attended the schools there, which were 
conducted on the subscription plan, and in the in- 
tervals assisted his father on the farm. At the age 
of twenty-two our subject left the parental roof to 
establish a home of his own, his father having 
given him a tract of unimjn-oved land, part timber 
and part prairie. His first work was to build a 
double log house, and to this he brought his bride, 
formerly Miss Sabina Bowcn, a native of Berks 
County, Pa., and a daughter of Ephraim and Cath- 
erine (Coucher) Bowen, to whom he had been 
united in marriage in August, 1847. Our subject 
improved the greater part of 315 acres of his land, 
and continued to reside in Missouri until 1866. But 
the same pioneer spirit that h.ad moved the father was 
strong in the son, and in that year he sold all of his 
propert3', and sought under the sunny skies and 
in the genial climate of Nebraska a new home. He 
came to Nebraska City and bought his present resi- 
dence on Kearney Heights, and also purchased a 
farm of 160 acies in Otoe Precinct, residing in his 
citj' home, and managing his farm with good re- 
sults until in 1876, when he sold it, and bought the 
farm in Four Mile Precinct that he now owns. 
Since coming to this State he has been very success- 
ful in his agricultural ventures, and has a well- 
managed, well-cultivated and well-stocked farm, 
from which he obtains a good annual income. 

To our subject and his amiable wife have been 
born six children, all of whom are living, namel}': 
Catherine Ellen, the wife of Hugh L. Ha|ikins; Ed- 
winna, who married Stephen Lyon ; Isabella, the 



wife of 0. H. Shaw; James I. married Miss Florence 
Carrj', and resides in Denver. Col.; Matilda, the 
wife of Charles Davidson, and Alice. All, with the 
exception of Alice, who is a teacher in the public 
schools of Otoe Count}', are residents of Denver, 
Col. The Boj'ers are gifted with fine physiques, 
coming of a strong, vigorous and long-lived race, 
and fourteen grandchildren had been born to our 
subject and his wife before there was a death in the 
family. They are all members of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, and are in high standing in 
religious and social circles. Mr. Boyer's life record 
is that of a conscientious, upright Christian, and he 
is deeply respected by all in the community. He is 
greatly interested in the political questions of the 
day, and is, and alwajs has been, a firm Democrat. 

—5 #3- 



<^r- 



^OBERTC.ELVIN. M. D., a pr.ncticing phy- 
sician of Nebraska City, was one of the 
first settlers of Nebraska, having crossed 
'^j the Missouri River as soon as the Territory 
was open to settlement. He is one of the leaders 
in the re-organized Church of Latter-D.ay Saints, 
which differs radically in its doctrines from the 
Mormons of Utah, and he w.asatone time President 
of the Southern Nebraska District, and has been 
one of the most powerful and popular preachers of 
the sect. 

Dr. Elvin is a native of Scotland, Renfrew Parish, 
in the town of Paisley, being his birthplace, and May 
11, 1823, the date of his birth. His father, John 
Elvin, and his grandfather, Charles Elvin, were also 
natives of Scotland. The latter was for many years 
a soldier in the Brrtish army, and died in the East 
Indies while in the service. The father of our sub- 
ject was born while his parents were vvith the army, 
and he was reared amid military scenes until he was 
quite a boy, when he was sent to Dublin to be 
educated. From there he went to Glasgow, Scot- 
land, to attend school for a time, and he there de- 
voted his attention to the stud}' of medicine, and 
after graduation was appointed surgeon in the 
army. He accompanied his regiment to Spain, and 
was present at the siege of Cadiz, and also at the 
battle of Waterloo. Soon after the latter event he 



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resigned on account of impaired health, and re- 
turned to his native Scotland, where he settled in 
Paisley, and spent his last years. Our subject's 
father spent his last years in the northern part of 
Scotland, his death occurring in 1849. The maiden 
name of his wife was Mary A. Barnett, and she was 
a. native of England and a daughter of John Bar- 
nett. She died in Paisley in .June, 1823. There 
were seven children born to her and her husband, 
three of whom grew to maturity, Robert C. being 
the only one who ever came to America. 

Our subject was but an infant when his mother 
died, and at the extremely youthful age of seven 
3'ears he was thrown on his own resources and be- 
came self-supporting. At the age of ten he com- 
menced working in a drug-store, and even at that 
early age he commenced to' read medicine with a 
view of preparing himself for the medical profes- 
sion, for which even then he displayed a decided 
talent, having inherited in part his father's genius 
and temperament. He remained in a drug-store 
until he was twelve 3'ears old, and then, with re- 
markable enterprise, established himself in the mer- 
cantile business, keeping a store with a small stock 
of goods in Glasgow. 

When he was fifteen our subject concluded to try 
his luck in America, and set sail from Liverpool in 
January, 1837, and landed in New York after a 
voyage of seven or eight weeks. There our era- 
brj'O physician and merchant sought employment in 
a drug-store, where he was engaged as clerk for 
eighteen months. He then entered a dry-goods 
store in the same capacity, and worked there until 
1840, when he went back to Scotland, and, in part- 
nership with his brother, carried on the shoe busi- 
ness in the town of Beath, and later went to Irvine 
and manufactured shoes there. He continued in 
that business a year and a half. He then joined 
the Church of Latter-Day Saints, and was soon 
called to the priesthood, and preached for that so- 
cietj- until 1849. In that 3'ear he returned to 
America and located in St. Louis, where he engaged 
in the upholsteri' business until the fall of 1851. He 
then bought land in Council Bluffs, near the city, and 
engaged in farming, and at the same time practiced 
medicine. That was in the very earlj' settlement 
of that section of the country, and there were no 



railwa3-s west of the Mississippi, all travel being b3- 
boats on the river or overland in teams. 

The Doctor resided in Iowa until 1854, the 3'ear 
in which the Government made the treaty with the 
Indians that was signed on the 16th of March, by 
which the3' agreed to vacate Eastern Nebraska. 
Then our subject, with others, crossed the Missouri 
to look at the countr3'. They staid a short time, 
and then went back to Iowa, and in Ma3' he re- 
turned to make a claim in Douglas County, Neb. 
Our subject cut logs to build a cabin, but was soon 
obliged to return home on account of sickness in 
his family, and while he was gone his claim was 
jumped. The Doctor then went to Cass Count3' 
and made a claim on the bank of the Weeping 
Water, the land still belonging to the Government, 
and not an acre of it survej'ed. He built a log 
house on his land, and in the spring of 1 855 moved 
his family there. He entered the land from the 
Government as soon as it came into the market, and 
lived on it until 1859, when he sold it, and in No- 
vember of that 3'ear came to Nebraska Cit3'. He 
immediately established himself in the gener.1l mer- 
chandising business, which he continued with good 
success for eighteen 3'ears. In 1869 he was burned 
out at a loss of about 112,000 above the insurance. 
But, with his usual energy and courage, he at once 
re-established himself, and carried on his business 
until 1874, when he disposed of it ver3' advan- 
tageously. 

Our subject had severed his relations with the 
Church of Latter-Day Saints in 1852, because he did 
not believe in the doctrine as preached and practiced 
at Salt Lake City, but in 1866 he joined the Reor- 
ganized Church of Latter-Day Saints, and has been 
prominentl3' identified with it since. He was made 
President of the Southern Nebraska District, and 
after settling up his business affairs he traveled ex- 
tensively and established churches in different 
places, and also practiced as a physician. In 1880, 
desiring to perfect his knowledge of medicine, 
already considerable, he became a student at the 
School of Medicine at Omaha, and threw himself 
into his studies with all the ardor and interest of 
youth. He attended there one 3'ear, and then, on 
the organization of the Omaha Medical College, 
enrolled himself as a pupil in that institution, and 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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studied there two terrrs. He tluis became thor- 
ouglily conversant with the most ailvancosl methods 
of practicing medicine, and to-day ranks high among 
his professional breliiren. When we consider that 
this was the step of a man alread3' [last tlie me- 
ridian of life, for he was flfty-seven years old when 
he became a student, an age when many men who 
have been successful in business are thinking of 
retiring to a life of ease, we liave no words in which 
to express our admiration of such force of charac- 
ter and indomitable will. After leaving college our 
subject opened an office in Omaha, and was busily 
engaged in practicing his profession there for three 
years. At the end of that time he returned to 
Nebraska City, and then for a time with iiis wife 
he traveled East and West, and saw much of his 
adopted country. In 1887 he re-opened his office 
here, and has been in active practice since. 

Dr. Elvin was married, March 16, 1845, to 
Martha Baird, a native of County Monaghan, Ire- 
land, and of Scotch and English parentage. Of 
their marriage eight ciiildren have been born, five 
of whom are now living, as follows: Robert resides 
in Lamoni, Iowa, and is a preacher in the Latter- 
Daj' Saints' Church; Elizabeth is at home with her 
parents; Jolin lives in St. Paul, Minn. ; Martha is 
the wife of Fred Borstrara, and lives in Nebraska 
City ; Walter A. also lives in this city. 

Our subject, in his double capacity of physician 
and preacher, does all that lies in his power to allay 
the suffering and sin in this world. In iiim the 
weak, the unfortunate and the down-trodden find a 
steadfast friend, and he has done much to elevate 
such and bring them to a higiier life. The Doctor 
is identified with the A. F. & A. M., and is a mem- 
ber of the Western Star Lodge No. 2. 

jENJAMlN F. HAYWARD, who for many 
years has been identified with the business 
interests of Nebraska City as a contractor 
and builder, is the son of David and Lu- 
cretia (Chapman) Hayward, both of whom were 
born in the State of New York. Upon their mar- 
riage his parents settled in Essex County in that 
State, and there our subject was born Feb. 5, 1819. 



«► II M* 



His father died in the year r834, when forty-five 
j'ears of age, and his mother in the same year, at 
the age of thirty-five years. Tlieir family included 
seven children, four of whom were boys. 

Tiie grandfather of our subject, Ephraim Hay- 
ward, was born in England. He came to this 
country and 'served in the Revolutionary Army 
when about sixteen years of age, and was a drum 
major in Washington's first regiment, continuing in 
the service throughout the war. His son David, 
the father of our subject, took an honorable part in 
the War of 1812, and afterward enjoyed no lit- 
tle prosperity in the business which he made liis 
chosen occupation, viz, that of carpenter and lum- 
berman. He went to Essex Countj', N. Y., witli 
his parents at the time they established the pioneer 
colon3' of the county; 

The subject of our skelcli was .about fifteen years 
of age when his parents died, leaving him almost en- 
tirelj- alone to struggle in a world that affords little 
help to tlie oppressed and helpless, even under the 
most favorable circumstances. He immediately 
looked around in a hopeful and self-reliant spirit 
for some employment, and was engaged to work by 
the month at farming, at the rate of §6 per month. 
Up to that time our subject had been attending 
school, but until he was eighteen he found no 
opportunity for continuing his education, but at 
that time he spent eight months in a priv.ite school, 
and crowded into tliat period all the hard study and 
faithful work possible. 

The marriage of our subject was celebrated in 
1842, tlie lady of his choice being Vienna Re^'nolds, 
of New York State. It was their happiness to en- 
joy this companionship for but the short period of 
eighteen months, when the bonds were severed by 
her death. After this bereavement he determined 
to go West, and accordingly found his way to John- 
son County, III., and there followed his business as 
a carpenter, and also dealing in real estate. 

In the siiring of 1846 Mr. Haj'ward enlisted in the 
United States Army for the Mexican War, and be- 
came a member of Companj' F, 2d Illinois Infantry. 
The enlistment was followed by the necessary prep- 
aration of drilling at Alton, when they were sent 
to the front, and went to San Antonio, Tex. The 
Mexicans were met at Buena Vista in a terrible con- 



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368 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Ah^ 



ttict, and there, as on other fiekls, he earned for him- 
self a name that lias not yet been forgotten, as a 
true soldier, gallant, intrepid and fearless. 

Receiving an honorable discharge in 1847, our 
subject returned to Illinois. The following year 
he entered married life a second time, being united 
with Miss Elizabeth Chapman, a native of New 
York State. They made their home in Illinois for 
about nine years, until 1857. Then with his wife 
and children he came West, making the entire jour- 
ney by means of w.igons and teams. The following 
children have been born to our subject, viz: Will- 
iam J., who died in infancy; Benjamin F., Jr., 
George, Sarah L., Samuel J. and Elizabeth. The 
two latter are now deceased. Benjamin F. is a car- 
penter and builder, of Nebraska City; George is 
engaged in business in San Francisco; Sarah L. is 
at home. In 1S62 the wife and mother departed 
this life, thus leaving him a second time bereaved. 

Among the first work done by Mr. Hayward in 
Nebraska City was the erection of the Morton 
House, and also the residence of Gen. Coe. These 
were but the beginning of a business success that 
reflects the greatest possible credit ui)on our sub- 
ject. In politics he has ever been stanch and true 
as a Democrat. He has watched the course of thir- 
teen Presidential campaigns, including two cam- 
paigns during the time that Nebraska was yet a 
Territory. It is doubtful if in the county there is 
any citizen more truly esteemed and respected than 
the subject of this sketch. His life and character 
are such as to command such sentiments, and he is 
generally admired as one whose long life, which has 
been uniformly honorable and upright, deserves 
the entire confidence aud regard of the community. 

^^ HARLES WEATHERHOGG, a man stand- 
|l( _ ing high in his community, and the subject of 
■^^z a very interesting history, owns and occupies 
one ot the most valuable homesteads in Palmyra 
Precinct, comprising IGO acres of land on section 
17. Conspicuous among its improvements is the 
large and valuable orchard which he set out in the 
spring of 1873, and which now yields annually hun- 
dreds of bushels of most luscious fruit. He also 



has the smaller fruits in abundance, and the groves 
of Cottonwood, maple and other forest trees, planted 
by the hand of thrift and industry, serve as a shel- 
ter to man and beast from the heat of summer aud 
the blasts of winter. The farin of late years has 
been devoted largely to stock-raising. Mr. W. 
makes a specialty of Poland-China swine, and in 
this line exhibits some of the finest animals in the 
county. All his agricultural operations are car- 
ried on in that methodical manner which has been 
the secret of his success and laid the foundations of 
a competence. 

The eldest child of John and Ann (Coates) 
We.Ttherhogg, our subject was born in Lincolnshire, 
England, Nov. 21, 1823. His parents were natives 
of the same county, and the father, a farmer by oc- 
cupation, died in 1843, at the age of forty-eight 
years. The mother survived her husband a period 
of forty -three years, and died in 1886, aged eighty- 
five. She was married a second time, to Joshua 
Gresham. By the first marriage she became the 
mother of six children, five sons and one daughter. 

Our subject received but a limited education, and 
remained a resident of his native shire until a man 
of twenty-seven years. In the spring of 1850 he 
resolved upon a change of location, and accordingly, 
accompanied by friends, set sail from Liverpool 
al)oul the 20th of May. The 4th of July following 
found him in the city of Albany, N. Y., whence he 
repaired to Dausville, expecting there to meet rela- 
tives and remain for a time. The relatives, how- 
ever, had embraced the Mormon faith, and this not 
being agreeable to Mr. Weatherhogg, he quickly 
parted company with them and hastened back to 
Rochester, in the vicinity of which he was engaged 
in farming and butchering for two or three years. 

Our subject in the meantime had made the ac- 
quaintance of Miss Rose Stinson, to whom he was 
married in October, 1852. This lady was born in 
Canada, and departed this life at her home in Pal- 
myra Precinct, May 15, 1881. They had in the 
meantime removed from the Empire State to Illi- 
nois, settling near the embryo town of Mendota, 
where Mr. W. engaged in farming on rented land 
for a period of ten years. 

In the spring of 1 863 our subject started with 
his family for Pike's Peak, accompanied by his broth- 





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OTOE COUNTY. 



371 



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ers William and Thomas. From Mendota they 
made their waj' b^' wagons to the mountains, and 
arrived in Gilpin County, Col., seven weeks later, 
where our subject engaged in mining and prospect- 
ing. From the first he realized very good results, 
but the latter incurring heavy expenditures rather 
oflfset his profits. He, however, saved some money, 
and in 1870, seeking once more the bounds of civil- 
ization came to this county, and located upon the 
land which he now occupies. It was then in an un- 
cultivated state, and two years passed away before 
he succeeded in raising any crops. In 1874-75 he 
suffered like his neighbors from grasshoppers, chink 
bugs and drouth, but the men of those days seemed 
to possess more than ordinary courage and perseve- 
rance, and Mr. Weatherhogg was not lacking in any 
of these qualities. 

Mr. Weatherhogg contracted a second marriage, 
with Miss Nina Conger, in Bureau County, 111. Her 
parents, Calvin and Aranda (Horton) Conger, 
were natives of Syracuse, N. Y., and are now resid- 
injj in Illinois. 



ON. JAMES HARRIS MASTERS, the pio- 
neer nurseryman of Nebraska, occupies an 
honorable place among the able, energetic 
and enterprising men who reclaimed this 
jiart of the country from the "Great American 
Desert," and helped to give it its present proud 
position among its sister States as a great and pros- 
perous commonwealth, whose wonderful growth 
and development have excited the marvel and 
admiration of the world. Mr. Masters came here 
in December, 1854, shortly after Nebraska had 
been organized as a Territory, and since that time 
he has been closel}- identified with its best interests. 
He engaged first at his trade as carpenter, and 
worked on the second brick building ever erected 
in Nebraska City. The Territory was at that time 
a reservation of the Indians, and there were but very 
few white inhabitants in any part of it, it being a 
wild, unsettled country, the hunting-ground of the 
red men, where they chased the buffaloes, the deer, 
antelopes and other wild game. In 1854 he bought a 
claim which is included in his present farm, the 



northeast quarter of section 21, Four Mile Precinct, 
three, miles from the court-house in Nebraska City, 
and as soon as the land came into the market in 
1857 he entered it at the land-office in Nebraska 
City. In March, 1855, he commenced to remove 
his fruit trees from his nursery in Atchison County, 
Mo., and on the 16th of the month set out the first 
apple trees ever planted in the South Platte coun- 
try, and, doubtless, the first in Nebraska. At that 
time his sales were few and slow, as the settlers 
were not many in numbers and were scattering, and 
their financial condition was such that thej' were 
unable to buy trees; but he gradually established 
his business on a sure foundation, his trade in- 
creased and extended further West, and in after 
years became very profitable, so that he became one 
of tlie leading nurserymen of the Slate. He is now 
closing out his nursery' business. He is a prominent 
member of the State Horticultural Society, which 
was organized at the first Territorial Fair which 
was held in Otoe County in 1864. He holds a 
life membership in the society, and was its first 
President, serving in that capacity for eight years, 
and it is largely due to liis zeal, influence and rare 
judgment that it has proved such a valuable auxil- 
iarj' to the agricultural interests of Nebraska. His 
aid and counsel have been sought in the adminis- 
tration of public affairs, and as a member of the 
State Legislature in 1872, when he served as a 
member of the Ways and Means Committee, and of 
the committee that had charge of the railway and 
public land interests of the State, the ripe wisdom 
and sound common sense that characterized his 
views on important questions favorably impressed 
his fellow legislators, and bore much weight in their 
decisions. 

Mr. Masters was born Aug. 15, 1819, in Warren 
County, K3^, ten miles from Bowling Green, and 
four miles south of Shakertown. His father, Rich- 
ard C. Masters, was born in Orange County, N. Y., 
and his grandfather, Richard Masters, was a native 
of England, and was there reared and married to a 
Miss Campbell, a native of Scotland. They came 
to America in Colonial times, and with them a 
brother, and settled in New Jersey. The grand- 
father of our subject lived in that State for a time, 
and then moved to Orange County, N. Y., and was 



^^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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a pioneer there. At the breaking out of the Eevo- 
lution he immediately entered into the service of 
the Colonists, and throughout the entire conflict 
was an active and efficient soldier. He was a bearer 
of dispatches, and received for his pay continental 
script, which depreciated until it was of no value. 
He was a wagon-maker, and had a shop on his farm 
in which he did repairs when not engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits. Directly after the war he re- 
moved to Virginia, but it is not known where he 
first located in that Slate. He subsequently settled 
in Greenbrier County, where he had bought a tract 
of land. In 1808 he left Virginia for Kentucky, 
the removal being made with teams, and he became 
a pioneer of Warren County. He was quite well 
along in j'ears, and made his home in that State 
with his son Charles until his deatii. 

The father of our subject was aj'oungrnan when 
his parents went to Virginia, and he accompanied 
them, and there met and married Agnes Cochran, a 
native of the State. He learned the trade of 
wagon-maker from his father, and removed with 
him to Kentucky in 1 808. He bought a tract of 
land in Warren County on which was a log cabin, 
and in that humble dwelling the subject of this 
sketch was born. There were a few acres of the 
land broken, and Mr. Masters erected a log build- 
ing for a shop, and worked at his trade in connection 
with farming. The life that he and his family led 
there was the most primitive imaginable, as they 
were pioneers in a pioneer country. The mother 
had to do her cooking bj' the fireplace as she had no 
stove, and she used to spin and weave wool, cotton 
and flax, carding all the wool and cotton by hand, 
and for 3'ears she made all the cloth used in the 
family, to say nothing of making it up into clothes. 
In 1828 the father of our subject rented his place, 
and removed to Illinois, his family and liousehold 
goods being conveyed in two wagons drawn b3' two 
yokes of oxen and one pair of horses. He settled 
at Springfield, Sangamon County, which was then 
only a small village, before the location of the 
capital there. He entered eighty acres of Govern- 
ment land, which is now included within the city 
limits. He built a log bouse, and resided there 
until 1835, when he sold and moved to Bureau 
County, 111., and was a pioneer there, settling nine 



miles northeast of Princeton, where he made a claim, 
and as soon as the Government threw the land on 
the market, entered it at the land-office in Galena. 
There were then no railways in the State, and 
Chicago, 110 miles distant, was the nearest market. 
Mr. Masters improved a farm, and resided on it 
until 1853, and then made his home with his son, a 
few miles distant, until 18G0, when he removed to 
Minnesota, and died at Waterford in that State, in 
the fall of 1861, at the home of his son Robert. 
Thus, at a ripe old age, after an honorable and 
useful life, he was gathered to his fathers. His 
amiable and devoted wife had preceded him in 
death, in 1856, at their home in Princeton, III. 
There were nine children born of their marriage, 
of whom the following sis grew to maturity : Rob- 
ert, John; Elvina, wife of T. J. Cole; our subject; 
Archer C. and William H. 

James ISIasters, of whom we write, wasnineyears 
old when his parents moved to Illinois, and remem- 
bers well the incidents of the journey, and of the 
pioneer life there. He worked in the shop with 
his father, and having a natural aptitude for me- 
chanics became very handy with tools, and at the 
age of eighteen commenced to learn the carpenter's 
trade, which he followed in Illinois until 1853. In 
that j'ear he moved to Atchison County, Mo., his 
intention being to cross the river to Nebraska 
(which at that time was an unorganized Territory 
and an Indian reservation) as soon as the Indian 
titles to the land should be abrogated by the Gov- 
ernment, and start a nursery. So during his resi- 
dence in Atchison County, Mo., he grew seedlings 
and root grafts for that purpose, and in December, 
1854, as before stated, came to Nebraska City to 
make his future home in Otoe County, and we have 
already noted how he has prospered in his under- 
takings. 

Mr. Masters has been three times married. First 
in 1844, April 10, to Miss Ann E. Pierce, who was 
born in New Hampshire, Sept. 27, 1826, and died 
Oct. 19, 1846, leaving one child, Abbie E., now the 
wife of William Harrison Wilson, of Lincoln. The 
second marriage of our subject was to Elizabeth 
Keiser, July 4, 1847. She was born May 28, 1825, 
and died June 9, 1861. Four children were born 
of that union, three of whom are now living, namely : 

•► 



,t-- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



373 



«A» 



Josephine E., wife of Albert Sarnes, of Jefferson 
County, Neb. ; James William, who lives in Lin- 
coln; and Alice I., wife of David O. Tait, of Otoe 
County. Mr. Masters was married to iiis present 
wife June 3, 1863. Her maiden name was Susan 
M. Cramer, and she was born in Brown County, 
Ohio, June 24, 1831. For the historj- of her par- 
ents, B. D. and Calista (Granger) Cramer, see 
sketch of B. D. Tait. Mrs. Masters had been pre- 
viously married before her union with our subject. 
Her first marriage, which took place Feb. 26, 1852, 
was to Edward Beyette, a native of Montreal, 
Canada. He came to the "States" at nineteen years 
of age, and settled in Ohio in the village of Boston, 
wliere he was engaged as a painter until his death, 
May 31. 1860. Mrs. Masters had three cliildren by 
that marriage, only one of whom is now living, 
Douglity Cramer, a farmer, who resides near S3'ra- 
cuse. Neb. After her husband's death Mrs. Masters 
sold her home in the village of Boston, and in the 
spring of 1862 came to Nebraska City and located. 
One child has been born to our subject and his wife, 
Charles L., who was born April 4. 1864, and died 
May 3, 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Masters are influential 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of 
which he has been Trustee and Steward for many 
years. 

Mr. Masters is a man of great intelligence, is well 
read, and is considered an authority on horticulture, 
to which he has devoted j'earsof study. This brief 
record will show that he is a good citizen, and he 
is, moreover, thoroughly respected for his high 
character, and we take pleasure in presenting his 
portrait in the galaxy of portraits of leading citi- 
zens of Otoe County given in this Album. 



ERNEST D. GARROW is widely and favor- 
ably known throughout the eastern part of 
' the county for his energ}- and fine business 
capacities. He has seen much of life on the fron- 
tier, having come to the West during the early set- 
tlement of this county, landing in Nebraska Territory 
on the 3d of April, 1859, when a boy eight years 
of age. During his youth and earl3' manhood he 
attained a close acquaintance with farming pursuits, 



-••- 



and entered upon a successful career, which has 
wound up with a good business as a live-stock com- 
mission merchant, being connected with the firm of 
Savage & Green, commission merchants of South 
Omaha. 

Our subject comes of one of the best nationalities 
on the face of the earth, his parents, David and 
Margaret (McDonald) Garrow, having been born 
in Scotland, where the father was a farmer in good 
circumstances, and where the family lived until 
about 1854. Then, selling out, David Garrow emi- 
grated to Canada, but within the space of sis 
weeks suffered the loss of his wife and three chil- 
dren. Not long afterward, turning his back upon 
the scenes of so much affliction, he came over into 
the States, locating in LaSalle County, 111., with his 
remaining motherless children, and farmed there 
upon a tract of unimproved land for a period of 
two years. At the expiration of that time he 
crossed the Mississippi, and spent his last days in 
Otoe County, Neb. The brothers and sisters of 
our subject were named respectively: Peter, James, 
David, Alex, John, Isabel and Elizabeth. Peter, 
James and John died in Canada. 

Mr. Garrow who, like his parents, also first opened 
his eyes in the '"land of the thistle," is a native of 
Aberdeenshire, his birth taking place Feb. 17, 1851, 
and, although less than three j'ears old when leaving 
his native hills, he has a distinct recollection of the 
stone mansion which sheltered his infant head, and 
the barns adjacent, also built of stone, and the air 
of plenty which pervaded the whole. He also re- 
members the sea dogs, whose heads frequently ap- 
peared above the water during the voyage across 
tlie Atlantic. His mother's family, the McDonalds, 
were people of wealth and prominence, as was like- 
wise the father of our subject, but the latter hoped 
to still better himself on the soil of America. From 
the loss of his wife and children he never fully re- 
covered, and it was an event which shadowed not 
only the subsequent life of the father, but that of 
his son, our subject. 

Mr. Garrow, of this sketch, studied his first les- 
sons, in LaSalle County, 111., but upon coming to 
Nebraska his education was sadly neglected, as 
there were no schools near the pre-emption claim 
upon which the father had settled. He was very 
• •p^ 



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f 



■•►Hlr 



374 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Jh 



ambitious, however, remarkably industrious, and 
always aspiring to something better in the future. 
At the early age of thirteen years he left home, and 
engaged with the firm of Smith & Galbraith to drive 
an ox-team and wagon, loaded with provisions, 
principally corn, meats and bacon, to Ft. Smith, 
on the Big Horn River. They started out in the 
spring of 1866, and arrived at their destination six 
months later. Upon returning our subject found 
that his father was dead, and the family living in 
Nebraska City. In April of 1866 Mr. Garrow went 
with a train to Ft. Laramie, and was at that point 
at the time of the massacre, when, within the space 
of an hour, ninety soldiers and three citizens were 
killed by the Indians. Subsequentlj' he engaged in 
many skirmishes with the Indians in journeying 
from Ft. Laramie to the Sweetwater mines, near 
the present site of South Pass City. He thereafter 
followed teaming through the mountains for a pe- 
riod of seven years, when for the most time his 
only shelter was the firmament of heaven, his couch 
the ground and his covering a blanket. For about 
two years he traveled in Wyoming, having for his 
companion during this time Frank Wheeling, who 
is now with Buffalo Bill as his steward. 

In the winter of 1867 Mr. Garrow engaged with 
Antoine Eeynolds, a man who had dealt with the 
Indians for a period of forty-three j'ears, and who 
was at one time a member of the old American Fur 
Companj'. He at this time operated the Cold 
Springs Trading Ranch on the North Platte, twenty- 
two miles below Ft. Laramie. While in his employ 
Mr. Garrow became familiar with the Sioux lan- 
guage, a knowledge of which afterward served to save 
his life on several occasions. One day he went to Ft. 
Laramie for the purpose of obtaining provisions, 
riding a pony. Upon his return, in crossing a deep 
gully with his pony and provisions, he was suddenly 
confronted by a band of thirteen bucks, whom he 
saw at once were bent on plunder, if not murder. 
They were decorated in their war regalia, and the 
situation for our subject was alarming, but he soon 
regained his self-possession, and addressing them in 
their own language, invited them to go to his own 
fireplace and share his evening repast. To this 
they consented, and all rode to the ranch together, 
a distance of seven miles. After partaking of an 



evening meal they departed in peace. In the fall 
of 1868 Mr. Garrow made a solemn vow, that, if 
Providence would pardon him for ever associating 
with the Sioux, he would forever abandon their 
country. He consequently set out for the Sweet- 
water mines in Wyoming, where he spent some 
time, and was quite successful in his operations 
there. Afterward be was employed by the Union 
Pacific Railroad Company in hauling timber for the 
construction of a branch road, and when this con- 
tract was ended made his way to Salt Lake City, 
where he sojourned two months. Thence he went 
to Montana, where he spent in that Territory and 
Idaho two or three years, and in the fall of 1871 
we find him in Pioche, Nev. There he placed his 
money in the hands of a commission broker to be 
invested in a silver mine, but the broker absconded, 
and our subject suffered a loss of $10,000. 

Mr. Garrow continued in Nevada from 1871 
until 1876, engaged in prospecting and mining in 
different parts of the Territory, and developed sev- 
eral paying mines, with results similar to that de- 
scribed by Tourjee in his " Fool's Errand," spending 
much time and a large amount of money at almost 
a total loss. 

After this our subject started out on horseback 
from Nevada to Washington Territory, and trav- 
eled in that manner through Oregon and California, 
and in fact through nearly all of the country on 
the Pacific Slope. Upon returning eastward he 
struck Nebraska City on the 29th of October, 1879, 
not, however, with the intentiou of staying. A few 
months later he entered the employ of Gen. Coe, 
as superintendent of his ranch at Humboldt, Nev., 
where he occupied himself four months. He w.as 
homesick, however, for a better civilization, and, 
returning to Nebraska City, prepared to engage in 
the mercantile and stock business. There was at 
the same time another attraction which drew him 
to this point, namely, a most estimable j'oung lady. 
Miss Addie Lane, to whom he was married Sept. 
5, 1880. This lady w.as born in Jefferson City, 
Mo., Dec. 9, 1860, .and is the daughter of J. C. 
Lane, who with his wife was a native of Virginia: 
they are now living in Nebraska. They came to 
Nebraska when their daughter Addie was a 3'oung 
girl of thirteen years, and she completed her edu- 



"yf^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•► 



375 



•► 






cation in its schools, remaining with her parents 
until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. G. have since 
lived in Nebraska City, and have become the par- 
ents of two sons and a daughter — Alexander Waj'ne, 
Wesley Claude and Mamie. 

Our subject, in 1879, entered into partnership 
with his brother Alex, and they still operate to- 
gether. The latter is a resident of the city of Lin- 
coln. Mr. Garrow has always had great faith in 
the future of both Nebraska City and his adopted 
State, but his interests naturally center mostly in 
the former. He has been a man prompt to meet 
his obligations, and stands high in the business com- 
munity, his transactions aggregating $100,000 an- 
nually. He has valuable property on Fourth avenue, 
consisting of a good residence and grounds, and is 
interested in other real estate in the city. Politically, 
he terras himself a "flat-footed " Republican, that is, 
he allows nothing to swerve him from his support of 
the principles which preserved the Union. Socially, 
lie belongs to Frontier Lodge No. 3, I. 0. O. F., 
where he is prominent among the brethren and in 
which he has done good service. His excellent 
wife is a member in good standing of the Baptist 
Church. 



' DAM SPRINGMAN, of P.almyra Precinct, 
is very pleasantly situated in life, having a 
fine homestead, a competency and a house- 
hold in which he finds his chief enjoyment. 
The latter is presided over by a very estimable and 
capable lady of sterling worth, who looks well to 
her domestic affairs, and possesses those qualities 
which go so far toward making up the sum of sat- 
isfaction and enjoyment within the precincts of 
home. Although not elegant, the home of the 
Springraans is replete with all needful comforts, 
and it has often been noted that in these quiet and 
unpretentious households more often exists true 
happiness than in many of those where splendor 
and luxury abound. 

Mr. Springman, during the earlier years of his 
life, was a resident of Stephenson County, 111., and 
identified with its early history. Upon the out- 
break of the late Civil War he enlisted in Company 
G, 46th Illinois Infautr}', and during the vicissi- 
.4m 



tudes of army life marched through the States of 
Missouri, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, and was 
also at Mobile, Ala. After a faithful and patriotic 
service of two years he was mustered out at Baton 
Rouge, La., in February, 1866. 

Our subject was the eighth child^jf his parents, 
and was born in Lycoming County, Pa., Nov. 4, 
1836. He was reared as a farmer's boy, and at an 
early period in his life he was trained to those hab- 
its of industry which he has preserved to tlie pres- 
ent time, and which have been the secret of his 
success in life. Upon approaching manhood he 
learned the trade of carpenter, and remained at 
home in Pennsylvania until the spring of 1859. 
Thence he emigrated to Freeport, 111., about the 
time of the completion of the Illinois Central Rail- 
road through Central Illinois, where he followed his 
trade, and in the fall of 1862 was first married, to 
Miss Sarah A. Lauek, whose home was in the vicinity 
of Rock Grove, Stephenson County. This lady died 
while our subject was in the army, in October, 
1864. Of their union there was born one child, a 
son, Harvey F., who married Miss Anna Tanner, 
and is the father of a sou, Edward A. He is living 
in Otoe County, and engaged in farming. 

Mr. Springman, on the 25th of September, 1866, 
contracted a second marriage, with Miss Rebecca E. 
Sidles, who was born in Somerset, Pa., and is the 
daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Zorn) Sidles, 
who were natives of Pennsylvania; the father is 
now deceased, and Mrs. Sidles makes her home with 
her daughter, wife of our subject. Mrs. Spring- 
man was the sixth in a family of nine children, 
four sons and five daughters, and was born July 
16, 1844. 

Catharine Sidles, wife of Daniel Sidles, deceased, 
was born Sept. 5, 1805, in Berlin, Somerset Co., Pa. 
Her father's name was Charles Zorn, who lived to 
the age of sixty-five years; he was married to Bar- 
bary Wiant, who lived to the age of sixty-eight. 
Their union was blessed with eleven children, seven 
of whom survived their parents. Catharine Sidles was 
confirmed, and united with the German Reformed 
Church at the age of fourteen, was converted at a 
camp meeting in Somerset County, Pa., at the age 
of thirty, and united with the Evangelical Church, 
of which she remained a faithful member until the 



^ 



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>► II ^» 



OTOE COUNTY. 



year 1875. There being no class of that church in 
Dalvota, 111., where she then lived, she united with 
the Metliodist Episcopal Churcli, and has proved a 
consistent member of that church. She was united 
in the bonds of matrimonj', March 26, 1828, at the 
age of twenty-two, to Daniel Sidles. They were 
blessed with nine children, all of whom survived 
their father, he being tlie first to break the ties of 
the family. Daniel Sidles, her husband, was a 
blacksmith, and worked at his trade in Somerset 
County until 1854, when they moved to Illinois and 
settled on a farm of eighty acres two miles south- 
east of Dakota, where they lived until 1867, when 
they sold this farm and bought twenty acres ad- 
joining the village of Dakota. They built a com- 
fortable dwelling, and lived there happily together 
until December, 1879, when her husband was re- 
moved by death, to join the angelic host above. 

" DiKD. — At his home in Dakota, 111., Dec. 19, 
1879, Daniel Sidles, aged seventy-two years, nine 
months and twelve days. He was born in Dauphin 
County, Pa., but mostly reared in Somerset County. 
He was married to Catharine Zorn in 1828, with 
whom he lived happily vrntil his death. They have 
lived in Stephenson County twenty-flve years. Forty 
years ago he was ' born again,' and has since shown 
Jesus' power to keep. He was not able to lie down 
for more than a year, and his sufferings were intense, 
yet his soul triumphed over pain, and God was ' an 
ever present help.' He feared the Lord and walked 
in His wa3'S, and saw ' his children's children and 
peace upon Israel.' He was buried Sunday, the 23d. 
George H. Wells, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
his pastor, preached at his request from the 128th 
Psalm. He leaves a wife, four sons and five daugh- 
ters, the f.ather being the first to break the family 
ranks. The old settlers and their families turned 
out largely, and many wept, as memories past and 
prospects future passed in visions before them. 
' Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' " 

Mr. and INIrs. Springman continued residents of 
Stephenson County, 111., until the spring of 1875, 
when they came to this county, and Mr. S. soon 
afterward purchased eighty acres of land, which is 
now included in his present farm. He had only 
$800 in money, and in the building up of his home- 
stead coniiiicuced upon an uncultivated tract with 



few implements or other conveniences. He w.is 
prospered, however, and in due time added to his 
real estate, and gradually abandoning his opera- 
tions as a tiller of the soil, turned his attention to 
the easier and more lucrative business of a stock- 
raiser. He usually keeps a herd of sixty-five head 
of cattle, besides horses and swine. A man honest 
and fearless in the expression of his opinions, he 
gives his support to the Democratic party, and has 
carefully avoided the responsibilities of office, other- 
wise than serving as Assessor and in the minor 
positions in his precinct, which it is important 
should be filled by competent men. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Springman are members in 
good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
to which Mr. S. has contributed liberallj^, and is a 
Trustee. Socially, as an ex-soldier, he belongs to 
the G. A. R., of Palmyra. He is the father of 
three children by his present wife — John D., Clay- 
ton 1. and Estella C. 

The parents of our subject, John and Agnes 
(StuU) Springman. were natives of Pennsylvania, 
the former of whom died at the age of sixty-one 
years, in January, 1861, at his home in Pennsylva- 
nia. The mother survived her husband twelve 
years, sjiending her last years with her son Fred, 
in Pennsylvania, and passed away in 1873, at the 
advanced age of seventy-five. The paternal grand- 
father, Mesias Springman, was a native of Germany, 
and crossing the Atlantic during his early manhood, 
settled in Lycoming County, Pa., where he carried 
on farming and spent the remainder of his daj'S. 
The hereditary traits of his character, honesty, in- 
dustry, and his vuiostentatious manner of living, 
were transmitted in a marked degree to his descend- 
ants. 

JOSEPH SAUNDERS, one of the very first 
settlers of Palmj^ra Precinct, came to the 
present site of the city of Hendricks as early 
as 1857, eleven years before the Territorj'^ 
of Nebraska was admitted to the Union as a State. 
He took up a homestead claim on the South Branch 
of the Nemaha, and here he has since lived. He 
improved a v.aluable farm from the wilderness, and 



• p - I L < * 



t^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



377 



is numbered among the most enterprising men of 
the county. He avails liimself of the latest im- 
proved machinery, has a substantial and commodi- 
ous dwelling, ample barns and other out-buildings, 
a choice assortment of live stock, and everything 
indicating the modern and progressive agricult- 
urist. AVhile uniformly successful in his business 
and farming transactions he was most fortunate in 
the selection of a wife and helpmate, Mrs. Saunders 
being a lady of more than ordinary intelligence, a 
thorough and careful housekeeper, and fully alive 
to all those little details which make home the most 
attractive spot on earth, and conduce to the happi- 
ness and comfort of the family. The homestead 
presents one of the pleasantest pictures of rural 
life, where peace and plenty reign, and upon which 
Providence has smiled in an unusual manner. 

The family history of our subject is in its main 
points as follows: His father, Thomas Saunders, 
was born near Bowling Green, in Virginia, in 1804. 
The paternal grandfather was of English descent, 
and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. 
He spent his last years in Pennsylvania. The 
mother of our subject was in her girlhood Miss 
Leah Hudson, and the parents were married in the 
Old Dominion. Shortly afterward they emigrated 
to the vicinity of what is now Etna, Ohio, where 
he worked as a carpenter, and also by degrees con- 
verted a tract of timber land into a good farm. A' 
man of strong anti-slavery principles, he concluded 
to leave his native State on account of his hatred 
of that peculiar institution. From Ohio, in 1848, 
he removed to Jackson County, Iowa, where he 
purchased a half-section of land, and subsequently 
added to it forty acres more. He continued there 
until the death of the mother, which took place in 
1875, when she was seventy-six years old — the 
same age as her own mother at the time of her 
decease. 

After the death of his wife Thomas Saunders re- 
tired from active labor, and made his home with 
his sons in Chautauqua County, Kan., where his 
death took place in 1876. Both parents were 
members in good standing of the Baptist Church. 
They had a family of eight children, viz: John; 
David, deceased; Jacteon, Washington; Joseph, 
our subject; Isaac and Marj', deceased, and Sam- 



uel. The latter during the late war served as a 
Union soldier in an Iowa regiment under the com- 
mand of Gen. Grant. He is now living in Craw- 
ford County, Kan. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Green- 
field County, Ohio, Feb. 24, 1835, and remained on 
the farm of his father until reaching his majority. 
The second school-house in which he pursued his 
studies was built of hewn logs and plank, and he 
attended school mostly in the winter season, assist- 
ing in the labors of the farm during the summer. 
He remained at home a year after reaching his ma- 
jority', and then in the spring of 1857 started for 
the West with a yoke of oxen, crossing the prin- 
cipal streams on a flatboat, and a month later 
found himself in this county. At that day there 
was not even a steam ferry. He crossed the Mis- 
souri Eiver at the present site of Nebraska City, 
on the 10th of March, and a week later selected the 
land which comprises a part of his j^resent home- 
stead. He built the first fence in this section of 
the country, and constructed a dwelling of logs for 
his first shelter. The fine grove of Cottonwood 
trees which stands adjacent to the present residence 
has grown from the sprouts which Mr. Saunders 
pulled up along the Missouri River bottom with his 
own hands. Besides these he has a fine orchard of 
300 trees, and other fruit and shade trees in abun- 
dance, all planted by himself. It is hardly neces- 
sary to say that he watched the growth of these 
with fatherly solicitude, and his retrospection over 
a period of thirty years has been in the main a very 
pleasant one. Game at that time was very plenti- 
ful, elk and deer being abundant within a radius 
of thirt}' miles. Mr. Saunders was present at the 
first burial in Hendricks Precinct, and assisted in 
making the coffin. 

The lady who has been the companion of our 
subject for a period of over thirty years became 
his wife July 10, 1856, the wedding taking place 
at her home in Jackson County, Iowa. Her maiden 
name was Louisa Hendricks. She was born in 
Delaware County, Ind., Nov. 16, 1835, and is the 
daughter of George B. and Sicily (Thompson) 
Hendricks, who were natives of Kentuck}' and Vir- 
ginia respectively, and spent their lives in Ne- 
braska. A sketch of them will be found elsewhere 



r 



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378 



t 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



in this volume. To our subject and his estimable 
wife there have been born thirteen children, two 
of whom, Melissa and George, died, aged six months 
and five years respectively'. The others are: 
Albert, deceased ; Laureta, Arminta C, Marga- 
retta, Joseph, Charlotte, Mary L.; Janette, deceased; 
James, Jsorah and Jennie. They are now mostly 
residents of Nebraska. Mr. Saunders in earlier life 
supported the Republican party, but his warm in- 
terest in the temperance cause led him later to array 
himself on the side of the Prohibitionists. He was 
three times chosen as a delegate to the Republican 
conventions, and has always been a busy, wide 
awake man, giving his support and encouragement 
to the enterprises calculated for the best good of 
the people. He was at one time identified with 
the South Branch Grange, and both he and Mrs. 
Saunders have for many years been active mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Hen- 
dricks, in which Mr. S. officiates as Class-Leader. 
It is hardly necessary to say that they are known 
throughout the greater portion of the county, and 
they open hospitable doors to hosts of friends. 



W. FRENZEL. The thrifty and indus- 
trious German element has made itself felt 
largely in the Great West, and in no sec- 
tion has it accomplished more admirable results 
than in Southern Nebraska. The subject of this 
sketch is one of the finest representatives of his 
nationalitj', and owns a valuable farm of 240 acres 
on section 19, in Wyoming Precinct, and 193 acres in 
Berlin Precinct. This he brought up from an un- 
cultivated condition, has tilled the soil to the best 
advantage, and effected the improvements naturally 
suggested to the modern and enterprising agri- 
culturist. 

Mr. Frenzel has been in possession of the home- 
stead which he now occupies since the spring of 
1872. He first purchased eighty acres, and sub- 
sequently added a quarter-section, and has effected 
all the improvements which have made it one of 
the most valuable estates in this part of Otoe 
Count}'. His family consists of an intelligent and 
estimable wife and si.x children, namely: Marj^, 



Edwin, Richard, Louisa, Gertrude and Bismark. 
Three other children died in infancy. The sur- 
vivors are brigiit and intelligent, the eldest fifteen 
years of age and the youngest two. 

The Province of Schlesien, Prussia, contained 
the earlj' home of our subject, where he was born 
beneath the modest roof of bis parents, Nov. 19, 
1848. The latter were Tiaugott and Christina 
(Donad) Frenzel, who were of pure German ances- 
try, and natives of the same Province as their son. 
The father carried on farming in a limited manner, 
but in the spring of 1872 resolved to seek his fortunes 
in America, having been persuaded to this step by 
some of his elder children who had already emi- 
grated. Coming directly to Nebraska, he established 
himself on eightj' acres of land in Wyoming Pre- 
cinct, where, with his excellent wife, he is still living. 
They are aged seventj'-five and fifty-eight re- 
spectively, and are people generally respected by 
their neighbors, while they have for many years 
been devout members of tiie Lutheran Church. 

Our subject was the eldesjt of seven children, 
three sons and four daughters comprising the pa- 
rental family, and in common with the youth of 
Germany was carefully educated, and received that 
home training which prepared him for the future 
duties of life. After leaA-ing school he learned the 
trade of a stonemason. In 1869 he announced to 
his parents that he was coming to America. They 
raised little objection to this scheme, which they 
considered really quite sensible, and he thus pre- 
ceded them three years, being comfortably estab- 
lished and ready to welcome them when they joined 
him here. He followed his trade three years after 
coming to Nebraska. 

Mr. Frenzel came to the United States a single 
man, but in March of 1873, a year after the arrival 
of his parents, was united in marriage, in Wj'O- 
ming Precinct, with Mrs. Sophia (Karsten) Wehling. 
The wife of our subject was born in the Grand 
Duchy of Mecklenburg, German}', Sept. 6, 1849, 
and emigrated with her parents to America in 1866, 
when a 3'oung girl of seventeen years. They came 
at once to Nebraska, the year before it was admitted 
into the Union as a State, settling among the pio- 
neers of Berlin Precinct, this count}', 

Mr. and Mrs. Frenzel began their wedded life 



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381 



together at their present home, and have labored 
with the mutual purpose of building up a com- 
fortable home for themselves and their children, 
also securing a good position in their community as 
people worthy of the highest respect. Their home 
and its surroundings is one of which they have 
reason to he proud. 



\JI EREMIAH C. GILMAN, proprietor of one of 
the largest farms in Nebraska City Precinct, 
is a gentleman well known throughout this 

section as one of the old settlers of this 

State, coming here as early as 1857. Through a 
life of industry and wise econom}' lie has acquired 
a competency, and since his return to this locality 
twenty years ago, he has built up a comfortable, 
commodious home, one of the most attractive in the 
precinct. Mr. Oilman comes of sturdy New En- 
gland stock, his ancestry being of the hardy, self- 
reliant, energetic class that has sent so many brave, 
resolute men to conquer and people the "Western 
wildernesses and prairies. His forefathers were prob- 
ably early settlers of New Hampshire, the birth- 
place of his immediate ancestry. His paternal 
great-grandfather, Jonathan Oilman, was born in 
1720, and resided in Carroll County, N. H. 

John Oilman, the grandfather of our subject, was 
born Sept. 8, 1749, it is supposed in the State of 
New Hampshire, and among her rocky hills and 
pastures he passed his life as a farmer, dying at last 
in Carroll County. His son Andrew, father of our 
subject, first opened his eyes to the light of d.ay 
Oct. 5, 1798. on a New Hampshire farm, and after 
attaining manhood chose the honorable calling to 
which he had been .reared, and which had been that 
of his forefathers from generation to generation. 
He married Dolly Pike, likewise of New Hampshire 
birth, born in Coos County, April 5, 1802, and they 
commenced their wedded life in the wilds of Coos 
County, where he had bought a tract of timber land, 
which he proceeded to clear and prepare for cul- 
tivation. The country roundabout was sparsely 
inhabited, and for some years Portland, Me., 100 
miles distant, was the nearest market. Mr. Oilman 



improved a farm, and there spent his declining 
years, dying in 1848. He was a man of sound com- 
mon sense, a hard worker, just and kind in his re- 
lations to others, and in his death the community 
where he had spent so many useful, busy j'ears was 
deprived of a good citizen. His estimable wife 
spent her last years with her daughter in Carroll 
County, N. H., where she died in 1885. There 
were six sons and one daughter born to her and her 
husband, namely; Josei)h, John K., Fanny E., our 
subject and his twin brother Andrew, Oeorge and 
Pike. Jeremiah and his brother John were the only 
members of the family who settled in the West. 
John died in Nebraska City in 1886. 

Jeremiah C. Oilman was born Nov. 8, 1834, at 
the home of his parents in the beautiful town of 
Bartlett, and there amid the grand old hills of his 
native State he was nurtured to a vigorous man- 
hood. He was educated in the district school, and 
resided on the old homestead assisting in the farm 
work until 1854. In that year he and his brother 
John left the shadow of the White Mountains to 
seek a home and fortune on the broad prairies of 
the Far West, more than a thousand miles away. 
They went by rail to Rock Island, 111., then the 
western terminus of the railway, and crossing the 
Mississippi on a ferry boat to Iowa, took passage on 
a stage for Ft. Des Moines, and from there to 
Greene County, where they identified themselves 
with the early settlers. They laid out a town, 
which they called Kendrick, and erected a steam 
sawmill and a corn cracker, which they operated 
there for one year, and then moved it to Warren 
County, where they managed it until 1857, then 
sold it, and in December of that year came to Ne- 
braska. 

Our subject and his brother in coming to the 
Territorj', located in that part of Nebraska Cit}' 
called Kearney, and engaged in the livery business 
together for two years. Then the brothers sold 
out, and again in 1859 started westward, settling in 
that part of the Territory now included in Lincoln 
County. The whole of that entire section of the 
country was wild prairie; deer, antelopes and buffa- 
loes roamed across it in large numbers, and there 
were no settlements nearer than Ft. Kearney. The 
brothers went there to start a ranch, raise stock, and 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



to trade with the Indians, having taken a supply of 
goods with them. They used to buy their goods 
in Nebraska City and St. Louis, and had them trans- 
ported with teams to their post. During the years 
1861 and 1862 the brothers, who were all these 
years in partnership, began freighting west of the 
Missouri River from Nebraska City to Denver, Col. 
The}' had two trains of tvventy-six wagons each, 
and consequently had to give emploj'nient to about 
sixty men. They carried their cooks and camping 
outfit with tiiem. All the parties were armed, as a 
protection against maraudering bands of Indians. 
The freighting business was profitable, the tariff 
on goods being about six cents per pound. The 
brothers were engaged in that business about four 
years, and during several winters they traded with 
the Indians as far as 200 to 300 miles south of the 
North Platte. They thus dealt mostly with the 
Sioux and the Southern Cheyennes. 

Mr. Oilman and his brother took the contract 
from the Government from Maj. O'Brien, 7th Iowa 
Cavahy, to build Ft. McPherson, seventy-five miles 
west of Ft. Kearney. This was in the fall and 
winter of 18G3. They constructed the main build- 
ing of hewn logs, also the hospitals and the com- 
mission buildings. The quarters for the private 
soldiers were constructed of round logs. The sec- 
ond j-ear Mr. Oilman and his brother remodeled 
the forts and quarters. The amount involved was 
about $150,000, and yielded the brothers a hand- 
some profit. 

The Oilman brothers continued the operations 
above mentioned until 1868, and then, having ac- 
cumulated considerable money, they returned to 
Nebraska City, where they invested in 640 acres of 
land, of which 320 acres were on section 7, town- 
ship 8. range 14, and the remaining 320 acres were 
on section 1, township 14, range 7, Otoe County. 
Our subject settled on section 7, Nebraska City, and 
has resided here continuous!}' ever since. He does 
general farming, raises a large amount of grain, 
fruit, etc., and devotes much time to raising cattle 
and other stock, of which he has manj' fine speci- 
mens of high grades. 

Mr. Oilman was married, in 1866, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Alice FItchie, daughter of James and Eliza 
(Douglas) Fitchie. Mrs. Oilman is a native of 



Allegheny County, Pa., and of her marriage with 
our subject six children have been born, namely: 
Larsh, Andrew, Nellie M., Marmaduke, Lee and 
Charles. 

When Mr. Oilman was living, on the plains of 
Lincoln Count}' he took an active part in public 
affairs. There was an attempt made then to organize 
a county to be called Shorter, and he was elected 
Sheriff, but as the organization was not perfected 
he was not called upon to serve. Though past the 
prime of life, he is active and enterprising as many 
a younger man, and is always busy looking after his 
agricultural interests, and carefully manages his 
property so as to get the best returns from it. He 
possesses a clear head and a sound intellect, and is 
a man to be relied upon in any and every case. He 
is a sturdy advocate of the policy of the Republican 
party, and is keenly interested in all the questions 
of the day tliat pertain to the welfare of our coun- 
try. 

As a man who has been closely connected with 
the development of Southern Nebraska, it is emi- 
nently proper that the portrait of Mr. Oilman be 
given in connection with this sketch, and we here- 
with present it from the hands of our special artist. 
There is no doubt it will be regarded with more 
than ordinary interest. 



EORGE SMITH. There are in Palmyra Pre- 
cinct many agriculturists who compare fa- 
vorably with any in the State, and among 
these must undoubtedly be mentioned the gentle- 
man whose biography is here outlined. His prop- 
erty is situated on section 23, where he operates 
160 acres. As his name would imply, he is of 
Scottish parentage; his parents, William and Mary 
H. Smith, were born at Fen wick, Scotland, and 
shortly after their marriage came to America and 
settled in Missouri. The chosen occupation of 
William Smith was that of a stonemason. He was 
usually employed upon large buildings, and took 
large contracts for public and other buildings. 
His life in Missouri began in the year 1838, and the 
public buildings of St. Louis and neighboring cities 
bear marks of his handiwork; but his business was 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



383 



not successful, owing to the failure of a company 
with which he was connected, and he removed to 
Galena. Here he worked upon the brewery, and 
put up the first arch of that building. After a few 
years a removal was made to Elk Grove Township, 
LaFayette Co., Wis. This was his home until liis 
death, in 1886, when he was eighty -seven j'ears of 
age. 

Mrs. Smith is eighty years of age, and is still 
living, making her home with her eldest daughter 
in Wisconsin. There were seven children born 
to her and her husband, five of whom grew to 
mature years and are still alive. Their names are 
mentioned as follows: Catlierine, Mary, Elizabeth, 
George and Robert H. From this it will be seen 
that the subject of our sketch was the youngest 
child but one. They have all been educated and 
trained after the model of Scottish strictness and 
care in regard to the higher qualities of character 
and morals. 

The sul)jeet of our sketch was born on the fith 
of July, 1852, at the Wisconsin home. His advan- 
tages in the line of education were undoubtedlj'' 
excellent, and he developed an unusual capacity 
and liking for his studies, and became quite a good 
scholar in all the common branches. One trouble 
the teacher had with him was on account of his be- 
ing natural!}' left-handed. It was onl}' by persist- 
ent efforts that he learned to write as others do, 
but he has this advantage that he can use his pen 
as well with one hand as with the other. 

Not having a large farm our subject's father 
gave him and his brothers the privilege of their 
own time and earnings, in order to get some start 
in life. When about thirteen he started to work 
for his brother-in-law by the month. As soon as 
he had money enough he bought a horse, and from 
that as a beginning went on to accumulate little by 
little. During the winter months he still continued 
his studies, and was more earnest as a student be- 
cause he began to realize the value of an education. 

The marriage of our subject with Miss ICliza 
Jane Herron was celebrated on the 18th of March, 
1879. His wife was the daughter of James and 
Mary Ann (Nolan) Herron ; her father was born 
near Dover, in Delaware, while her mother first saw 
the light in the vicinity of the cit}' of Dublin, Ire- 



land. She was a sister of the Rev. John Nolan, 
and a lady of large mental capacity, of complete 
education, possessed of many accomplishments, and 
this endowment she was only too glad to share 
with her daughter Eliza, so that she was also pre- 
pared to take her place in her home, and bring to 
it all the beauties of refinement and culture. The 
parents of Mrs. Smith were married in Wisconsin, 
and there continued to make their home. The 
business interests of Mr. Herron were at Galena, 
where he owned extensive lead mines. His death 
occurred on the 6th of Februar}', 1885, when he 
was eighty-three years of age. His wife is still 
living in Wisconsin, and is now sixty-eight years 
old. 

Mr. and Mrs. Herron were pioneers of LaFa3^ette 
County, Wis., and were universally respected wher- 
ever they were known. They were exceedingly 
active in religious circles, ajid were pillars of the 
church to which they were united in membership. 
They were the parents of ten children, whose names 
are as follows: Susannah S., William E.; Wesley J., 
who died when fourteen years of age; Henry J. 
and Osley F. (twins), Eliza J., Mary A., Olivia V., 
Carson D. and Elmer E. Mrs. Smith was born on 
the 20th of December, 1851, in LaFayette County, 
Wis., and was educated in the common schools of 
the district. After taking the Norm.al course at 
Platteville, when seventeen years of age she received 
a high-class teacher's certificate, after which she 
followed that profession. For five terms she had 
charge of the Elm Grove public school. Her par- 
ents being among the wealthiest in the community 
this engagement was a matter of choice only. She 
was very fond of teaching and showed an admir- 
able tact in the management of her school. 

For two years after the marriage of our subject 
and wife, AVisconsin continued to be their home, 
and there their first child was born. The removal 
to this State was made in 1880, Mr. Smith having 
spent the fall of the previous year in prospecting, 
and had then purchased their present farm, com- 
prising 160 acres, of the Burlington & Missouri 
River Railroad Company; he also has 160 acres on 
section 35, within two miles of Douglas. All the 
improvements made upon the property are those 
of our subject. Stock-raising seemed to offer a more 



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384 



OTOE COUNTY. 



profitable as well as more congenial employment, 
and he has consequently engaged largely therein, 
breeding chiefly Clydesdale horses, although he has 
a number of other very high-grade animals. He is 
the owner of the celebrated stallion "Young Don- 
ald." In cattle he has not confined himself to any 
particular breed, but has quite a large herd of ver3' 
fine creatures. He also owns between 150 and 200 
hogs of the best grade. 

Mr. Smith has been called upon at various times 
to fill positions of public trust, and has always done 
so in the most perfect and happy manner, winning 
the esteem and respect of the entire community. 
He has been Road Supervisor, and has also filled 
other offices, and is one of the energetic members 
of the Republican party. In the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church Mr. and Mrs. Smith find that which is 
congenial to them religiously, and there is little 
proposed or accepted either by the ciiurch, Sunday- 
school or societies with which they are not con- 
nected, either as the promoters or supporters. 

There are few who can look back to the names of 
honored ancestors with more pride than the subject 
of our sketch, whose forefathers and members of 
the family have upon several occasions suffered 
martyrdom, and sealed their religious confessions 
with their life blood. This has been a treasured 
memory to the generations, and has undoubtedly 
been a powerful lever in the sustaining and onward 
movement of the transmitted high standard of 
moral power and character. 



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i.@f5i/Zr7TZ'>»~"\/w.- 



OLLIN M. ROLFE, a retired merchant, 
has been an esteemed resident of Nebraska 
City since 18G0, having made his advent 
in this place October 15 of that year. He 
at once identified himself with the mercantile inter- 
ests of the city, engaging in the wholesale and 
retail grocery business, being the first wholesale 
jobber of groceries in Nebraska south of the Platte 
River. There were no railways west of the Mis- 
souri River at the time, and none nearer tiian St. 
Joseph, and all transportation was done with teams 
for some years, making freights very high, the 
average rate paid on freight between Nel)raska City 



^h^- 



and Salt Lake City being twenty -five cents a pound. 
The greater portion of the Territory of Nebraska 
was then in its primitive wildness, and buffaloes, 
deer and antelopes roamed at will over the prairies. 
There were military posts en route, but not a city 
between here and Denver. Our subject was a potent 
factor in opening up the undeveloped country, and 
was instrumental in the building of the wagon road 
to Ft. Kearney, and was afterward one of the orig- 
inal incorporators and first Secretary of the Mid- 
land Pacific Railway Company. 

Our subject is a native of New York, born near 
Bath, Steuben County, Oct. 12, 1830. The Rolfes 
have figured conspicuous!}^ in English and French 
history, it having been Count Rolfe, the father of 
William the Conqueror, to whom Normandy was 
ceded by Charles the Simple, King of France. 
Simon Rolfe was known to have been a resident of 
Sarem, England, in 1660, and he had the power to 
issue coins, one of which is novv in possession of the 
subject of this sketch. It bears on one side the 
name Simon Rolfe, and on the reverse side the fam- 
ily' coat of arms. From the records of the New 
England Historical and Genealogical Societj- we 
learn the following: "John Rolfe, with his wife and 
two sons, John and Thomas, who were from Mel- 
chitt Park, Wilts County, England, set sail from 
London in April, 1638, in the ship "Confidence," 
and on arriving in this country settled in Massa- 
chusetts. Later other Rolfes came to America and 
settled in Salisbury and Haverhill, Mass., and Con- 
cord, N. H. Descendants of these families are scat- 
tered about in different parts of the Union, the 
branch from which our subject sprang settling in 
Virginia, where Moses Rolfe, the grandfather of our 
subject, was born. lie removed to Monmouth 
County, N. J., and thence, about 1805, to Ovid, 
N. Y., where he was a pioneer, and where he spent 
the rest of his life. The maiden name of his wife, 
grandmother of our subject, was Mary Coon. After 
the death of her husband she removed to Steuben 
County, N. Y., and spent her last days with her 
children, who had married and settled there 

Joseph Rolfe, the father of our subject, was born 
during the residence of his parents in Monmouth 
County, N. J., May 5, 1800. After his fifth year 
his early life was passed in New York State, where 

i» 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



385 



he reeeivert his education and engaged in the lum- 
ber business, manufacturing his lumber and float- 
ing it down the Susquehanna River and its various 
tributaries, where it found a ready sale in the sea- 
port towns. The last years of his life were spent in 
the home of a son in Lawrenceville, on the Penn- 
sylvania State line, his death occurring in January, 
1878. In politics he was formerly a Whig, but 
joined the Republican party on its formation, and 
■was afterward a Arm supporter of its principles. 
The maiden name of the mother of our subject was 
Eliza Reed, who was born in Dutchess County, N. 
Y. Her grandfather, the great-grandfather of our 
subject, Gilbert Reed, a native of Kinderhook, was 
connected with the Commissary Dep.artment at 
Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War, and 
being a wealthy man, devoted to the interests of 
his country, did not hesitate to advance $100,000 
from his private funds, for which he was paid in 
continental script. 

The subject of this biographical sketch was reared 
in his native town, and there received his education 
in the district school. At the .age of fifteen years he 
commenced his mercantile career, eng.aging .as a clerk 
iu a general store at Monterey, Steuben County, re- 
ceiving §4 a month the first year, besides his board. 
The following year his salary was increased to $10 
a month, the third year to $20, and the fourth 
year he received a further increase of $5 a month. 
He remained in that pl.ace five years, then went to 
Elraira, where he secured a similar position, and 
from there to Geneva, where he clerked a short 
time in a dry-goods store. Subsequently our sub- 
ject returned to his native t(jwn, where he worked 
as a clerk for five years. From Bath Mr. Rolfe, 
who was ambitious of bettering his financial condi- 
tion, and thinking the Far West offered special 
inducements, went to Keokuk, Iowa, where he re- 
mained about a year. Proceeding to Memphis, 
Tenn., our subject rented a flouring-mill, which he 
operated six months, then disposed of his property 
and moved to St. Louis. There he engaged in the 
auction and commission business, remaining there 
until Oct. 15, 1860, when he came to Nebraska 
City. As before mentioned he at once established 
himself in the grocery business, and was thus em- 
ployed until 1884. During this time Mr. Rolfe was 



engaged in different branches of business, and was for 
some years connected with James Sweet and others in 
the banking business, under the firm name of James 
Sweet & Co. In 1879 our suliject built a fine resi- 
dence on the outskirts of the city, famili.arl3' known 
as Boscobel, and resided there until 1886. when, on 
account of the ill-health of his wife, he sold it and 
bought his present residence in the city. 

Mr. Rolfe was married, June 28, 1859, to Miss 
Harriet Emmons, a native of Springville, Erie 
Co., N. Y., and a daughter of Hon. Carlos and 
Harriet (Eaton) Emmons. Mr. Emmons was born 
in Vermont and rtioved from there to the Empire 
State, settling in Springville, where he practiced 
medicine. He identified himself with the best in- 
terests of the town, count}' and State, and served 
as State Seu.ator two terms. He was subsequently 
offered the nomination of the Governorship of the 
State by his party, but declined the honor, and was 
also offered a portfolio in the cabinet of Millard 
Fillmore. 

To our subject and his wife have been born three 
children, namely: Emmons, Charles and Harry. 

(^^ QUIRE EDWIN H. BALDWIN ranks 
^^^ prominently among the honored pioneers 
lll/y )j) of Otoe County. He came to this section 
during its earliest settlement, and has been 
President of almost every Fourth of July celebra- 
tion ever held in Palmyra. This fact is suggestive 
not only of his patriotism but of the estimation in 
which he is held by his fellow-citizens. It is hardly 
necessary to s.a}' that he is also prominently identi- 
fied with the Old Settlers' Association of Nebraska. 
He has never aspired for political preferment, but 
has e.arnestly sought the best good of the people 
around him, and labored to the best of his abilit}' 
to build up the interests of his adopted county. 

Mr. Baldwin, as the consequence of a life of in- 
dustrj', is now in the enjoyment of a competency, 
living at his ease in a good home and surrounded 
by all the comforts of life. He is a self-made man 
in the truest sense of the word, both educationally 
and financially. Deprived of his father's care when 
a lad of twelve years, he was then thrown upon his 



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386 



OTOE COUNTY. 



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f 



own resources. The paramount thought in his 
mind at that time was the acquirement of a good 
education. With this end in view he labored and 
lived economically until reaching the age of twenty 
years, in the meantime making good use of his 
limited opportunities at the common school and of 
the books which came in his way. At the age 
mentioned he became a student of the Epworlh 
College, of Iowa, in which he took a six-years 
course, teaching in the meanwhile and otherwise 
employing himself to pay his expenses. Having 
now secured that which could not be taken from 
him, he entered upon the serious business of life, 
engaging at first in merchandising at Manchester, 
Iowa. He was greatlj' prospered, but was finally 
persuaded to dispose of his business, and in conse- 
quence suffered a loss of about $7,000 on account 
of the rascalitj' of the man with whom he dealt. 

This calamity visited our subject the first spring 
after his marriage, and in consequence was doubly 
trying. He, however, suffered himself to lose no 
time in bewailing his misfortunes, but resolved to 
endeavor to repair them in the Far West. He ac- 
cordingly made his way to the Territory of Ne- 
braska, and the result of this determination may 
be seen in the position to which he has attained, 
sociall3' and financially. He has become one of the 
prominent and wealthy men of his county, and by 
his upright and honorable career is numbered 
among those who enjoy the esteem and confidence 
of the people around him. 

The property of Squire Baldwin includes 700 
acres, laid off into four farms in Palmyra Precinct, 
while he also has a farm in Eagle Precinct, Cass 
Count3'. The main points in a history of more 
than ordinary interest are as. follows: Mr. Baldwin 
was born June 4, 1837, in Fredonia, N. Y., and is 
the son of Chester and Mary (Terry) Baldwin, also 
natives of the Empire State, and whose early home 
was in the vicinity of Oswego. The family is sup- 
posed to be of English ancestry ; the paternal grand- 
father of our subject carried a musket in tiie War 
of 1812, and later did service during the Indian 
War of 1841. 

Chester Baldwin was a carpenter and joiner by 
trade, and after their marriage the parents settled 
near Fredonia, in Cattaraugus Count}-, N. Y., where 



the father built up a comfortable home and was 
fairly prospered. He was a man of decided views 
and prominent in the political circles of his county. 
He only lived to middle age, however, his death 
taking place on the 6th of June, 1850, at the age 
of forty-four years. The mother was married the 
second time and removed to Minnesota, where her 
death took place June 26, 1867, at the age of sixty- 
seven and one-half years. Of her first marriage 
there were born eleven children, namely: Mary A., 
Cerilla A., Sarah, William D., Edwin H. (our sub- 
ject), Chester, Wesley, Charles, Frank, Corydon J. 
and Emma J. Of these seven are now living, and 
residents of New York, Tennessee and Dakota. 

Squire Baldwin continued a member of the pa- 
rental household until a youth of eighteen 3'ears, 
working on the farm and also away from home un- 
til he could see his way clear for entering college. 
In the meantime he frequently served as janitor 
for his tuition and sawed wood for his board. He 
was a student at Earlville Academy one year, 
and attended Ep worth Seminary five years. From 
the latter institution he was graduated in 1860 
with the degree of L. B. For a year thereafter he 
was Principal of Earlville Academy. In the spring 
of 18C4 he entered upon his mercantile career, and 
in the fall of 1864 was united in marriage with 
Miss Sarah Cattron. This lady is the daughter of 
his former partner, who is now living on a farm in 
Delaware County, Iowa. The parents of Mrs. 
Baldwin, John and Elizabeth Cattron, were natives 
of Indiana, and are now aged respectively sixty- 
seven and sixty-five years. Their eight children 
were named William V., Sarah F., John W., Frank, 
Etta, Ella, Edgar and Effle. 

Mrs. Baldwin was born June 13, 1841, in La- 
Porte, Ind., and was a little girl nine years old 
when her parents removed to Iowa. She took 
kindly to her books, and after securing a good edu- 
cation commenced teaching, and was a preceptress 
in the Iowa University for one j'ear. Mr. and Mrs. 
Baldwin in making their journey from Iowa to 
Nebraska came overland with a wagon and team of 
horses, bringing with them their worldly effects and 
their one child. They arrived in the then unimpor- 
tant village of Nebraska City on the 8th of June, 
1867, and Mr. B. at once homesteaded 160 acres in 



•►Hl^-^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



387 



t 



the vicinity' of what is now Hendricks. Upon this 
lie labored until bringina: it to a good state of cul- 
tivation, and in time added to it another quarter- 
section. Of tliis property he retained possession 
until the fall of 1877, when he sold out and pur- 
chased his farm of 105 acres west of Palmyra. 

During these j'ears our subject has given strict 
attention to his business as an agriculturist and 
stock-raiser, in the meantime also buying and sell- 
ing land. From these several resources he has 
realized a handsome income. No man has watched 
with warmer interest the development and growth 
of Nebraska, and few have given more generously 
of their time and means to the various enterprises 
having this end in view. A Republican, "dyed in 
the wool," Mr. Baldwin has given his vote and in- 
fluence in support of the principles of his party, 
but aside from serving in the school offices has re- 
frained from assuming greater responsibilities. He 
was elected Justice of the Peace in 1876 and served 
two terms. Both he and his excellent wife are 
members in good standing of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, with which they have been identified 
many years. Our sui)ject was one of the founders 
of the Old Settlers' Association, and one of the 
chief workers in keeping it together and maintain- 
ing an interest among its members. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin there were born seven 
children, namely: Charles W., who died at the 
age of two years; Frank Pearl, Rilla May, Cora E., 
Harry G. C, Carl S. and Addie. Those surviving 
are at home. Thej' have been carefully trained 
and educated, and as rising members of the com- 
munity will do credit to the name of their honored 
parents. 



■« j^ILLIAM KOONTZ, the well-known con- 
\jjj// tractor and builder of Nebraska Cit}', is 
V7\y the son of Baltzer and Susan (Whistler) 
Koontz, who are natives respectively of Marj'land 
and Pennsylvania. Both are of German descent. 
The paternal grandfather emigrated to and settled 
in this country when the father of our subject was 
about seven \'ears old. After ten years they re- 
moved to Ohio. In that State the parents of our 



subject were married, and continued to reside for 
several years. The father was bj' occupation a car- 
penter, and continued at his trade until he was 
about forty years of age, when he engaged in farm- 
ing. 

The subject of our sketch was the last child but 
one of fourteen born to his parents. His birth oc- 
curred in Stark County, Ohio. His parents re- 
moved to Indiana when he was about eleven 3-ears of 
age, and in 1853 finally settled in Whitley County, 
where they died, the father in November. 1877, the 
mother on the 12th of July, 1884, being eighty- 
four and eightjr-five years of age respectively. 

The birth of our subject occurred on the 9th of 
September, 1842. He was brought up on the home 
farm in Ohio and Indiana. He was, however, privi- 
leged to enjoy but very meager educational oppor- 
tunities. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil 
War our subject was serving an apprenticeship to 
the cabinet-making trade, but left his tools and the 
workshop to enlist in Company H, of the 15th In- 
diana Infantry. He engaged to serve for three 
years or during the war; this event transpired upon 
the 6th of August, 1862. The regiment was at- 
tached to the Army of the Cumberland, and he was 
present at some of the hardest fighting of the war. 

Among the battles in which our subject took part 
may be mentioned those of Chickaraauga, Mission 
Ridge, Buzzard's Gap, through the Atlanta campaign 
with Sherman, and on with him in his march to the 
sea; thence up through the Carolinas, and was at' 
Raleigh when the news of Lee's surrender reached 
them. His military experiences closed witii the 
grand review at Washington, after which he in 
common with his comrades received an honorable 
discharge. 

Returning home, our subject remained there until 
1869, and then came to Nebraska. Arriving in 
Nebraska City he went to work with the determina- 
tion to make his fortune. There was no opening in 
the cabinet-making business, and so he turned his 
attention to carpentrj', working as a journeyman. 
He has been unusually successful as a contractor 
and builder, and has erected many of the large 
buildings of the cit}-, among them the Odd Fellows' 
Block au<l the Kee's residence. 

Mr. Koontz is enthusiastic over the prospect of ^ ' 



f 



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388 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the future of the city, and bases his judgment, first, 
on its natural location, second, on the location and 
enlargement of its stock^'ards, third, on the greatly 
increased railroad facilities by the way of "Q" 
bridge and the Union Pacific Railroad. Thus far 
he has been fully justified, and his expectations Lave 
been more than realized. His hoijes therefore for 
the future would seem to be well founded. 

In the year 1872 the subject of our sketch was 
united in marriage with Emma J. Howe, the daugh- 
ter of Noah and Sarah M. Howe. She was born 
in the State of Virginia, Oct. 22, 1832, and was 
about seven j'ears of age when her parents migrated 
to Nebraska City just before the war. There have 
been given to Mr. and Mrs. Koontz five children, 
whose names we mention as follows: Maggie May, 
Nellie M., Alfred O., Edgar B. and W. Carl, all of 
whom are at home with their parents, and in attend- 
ance at the city schools. 

Feeling the cramping through lack of education 
in his own life, our suljject is anxious to make the 
education of his children as complete and thorough 
as possible. We would not be understood as im- 
plying that our subject is not a well-informed man, 
for to recognize the need of study and instruction 
was for him to bend every energy to the task of 
obtaining knowledge, so that to-day he is well 
posted upon the usual topics, and has a clear under- 
standing and appreciation of current political affairs, 
and such a grasp of his business affairs as to make 
him thoroughly successful, and is a citizen of whom 
the communitj' is proud, exerting an influence 
among his fellows that is favorably recognized. 

Mr. Koontz is an enthusiastic member of the G. 
A. R. ; he is Past Commander of the Post, and is at 
present holding the position of Officer of the Day. 
He is also a member of the I. O. O. F. In religious 
associations he is affiliated with the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, of which he is also a Trustee. Politi- 
cally, he is a Republican, and always takes deep 
interest in matters relative to the party. On the 
Board of Education he is recognized as one of the 
active, clear-thinking, practical working members, 
and is respected accordingly. In his general ideas 
and patriotic sentiments he is thoroughly American, 
and entertains the highest ambitious hopes and 
laudable pride in view of what he conceives to be 



the future position of his adopted State in the Union. 
T. D. Babcock, at present Noble Grand of the I. 
O. O. F., Lodge No. 3, says of our subject : "I ad- 
mire him as a man; as a worker in our fraternity 
he is well and favorably known as being one of its 
most worthy members. In his connection with the 
fraternity his character shows itself plainly, as being 
that of an honest and upright man." 

** *' S * ^ ' m ' ^ * 2" *"" 

\i^'REDERICK DOW. Among the early pio- 
|p^^ neers of Nebraska Territory the subject of 
jki this sketch is entitled to occupy a position 
in the front rank, he having settled in Cass County 
as early as the fall of 1857. He lived there on a 
partially cutivated tract of land for a period of 
seven years, then came to W^'oming Precinct, this 
county, taking up his abode on section 14, where 
he purchased eighty acres of land, and where he 
has since lived. He began to build up his present 
homestead from first principles, there having been 
no attempt at cultivation or improvement at the 
time it came into his possession. 

Mr. Dow is a self-made man, and, when pursuing 
his journey into Cass County, carried his worldly 
possessions on his back. He had lost most of 
his household goods on the journey from Chicago 
to Nebraska. He was born in the Grand Duchy of 
Mecklenburg, June 23, 1823, where he was reared 
to man's estate, and when of age entered the regu- 
lar army and served a period of seven years in 
the Grenadier Guards, enduring all the vicissitudes 
of a soldier's life, and coming out at the close with 
a clean record and an honorable discharge. He set 
out a single man for the United States in 1852, 
landing in the city of Quebec, Canada, and going 
thence to Chicago, 111., where he employed himself 
at working on a railroad for a time. There also he 
was first married to Miss Mary Stahl, a native of 
his own Province in German}', and born in 1826. 
She came .alone to the United States about the same 
time as her husband, and accompanied him to Ne- 
braska, assisting him in his first struggles at making 
a living. Of this good wife he was deprived by 
death Dec. 17, 1866, when she was in her prime 
and most needed b^" her little family of six children. 



•► 



t- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



■•►Hl- 



391 



These all liverl to mature years: Sophia anci Minnie 
were married, but are now deceased ; Frank is 
farming in Custer County, this State; John is liv- 
ing in Stockton, Cal. : William is farming in Wyo- 
ming Precinct; Frederick, Jr., is living in this 
county. 

Mr. Dow contracted a second marriage, in Au- 
gust, 1871, with Mrs. Rebecca J. (Searle) Nail. 
This lady was born Nov. 4, 1835, in Scioto County, 
Ohio, and was first married to John Nail, in that 
county, where he died a j'ear later. Mrs. Nail came 
to Nebraska City after the death of her husband, 
and by her union with our subject there have been 
born three children, two of whom ilied young. The 
survivor, a son, M. Albert, born in Otoe County in 
1875, continues at home with his parents. Mr. 
Dow and his first wife were trained in the doctrines 
of the Lutheran Church, and our subject, politically^ 
uniformly votes the Republican ticket. His pres- 
ent wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 



ON. CHARLES WILLIAM SEYMOUR, 

whose portrait graces the opposite page, is 
a distinguished citizen of Nebraska City, 
and one of the first lawyers of the State. 
He has mingled much in public life, and has held 
many important offices for which his ability and 
legal attainments have eminently fitted him. He is 
a native of Ohio, Hartford, Licking County, being 
the place of his birth, and June 4, 1838, the date 
thereof. His father, John William Seymour, was 
born in Salem, Conn., and his grandfather, Medad 
Seymour, and his great-grandfather. Zachariah Se}'- 
mour, were both natives of and livelong residents 
of that New England State, the former having 
been born in Hartfoid. The Seymour family is of 
ancient English ancestry, and is descended from 
the famous Duke of Somerset, which statement is 
confirmed bj' the Encyclopedia Britannica. The 
American branch of the family were early settlers 
of Connecticut, the first ancestor of our suliject 
coming to this country in 1649. 

The father of our subject was reared in his na- 
tive State, receiving a substantial education, and 



when a j'oung man he went to Eahway. N. J., to 
teach school. From there he went to Ohio about 
183G, and located at Hartford, Licking County, 
where he was prosperously engaged in the mercan- 
tile l)usiness until 1868. In that year he moved to 
Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., Ohio, and receiving the ap- 
pointment as special agent of the Etna Insurance 
Company, continued in the insurance business in 
that town until his death in the month of Jul}', 
1872. He was a man whose ability, intelligence 
and integrity were of a high order, and he was 
valued as a loyal and upright citizen. The maiden 
name of his wife was Sarah J. Clark, and she was 
born in New York City, of which her father, 
Thomas Clark, was likewise a native. He spent his 
entire life there, and was for manj' years engaged 
in the mercantile business. The mother of our sub- 
ject died at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1 880. There were 
eight children born to her and her husband, and he 
had one child besides by a former marriage. 

Charles W. early showed a taste for scholarly 
pursuits, which was gratified bj' a liberal education 
at one of the best universities of the day in the 
West, the Wesle3an University at Delaware, Ohio. 
He entered that institution of learning in 1854, and 
after attending there three years, he left for awhile 
to take a business course in a commercial college at 
Cleveland. On receiving his dijjloma there, he re- 
sumed his studies in the Weslej'an University, and 
was graduated from there in I860, having attained 
high standing in his classes, and with the degree of 
A. ]i. and subsequently A. M. He iinmediatel}' com- 
menced the study of law in the office of the 
renowned jurist. Judge Allen G. Thurman, at Co- 
lumbus, Ohio. Having under the Judge's instruc- 
tions acquired a good, practical knowledge of the 
legal profession, in 1861 he came to Nebraska City, 
and in 1862 was admitted to the bar. He at once 
opened an office with William H. Taylor, who was 
his partner for two years. Mr. Taylor then moved 
away, and our subject continued to practice alone 
until 1865, and then was with B. M. Davenport un- 
til 1868. He then carried on an extensive law 
business alone until 1886, when his son William 
became his partner. Mr. Seymour was appointed 
Notary Public in 1863, and has held the office ever 
since. In 1870 he received his appointment to 



r 



31)2 



OTOE COUNTY. 



i 



liis present position as United States Commis- 
sioner. In 1862 he was elected to the Territorial 
Legislature, and was re-elected the following year. 
He was Master in Chancery for ten years and 
Land Commissioner for the Midland Pacific when 
he first located here, and was Prosecuting Attor- 
ney for one year, appointed liy Judge Streeter. 
At the time when the removal of the capital of the 
United States from Washington was agitated, 
Mr. Seymour was sent as a delegate to the con- 
vention held at Cincinnati for the purpose of dis- 
cussing the question. He was a member of the 
commission that met at Chicago in accordance with 
an act of Congress to locate the Union Pacific 
Railway. On two occasions he acted as Chief Clerk 
of the State Legislature at the ojjening of the session. 
He is one of the leaders of tiie Republican party, 
he having always been a Republican since he at- 
tained his majority, and he has served as Cliairman 
of the State Central Committee. Our subject also 
has an honorable military record. When the war 
liroke out he was in earl^' manhood, and just about 
to enter upon his brilliant career as a lawyer and 
a statesman, yet notwitiistanding his bright pros- 
pects of winning his way to an assured position in 
his profession, he put aside ail personal aims and 
ambitions at the first call for troops, and enlisted as 
a member of the 2d Ohio Infantry, for a term of 
ninety days. He served with his regiment that 
length of time, and was present at the first battle 
of Bull Run. In 1863 a regiment of State Militia 
was raised, and he was appointed Major b3' Gov. 
Saunders, of Nebraska, and at the same time he 
was serving as Captain of the Union Guards. Our 
subject is identified with the following societies: 
Western Star Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M. ; Key- 
stone Chapter No. 2; and Mt. Olivet Lodge No. 2. 
He is also a member of the Alpha Consistor}' — of 
the Ancient and Accepted Order of Scottish Rite 
Masons, having attained the thirty-second degree. 
In St. Mary's Protestant Eipiscopal Church Mr. 
Seymour is a Vestryman. 

In this brief summary of the many responsible 
civic positions which he has held, we have not spoken 
of the conspicuous ability that • Mr. Seymour has 
brought to bear upon his work, nor the lofty sense 
of duty that has been the guiding motive of all his 



acts, so that he has never been accused of neglect- 
ing public trusts for private interests. He has a 
keen, cultivated intellect, a clear and comprehensive 
knowledge of the law, and by the force of an in- 
domitable wdl, has attained his present eminence 
as one of the most astute and successful lawyers now 
practicing before the Nebraska bar, although he is 
not yet much beyond the prime of life. 

The brief limits of this biographical sketch will 
not permit us to more than glance at the home life 
of our subject. He was married, July 4, 1863, to 
Catherine Ella Holly, a native of Savannali, Mo., 
and a daughter of Judge Charles F. Holly. Her 
father was born in Stamford. Conn., and went from 
there to Kenyon College. Ohio, to complete his edu- 
cation. After graduation he was married, and 
then went to Savannah, Mo., where he edited a 
pa[)er a number of j'ears. In 1855 he came to 
Nebraska City, and was one of the first lawyers 
ever located in Nebraska. In 1863 he went to 
Colorado, and was soon after elected to the Terri- 
torial Legislature, and was made Speaker of that 
body. In 1864 he enlisted, and was commissioned 
Captain, and served until the close of the war. 
Soon after that he was appointed District Judge. 
He went from Colorado to New Mexico, and was 
there engaged in a land speculation. He now re- 
sides in Paskack, N. J. 

Mr. and Mrs. Seymour have a delightful home, 
the center of a refined and cultured life, and their 
pleasant wedded life has been blessed to them by the 
birth of five children — William F., Catherine Ella, 
Howard S., Hugh A. and Louisa Maria. 



— h4^- 



ONEAD MULLIS. The agricultural inter- 
ests of Wyoming Precinct are admirably 
^^' represented by the subject of this sketch, 
who until recently was the owner of 380 acfes of 
highly cultivated land, which embraced one of the 
most valuable farms in the county. The home- 
stead proper is on section 25, and adjacent is quite 
an extent of land which Mr. Mullis has divided 
among his children. He ma_y most properly be 
ranked among the pioneers of Nebraska Territory. 



-<*■ 



•►-11^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



'3'J-o 



He crossed the Mississippi as earlj^ as 1854, lived 
for a time in Fremont Couut}^, Iowa, and tlience 
came to Nebraska City when it was but a hamlet. 

Our subject, during his early manhood, had 
learned blaeksmithing. which trade he pursued in 
Nebraska City until 18G0, when he was burned out. 
He then concluded to change his occupation, and 
accordingly settled on a part of the laud in Wj^o- 
ming Precinct which he now owns and occupies. 
His labors as a farmer have been crowned with suc- 
cess, he now having a competency for his old age, 
and being surrounded by all the comforts and many 
of the luxuries of life. 

Mr. MuUis was born on the other side of the 
Atlantic, in Switzerland, March 22, 1821. His 
parents were also of Swiss birth and parentage, 
and spent their entire lives upon their native soil. 
The father was a laboring man and the family was 
in modest circumstances. Conrad was the young- 
est, and was reared and educated in the place of 
his birth. When twenty-three years of age he set 
sail in 1844 for America, taking passage on an 
English vessel, and after a rough voyage of seven 
weelvs, landed in New Orleans. In addition to the 
storms which beset them on the passage the pro- 
visions gave out, and both passengers and crew suf- 
fered greatly for lack of food. 

Mr. Mullis soon left the Crescent City and made 
his way to Madison County, 111., where he arrived 
$14 in debt and without a cent in his pocket. 
There he learned his trade of blacksmith, his honest 
face securing him friends and emplo.yment. In due 
time he had cancelled all his obligations, and is now 
not only out of debt but may be called a wealth}' 
man. After taking up his residence in Fremont 
County, Iowa, he made the acquaintance of a very 
estimable young woman. Miss Nancy Hill, to whom 
he was married. This lady died at the birth of her 
first child, the latter dying also. 

Our subject after coming to this county con- 
tracted a second marriage, with Miss Magdalena 
Lohse, who was born in Holstein, Germanj', Oct. 6, 
1834. Her parents, Henry and Catherine (Hans- 
child) Lohse, were also natives of Germany, and 
after their marriage settled in Holstein. where they 
lived until after the birth of two daughters, Mrs. 
Mullis and her sister .Vnna. now Mrs. Kausbo\'. of 



Cass County, this State. They then, in 1858, set 
sail with their little family for the United States, 
and coming directly to Nebraska located near the 
present site of Nebraska City. The parents joined 
their married daughter in Cass County, where the 
father died seven months after his arrival in the 
United States. The mother after being a resident 
of Cass County eight years, joined her husband in 
the better land. 

The wife of our subject received a good educa- 
tion in the German tongue, and was about twenty- 
two years old when she came to America. .She has 
proved the suitable helpmate of such a man as her 
husband, encouraging him in his worthy efforts and 
contributing her full share toward the building up 
of the homestead. Of their union there have been 
born four children, the eldest of wiiom, a son Henry, 
continues at home with his parents. Conrad, Jr., 
married Miss Josephine Barhurst, and tliey are liv- 
ing near Dunbar, this county ; John is at home assist- 
ing his father in the labors around the homestead; 
Anna is attending school in the convent at Keaimey 
Heights. Our subject and his estimable wife .have 
wiselj' retired from active labor, and, surrounded by 
their children and friends, are spending their de- 
clining years amid the comforts which they have 
gathered around them bj' lives of industry and econ- 
omy. Although not connected witli any religious or- 
ganization, they have made it the rule of their lives 
to do unto their neighbors as they would be done by. 
No family is held in higher respect and none are 
more deserving of the esteem and confidence of 
their community. Mr. Mullis in politics is inde- 
pendent, aiming to support the men whom he con- 
siders best qualified for office. 



-|-H^-^^«&^-H-4-- 



^^EORGE OELKE, of Otoe 
III g-- the most prominent and 
^JJ^ within its limits, being 



/^^EORGE OELKE, of Otoe Precinct, is one of 
prosperous farmers 
the owner of 340 
acres of good laud, embracing 160 acres on section 
5. and 180 acres on section 8. Ilis home is lo- 
cated on the former section. He is a man who at 
once commands attention as evidently' possessing 
more th.an ordinary abilities, and physicall}- is of 
fine stature and commanding presence. His quaii- 



-^»" 



•►Hl^ 



394 



OTOE COUNTY. 



f bis 



ties of mind are in proiJOition to liis plij'sical de- 
velopment, as is indicated in his sunoiindings, his 
home being one to which the admiring eye of the 
passing traveler is at once attracted, and which 
forms one of the most pleasing features of the land- 
scape of Otoe Precinct. He has a tasteful and com- 
modious dwelling, which is one of the handsomest 
in the precinct, with good barns and outhouses, 
corn-cribs, sheds, etc., and everything appertaining 
to the modern rural estate. 

The main points in a most interesting history are 
substantially as follows: Our subject was born in 
the town of Sumte, near the city of Nauhaus, Ger- 
many, Nov. 12, 1842, and is the son of John and 
Maggie (Myer) Oelke, who were also of German 
birth and parentage. The father was a farmer and 
wagon-maker combined, and a man in prosperous 
circumstances. He came to America with his whole 
family in the summer of 1857, settling in Clayton 
County, Iowa, but only lived four j-ears afterward, 
his decease taking place in 1861, when he was sixty- 
five years old. The mother is still living, making 
her home with her son George, and has now arrived 
at the advanced age of eighty j'ears. 

The parental household included twelve children, 
of whom John, Henry, William, Minnie. Emma, 
Bertha, Emma (2d) and Louisa are deceased, the 
four latter dying when quite young. The sur- 
vivors are Marj% who is the wife of Henry Heye; 
tiiey live in Delaware Precinct. Fred; George, 
Qur subject, and Christ. They are living in Otoe 
County, Neb. George was carefully educated in 
his native tongue, and soon after coming to Ne- 
braska, June 1.5. 1863, purchased his first land in 
company with his brother Frederick. Prior to this 
he had operated as a renter. He was marri(?d, Dec. 
22, 1864, to Miss Lena .Sharp, a native of the 
Province of Holstein, Germany, and who came to 
America when a i'oung girl of twelve years, with 
her parents, thej' settling at once in this countj'. 
Her father is dead, but her mother is still living. 
She is the daughter of Timothy and Mattie (Hau- 
childt) Sharp. 

Our subject purchased first eighty acres on sec- 
tion 0, Otoe Precinct, and labored earlj' and late in 
the development of the soil and the building up of 
his homestead, and continued to add thereto until 



he now owns 340 acres. His farm is six miles south 
of the court-house in Nebraska City. The household 
circle has been completed bj' the birth of nine chil- 
dren, namely: John, George, Mattie, Timm, Will- 
iam, Jesse, Emma, Eddie and Josie, all living at 
home and single. The eldest is twenty-three years 
of age, and the youngest two years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Oelke. togetlier with their children, are all connected 
with the German Lutheran Church at Nebraska 
City. Mr. Oelke votes the straight Eepublican 
ticket, and is serving his second term as School 
Treasurer of his district. He is also engaged in buy- 
ing and shipping hogs. His shipments are mostly 
made from Paul Station on the Missouri Pacific, to 
Nebraska City and Omaha. 



-J— 



^ OHN DUNBAR, an extensive land -owner and 
retired farmer in good circumstances, and at 
present a resident of Dunbar Village, is a 
^^^ gentleman widely and most favorably known 
throughout this section for his honesty, integrity 
and straightforward manner of transacting business, 
and his thoroughness and skill as an agriculturist. 
From him the precinct and village of Dunbar are 
named, though the former has since been changed. 

A native of County Londonderrj', Ireland, our 
subject was born Oct. 28, 1820, and is the son of 
Thomas Dunbar, who was born in Count}' Antrim, 
and came to the United States with his family in 
the spring of 1829. They settled first near Ogdens- 
burg, N. y., where our subject lived until the spring 
of 1 832. He then went over into Canada West, 
and from there, in 1856, came to the Territory of 
Nebraska, settling on a tract of land in Delaware 
Precinct, and has since then been a resident of this 
county. 

It is hardly necessary to say that the country was 
wild and new at that period, there being but very 
few settlers this side of the Mississippi. The father 
and paternal grandfather, Thomas H Dunbar, had 
preceded our subject to this section in June of the 
same year, being joined by John on the 14th of 
November following. There were then but a few 
houses between this point and Nebraska City. Deer, 
wolves and Indians were numerous, and the latter. 



t 



iir^ 



OTOE COUNXr. 



395 i] 



*t 



Pawnees, stole a team of horses from our subject, 
which he never recovered. 

Mr. Dunbar was married, Sept. 11, 1851, to Miss 
Ann E., daughter of James Watson, now deceased. 
This union resulted in the birth of twelve children, 
namely: Emily, Mary, Thomas H., John A., Leona; 
Sarah J., deceased; William F.. Edwin W., Merritt 
W., Ann E.. Ella Dora and Alfred. Mary is the 
wife of Merle D. Smith, of Blount, this State, and 
the mother of two children — Clarence and Ralph; 
Leona married Ellas C. Reed, of Sj'racuse Precinct, 
and has two children — Anna L. and Herbert; Will- 
iam married Miss Charlotte Latter, and lives on the 
old homestead. 

Mr. Dunbar has alwaj'S been prominent in the 
affairs of this countj', and about 18(i9 platted the 
town named in his honor. His property embraces 
G40 acres of land, which he has brought to a good 
state of cultivation, and erected thereon substantial 
buildings. The first wheat shipped from the pre- 
cinct was of his raising. He offlciated as Justice 
of the Peace for a period of twenty years. He then 
rested for a time, but in 1887 was prevailed upon 
to resume his official duties, and now holds the 
office. He has always taken a warm interest in the 
temperance movement, and in religious matters is a 
member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, tak- 
ing the Bible for his rule of faith and practice. He 
has been an extensive reader of the Scriptures, and 
possessing a remarkable memory, is able to quote 
largelj' therefrom. He usually upholds the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party, but is somewhat in- 
dependent, aiming to support the men best qualified 
for office, irrespective of party. 



iROWN BROS. Charles A., Frederick L., 
George E. and Frank F. have operated 
together in the cultivation of one of the 
finest tracts of land in North Branch Pre- 
cinct, and lived together since they were born until 
the marriage of George E., since which time the 
latter and his wife have been in a home of their 
own, while the three brothers continue with their 
mother. 

Amos Brown, the father of tiicse brothers, was 



born in Windsor County, Vt., in 1828, and when 
quite a lad removed with his parents to Illinois, 
the3' settling on a farm in the vicinity of Peoria, but 
which was in Tazewell County. They were among 
the earliest pioneers of that region, and there 
Amos Brown grew to manhood, assisting his father 
in the development of his homestead. He married 
Miss Sarah I. Lackland, who was born in Tazewell 
County, 111., Feb. 27, 1835, and is the daughter of 
David and Elizabeth (Hale) Lackland. The latter 
were natives of Tennessee, where they were reared 
and married, and whence they emigrated in 1 830 to 
Illinois. They settled at first in Sangamon County, 
but shortly afterward changed their residence to 
Tremout Township, Tazewell County, and were, 
like the Brown family, among the earliest settlers. 
Mr. Lackland entered land from the Government, 
improved the farm, and continued at the homestead 
which he had thus built up until the time of his 
death, which occurred about 1856. The wife and 
mother had died in 1844. They were the parents of 
eight children, six of whom grew to maturity, 
namelj': Nancy, now deceased; Louise, Mrs. Da- 
vidson, of Livingston County, 111. ; Martha, Mrs. 
Owen, of Tremont, Tazewell County; William R., 
deceased ; Margaret, who was the first white child 
born in Tazewell County, and is now the wife of 
Stephen Stout, of Marshall County, Kan. ; and 
Sarah, the mother of the Brown brothers. 

Amos Brovrn and Miss Sarah Lackland were mar- 
ried in 1851, and for seven years afterward lived in 
the then little village of Pekin, 111., where Mr. 
Brown followed his trade of carpenter. Later they 
settled upon a farm in the same county, where the 
death of the father took place in 1870, he leaving 
five children, four of whom, Brown Bros., are still 
living. The mother with her sons continued her 
residence in Tazewell County until 1877, then at 
the instance of the latter came to Nebraska, and in- 
vested a portion of her capital in 160 acres of land 
in North Branch Precinct, where she and her three 
sons still live. They were jirospered in their efforts 
to build up a homestead, and added to their first 
purchase until their estate now embraces 400 acres 
of land, with all the buildings and machinery re- 
quired for the successful prosecution of agriculture 
A large portion is devoted to stock-raising, and 



md W 



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•a^ 



3;jc 



OTOE COUNTY. 



they keep the best gindps, including Morgan horses, 
PollGfl-Angns cattle, graded stock and pure-bred 
Poland-China swine. 

George E. Brown was marritd to Miss Nellie E. 
Cornish, May 18, 1886, at the home of the bride in 
]\linnesota. They took up their residence in a snug 
dwelling in North Branch Precinct. This son and 
his mother are members in good standing of the 
Congregational Church. Charles, politically, is a 
Democrat, while the other brothers are earnest sup- 
porters of Republican principles. The family are 
widely and favorably' known throughout this part 
of the county, and are closely allied to its agri- 
cultural interests, which, in the building up of one 
of its finest farms, they have thus greatly facili- 
tated, adding to their wealth and importance. 

Grandfather Nathaniel Brown was born in New 
Hampshire, Jan. 3. 1783, and died Oct. 5, 1842. 
He was married, in May, 1826, to Miss Sally Dens- 
raore, who was born in Alstead, N. H., Sept. 19, 
1789, and who died Nov. 7, 1875. The parents of 
Grandmother Brown removed to Pittsfleid, Vt., 
when she was a child. The Browns emigrated from 
Rochester, Vt., to Illinois in the summer of 1838, 
reaching Enoch Emerson's on the 1st day of August, 
after having been five weeks on the road. Thej' 
had journej'ed overland with teams to Buffalo, N. 
Y., and at that point the horses and wagons, and 
the family, numbering five persons, were loaded 
upon a steamboat and taken to Detroit. Thence 
they resumed their journey by wagon to Illinois. 

These travelers first went np Lake Erie to avoid 
the Miami swamp in Ohio. It was not safe to travel 
through Canada on account of the rebellion. The 
name of the great-grandfather was also Nathaniel, 
and he married a Miss Groves. They became the 
parents of seven children, namely : Thomas, Reu- 
ben, Nathaniel, Amos, Daniel, Amanda and Polly. 
On the other side of the house the great-grand- 
father, Zebadiah Densmore, married Miss Elizabeth 
Todd, and they became the parents of ten children 
namely: Thomas, Zebadiah, Jr., John, Amos, Joel, 
Elizabeth, Jemima, Sally, Lucy and P0II3'. Both 
the great-grandfathers served all through the Rev- 
olutionary "War. Uncle Joel Densmore was in 
the army four years during the "War of 1812, enter- 
ing the ranks as a drummer boy when fourteen 

• ¥ ' i ^' 



years of age. During that war acompanj'of volun- 
teers, under command of Grandfather Brown as 
Captain, marched to Plattsburg at the time of the 
concentration of forces there, but did not succeed 
in arriving until after the battle. Capt. Brown, as 
he was afterward familiarly called, was the off- 
spring of a family noted for their industry and in- 
tegrity of character, and these traits have descended 
in a marked manner to the Browns who have come 
after. 

aHARLP:S B. BICKEL has for more than 
twenty years been prominently identified 
' with the building interests of Nebraska City 
as contractor and builder, and thus it has been his 
privilege not only to witness its growth, but to be 
an energetic factor in promoting it. He was born 
in Gallia County, Ohio. May 16, 1826. His father, 
Anthony Bickel,a native of Botetourt County, "Va., 
was the son of a German who came to America 
some time during the last century, and settled in 
Botef.ourt County, which remained his home until 
his death. 

The father of our subject was reared in his native 
count3', and when a young man went to North 
Carolina, and there married Diana Chappell, a native 
of that State. After marriage the parents of our 
subject removed to Oliio, traversing the long and 
weary distance over the Alleghany Mountains in a 
wagon containing their household goods drawn by 
Indian ponies, for this was before the introduction 
of railways into that part of the country. They 
located in Gallia County, and were thus identified 
witii its early settlers. Mr. Bickel rented land for 
a time, and later bought a tract, but, being unfort- 
unate, was unable to pay for it. He continued to 
be a resident of that county until his death in 18.58, 
respected and esteemed by his neighbors for his 
many sterling qualities. He was quite young when 
the War of 1812 broke out, but during the latter 
part of it he enlisted and started to join the army 
on the Virginia coast, but the war, however, closed 
before he reached his destination, and he was dis- 
charged with his comrades and walked home. Mrs. 
Bickel survived her husband onlj' a few years, 
dying in Gallia County. There were eleven cliil- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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397 



(Iren born of that marriage, nine of whom grew to 
maturity. 

Cliarles Bickel, of this biograpliical notice, was 
reared amid the pioneer scenes of his native county, 
where the advantages of an education were very 
much inferior to those enjoyed by the youth of the 
present day. The nearest school was two and one- 
lialf miles distant from his home, and was conducted 
in a rude log building, with seats or benches made 
of slabs without backs or desks; a board that rested 
ou wooden pegs that were driven into the logs 
served for the scholars to write on. As soon as he 
was large enough to do so our subject commenced 
to help his father on the farm. When he was four- 
teen years old tiie care of the farm devolved upon 
him entirely, as his father was stricken with rheuma- 
tism. But he was a bright, active lad, and was 
fully equal to the occasion, and a manliness and 
self-reliance bej'ond his 3-ears were thus early de- 
veloped in him. He lived at home until he was 
twenty years old, and then hired a man to work in 
liis place, and went to Virginia, where he com- 
menced to learn the trade of bricklayer, serving an 
apprenticeship of three years. His first job as a 
builder was in Virginia, when he superintended the 
construction of his brother's house. He formed a 
partnership with another brother, and they took 
contracts to erect buildings, always burning their 
own brick. As an excellent specimen of their 
work the court-house at Barboursville, the county 
seat, m.ay be mentioned. Mr. Bickel continued in 
business as bricklayer and contractor in Virginia 
and Kentucky until 1857, when he went to Quincy, 
111., to work at his trade. When he first went there 
business was good and he earned $4 a day, but in 
about three months all building ceased, and he was 
thrown out of work. He then started for Mary- 
ville. Mo., where a brother lived, going by way 
of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. His family 
was with him, and when they arrived at Maryville 
the boxes containing all their best clothes and most 
valuable household effects were missing, and they 
had to start anew. Maryville was then a village 
of 300 or 400 inhabitants, and the surrounding 
country was wild and sparsely settled. 

Mr. Bickel found employment at his trade for a 
few months, and then business was suspended, but 



he was a man of resources, and not easily dis- 
couraged, and determined upon renting a farm. 
While attending to that he took up plastering, and 
finding that he could do well at that, he worked at 
it as opportunity offered. During the war times 
were hard, and the state of affairs was so unsettled 
in Missouri that he could not get work there, so he 
concluded to go West. He divided his last $30 
with his wife, and with the small sum of money 
remaining to him started across the plains for 
Colorado. Arriving in Denver, then a town of 
4,000 or 5,000 inhabitants, he found emploj'ment 
by the day, and was thus engaged for a time, until 
he formed a partnership with J. B. Lull, and en- 
gaged in contracting. They built the Governor's 
residence, a Methodist Church, and other noted 
buildings of that day. Mr. Bickel remained in the 
Queen City until the fall of 1864, and then wish- 
ing to return home, he engaged passage by a mule 
team, the most convenient mode of carriage before 
the railways stretched across the plains, and paid 
$17 fare to Nebraska City. From here he proceeded 
to Graham Village, Mo., where his family lived. In 
January, 18G5, he sold his propertj^ there and re- 
moved with his family to this city, where he at once 
took a contract to erect an extensive warehouse. 
Since that time he has been a respected resident of 
this place, and is still conducting business here, the 
greater part of the brick buildings in the city being 
monuments of his handiwork. His four sons are 
interested in the business with him, and their work 
is not by any means confined to Otoe County, but 
extends as far as Omaha. 

Mr. Bickel was married, in 1852, to Miss Isabella 
Kelly, a native of the Isle of Man, Great Britain, 
and the following are the six children who have 
been born to them : Mary, who married Jacob 
Schulenberger, and died in Nevada; John K., 
Anthony A., Charles C, Rosa B. and George R. Mrs. 
Bickel came to America with her mother when she 
was five years of age, her father, Thomas Kelly, 
having come here two years before. Her father 
was born on the Isle of Man, coming of an old 
family of that isle that can trace its ancestry back 
several generations. When he first came to America 
he lived for awhile near Columbus, Ohio, and from 
there he removed to Lawrence County, in that 



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f 



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398 



OTOE COUNTY. 



State, where he spent the remainder of his life. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Kirk, was 
also a native of the Isle of Man, and came of an 
old and respected family. She likewise died in 
Lawrence County, Ohio. Mr. Bickel has always 
shown a spirit of enterprise, and is ever ready to 
assist in anything to benefit Nebraska Citj' or Otoe 
County. In 1883 he was one of the company that 
attempted to start a barbed wire manufactory in 
this city. In 1872 he bought a half-interest in a 
tannery at Lincoln, located on the northwest corner 
of O and Twenty-fourth streets, and retained it 
until 1887, when he sold it at a good advance. 
Mr. Bickel is a time-honored resident of Otoe 
County, and in his useful career has gained the 
respect of the man}"^ who have had dealings with 
him, as he is always strictly just and honest in all 
his transactions, and no blot has ever been cast on 
his name. He is influential in public affairs, and 
has served two years as a member of the City 
Counpil. He affiliates with the Democratic party, 
although he was in early life a Whig. He is a 
member of Nebraska City Lodge No. 12, A. F. & 
A. M., and also of Frontier Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. 
F. He and his wife are members in high standing 
of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church. 



■*3 



A A 



"T"~T 



-&- 



H^ 



"ifJOHN FEERICHS. The finely cultivated 
farm of 210 acres which occupies a portion 
of section 24, McWilliams Precinct, has for 
(^^' the last eighteen years been under the man- 
agement of the subject of this sketch, and indicates 
in a most forcible manner his characteristic enter- 
prise and energy. He has built up a fine farm 
from an uncultivated tract of land, placing thereon 
neat and substantial buildings, and gradually add- 
ing the comforts and conveniences which have be- 
come indispensable to the well-being and satisfaction 
of the citizen of to-day, with his modernized ideas. 
A self-made man in the truest sense of the word, 
Mr. Freriehs has been the architect of his own fort- 
une, building up his property slowly but surely bj' 
the labor of his hands. 

Our subject was boin in Madison County, 111., 
-4* 



Nov. 31, 1857, and when a lad of thirteen years 
accompanied his parents to this State, which had 
but just emerged from a Territory. They located on 
a farm in McWilliams Precinct, tliis county, which 
is now the property of our subject. The father, 
Abraham Freriehs, was born and re.ared in Han- 
over, Germany, and was there married to Miss 
Gretje Ubben, a native of the same. They re- 
mained upon their native soil until after the birth 
of five children, and upon coming to the United 
States sojourned in Madison County, 111., for a 
period of thirteen years. John, of our sketch, was 
the 3'oungest of the family, and the onlj' one born 
on this side of the Atlantic. The father upon com- 
ing to Nebraska remained upon the homestead now 
occupied by our subject until his death, which took 
place Feb. 15, 1875, when he was sixty-five years 
old. He was a good man in the broadest sense of 
the term, honest and industrious, a man prompt to 
meet his obligations, and a member in good stand- 
ing of the Lutheran Church. After becoming a 
naturalized citizen he identified himself witii the 
Republican part}", of whose principles he was a warm 
supporter until the day of his death. The mother 
is still living, and resides with our subject. Their 
family consisted of five sons and one daughter; the 
latter is deceased; the sons are residing in this 
State. 

John Freriehs completed his education in this 
county, and after the death of his father continued 
on the homestead with his mother, assisting her in 
its management. He was married, Oct. 22, 1885, 
to Miss Mary L. Ritter, who was born in Bureau 
County, 111., Sept. 20, 1865. The wedding was 
celebrated at the hom6 of the bride in McWilliams 
Precinct. The parents of Mrs. P'rerichs v;(ire Rev. 
Josiah andjjCharlotta Ritter, who are still living on 
the farm where they settled when first coming to 
this count3^ The father has been a minister of the 
Lutheran Church for many years. The parental 
household included three children, who are all living 
in Nebraska. 

Mrs. Freriehs was quite joung when her parents 
came to Nebraska, and com])Ieted her education in 
the public schools of McWilliams Precinct. She 
remained with her parents until her marriage, and 
is now the mother of one child, Ljnlia S., who was 




Residence of John rRERicH5,5EC.24. M?WiLLiAtvi5 Precinct. 




Residence OF F Joe Sand, Sec 15 NebraskaCity Precinct 



>► m<^ - 



OTOE COUNTY. 



401 



T 



born Sept. 5. 1886. Like their parents before 
tliem, Mr. and Mrs. Frerichs are identifled with the 
Luthei-an Church, and Mr. F., politically, is a stanch 
Republican. He h.as held various minor offices, and 
is a man who inspires respect amongall who know 
him. The handsome lithographic view of his home- 
stead which will he found on an accomp,anying 
page illustrates the industry and energy which form 
the leading elements of his character. 



'RANK JOSEPH SAND occupies a promi- 
nent place among the young agriculturists 
of Otoe County who are active in sustaining 
and still further developing its great agricultural 
intei-ests. He is second to none in enterprise and 
practical abilit}', and he has a thorough knowledge 
of farming in all of its branches. The homestead 
on section 15, Nebraska City Precinct, that was once 
his father's, has descended to him ; a goodl}^ heritage, 
indeed, with its broad, highly cultivated fields, 
comprising 160 acres of exceedingly fertile land; 
its farm buildings, neat, substantial and conven- 
iently arranged ; and its many otlier valuable im- 
provements, which makes it one of the finest farms 
for many miles around; 

The father of our subject, Joseph Sand, was a 
pioneer first of Missouri, and later of Nebraska, in 
each case doing his share to promote the growth of 
the county in which he located. He was a German 
bj' birth and breeding, born in Bavaria, March 9, 
1811. He early learned the trade of blacksmith in 
the Fatherland, and coming to America about 1838, 
worked at his trade in various States. He finally 
settled in Atchison County, Mo., about 1840, and 
was a pioneer of that section of the country. He 
entered a tract of Government land, on which he 
immediately erected two log cabins, one for a dwell- 
ing and the other for a smith}', wherein he plied 
his calling, and, as opportunity offered, worked on 
his land. In 1860 he rented his place and came to 
Nebraska, then a Territory, and located in Otoe 
Countj', where he bought 1 60 acres of land on sec- 
tion 22 of Four Mile Precinct, of which thirty 
acres broken and a log house constituted the im- | 

4* 



provements. He lived there one year, and then 
bought 160 acres on section 15 of Nebraska City 
Precinct, which is the place now occupied liy our 
subject. It is beautifully situated two miles from 
the court-house in Nebraska City. There was a 
small frame house and a log stable on the place 
then, and about fifty acres of the land were im- 
proved. Mr. Sand was much interested in fruit 
growing, and devoted a great deal of his time to 
that branch of agriculture, planting quite a large 
vineyard and fine apple, pear and peach orchards. 
He erected frame stables, and commenced the erec- 
tion of a commodious brick house which our sub- 
ject completed. He was very successful iu his 
ventures, and accumulated a fine property. His 
death, June 5, 1882, was a severe blow to the indus- 
trial interests of the community, as he was a man of 
rare sagacitj' and sound judgment, a hard worker, 
and one whose reputation as a good citizen, a kind 
husband and a wise father was of the best. The 
maiden name of his wife was Mary Anna Bach, and 
she was also a native of Bavaria. She died in 1862. 
The following is the record of the five children 
born to them : Anthony died at the age of thirteen 
j-ears; Theresa married Emile Zimmerer, and died 
in her thirty-fourth year; Frank J., our subject; 
Fridoline is now a resident of Germany; Philomena 
married John Zimmerer, and resides at Seward, 
Neb. 

The subject of this sketch received his early edu- 
cation in the public schools of OtoeCount^'. When 
he was twelve years old he went to Germany with 
his father to complete his education, and after 
studying there four years he returned to Nebraska 
and assisted his father on the farm, and when the 
latter fell sick the entire charge of the homestead 
fell to him. He now owns and occupies the old 
place, which under his able management is still kept 
up to the high standard of cultivation that it had 
attained under his father's care. 

Mr. Sand was married. May 5, 1884, to Miss 
Rosina Wirth. She is a native of Atchison County, 
Mo., and a daughter of Anton and Walburga Wirth 
natives of Bavaria. The union of our subject and 
his wife has been blessed to them by the birth of 
three children — Mary, Johnnie and Helena. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sand are devoted members of the Bene- 



•r^^ 



|i 40-2 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



•► 



1 ' 



dictine Catholic Church, •and they carr^' their relig- 
ion into their dail}' lives. Mr. Sand is an intelligent, 
well-informed man, inheriting from his father the 
highest principles of honesty, industry, sobriety 
and truthfulness, and he acts well his part as a citi- 
zen, as a husband, as a father and as a neighbor, and 
is respected accordingly by all who know him. 
Politicall}', he is a stanch Democrat. We call the 
attention of our readers to the fine lithographic view 
of the handsome residence, surroundings and farm 
of Mr. Sand on an accompanying page. 



\f OSEPH F. WELCH. Upon the first intro- 
I ductiou to this gentleman one is impressed 
j with the fact that he is an Englishman by 
(^/' birth. He presents all the happy national 
traits of that people, and yet is so sufHciently and 
thoroughl}^ American that nothing objectionable 
can be found bj- the most critical patriot. He is at 
once popular and respected; his business is that of 
a manufacturer of store fronts, store and office 
fittings, moldings, sash, doors and blinds. He 
is also President of the Nebraska City Chair Manu- 
facturing Company. He was born on Charlotte 
street, Fitzroy Square, London. England, Feb. 25, 
1834. 

Our subject is the son of James and Harriet 
Welch. His father was b}'' occupation a 'plumber, 
but it was the misfortune of our subject to lose him 
by death when a very young child. His mother 
is also deceased. Our subject was the only child, 
and was brought up with an aunt, and did not go 
back to London until he was sixteen years of age. 

The educational advantages afforded Mr. Welch 
were comparatively few, and he began to work 
with his uncle, who was a builder; when he re- 
turned to London he was engaged as an improver 
and finisher. He continued working in the city for 
some time as a journe^nnan. and then went into 
business as a builder with a young man who was 
also a thorough mechanic, and carried on quite a 
large business, their pay-roll frequently' amounting 
to over S500 per week. 

During the period of his life in London our sub- 
ject was united in marriage with .Miss Elizalieth 



Baker. This \a.dy is the daughter of James and 
Elizabeth Baker, and was born in Worthing, Essex, 
England. Of this union five children were born 
in England prior to their journeying to the New 
World, which event transpired in 1870. Passing 
direct from New York to Nebraska City, the fam- 
il}' resided in that place until the Chicago fire; 
that event led our subject to that city, and he con- 
tinued working there and helping to rebuild it for 
the space of about one year, and then returned to 
Nebraska City, where he began his work as a 
builder and contractor. 

Mr. Welch is one who has grown up with the 
city, and has all the time kept himself to the front. 
He had about $1,000 when he first came from En- 
gland, which certainly' was a powerful lever to suc- 
cess, but there have been many disadvantages to be 
overcome, and losses to be sustained. He takes 
great pride in his sons, to whom he claims is 
largely due the prosperity that has attended him 
in this country, because they have, as he puts it, 
"stayed right by him in everything." In 1880 he 
started with a four-horse power engine in a small 
planing-mill business in Griggsport, and happily 
the business outgrew the capacity of the shop. 
Purchasing the ground upon which his property 
now stands, he built his present extensive factor^', 
and put in the plant in 1883. He put up the first 
building of the Blind Asylum in the Third Ward 
at Griggsport, that portion of Nebraska City lying 
on the hill in the northern part of the town. 

In 1880 Mr. Welch went into the lumber busi- 
ness, and is now engaged quite extensively and 
prosperously. The Nebraslca City Chair Factory, 
of which company, as above mentioned, he is Presi- 
dent, is one of the earliest enterprises of the city, 
and has from the first been assured of success with 
such a moving and controlling spirit as our sub- 
ject. It is now one of the important industries, 
and its shipments are quite large. 

The family of our subject has included five chil- 
dren, viz: Elizabeth C, who died in P^ngland; 
Frederick William, James, Emily J., and Ellen, who 
died in this State; all were born in England. Mr. 
AVeleh has from the first been thoroughly American 
in regard to matters of legislation and political econ- 
omy. He is not bound liy party lines or prefer- 



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ii^l-^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•i03 



ences, alwaj-s seeking to deposit his ballot in favor 
of such candidates as in his judgment will best 
serve the people. The same liberality marks his 
approach to religious questions, for he is not con- 
fined bj' lines of denominational demarkation. He 
is by no means an unbeliever in the Christian faith, 
but is large-souled and generous in his thoughts of 
others. 



<| I^ILLIAM R. GRAHAM, junior member of 
\\JiJi *'^^ ^'^'^ °^ Catron & Graham, millers at 
yf/%' AValnut Creek, is, with his partner, doing 
a lucrative business, and has the general manage- 
ment of the mill, which is situated in the eastern 
part of Nebraska City Precinct. It is an old and re- 
liable institution, well equipped with modern ma- 
chinery, and h.ns a capacity of 3,000 pounds per 
twelve hours. The mill under its present manage- 
ment does a large custom trade, and yields to its 
proprietors a handsome income. Mr. Graham has 
been connected with it for a period of four years, 
and has had a practical experience in the business 
for twenty-seven years. He was at one time con- 
nected with the Walnut Creek Roller Mills, which 
are well known and popular in the county. 

Prior to taking up his residence in Nebraska 
Mr. Graham was engaged in milling in Mills 
County, Iowa, for two j^ears, being connected with 
the Phoenix Mills, of Glenwood, and was for a pe- 
riod of six years connected with the Factorj^ville 
^lills, located on the Little Weeping Water, in Cass 
Count}'. A native of Amherst County, Va., he 
was born Jan. 26, 1846, and is the son of Joseph 
and Frances (Thora;is) Graham, who were also na- 
tives of the Old Dominion, the father a miller by 
trade, and the mother a lady of more than ordinary 
intelligence and good education. About 1883 they 
removed to East Tennessee, where they are now 
living, well advanced in years. They celebrated 
their golden wedding May 24, 1888, an occasion 
which called together a large number of warm 
friends and acquaintances. 

The parental famih' consisted of nine children, 
six of whom are living. William R. learned the 
miller's trade under the careful instruction of his 
father, and remained a member of the parental 



household until reaching his majority. He then 
set out on his own account, following his trade in 
his native State until coming to the AVest. He 
understands the business in all its details, and has 
been largely instrumental in building up the pres- 
ent business. 

Our subject was married in his native State, 
March 28, 1867, to Miss Betty A. Austin, who was 
born in Campbell County, Va., Nov. 16, 1846. The 
parents of Mrs. Graham were Thomas L. and Martha 
N. (Ward) Austin, who are still living, and now 
residents of Rock Creek Precinct, this county. A 
sketch of them will be found elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. Mrs. Graham was well reared and carefully 
educated in her native State, and lived with her 
parents until her marriage. Of this union there 
are no children. Mr. and Mrs. G. occup}^ a good 
position in social circles, and our subject is con- 
sidered one of the leading business men of the 
place. Politically, he votes the straight Demo- 
cratic ticket, and has built up for himself the rec- 
ord of an honest man and a good citizen. 

^ .^^ ^ 



<* I^ALLACE STEVENSON. The present bio- 
\^// graphical epitome presents the more sal- 
Vt^j lent features in the life of an ex-County 
Clerk of Otoe County, who, at the same time, was 
one of the very promising, progressive agricultur- 
ists of the county, and operates 480 acres of fine 
land situated in Russell Precinct, section 14. He 
is the son of Oliver and Maria (Sherwood) Steven- 
son. His father was born in Wa^'ne County, Pa., 
in 1808, and his mother in Sullivan County. N. Y. 
Their marriage was observed in Pennsylvania. 

The forefathers of this family were among the 
Brst Quakers who settled Burlington, West Jersey; 
there were three. brothers, Thomas, John and Will- 
iam, all of whom married the three daughters of Sam- 
uel Jennings, Governor of the Province, about the 
j'ear 1 680. The great-grandfather, Joseph Stevenson, 
a descendant of William Stevenson, moved from 
New Jersey to Wayne County, Pa., in 1796. The 
name of his son, the grandfather of our subject, was 
James Stevenson, and his son Oliver, the father of 
our subject, who represents the fifth generation of 



•^-ll^ 



*^h 



lii 404 



OTOE COUNTY. 




the family in tliis country, bore worthily a name 
that had been honorerl in other years. By occu- 
pation he was a miller, and his work was in Hones- 
dale. This mill burned in 1858, and the following 
year he removed to Brownsville, Neb., where they 
spent the winter. In the spring of 1 860 he went to 
Nebraska City, and there built a mill at the foot of 
Main street, and carried on business. As the years 
passed he grew more prosperous. He owns con- 
siderable property, chiefly situated in Nebraska 
City. For three years he filled with ability the 
office of .Sheriff of Wayne County, Pa., and was 
State Senator of Nebraska for one term, and three 
times was elected to fill the office of County Com- 
missioner. His politics are identical with those of 
the Democratic part^-, which ticket he accordingly 
votes. 

The subject of our sketch is one of four children 
born to his parents, viz: Henry (deceased), Gran- 
ville, Marietta and Wallace. He was born on the 
3d of April, 1853, in Wayne County, Pa., and was 
six years of age when his p.arents removed to Ne- 
braska. He staid in Nebraska City until he was 
about eighteen years of age. He was well and care- 
fully educated, bei ,g graduated from the common 
school, then taking a thorough course in the Presby- 
terian High School at Nebraska City. In 1871 he 
went to the State University at Lincoln, and took the 
scientific course, being graduated with the degree of 
B. S. in the class of '74. 

Mr. Stevenson taught school for one year after 
leaving college, and then began farming in Eussell 
Precinct on his present farm. The 480 acres which 
constitute his property, in connection with his father, 
is well kept and cultivated. Valuable improve- 
ments are found on every hand, and the value of 
the property is further enhanced by the flowing of 
Wolf Creek through it. 

On the 18th of January, 1888, near Burlington, 
Iowa, our subject was united in wedlock to Lucy 
Hurlbut, the daughter of of T. K. Hurlbut, who 
was born in Hartford, Conn. Her mother's maiden 
name was Jane Tweedy, and she was born in Massa- 
chusetts. Mrs. Stevenson is the third of nine chil- 
dren born to her parents. She was born in Des 
Moines County, Iowa, Jan. 15, 1857. She is a lady 
well eductated, and has taken a thorough course of 



music at the Oberlin College, Ohio, and from the 
time of her graduation until her marriage she was 
busilj' engaged in imparting instruction to others. 
The political relation of our subject is with the 
Democratic party, but his ability and character are 
recognized, and resulted in the election of 1883 
creating him County Clerk for the term of two 
years, and for six years he served as Director on 
the School Board of his school district. He is also 
one of the order of the Knights of Pythias, and as 
such is well received and much esteemed. 

■ 'l^i- 



<ifiOHN A. MILLIKEN is one of the practical, 
progressive and prosperous farmers of Rus- 
sell Precinct, where he operates 1 60 acres of 
(^{^' excellent land on section 16. His parents^ 
Alexander J. and Fann-y J. (Clark) Milliken, were 
natives of New York. Upon the paternal side of 
the family our subject is of Irish descent, while the 
ancestry of bis mother is Scottish. The father of our 
subject had a woolen manufacturing establishment 
in successful operation in Orange County, N. Y., 
but in the year 1840 he sold his business and plant 
and began farming. After reaching sixty-five ^^ears 
of age the father died in the year 1865. He had 
been an active member of the Republican party 
and took much interest in questions of public inter- 
est. The mother died in Orange County in 1876, 
aged sixty-three years. Both were ardent Episco- 
palians. They were the parents of five children, 
viz ; Anna and Margaret, both deceased ; Elizabeth, 
who resides in New York; James C, deceased, and 
our subject, John A. Alexander Milliken, the 
grandfather of our subject, was of Irish descent. 
He was born in 1760, and died in 1803, in Walden, 
N. Y. He served as a Captain in the War of 1812. 
The birthplace of Mr. Milliken was in the vicinity 
of Walden, Orange Co., N. Y., the event occur- 
ring on the 18th of Julj', 1842. The common 
schools supplied him with a foundation of educa- 
tion and mental training, but he continued his resi- 
dence at home until he attained his majority. In 
the year 1861, when the call was made for de- 
fenders of the Union, he enlisted in the 1 24th New 
York Infantry, serving in Company H, under Capt. 



.^h^: 



-^^In^ 



•►Hl^^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-9^ 



405 



Crist, the regiment being under command of Col. 
Ellis. He was mustered in at Goshen, N. Y., went 
to Washington and then into Virginia. At the bat- 
tle of Abington Heights he was injured by a bayo- 
net thrust in the right knee, and was laid up in the 
hospital at Washington for three weeks and was 
then discharged, owing to disability. Upon fully 
recovering he went into the woolen-mills, and con- 
tinued for nine years, and then made a change, go- 
ing into the manufacturing of knives, which hecon- 
tinued for about four years. 

In 1873 the subject of our sketch came to Ne- 
braska, journeying b}' rail to Nebraska Cit}'. He 
arrived on the 1st of March. He then went on 
to Russell and rented a farm, where he remained 
for one year. He then bought eighty acres of land 
and ran it upon his own account for a time. After- 
ward, renting his land, he went to Lincoln and sold 
ice for about a year. Owing to the loss caused bj" 
the grasshopper plague he was compelled to let his 
land revert back. He then rented land for about 
four years. At the end of that time he had re- 
covered his financial power and purchased his pres- 
ent property. He came to it when it was yet in an 
unimproved condition, and in beginning turned the 
first furrow upon the place. In the fields, farm 
buildings or dwelling may be seen at every turn 
improvements, arrangements and conveniences that 
indicate the enterprise and intelligence of the owner 
of the place. He is chiefly engaged in raising 
stock of various kinds, including cattle and hogs. 
He has also some nine head of horses of high-grade 
Norman stock. 

In Orange County, N. Y., on the 3d of May, 
1870, Mr. Milliken celebrated his marriage with 
Miss Angeline Houston, who is the daughter of 
Robert and Elena (Vandelyn) Houston. The father 
was a native of Ireland, and the mother of Dutch 
and Scotch descent. 'I he former came to America 
when about fifteen years old, and later became a 
prosperous farmer in New York, afterward enter- 
ing into mercantile pursuits, where he was likewise 
very successful financially. In 1874 he came to 
Russell Precinct in tliis county, and in 1880 bought 
eighty acres of land. In 1882 he went to Una- 
dilla. where he purchased a house, and there lived 
a retired life until his death, which occurred on the 



16th of June, 1888, he at the time being sixty- 
eight years of age. His widow is still living at Red 
Oak, N. Y., and is seventy-one years of age. This 
lady has been twice married. By her first marriage 
she is the mother of one child, Louisa Wilkins; by 
the second union, of six children, viz: Mary A., Sa- 
rah, Angeline, John, James (deceased) and Jane E. 

The wife of our subject was born in Bradford 
County, Pa., on the 20th of September, l!-'46. Slie 
obtained her education in the usual institutions and 
led an active life until her marriage. She presented 
her husband with four children, only two of whom 
survive, viz: Eleanor Frances and John Gerald. 
The deceased children were named James C. and 
Charles C. Mrs. Milliken is an earnest member of the 
United Brethren Church at Pleasant Hill, and has 
been connected with the society for thirteen years. 
She is a lady of good family, possessed of those 
graces and refinements that mark a noble woman. 
Her home speaks eloquently of her domestic pow- 
ers, and it is safe to say that she has given zest and 
tone to the life of our subject since the acquaint- 
ance began which has so happily resulted. 

If the subject of our sketch has anything outside 
his home that receives more thought, care and at- 
tention than another it is horses; using the word in 
its best sense we could almost say it is his hobbjr. 
He is the owner of some very fine creatures, and 
takes the greatest delight in caring for them. He 
is a man who has made his way in the world largely 
by his own exertions, energy and thrift, although 
since his marriage the mutual help of his faithful 
wife has done very much to this end. Both are 
highl}' esteemed in the community in which they 
reside. 

jF_^ G. CASSEL, a native of this county, and 
f/jij one of the oldest living white residents born 
/^W^ within its limits, has his home with his 
(^^ mother on the farm which was taken up by 
his father from the Government. He was horn 
Oct. 22, 1856, and is the son of Thomas and Mary 
(West) Cassel, who were natives of Ohio, the former 
born in Warren County and the latter in Cham- 
paign Count}'. 

Thomas Cassel accompanied his parents to In- 



^ 



•►Hf^ 



406 



OTOE COUNTY. 



diana when a boy, where he was reared to manhood, 
becoming familiar with farm pursuits. There also 
he was married to Miss AVest, and settled upon a 
tract of land in AVarren County. Five years later, 
in May ,1 856, the father oelieving he could do better 
west of the Mississippi, disposed of his Indiana 
homestead, and gathering together his family and 
personal effects set out for the Territory of Ne- 
braska. They located upon a quarter-section of 
land on the eastern line of this county, four miles 
northeast of which later grew up Nebraska City. 

The parents of our subject endured in common 
with the people around them the hardships and 
privations of pioneer life. They i)rought with 
them their two children, Emma and Louisa, the 
latter of whom died when a child two years of age. 
H. G., our subject, was born the same j'ear of their 
arrival here. The father, however, was not per- 
mitted to carry out the plans which he had cherished 
in regard to the building up of a homestead, as his 
death occurred two years later, April 19, 1858, 
when he was but thirtj' j'ears of age. 

The mother of our subject After the death of her 
husband moved back to Indiana, where she lived 
until our subject was a lad of flfteen years. In the 
meantime she h.ad been married to John Steely, who 
dieil in Indiana Feb. 11, 1883, leaving three chil- 
dren. Our subject at the age mentioned set out 
in life for himself practicall}', and coming back to 
Nebraska completed his education in the schools of 
Nebraska City. Since first coming to this State he 
made ten trips back and forth. In 1 884 he engaged 
in the hardware and implement business at Palmyra, 
in partnership with W. M. Thaler, and was thus 
occupied until January, 1888. He then disposed 
of his interest in the business to his partner, and in- 
vested his capital in his present homestead. His 
widowed mother makes her home with him. His 
two sisters are married and live in Indiana. The farm 
of our subject embraces 160 acres of land, occupying 
the southeast quarter of section 2, Palmyra Precinct. 
Although his residence here has been brief, it is 
apparent that he will in the near future be numbered 
among the skillful agriculturists of Southern Ne- 
braska. He is a young man of more than ordinary 
capacities, wide-awake, intelligent, and possessed of 
excellent judgment. A man prompt to meet his 



obligations, and of the strictest integrity, he has 
fully established himself in the esteem and confi- 
dence of his community. He cast his first Presi- 
dential vote for R. B. Haj'es, and is a stanch sup- 
porter of Republican principles. He still remains a 
bachelor, and in him his widowed mother finds her 
chief support and comfort. He gives his attention 
principally to general agriculture, although having 
a fair assortment of live stock, and his farm build- 
ings are fully adapted to all the purposes of rural 
life. 

By her second marriage the mother of our sub- 
ject has three children, namely : Richard H., Will- 
iam W. and Ella. The boys make their home with 
their mother, and the daughter is now the wife of 
W. J. Pierce, of Warren Count}', Ind. 

'jf^MIL REIBER, dealer in dry-goods, gentle- 
l^ men's furnishing goods and groceries, is 
iL-^j transacting a thriving business on Central 
avenue in the business portion of Nebraska City, 
and is regarded as one of its leading men. He is 
not only of excellent business capacities and sound 
judgment, but a man possessing a good education, 
and of great natural reflnment. A native of the 
Kingdom of Saxony, he was born near the city of 
Frankenhausen, Sept. 19, 1842, and in common 
with the children of his native Empire, began a 
thorough education, which, however, was interrupted 
while he was a little lad by the emigration of his 
parents to America. 

John F. C. and Mary Elizabeth Reiber, the parents 
of our subject, were of pure German ancestry, and 
the father a farmer by occupation, which he carried 
on in a skillful and intelligent manner, and while 
cultivating the soil allowed neither his own mind 
nor that of his children to run to waste. The 
household circle consisted of seven sons and one 
daughter, who were all born in the Fatherland, and 
in 1850 they all started for the United States. 
Soon after landing upon American soil they made 
their way to Washington County, Ohio, where the 
father became owner of fort}' acres of land, and 
wh'jre our subject was reared until a young man of 
twent}- years. The death of the mother took i)lace 



■•►-II 



»► II <• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



••► 



407 



at the homestead in Ohio in October, 1870. The 
father is also dead, having died in 1885 at our sub- 
ject's home; the other children are all dead. 

When twenty j-ears old our subject started out 
on his own account, purchasing a farm in Ohio, 
and the j-ear following was married, Feb. 1, 1862, 
to Miss Catherine, a sister of Hon. Paul Schminive, 
of Nebraska Citj', a sketch of whom will be found 
elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Reiber, like her 
husband, is a native of Germany, and was born in 
1843. She was a little girl eight years of age when 
her parents came to America, they settling first in 
the coal regions of Pennsylvania. Later they re- 
moved to Washington C'ountj', Ohio. 

Mr. and Mrs. Reiber began life together at their 
farm, but a year later, our subject not being satis- 
fied with the outlook, accepted a clerkship in a 
store at Marietta, Ohio, and was thus occupied two 
years. He then started in business for himself on a 
small scale at Marietta, having been left almost 
without means by the failure of the firm by which 
he had been emjjloj'ed. Fortunatel}', however, his 
farm lay within the oil regions spoken of, and in 
the midst of the great excitement of that time he 
disposed of it to good advantage before starting in 
business, and was thus placed upon a substantial 
footing. He devoted himself assiduouslj' to his 
business, but as a natural result his health suffered 
greatly, and he felt compelled to make a change of 
occupation and location. 

Mr. Reiber according!}', in the spring of 1 874, 
accompanied b} his wife and family, started on a 
pleasure trip for the West, with the intention of 
settling Somewhere in the region of the Mississippi 
in case he could find a desirable location. He was 
cordially welcomed to Nebraska City by his brother- 
in-law. and found after remaining here for a time 
that his health was perceptibly improving. In the 
meantime his agents had disposed of his business 
interests in Ohio, and everj"thing seemed favorable 
for his settlement in Nebraska Citj'. He was taken 
into partnership with Mr. Schminke in the milling 
business, and from that time has been making fine 
progress, being now numbered among the popular 
business men of the place, and forming no unim- 
portant factor in the development of its most im- 
^ ' portant interests. He has a beautiful home with 



an amiable wife and two intelligent children, J. W. 
and Clara M., both of whom remain at home with 
their parents. One daughter, Dorothea, died when 
four years and eight months old. 

In the latter part of 1887 Mr. Reiber abandoned 
milling and invested a portion of his capital in a 
stock of general merchandise. He has always made 
it a rule to pay cash for his goods, and can thus 
afford to dispose of them at a price which has re- 
sulted in an extended and constantly increasing 
patronage. He enters upon his second jear of 
business in Nebraska City with an increased capital, 
and with the vigor and energy' which can only be 
experienced by a successful and happily situated 
man. He was for a period of twelve years the 
partner of his esteemed brother-in-law, during 
which time he had charge of the business, while 
Mr. Schminke filled an important position under 
the Government. 

Mr. Reiber, politically, is an earnest Republican, 
has been Acting Mayor of the city and a Council- 
man for a number of 3'ears. He filled the office of 
Mayor after the death of Dr. N. B. Larsh, and was 
nominated for the regular election, but declined 
on account of his own pressing private interests. 
He is a [jrominent member of the I. O. O. F., hav- 
ing been through all the Chairs of his lodge, and is 
at present Past Commander of Frontier Lodge No. 
3. lie is also a K. of P., and offlciites as Treasurer. 



W)ILL1AM KUHN. The subject of this rec- 
ord occupies a leading position in the farm- 
ing communit}' of McWilliams Precinct, 
where he owns a fine estate on section 10. Al- 
though carrying on general agriculture to a consider- 
able extent, he is mostly interested in stock-raising. 
His homestead is 200 acres in extent, the larger 
pait of which has been brought to a good state of cul- 
tivation. The buildings are in keeping with the 
spirit of enterprise which is characteristic of the 
proprietor, being first-class in every respect. 

Mr. Kidin came to this county in the spring of 
1874, and located upon a tract of wild land from 
which he has eliminated the farm which to-da}' is 
the admired of all observers. He moved here from 



^h^ 



'^^ 



•►Hl^ 



408 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 



1 ' 

1- 



Page County, in the southwestern part of Iowa, 
where he had lived two years, and to which place 
lie had migrated from Martin County, Wis. In the 
Badger State he liad farmed and worlted in the lum- 
ber regions, settling there upon his emigration from 
the Fatherland, about 1853. He was born in Posen, 
Prussia, Jan. 2, 1828, and is the son of Christian 
and Mar^' (Ledenan) Kuhn, and his mother died 
when he was seventeen years of age. He accom- 
panied his father to the United Stales in 1853, 
bringing with him also his wife, Mrs. Rose (Krintza) 
Kuhn, and their two children. One of the latter 
died a few weeks later at Michigan City, Ind. 
They were obliged to leave the remains of the little 
one in the cemetery at that place, and with sore 
hearts pursued their onward journe3'. They settled 
in Martin County, Wis., and there the father died 
in 1869, at the age of seventy-six years. 

To our subject and his wife there were born six 
more children after they became citizens of the 
United States, and they now have seven living. 
The eldest daughter, Augusta, is the wife of Claus 
Peterson, a well-to-do farmer of Hendricks Precinct, 
this county ; Charlotte is the widow of Jacob Ha- 
berue, and lives in the city of Lincoln; John is 
married and living on a farm in McWilliams Pre- 
cinct; Frederick, also farming in this precinct, mar- 
ried Miss Katie Schudler; Bertha, Daniel and Jidia 
are at home with their parents, and all are members 
of the Evangelical Church. Mr. Kuhn cast his first 
Presidential vote for Horatio Seymour, but exer- 
cises the right of a free American citizen, being 
independent and supporting the men whom he con- 
siders best qualified for office. 



■t£££/tt^^ 



^1^4— ^^-S<?2r<j»v. 



IjT^OBERT C. FERGUSON has for the last 

Ij^jf fourteen years occupied a snug homestead 

/LW, of eighty acres on section 20, Wyoming 

\^ Precinct, and is the owner of 160 acres in 

its vicinity. He has been a resident of Nebraska 

for a [jcriod of twenty years, having crossed the 

Mississippi in the spring of 1869. In addition to 

general farming he has been very successful as a 

-«• • 



stock-raiser, and, as a prominent man in his com- 
munity, represents a goodly proportion of its real 
estate, and has made for himself a good record as a 
citizen. 

Erie County, N. Y., was the early tramping 
ground of our subject, where his birth took place 
Jan. 4, 1851, under the modest roo/ of his parents, 
William and Agnes (Crystal) Ferguson, who are 
natives of Scotland, and born near the city of Glas- 
gow. The}' were of pure Scotch ancestry, which 
the}' traced back several generations, and which 
they look upon with pardonable pride. The par- 
ents each came' to the United States early in life. 
They were then the parents of four children, and set- 
tled at once in Erie County, N.Y., where the father 
established himself upon a tract of land, and made a 
comfortable living for his family until the spring 
of 1869. They then all came to Nebraska, locating 
in Wyoming Precinct, where the death of the father 
took place in 1876, at the age of sixty-nine 3-ears. 
William Ferguson was a good man in the broadest 
sense of the term, being kind, charitable and hos- 
pitable, and assisting those around him whenever 
opportunity afforded. He became the center of a 
large circle of warm friends, and is always spoken 
of as one of the best citizens ever coming into Otoe 
County. 

From New York State the famil}' went to Guern- 
sey County, Ohio, and there the death of the 
mother took place when she was fifty-two years 
old. She was a woman remarkal)le in some re- 
spects, being more than ordinarily attached to her 
family, and rearing her children in the most careful 
and conscientious manner. She, with her husband, 
was a devoted member of the Presbj'terian Church, 
in the doctrines of which they had been reared in 
their native Scotland. 

Robert C. Ferguson, our subject, was the first 
child of his parents born in this country. Of the 
parental family five children are yet living, four 
sons and one daughter. Robert continued a mem- 
ber of the parental household, and soon after reach- 
ing his majority began farming on his own account, 
and was quite successful from the start. He has 
performed creditably all the duties of life with one 
exception, namely, that he still clings to single 
blessedness, making his home with his sister Lizzie, 



^U 





1 





Hl-*- 



OrOE COUNTY. 



411 '^ 



also unmarried, a very intelligent lafl3' of most es- 
timable qualities and a good housekeeper. Both 
are members of the Presbyterian Church, like their 
honored parents. 



'^OIIN McCarthy, deceased. The Mc- 
Carthy homestead, which is located in the 
northeastern part of W3'oming Precinct, 
and which was built up by the su-bject of 
this sketch, now deceased, stands prominently among 
the other farms of note in this count}- as the monu- 
ment erected bj' the hand of perseverance and in- 
dustry, the result of the labors of a self-raa<le man. 
Mr. McCarthy began life dependent upon his own 
resources, and his labors, continued for a series of 
years, met with their legitimate reward. He left at 
his death, which occurred Feb. 3, 1888, a v.Tluable 
estate, embracing 600 .acres of land in this county, 
and eight}' acres in Cass County. The ])lace where 
he made his home is provided with suitable farm 
buildings, the improved modern niachiner}' neces- 
sary for successful agriculture, a goodly assortment 
of live stock, and all the other comforts and con- 
veniences of the modern countrj' estate. 

Mr. McCarthy came to this county' as earlj- as 
1857, and iu 18G4 took possession of the land which 
constituted his homestead, and where he spent the 
remainder of his life. It was then an unbroken 
stretch of prairie, upon which there had been no 
attempt at improvement. Mr. McCarthy worked 
earl}' an<l late, through storm and sunshine, for many 
3'ears, keeping steadil}' in view his purpose of 
acquiring a comfortiible property for his family, 
combining general farming with stock-raising, and 
iu due time realized the reward of his labors. He 
brought the greater portion of his land to a good 
state of cultivation, and around the dwelling planted 
shade trees and shrubberj', an apple orchard and 
trees of the smaller fruits, and gathered together 
those little comforts which have so much to do with 
the happiness of a household. 

Our subject was horn in the county of Leeds, 
Province of Ontario. Canada, Jan. 5, 1831, the home 



-^^ 



of his parents being at that time in Elizalieth Town- 
ship. He came of pure Irish ancestr}'. His father, 
Florence McCarthy, was born in the city of Cork, 
Ireland, in 1798, of a family of high standing, and 
w.as educated for the priesthood. He possessed 
more than ordinary intelligence, but declining holy 
orders, emigrated when a young man to Canada, 
and for twentj'-six years thereafter was a teacher in 
the schools of Leeds. There .also he w.as married, 
March 30, 1830, to Miss Elizabeth Moore, a highly 
intelligent and religious lady, and spent the re- 
maider of his days in Canada, having purchased a 
farm in Kitley Township, where his death occurred 
March 25, 1862. He departed considerably from 
his early religious teachings, having united with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church some 3'ears before his 
death. 

In 18G7, five years after the death of her hus- 
band, the mother of our subject came to the United 
St.ates, joining her children at Ames, Story Co., 
Iowa, where, twenty j'ears later, her death took 
place, July 12, 1887. She was a lady of deep piety, 
active and intelligent, and, like her husband, exer- 
cised a great influence upon those around her, and 
one which was always for good. The parental family 
included nine children, five of whom are living. 

Mr. McCarthy was the second child of his parents, 
and was reared in his native county, where he re- 
ceived a common-school education. Before attain- 
ing his majority he set out to earn his own living, 
and not long afterward, about 1848, crossed over 
into the States, and traveled over a considerable 
part of New England. Finally turning his steps 
westward, he purchased land near Marshalltown, in 
Story County', Iowa, but earl}' in the sixties made 
his wa\' to Nebraska, of which he was afterward a 
resident until his death. 

Mr. McC.artli}', in 1864, with his own team, 
started from Nebraska City on a freighting trip 
across the plains to Denver; that business in those 
days proved to be vary profitable. He continued 
to add team after team until he owned a train of 
seven teams. He made his last trip in 1866, ac- 
companied by his wife. They started from Ne- 
braska Citj' May 24, 1866; two wagons were drawn 
by six mules e.ach, the other teams b}' oxen. On 
the return trip Mrs. McCarthy drove a team of six 



•►Hl^ 



412 



OTOE COUNTY. 



1 ' tW( 



raules, and as she says paid her way coming back. 
Tlie trip to her was a very pleasant one, and she 
refers to it as one of the pleasant summers of her 
life. They returned landing .at home August 13. In 
these business ventures Mr. McCarthy accumulated 
what was practically his substantial start in life, 
which enabled him to purchase the broad acres 
which he has left to his wife and children. 

Mr. McCarthy not long after coming to this 
county, and finding himself on the road to pros- 
perity, evidently able ^to earn a living and more, 
took unto himself a wife and helpmate, Miss Emma 
Grosjohn, to whom he was married March 4, 1866. 
This lady was born on the banks of Wood River, 
in Madison County, 111., March 22, 1851, and is the 
daughter of Peter F. and Sophia (Perry) Grosjohn, 
who were natives of Switzerland, and of French and 
Swiss ancestry. Both had left their native country 
quite young in life, and coming to the United States 
with their parents settled in Madison County, 111., 
where they were ra.irried. The father first located 
upon a farm, but later engaged in merchandising at 
Cave Spring, that county, near Alton, 111. Finally, 
selling out, he came to Nebraska, and located in 
what was then the old town of Wyoming on the 
Missouri River, and which has seen its best days. 
There also he engaged in trade, and was Post- 
master for six years. Later he again resumed 
farming in Wyoming Precinct, and his death took 
place at the old homestead there, May 17, 1876, 
when he was sixty-two years old. He was a man 
of decided views, and politically, a stanch Demo- 
crat. The wife and mother is still living, making 
her home with her children, and is now sixty-eight 
years old. 

Mrs. McCarthy was but six years of age when 
she came with her parents to Nebraska, and she was 
educated in the schools of Wyoming Precinct. She 
is a very intelligent and capable lady, and since the 
death of her husband has managed the farm and 
the various interests connected with the estate in a 
most admirable manner. Of her marriage with our 
subject there were born ten children, two of whom 
died in infancy. The survivors are, Lycurgus F., 
Lola Montez, Annette, John E.,Percentia E., Flor- 
ence, Charles and Dolly E. The eldest of these is 
twenty-one years of age, and the youngest four. 



and they all remain with their mother at home, 
being given a good education and careful training. 
Mr. McCarthy, politically, was independent. 

In connection with this sketch we present the 
portraits of Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy. 



III RA P. CONGER. The city of Syracuse has 
11 come to the front chiefly by reason of its busi- 
il ness men and its surrounding agriculturists, 
among the most honored, enterprising and pros- 
perous of whom is the gentleman whose life is 
herein briefl}' sketched. Mr. Conger settled in Mc- 
Williams Precinct, Otoe County, in June, 1865. 
He is a native of Ohio, and was born in Huron 
County of that State upon the 10th of August, 1836, 
and is a son of Christian and Lj'dia (Westfall) 
Conger, who were natives respectively of Albany 
County, N. Y., and Essex County, N. J. The 
Conger family resided in the New England States 
for several generations, and James Conger, the 
grandfather of our subject, made his home for the 
greater part of his life in New York State, and at 
the time of his death was a resident of Cayuga 
County, N. Y. The familj' originally was French, 
and all the members thereof this side of the Atlantic 
are descendants from two brothers who came to 
America in an early day. 

The father of our subject followed as his chosen 
calling in life the pursuit of husbandry. He was 
married in Cayuga County, N. Y., and there settled, 
making it his home until 1831, when he removed to 
Ohio, and became one of the pioneers of Huron 
County, where he settled upon a tract of heavily 
timbered land. At that time its echoes had never 
been awakened by the woodman's ax and agricult- 
ure was an impossibility. In order to do this, 
however, he quickly began a clearing. He felled 
the trees, provided the material for the first house, 
and it was not long before the family were settled 
in comparativel3' comfortable quarters. He became 
the owner of 130 acres, and as soon as the farm was 
well established he provided a more substantial, 
commodious and pleasant home for his family, and 
erected good farm buildings for his stock, etc. In 
1863 the parents moved to Michigan, our subject 



u 



i 



OTOE COUNTY. 



413 



Jh 



accompanying them. There they settled in Cal- 
houn County, and there the father died in 1864, at 
the age of fifty-nine years. The mother of our 
subject survived her husband, and later removed to 
Nebraska, where she died on the 14th of November, 
1866, aged fifty-seven j^ears. She was the mother 
of two children, our subject and his brother James 
W., now a resident of Omaha, where he enjoys an 
extensive and profitable practice as a physician and 
surgeon. 

The subject of our sketch was reared upon the 
farm of his fatlier. The educational facilities of 
his youth were conspicuous by their inadequacy 
and inefficiency, and he was only able to obtain 
from such sources the rudiments of learning, but 
upon that foundation he has been careful to build 
a substantial and not inelegant superstructure, and 
takes his place now among the best informed on all 
practical subjects, and is by no means a stranger to 
those that are commonly supposed to be for the 
purposes of polish in education. At an early age 
his youthful strength was brought into requisi- 
tion upon the farm, where he first had experience 
in that department of labor. 

In the year 1859 Mr. Conger was married; the 
lady upon whom his clioice fell was Henrietta 
Place, the estimable daughter of Solomon and 
Abigal (Shiiw) Place. This lady was born in 
Huron County, Ohio, where her parents had been 
among the early pioneers. In 1863 Mr. and Mrs. 
Conger removed to ^Michigan, where our subject 
purchased a farm from his brother, who had com- 
menced the study of medicine. Two years later 
they came to Nebraska, and at first purchased 240 
acres of land and resided upon the same until 1879. 
During that time he effected many imi)rovements, 
and brought the greater part of the land to a very 
desirable condition from the agriculturist's stand- 
point. In 1879 this property was sold and his 
present farm purchased. This was done chiefly 
that his daughter might enjoy the advantages of 
the school. 

Mr. Conger now owns 160 acres of land adjoin- 
ing the city limits of Syracuse. This he has brought 
to a higli state of cultivation and has provided 
excellent farm buildings for the various require- 
ments. He is also the owner of a farm of 160 acres 



in Iowa, and also some property In Syracuse. All 
that he has been enabled to do in the advancement 
of the interests of himself and familj- generally has 
been uiion the same line as that of his education. 
There was no one to give him a start in life to any 
extent, and therefore he made his own; there was 
no one to help him along in life, and therefore he 
helped himself; and whatever he is to-day in finance, 
influence or otherwise, is the result of his own con- 
tinued earnest effort, in which he has ever been sus- 
tained and encouraged by the faithful companion 
of Ins life, wlio has at all times and under all cir- 
cumstances been a source of inspiration and help- 
fulness. 

Mr. and Mrs. Conger are the happy parents of 
one daughter, to whom has been given the name of 
Eda. In social circles our subject and wife are 
held in high regard and are always assured of a wel- 
come as a natural result. Mr. Conger is a member 
of the Masonic fraternit}', and is a member of both 
the Blue Lodge and Chapter. He is also one of the 
Knights of Honor, and is attached to the local assem- 
bly. In all questions of political economy he is one 
of the Democratic party, but at the same time at- 
taches much importance to the question of the 
candidate and his principles as well as the party to 
which he is attached, believing that it is but right 
that such men as will best serve the interests of tlie 
people should hold office, and consequently lends 
his influence to that end. 



/^ HARLES D. RICHARDSON and liis estima- 
[i ble wife, of Paluiyra Precinct, aie the only 

^^y members of a colony of Eastern people who 
located here in October, 1872. They had made 
the journey from M.assachusetts to Nebraska ac- 
companied b}' five other families, and bringing 
with them their two children. Tliis part of the 
county was at that time in an unsettled condition, 
and all the others becoming discouraged left for 
other parts. 

Our subject, however, determined to give Ne- 
braska a very thorough trial before turning his 
back upon it, and has since had reason to congratu- 
late himself on his decision. He battled with the 



<»■ 




•►HF^ 



414 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



difficulties and hardships of pioneer life, and in the 
course of a few j-ears began to reap his reward. 
He is now numbered among the most prosperous 
farmers and stock-raisers of this region, and his 
homestead is one of the most valuable in Palmyra 
Precinct. 

Mr. Eichardson was born in Lowell, Mass., Oct. 
4, 1841, and is the son of Dana and Emily (Sweet) 
Richardson, who were also of New England birth 
and parentage. The father was a farmer and real- 
estate dealer by occupation, and with his excellent 
wife sjjent his entire life in his native State, his death 
taking place about 1871, when he was sixty-two 
years of age. The mother had died in middle life 
at the age of forty-two. They were the parents-of 
seven children, three sons and four daughters, of 
whom Charles D. was the fourth in order of birth. 
Those surviving are residents of Massachusetts, 
New York, Mississippi and Nebraska. 

Our subject, reared upon a farm, was given a 
very good education, completing his studies in the 
academy at Andover. He was a young man of 
nineteen years at the outbreak of the late Civil War, 
and in November, 1861, enlisted in Company C, 
30th Massachusetts Infantry, going into Camp 
Chase for drill, and thence accompanying his regi- 
ment to the Gulf, being assigned to the Army of 
the Gulf. He first saw the smoke of battle at Fts. 
Jackson and St. Phillips, and afterward participated 
in many of the important battles of the war, namely : 
Plain Store, La., May 21, 1862; the sieges of Ft. 
Hudson and Forlorn Hope, and was at Cock's Plan- 
tation in July, 1863. On the 19th of September, 
1864, he was at Winchester, Va. ; he was also 
at Fisher's Hill. On the 19th of October oc- 
curred the battle of Cedar Creek, and our subject 
was afterward engaged in many other skirmishes, 
escaping unharmed. He remained with the army 
for some time after the close of the war, being ap- 
pointed Quartermaster Sergeant at Sumter, S. C, 
on the 1st of March, 1866. 

After receiving his honorable discharge at the 
close of his first term of enlistment, Mr. Richardson 
veteranized, Jan. 1, 1863, and remained in the 
army until July 5, 1860, when he was mustered out 
with the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant, after 
having given to his country his service of four 



years and eight months. Id the autumn following, 
having returned to his native town, he made the 
acquaintance of a ladj% Miss Sarah T. Whittier, to 
whom he was married Sept. 11, 1867. Mrs. Rich- 
ardson was at that time visiting at Lowell, Mass. 
She was born in Northlield. N. H.,Sept. 23, 1841, 
and is the daughter of Isaac and Fanny P. (Mc- 
Questen) Whittier. On the paternal side of the 
house she is a relative of the poet, John G. Whit- 
tier. Iler brothers and sisters were : Francis, 
Isaac N., Daniel B., William P., Lizzie M., Cur- 
tis C. and M. Woodbury. William P. and Curtis 
C. served during the late war in a New Hamp- 
shire regiment, and the former died at his brother's 
in Massachusetts. Her parents were natives of New 
Hampshire, and are now dead. The mother was 
an invalid for raanj- years, and her daughter Sarah 
was at an early age called upon to assume the man- 
agement of the household. She, however, acquired 
an excellent education, completing her studies in 
the college at Hilton in company with her sister. 
She also attended New Hampton Seminar}'. Her 
father, Mr. Whittier, was a merchant of thirty years' 
standing, carrying on business in Londonderry, 
Goffstown, Union Biidge and Northlield. In the 
latter place Mr. and Mrs. Richardson were married. 
Mr. Whittier was a very capable and intelligent 
man, and served as Justice of the Peace for many 
years. He died at Norlhfield in October, 1878, at 
the age of seventy-eight j'ears. The mother sur- 
vived her husband six j'ears, her death taking 
place at Lowell, in 1884, she being also seventj'- 
ejght years old. 

Mr. and Mrs. Richardson lived in New England 
five years after their marriage, and then came di- 
rectly to Nebraska. They are the parents of three 
children, Lilla Gertrude, Fannie May and Lizzie, 
the latter of whom was born in this State, and died 
when six weeks old. Their eldest daughter is the 
wife of S. S. English, a merchant at Eagle, and tlie 
mother of one child, a son, Charles Herbert. Fanny, 
an interesting girl of eighteen jears, is attending the 
college at Crete, Neb. 

Mr. Richardson votes the straight Republican 
ticket, and, with his excellent wife, is a member in 
good standing of the Congregational Church at 
Eagle. Both are active workers in the Sunday- 



■•►H^ 



•^f^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



415 



u 



school, anfl Mrs. R. is President of the Ladies' Aid 
Society. The latter has been especiall}' efficient in 
church matters, being a practical worker, and aiding 
greatl^^ in the furnishing of the building, the audi- 
ence room and the Sunday-school room. 

Mr. Richardson coramencpd at first principles in 
the building up of his homestead, there having 
been very little attempt at improvement on his 
land when he first became owner. Of late years 
he has given considerable attention to stock-feeding, 
and ships annually numbers of cattle and hogs. 
He is Past Commander of the G. A. R. Post, of 
Palmyra. He is also President of the New England 
Veteran Soldiers' and Sailors' Association, of Ne- 
braska. One of the most useful members of his 
eommunit}', he has naturally gathered about him a 
large circle of friends and acquaintances, is a man 
whose integrity- is unquestioned and whose word is 
considered as good as his bond. 

11-^ OX. WILLIAM P. BIRCIIFIELD is en- 
I j|] gaged in the grocery business in companj- 
'■^^ with his son in Nebraska City. He was one 
(!^ of the pioneers of 1854, and was an im- 
portant factor in the early development of Otoe 
County, taking an active part in public affairs, and 
it was through his wise and vigorous course while 
serving as Sheriff of the county, that law and order 
were maintained, and peaceful citizens were pro- 
tected in their rights in those Territorial days. He 
was at one time a member of tlie Territorial Legis- 
lature, and in him his constituency found an able 
representative, w^ho looked well after the interests 
of the county and State. 

Our subject was born July 4, 1824. in Franklin 
County, Mo., to Jolm and Rebecca (Hamilton) 
Birchfield. His mother was a native of Georgia, 
and a daughter of William Hamilton. She died in 
1837, leaving in the minds of her friends the mem- 
ory of a true woman, a faithful wife and a devoted 
mother. The father of our subject was, it is sup- 
posed, a native of Kentucky. He removed from 
that State to Illinois in its Territorial days, and 
after the War of 1812, in which he took an honora- 
ble jjart. he again made a move and penetrated to 



the wilds of Missouri and located in Franklin 
County. In 1833 he went to another part of the 
State, and became a pioneer of what is now known 
as Taney Countj-. He took up some timber land, 
entered it from the Government, and at the time of 
his death in 1844 had cleared a large tract. He 
was a man of enterprise and good judgment, and 
acquired an extensive propert3-. 

William Birchfield was nine years old when his 
parents went to Tane}- County to reside, and there 
he grew to manhood. There were no free schools, 
as they were conducted under the subscription 
plan, and in such a one he acquired a very good 
education, and taught two terms himself. His edu- 
cation and well-lvuown ability made him influential 
in public affairs, even before he had attained his 
majority. When he was twenty -one he was elected 
Assessor of Taney County, and for four years dis- 
charged the onerous duties of that office to the 
satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. He married at 
nineteen years of age, and his father gave him a 
tract of land, on which he erected a log house, and 
in that he and his 3'oung bride commenced house- 
keeping. The house had a puncheon floor, and as 
they moved into it before the chimnej^ was built, 
his wife did the cooldng over an imi)rovised fire- 
place outside for a time, and even after that he had 
no stove for some j'ears, as they were almost un- 
known in that part of the country at that time. 
His wife was an adept at spinning and weaving, 
and made all the cloth for herself and husband. 
In 1850 Mr. Birchfield sold his property in Taney 
County and moved to Holt County, Mo., where he 
lived until the spring of 1854, at which time he 
identified himself with the pioneers of this then 
Territory of Nebraska. He made a claim one and 
one-half miles southwest of the present site of Ne- 
braska City, which at that time contained only the 
log buildings of the abandoned fort of the Govern- 
ment, and the ferry house near the river, the first 
permanent habitation in the cit}'^ or county, built 
by John Boulware. The land was not then sur- 
veyed, as the Indian title to it had not been ex- 
tinguished. Mr. Birchfield built a log house on 
his claim, and had it read^- for occupancy on the 4th 
of July, and on the day following our National 
holiday he returned to Holt County, Mo., for his i r 



t* 



•► II ^»' 



41G 



:-i^i- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



familjs and on the 17th of Augiist arrived with 
them at his cabin, the farthest settlement from the 
city at the time, the removal being made with an 
ox-team. Indians were plentiful here then, and 
he made peace with them by paying the interpreter 
$10, with the agreement that his stock was to be 
protected from the raids of the savages, and that 
they should not beg from liim during the winter. 
Mr. Birchfield had but twenty-five cents left after 
his private treatj% but by industr3' and good man- 
agement he managed to keep the wolf from the 
door. In the fall of 1854 and the spring of 1855 
he broke forty acres of his land, and in the latter 
year sold his claim, as the land had not been 
thrown on the market, and moved into the city to 
live, having taken as part payment for his land a 
house and lot situated on the northwest corner of 
Eighth and Second Corso streets, and he soon after 
bought the land now occupied by the Government 
building. lie was elected Sheriff of the count}' in 
1855, and was twice re-elected, thus serving three 
full terms. In the fall of 1861 he was elected a 
member of the Territorial Council, or Legislature. 
In 1862 Mr. Birchfield returned to Holt County, 
Mo., where he spent the succeeding three years. He 
then returned to this city and opened an auction 
and commission store, which he managed very 
profitably until, on account of ill-health, he was 
obliged to retire from the business in 1880. He 
went to Burlington ^Medical Springs, in Nodaway 
Count}', Mo., to recuperate, and while there kept 
a hotel two years. He subsequently went to Holt 
County and engaged in the mercantile business 
for two years. At the expiration of that time we 
find him once again in Nebraska, this time in Ne- 
maha County, where he opened a museum of living 
curiosities, and traveled with that a year and a 
half. In 1887 he located once more in Nebraska 
City, and established himself in the grocery busi- 
ness with his son. The}' have a well-appointed, 
well-stocked store, and have already built up quite 
an extensive trade among a good class of customers. 
Mr. Birchfield has been three times married. In 
1843 he was united to Mary N. Bledsoe, a native 
of Indiana. She died Sept. 2, 1865, leaving three 
children: Sarah, wife of Thomas Dickinson, lives 
ill riiiladelpliia; .Tames lives in Johnson Countv, 



Neb.; Richard, who is in company with his f.ither. 
The second marriage of our subject, which took 
place in 1867, was to Mary J. (George) Cooksey. 
She died eleven months later. Mr. Birchfield was 
married to his present wife, formerly Miss Mar- 
garet McNamara, a native of Indiana, in 1868. Of 
this marriage one child, Pearlie, is living. 

Mr. Birchfield is a pleasant talker, and can 
tell many a good story illustrative of life on the 
frontier in the fifties. He was a great sportsman 
and keenly enjoyed the hunt, and in November, 
1855, he was out one day in search of game, and 
discovered an animal which he thought to be a wolf. 
He returned to the house for his dog and horse, in- 
tending to give it the chase. On his return he 
soon found that he had made a mistake, and had 
started a bear. He followed it out toward the 
open prairie, around the hills and bluffs, and back 
again into the heart of the city. A bear so near 
to the habitations of man was a novelty, and all 
the citizens in the. town turned out to join in the 
chase, and all the dogs in town went .after Mr. 
Bruin, but after getting one lick from his huge 
paw were glad to retreat. The animal was finally- 
treed near the cemetery, and all gathered around, 
and our subject was delegated to do the shooting. 
He fired and broke the bear's shoulder, which 
loosened his hold on the tree and he tumbled to the 
ground and rolled into a ravine, which was partly 
filled with water. There the two dogs that had not 
been frightened away tackled him. He soon got 
the better of one of the dogs, and was about to 
squeeze him to death, when the owner of the dog 
went to his rescue, jumping into the ravine with a 
spade in his hand. Thereupon the bear turned his 
attention to his human assailant, who in his ex- 
citement tried to climb the embankment backwards. 
Then the remaining dog made a vigorous attack 
from the rear, and the bear was soon rolled into 
the water and drowned. A council was then held 
to know what sliould be done with the bear, and it 
was decided that Mr. Birchfield should skin the 
animal and sell it, not letting any one have more 
than two pounds, so that each one shoiild have a 
share. He, however, distributed it gratuitously, 
and that was the last bear seen in this vicinity. 

Mr. l'.irch field relates that in the summer of 1855 



-^^ 



-■► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the surveyors encountered a band of Indians sev- 
eral miles west of the citv, and deeming them hos- 
tile, were frightened and returned to the river settle- 
ments for help. The whites turned out from the 
various settlements, our subject going with the 
Nebraska City force, and they wended their way 
to Salt Creek, where the Indians were encamped. 
They found the supposed bloodthirsty savages to 
be peaceably disposed, and the red men shared 
their provisions with their visitors, and thus the 
dreaded encounter was turned into a sort of a pic- 
nic, and the settlers returned without trouble. 



-i-^ 



1-^ 



^^EORGE LOCKIE, a well-to-do farmer of 
III g— Russell Precinct, owns 200 acres of land on 
^^5! section 4. He is of sturdy Scotch ancestry 
and parentage, and was himself born among the 
lowlands of Roxburj-shire, in June, 1829. He 
received his early education in the schools of Rox- 
buryshire Parish, and was trained by wise and sen- 
sible parents to those habits of honesty and industry 
which have served him well in all his later years. 

Mr. Lockie has seen much of life, and traveled 
long distances on old ocean, being a seeker of gold 
in the Australian mines six years. That period of 
his life was necessarily spent among a rough class 
of men, but he did not suffer himself to lose sight 
of the principles which had been taught him in his 
boyhood. His father was a miller by occupation, 
and George remained under the parental roof until 
tweut3--eight years of age, when he was seized with 
the Australian fever, and set out from Liverpool 
for Port Philip on the steamer "James Chancellor," 
in 1851. During a violent storm it was supposed 
the ship would go down with all on board, but the 
gallant vessel finally weathered the winds, and 
landed the crew safely at their destination, 103 
days from the time of starting. This was on the 
voyage to America. 

Our subject went at once into the mines, taking 
a claim for himself, and four years later returned 
to his native Scotland with quite a little fortune. 
Two and one-half years later, in 1861, he set sail 
for America on the same " Chancellor," and after 
being tossed about on a stormy sea for a period of 



five weeks, landed in New York City. Thence he 
emigrated to Delaware County, Ohio, where he 
operated on rented land for a period of seven years. 

In the summer of 1868 Mr. Lockie, accompanied 
by his family, set out overland with one team for 
the new State of Nebraska. He crossed the Missouri 
River on a flatboat, and, coming to Russell Pre- 
cinct, this county, homesteaded eighty acres of raw 
prairie. His first business was to put up a shelter 
for himself and family, and he then commenced 
breaking the soil and effecting the Jimprovements 
suggested by his necessities. Indue time he planted 
forest and fruit trees, and has now two fine groves 
and seven acres in an orchard of 100 bearing apple 
trees, besides the smaller fruits. His fields are 
separated by beautiful hedge fencing, and the land 
is supplied with running water. As soon as his 
means justified Mr. Lockie added 140 acres to his 
first purchase, this latter lying on sections 3 and 4. 
Of late j'ears he has turned his attention largely to 
stock-raising, and ships annually one or two car- 
loads oflcattle and swine. 

Mr. Lockie was married, June 4, 1861, in New 
York City, to Miss Barbara, daughter of James and 
Barbara (Oliver) Bast. Mrs. Lockie was born Jan. 
10, 1830, in Scotland, and, like her husband, is of 
excellent Scotch ancestry. Her parents were born 
in Roxburyshire, and her father was shepherd for a 
firm who did an extensive business in sheep. The 
father died in his native shire, the mother in Can- 
ada. There were only two children, both daugh- 
ters. Agnes, the j'ounger, is in Scotland. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Lockie there have been born 
six'sons and three daughters, namely : Agnes, James, 
Mary, George, Thomas; Barbara, who died when 
four years old ; John, Robert and William. Agnes 
is the wife of Thomas Burrell, a well-to-do farmer 
of Russell Precinct, and the mother of three chil- 
dren. The others are at home with their parents. 
Mr. and Mrs. L. are members in good standing of 
the Presbyterian Church, and our subject votes the 
straight Republican ticket. 

The parents of our subject, James and Mary 
(Wilkins) Lockie, were natives of Roxburyshire, 
Scotland, where they were reared and married. 
They spent their entire lives upon their native soil, 
and the father, •from the time of his early manhood) 



• > II 4* 



od, Y 



•►Hf^^^ 



418 



OTOE COUNTY. 



followeil milling until his death, which occurred 
when he was seventj'-seven years of age. The 
mother died at the age of seventj'-eight. Of 
their five children the record is as follows: Bettie 
resides in the city of Edinburgh; Isaballealso con- 
tinues in her native Scotland ; James, John and 
Joan came to America about 1880; the former is 
farming in Cass County, this State, and the latter 
fills the position of housekeeper. George, our sub- 
ject, was the j'oungest of the family. He has be- 
come thoroughly identified with the interests of 
his adopted country, and is a worthy representative 
of one of the best nationalities on the face of the 
globe. 



1 






OIIN II. MOHRMAN, of the little village Of 
Talmage, is prominently identified with its 
grain trade, having been buying and selling 
^^ at this point in the interests of O. T. Hul- 
burt some j-ears. He came to Talmage during the 
first inception of the village, six years ago, and 
first established himself in the farm implement 
trade, being the pioneer of this business here. He 
w.is thus occupied a number of years. 

Previous to his settlement in this part of Otoe 
County Mr. ISIohrman had been a resident of Ne- 
braska City, to which he had removed from Clay- 
ton County, Iowa. He had been a resident of the 
Hawkeye State for a period of twenty-five years. 
His bo3'hood days were spent in New Bremen, in the 
State of Ohio, he having been born in Auglaize 
County, Sept. 17, 1847. His father, John C. Mohr- 
man, was a native of the Province of Hanover, 
Germany, from which he emigrated early in life 
with his parents to the United States. They settled 
in Ohio, of which they were residents for a number 
of j^ears. The paternal grandfather, Herman Mohr- 
man, lived to become a resident of Iowa, and died 
in Clayton County when over ninet}' j^ears of age. 
His wife had died in Ohio when rijie in years. 

Tlie father of our subject was reared and married 
in Auglaize County, Ohio. His wife, who in her 
girlhood was Miss Rebecca Willenbruch, was also 
a native of Germany, and was brought by her par- 
ents to the United States when a little girl seven 
j-ears of .age. They settled near Ciucinn.ati, Ohio. 



where the}' lived a number of years, and where the 
father engaged in tlie mercantile business. Later 
they also removed to Auglaize Count}-, where the 
parents spent the remainder of their lives. After 
marriage the parents of our subject took up their 
residence in New Bremen. Auglaize County, where 
the father engaged in general merchandising until 
his removal to Iowa. In the Hawkeye State he 
commenced farming, and was thus occupied suc- 
cessfully for a number of years, at the expiration 
of which he once more changed his residence, this 
time to Nebraska City, this State, where he died in 
1879, at the age of sixty-five years. 

The father of our subject was a man of much 
force of character, a Lutheran in religious matters, 
and in politics a sound Republican. The mother 
is still living, and makes her home with her son 
Fernando, in Nebraska City; she is now fifty -eight 
j'ears old, and is also connected with the Lutheran 
Church. John H. was the second of their eight 
children, the parental household comprising three 
sons and five daughters. Seven of the children 
are still living, and with the exception of the 
youngest daughter are all married and settled in 
comfortable homes of their own. 

The education of our subject was completed in 
the common schools of Cla3fton, Iowa, where he 
arrived at man's estate and cast his first vote for 
Abraham Lincoln. He came to Nebraska a single 
man, and made the acquaintance of his future wife, 
Miss Mary A. Brown, in Nebraska Citj-, where they 
were married March 6, 1879. Mrs. Mohrman was 
born in Saline County, Mo., Feb. 28, 1854, whence 
she came with her father to the above-mentioned 
city. The latter, Strawther Brown, secured pos- 
session of a tract of land and established himself 
as a farmer near the city, where he is still living. His 
first wife, the mother of INIrs. Mohrman, died in 
Four Mile Precinct, this county, some years ago. 
Mr. Brown was subsequently married to Miss Mary 
Jeflferies, a native of this State, who is yet living. 

The education of Mrs. Mohrman was completed 
in the schools of Four Mile Precinct, and she re- 
mained a member of her father's household until 
her marriage. Of her union with our subject there 
have been born two children — Ada L. and a babe 
named Kenneth. The former is an interestinij 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



421 



little girl of eight j'e.irs, attending the village 
school in Talmage. 

Mr. IMohrman. politically, votes the straight Re- 
publican ticket. In religious matters he is a de- 
vout member of the Lutheran Church, and his wife 
of the Southern Methodist Church. He has been 
quite prominent in public affairs, serving as a mem- 
ber of the School Board and the City Council, and 
making himself useful as opportunity occurs in ad- 
vancing the social and moral status of the commu- 
nity. 



'f;'ESSE CAMPBELL. The subject of this 
I biography came to Nebraska Territory from 
I Moniteau County, Mo., in the fall of 1861, 
with his parents. Since that time he has 
been mostly a resident of this county, and is now 
proprietor of one of the best farms of Wyoming- 
Precinct, embracing 160 acres of land on sec- 
tion 6, while he also owns 120 acres in Liberty 
Precinct, Cass County. He has fair improvements, 
including a neat and substantial dwelling, together 
with a suitable barn and out-buildings, adapted to 
the storing of grain and the shelter of stock. 

Our subject, a native of Ohio, was born about 
twelve miles from Mt. Vernon, Knox County, 
]\Larch 6, 1848. His father, Robert Campbell, a 
native of Pennsylvania, was the descendant of an 
excellent old Scotch and German family, from 
whom he inherited those qualities of character es- 
sential to good citizenship and an upright life. He 
was reared to manhood in his native State, receiv- 
ing a common-school education and being employed 
mostly in farming pursuits. He took for his wife 
a lady of his own county. Miss Mary McClure, 
who was born and reared in Washington, the 
county seat of Washington County, Pa., and was 
of Irish descent. Her birth took place Feb. 1, 1813. 
Her parents lived and died in Washington County, 
Pa. Robert Campbell and wife after the birth of 
a part of their family removed from Pennsj^lva- 
nia to Ohio, where two more children were added 
to the household circle, our subject and his brother 
Robert. 

In August of 1854 the Campbell family, gather- 
ing together their household effects, the father 



having disposed of his property, started for the 
farther West, crossing the Mississippi and locating 
in Moniteau County, Mo., where eventually the 
father became owner of 220 acres, and where they 
lived for a period'of seven years. They were not 
satisfied, however, with their surroundings and the 
prospect for the future, and accordingly resolved 
to cast their lot with the people of Nebraska. The 
father became'possessor of another farm in Wj-o- 
ming Precinct, located on section 6, where he built 
up a good home, and where his death took place 
July 19, 1869, when he was fifty-nine years old. 
He was a very intelligent man, and a citizen held 
in high respect in his community. Politically, 
he had been a member of the Republican party 
since 1860, having voted for President Lincoln. 
The wife and mother is still living, making her 
home with her son Jesse, our subject. Although 
seventy-five years old she retains her faculties, 
mentally and physically, in a remarkable degree, 
and is able to tell many an interesting tale of pio- 
neer life across the Mississippi, as well as in Ohio. 

Jesse Campbell had only the advantages of a 
common-school education, but he is a man who has 
kept his eyes open to what is going on around him 
in the world, and is more than ordinarily intelligent 
and well informed. He is a reader and thinker, 
and keeps himself well posted upon current events 
by the perusal of instructive books and newspapers. 
With his excellent mother, he is a member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. By his f.ather he 
was naturally imbued with Republican principles, 
but his warm interest in the temperance cause has 
made of him a Prohibitionist. 

In this connection is shown a portrait of Mr. 
Campbell. 

JONATHAN R. SWALLEY. The subject 
of this biography is proprietor of one of the 
most beautiful farms in Otoe County, oc. 
cupying an elevated situation overlooking 
the Missouri River. It embraces 200 acres of 
highly cultivated land, upon which have been 
erected a handsome residence and other convenient 
farm buildings. Mr. Swalley settled here in June 



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422 



OTOE COUNTY. 



of 1868, and there is ample evidence of the industry 
and perseverance with which he has labored. He, 
however, settled in Nebraska City in April, 1855. 

Besides the property above mentioned our subject 
also owns valuable land in Syracuse Precinct. He 
came to Nebraska ten years before it was trans- 
formed from a Territory into a State, and when the 
land which he now occupies was but little removed 
from its primitive condition. He made the journey 
overland from his native State of Oiiiu, landing in 
this county on the 10th of April, 1855, and oper- 
ated on land in another part of the precinct two 
years before making his purchase. He was born in 
Crawford Count3', Ohio, Jan. 2, 1833, and is the 
second son and fourth child of Solomon and Eliza- 
beth (Miller) Swalley, both of vvhom were natives 
of Pennsylvania, and of substantial Dutch ancestry'. 
The father was a farmer b}' occupation, and after 
his marriage and the birth of three children, mi- 
grated with his little family to Crawford County, 
Ohio, where Jonathan R. was born not long after- 
ward. In due time eleven more children were 
added to the family circle, which eventually in- 
cluded six sons and nine daughters. Of these five 
sons and seven daughters are still living, and all 
have been married. 

Our subject was reared to manhood in the Buck- 
ej'e State, where he became familiar with agri- 
cultural pursuits and acquired a common-school 
education. In the meantime he learned the trade 
of carpenter, and thus, armed with a good trade 
and a knowledge of farming, crossed the Mississippi, 
and soon afterward began to carve out his fortune 
among the pioneers of Nebraska Territory. 

Mr. Swalley, after laj'ing the foundation for a 
future home and competence, was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Nancy J. Holmes, who was born 
in Howard County, Mo., Dec. 9, 1844. Mrs. Swalley 
is the daughter of George and Susan (Ethell) 
Holmes, natives of Boone County, Mo. Her father 
died when she was quite young, and she was taken 
into a good home in Davis County, Iowa, where 
she was reared to womanhood, and soon afterward 
came to Nebraska with her mother and stepfather. 
She is a very intelligent and capable lady. Of her 
union with our subject there were born three sons, 
two of whom are deceased, George E. and an infant 



.•-^h 



unnamed. The former was born Aug. 30, 1869, and 
died April 7, 1874. Herbert B. was born Nov. 29, 
1873, in Wyoming Precinct, and is now a promis- 
ing boy, making his home with his parents. 

Mr. Swalley is a Republican, politically, and is 
esteemed among his neighbors as a man wiiose word 
is considered as good as his bond. Quiet and un- 
obtrusive in his habits, he has never sought office, 
although keeping himself well posted upon current 
events, and encouraging the enterprises calculated 
to advance the people socially and financially. The 
Swalley homestead invariably attracts the attention 
of the traveler along the northern line of this county, 
being not only one of the most beautiful, but one 
of the most valuable in its precinct. Everything 
that the hand of industry could accomplisli and 
taste could suggest, has been done to fulfill the 
idea of the modern country' estate. A portrait of 
Mr. Swalley accompanies this sketch. 



^OHN H. TETEN, Sr., one of the most 
thrifty German farmers of Rock Creek Pre- 
^_^^ I cinct, has been for the last twenty-one years 
(^g/' successfully cultivating 160 acres of land on 
section 29. Here he established himself in the 
midst of an unbroken stretch of country, when his 
neighbors were few and far between, and when 
what is now a populous district of intelligent and 
enterprising people was then inhabited principally 
by wild animals and roamed over by Indians. 
Not only had Mr. Teten come to the wild West, 
but had journeyed across the ocean to a strange 
country, from his native Province of Hanover, in 
Germany, which was a Kingdom at the time of his 
birth, which occurred on the 15th of August, 1831. 

The father of our subject, John Henry Teten 
byname, accompanied the latter hither, and died six 
months after his arrival at the home of his son in 
Rock Creek Precinct. The mother, Mrs. Gesche 
Teten, had died in her native Germany. John 
H. was one of the younger members of the house- 
hold, and, like most of the children of Germany, re- 
ceived a thorough education. Upon reaching man- 
hood he was married to Miss Sophfe C. Ekhoff, also 
a native of Hanover, and who was born April 10, 

*^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



423 



1826. They came to the United States after the 
birth of five children, and after their arrival here 
one more child was added to the household 
circle. These children are all living: J. Henr}', 
Jr., married Miss Margareta Walken, who was born 
in Germany and came to the United States when a 
young woman, three years before her marriage. 
They have two children — John H. and an infant 
named Gerhard A. This son and his family live 
with our subject, and assist in the management of 
the farm. He is a very promising young man, 
fully as energetic and industrious as his father. 
John J. married Miss Barbara Orban, a lady of 
German birth and parentage, and is in the drug 
business in Nebraska Citj', and City Clerk; Herman 
is farming for himself in Otoe County; H.Chris- 
tina is the wife of Herman J. Neemann, who is en- 
gaged in farming in Russell Precinct; Talka M. and 
Anna Z. are at home with their parents. 

Our subject and his farail}' all belong to the Lu- 
theran Church, to the support of which they con- 
tribute cheerfully and liberallj% and in which Mr. 
T. is a leading member and one of its pillars. He 
is an earnest advocate of the principles of the Dem- 
ocratic party, and Vice President of the Democratic 
Club of Rock Creek Precinct. 



j^ APT. H. H. CIIILDS, who represents the 



[l( lumber trade in Talmage and Douglas, deal- 

^^^ ing largely in every variety required in 
every department of house building material, has 
been identified with the business interests of Tal- 
mage since its foundation in 1882. He is a suc- 
cessful business man, and a much valued citizen. 
He first carried on the yards established by W. H. 
Hassett, of Tecumseh, for seven months, and then 
continued the same for the successors of tliat gen- 
tleman, Stewart, Chute & Co., remaining with them 
until he purchased the yards and became sole pro- 
prietor. He threw himself into this business with 
his usual ardor, and consideraljly extended it, open- 
ing the yards at Douglas in order to meet his grow- 
ing trade. Latterly his business represents an 
annual total of $15,000. 

Prior to enafaginn; in the lumber business Mr. 



Childs had followed agricultural pursuits in Spring 
Creek Precinct, Johnson County, where he took 
up land in 1870, and until he came to this place 
continued to operate his farm, which comprised 
160 acres of fine, arable, fertile land. He first 
came to Nebraska in 1866, and lived about four- 
teen miles north of Lincoln, but after three yeai'S 
moved to Saline County, and ran a saw and grist 
mill quite close to where Crete now stands. In 
1869 he sold his interest in this, and moved to the 
above-mentioned farm. 

LTntil coming to Neijraska Capt. Childs had 
lived chiefly in AVisconsin since he was about ten 
years of age, at whicli time his parents removed 
from the township of Messina, St. Lawrence Co., 
N. Y., where he was born. He is a son of Elijah 
and Sabrina Childs, who gave him the best oppor- 
tunity possible to obtain an education, and were 
very careful to bring him up so that his life and 
character might end in a right direction. 

Our subject was living in Juneau County, Wis., 
upon the farm of his father, when the first call for 
300,000 troops was made by President Lincoln, in 
April, 1861. He at once presented himself, and be- 
came a private in Company A, 6th Wisconsin In- 
fantry, which became part of the Army of the 
Potomac, under the command of Gens. McClellan 
and McDowell. Our subject served at the second 
battle of Bull Run, but previous to the engage- 
ment he had been transferred to the 4th United 
States Light Artillery, and served in Company B. 
The 2d, 6th and 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana and 
24th Michigan Infantry comprised the "Iron Brig- 
ade" of the Army of the Potomac. He served in 
that battery at the battle of Rappahannock Sta- 
tion, Aug. 20, 22, and 23, 1862, at Warrington 
Springs on the 26th of August, at Gainesville on 
the 28th of August, Bull Run on the 29th and 
30th, and South Mountain on the 14th of Septem- 
ber; three days later he was wounded at the battle 
of Antietam, Md., by a gunshot wound through the 
right shoulder, and was in the hospital at Chester, 
Pa., after l3'ing upon the battle-field for ten days. 
He was discharged on the 7th of February, 1863, 
from the hospital on account of the wound hav- 
ing disabled him from further service at that time; 
therefore he returned to his home in Wisconsin. 



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424 



OTOE COUNTY. 



In the spring of 1864, being completely restored 
to health, our subject re-entered the army, join- 
ing Conapany E, 41st Wisconsin Infantry — in fact, 
he raised the company. He received the commis- 
sion of Captain at once from the Governor of the 
State, and then at the head of his company, and, 
of course, with his regiment, he went to tlie front. 
They served in the Army of the Cumberland, and 
were in the engagement at Memphis, Tenn., under 
General Commander Washburne, who opposed the 
Confederate forces under Forrest. After six months' 
fighting here and there, he was discharged on ac- 
count of the expiration of his term of enlistment, 
and returned with his company to Wisconsin in 
September, 1864. Feb. 20, 1865, he and a Mr. C. 
W. Farrington started to raise another company. 
This was effected within twenty days, and our sub- 
ject was commissioned Captain of the same. It was 
assigned to the 49th Regiment, under Col. Samuel 
Fellows, now of Chicago. The regiment became 
part of the Army of the West, and served chiefly 
on detached service and Provost Marshal duty at 
RoUa and St. Louis, Mo. Capt. Childs held the 
position of Assistant Provost Marshal while on 
duty at the former place, and was retained in St. 
Louis until February, 1866. During the latter 
month he was called to do duty on a court-martial 
and commission, of which Gen. Beverly, of Illi- 
nois, was the President. A commission was ap- 
pointed to try the boat burners of the Mississippi 
River, and was appointed l).y the Secretary of 
War. 

Shortly after his final severance from military 
service Capt. Childs came to this State, and has 
since been a resident almost continuously. He is 
one of the leading and valued citizens of this dis- 
trict, and an enthusiastic member of the G. A. R., 
and was attached to the Talmage Post. He has 
frequently been called upon to fill different offices, 
and is at present one of the Village Board of Tal- 
mage. Politically, he is a Prohibitionist, and is 
one of the energetic workers in the campaigns 
where special effort is desirable. 

Capt. Childs was married in St. Lawrence Count}% 
N. Y., to Miss Luthera Atwood, who was born at 
Massena, in that county, and was there brought up 
and educated. Subsequently- she became a teacher 



in the county, and otherwise identified with that 
place. Her father, Franklin Atwood, is still living 
there, and has reached an advanced age. Her 
mother died when Mrs. Childs was a little girl of 
about two years. Two children have been born to 
our subject, one of whom, Albert, died when three 
years of age; the other, Frank L., manages the 
Douglas department of his father's business, and 
in doing so evinces an ability most gratifying. He 
is well educated, having attended the State Uni- 
versit}', and also the State Normal School at Peru. 



-nnn — tuaC/S^g^ 



^fsgi^^f^Tr* ** 'w^ 



IhMi ARTIN BROWN. Germany, wiiich has 
given so many of her sons to the develop- 
ment of the western portion of this hemi- 
sphere, holds the birthplace of the subject 
of tliis sketch, where lie first opened his eyes to the 
light Sept. 9, 1832. His childhood home was in 
the little Kingdom of Wurtemberg, of which his 
parents, Joseph and Barbara (Seubert) Brown, were 
also natives, and where they spent their entire lives. 

The father of our suliject was twice married, hav- 
ing seven children b}- each union, and Martin was 
the third child of the first marriage. He was given 
good educational advantages, and served a regular 
apprenticeship as a stone cutter and mason. He was 
thirteen years old at the time of his mother's death, 
and shortly afterward was taken to the home of his 
maternal uncle, Michael Seubert, a contractor and 
builder, with whom he lived until attaining his 
majority. 

Young Brown becaiWB an expert in his calling, 
and as the emploj'e of his uncle -assisted in the erec- 
tion of many public buildings and important works 
in his native Empire. Among these was the bridge 
at Maknilel, and one extraordinarily large culvert 
in Italy bj' direction of the Italian Government. 
Soon after becoming his own man, however, our 
subject resolved to seek his fortune on the other 
side of the Atlantic. Accordingly, in March, 1853, 
hh boarded a sailing-vessel at Havre in company 
with an aunt, and five weeks later landed in New 
York City. Finding difficulty in procuring work 
at his trade he wisely accepted whatever else he 
could find to do, cniplo)'lng himself as a gardener 



^i- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



425 



and coaoliman, and thus wisely spending no idle 
time. 

After about one year thus occupied, Mr. Brown 
engaged as fireman on an ocean steamship, and 
during the voyages of two years thereafter, visited 
the principal ports of England and France, Africa, 
Cuba and Panama, and finallj- San Francisco, This 
proved a rich experience, which he has never re- 
gretted. When again becoming establislied on terra 
firma he began farming in Lee County, 111., which 
brought him up to about the time of the breaking 
out of the Civil War. Having become thoroughly 
identified with the interests of his adopted countr}-, 
and understanding the importance of an undivided 
Union, he enlisted in Company G, 8th Illinois Cav- 
alry, for three jears, or during the war. He was 
under the command of Gen. Sherman, and joined 
in the famous march to the sea. He had the satis- 
faction of witnessing the surrender of Lee at Ap- 
pomattox, and bears an honorable scar from a 
wound received in a sabre charge. He had a horse 
killed under him by the explosion of a shell, but 
aside from these hairbreadth escapes came out un- 
injured. He was present in the grand review at 
Washington, and mustered out there in July, 18C5. 

After returning from the arm3', Mr. Brown took 
up his residence in DeKalb County, 111., and engaged 
in farming. He was married in November, 1859, to 
Miss Martha Giffln, who was liorn in Pennsylvania 
in 1834. Her p.arents, Robert and Sarah (Osborn) 
Giffln, were natives respectively of England and 
Pennsjivania. The father was a cooper by trade, 
but met his death by drowning when comparatively 
a young man. The mother later took up her resi- 
dence in Perry County, Pa., and spent her last years 
in Petersburg, Pa. She was a widow at the time of 
her marriage with Mr. Giffln, liaving been married 
first to a Mr. Anderson, by whom she became the 
mother of two children. Of her marriage with Mr. 
Giffln there were also born two children — Martha 
L. and her brother Henry, older. 

Mrs. Brown when a young girl went to Illinois 
with her guardian, and lived in DeKalb County 
until her marriage with our subject. Of this union 
there were born six children, namely: Mary C, 
Sarah A. E., Clara B., Susannah M., Harry M. P. 
and Sherman. In the year 1867 Mr. and Mrs. 



Brown were visited by a terrible affliction in the 
loss of their three youngest children of dijjhtheria 
within a period of two weeks. The light seemed 
well-nigh shut out of their household, but they re- 
ceived the sympathies of many kind friends, and 
their affections have naturally twined closely around 
those remaining. The elder of these, Mary C, is 
now the wife of Lloyd Gibbens; Mr. G. is a well- 
to-do farmer of Nemaha Count3% Kan., and they 
have five children — Estella May, Henry Otis, Ethel, 
Charles and Martha. The other daughter, Sarah 
A. E., is the wife of William S. McCarthy, and 
they reside in Sandwich, 111.; Mr. McC. is a painter 
by tr.ade,and the}' are the parents of four children: 
Clarence B., who died when two years old; Jerdie, 
Ida and a babe unnamed. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brown settled 
on a farm in DeKalb County, 111., where our sub- 
ject operated as a tenant several years. Subse- 
quently he purchased land in Lee County, upon 
which he lived until 1878. then came to Nebraska. 
Here he has effected great improvements, having his 
land now under a fine state of cultivation, a tasteful 
and comfortable residence, a barn with good cattle 
sheds, and other structures necessary for his profit 
and convenience. He is a man prompt to meet his 
obligations, and held in the highest esteem b}' his 
fellow-citizens. 



Vip^^lCHOLAS A. DUFF, President of the First 
I /// National Bank, of Syracuse, and holding 
lV\fZL) the same position in relation to the Bank of 
Unadilla, is also senior member of the firm of N. A. 
Duff <fe Co., dealers in grain, and owning eleven 
elevators in as many different towns, embracing, 
with one exception, all the elevators in Otoe Count}'. 
Hi^ connection thus with the most important inter- 
ests of the county is sufflcient evidence of the 
enterprising character of the man, and his course 
has been that which has secured for him the esteem 
and confidence of all with whom he has had dealings. 
Mr. Duff is the pioneer grain merchant of Syra- 
cuse, having been established in business here as 
early as 1872. He was born near the little town of 
New Diggings, in LaFayeltc County, Wis., Sept. 9, 



•► II <• 



f 



^U. 



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t 



426 



OTOE COUNTY. 



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1852, and is the son of Christopher and Ann (Mc- 
Nult3') Duff, who were born and reared in County 
Dublin, Ireland. The father was a blacksmith b}' 
trade, and the parents emigrated to America after 
their marriage, settling in New Jersey about 1835. 
Thence they removed later to the Territory of Wis- 
consin, locating at New Diggings, where the father 
followed his trade until his death, which took place 
in 1854. The mother is still living, making her 
home with her son, our subject, in the city of 
S3'racuse. 

Six children comprised the family of the parents 
of our subject, three of whom grew to mature 
years, and are now living, the two besides our sub- 
ject being Michael E., a grain dealer of Nebraska 
City, and Christopher J., a stock commission mer- 
chant of Denver, Col. Nicholas A. was but two 
years old at the time of his father's death, and was 
reared by his mother, receiving a good education, 
and completing his studies in that weil-knovvn insti- 
tution, the College of Notre Dame, at South Bend, 
Ind. Upon leaving school, being then eighteen 
years old, he came to Nebraska City, this State, and 
engaged in the grain trade in company with W. 
A. Cotton, continuing here for two years. Mr. 
Dufif then began operating in Syracuse, putting uj) 
an elevator, and from time to time built elevators 
in other towns. The firm of Cotton, Duff & Co. 
continued for a period of fourteen years and until 
1886, at which date M. E. Duff succeeded Mr. Cot- 
ton, and the firm became Duff & Co., and thus 
continues. In 1882 Messrs. Cotton, Duff & Co. 
organized the Farmers' Bank, of Syracuse, and in 
the fall of 1883 reorganized under the National 
Banking Laws with a capital of $50,000, Mr. Duff 
being the principal stockholder. He was also at 
that time chosen President, a position which he has 
since occupied. 

Mr. Duff, in February, 1888, organized the Bank 
of Unadilla, with a capitalof ^25,000, of which N. 
A. Duff & Co. are the principal stockholders. Our 
subject is also a stockholder in the Farmers' and 
Merchants' Insurance Company in Lincoln, this 
State. He came empty-handed to Nebraska City, 
and his accumulations are the result of his own in- 
dustry, enterprise and good judgment. The firm of 
Cotton & Duff commenced operations on a capital 



of less than $1,000. Mr. Duff h.as wisely invested 
a jiortion of his surplus capital in farming lands 
and residence property in Syracuse. He has stu- 
diously avoided meddling in politics, and aside 
from casting his vote with the Democratic party, 
and discharging, unpaid, some of the duties of the 
local offices, takes little interest therein. He has 
served as President of the Village Board, and so- 
cially, is a member of the Knights of Honor. Genial 
and courteous, be is a general favorite in social aud 
business circles, and is one of those rare characters, 
a perfect gentleman, both in the home circle and 
among his business associates. 

Mr. Duff while a resident of Syracuse was united 
in marriage with Miss Mary, daughter of W. J. 
Armstrong, the wedding taking place May 21, 
1878. A sketch of her father will be found else- 
where in this volume. Of this union there are 
three children — Nora, Ralph aud Gertrude. 

flZ^ ERMAN NEEMANN. In Rock Creek Pre- 
iJljl) cinct there are few more thoroughly practi- 
i^^ cal and prosperous farmers and stock-raisers 
i^^ than the subject of this sketch. He owns a 
verj- fine and improved farm of 150 acres on sec- 
tion 30. This is the home farm; besides it he has 
one-sixth interest in 160 acres on section 31, that 
is not at present so well-improved, but is useful for 
his stock in its present condition. 

The subject of our sketch came to this district 
with the first settlers in 1859, and since that time 
has resided almost continuously on his present 
property, having entered his laud at that time, and 
progressing with his improvements. His residence 
is among the finest farm dwellings in the county, 
being constructed of the best brick obtainable, and 
not without some pretensions in the way of design. 
Of the farm proper it is only necessary to add that 
it is well cared for and highly cultivated, while his 
pastures and cattle sheds show at a glance the 
foundation of considerable wealth in prospect if all 
goes as well as is to be hoped. 

Mr. Neemann came to this place from Madison 
County, 111., where he had resided about a year; 
previous to that time his home was in his native 



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•^^hM- 



^ 



otop: county. 



427 



Fatherland. He was born in Hanover, Nov. 16, 
1833. His father it was liis misfortune to lose 
while he was but a lad. The name of this gentle- 
man was Albert Neemann, and almost until the time 
of his death, which occurred when he was seventy- 
two years of age, he continued to support himself 
and family as a farm laborer. He was a devout 
member of the German Lutheran Church, as was 
also his wife. 

The maiden name of the mother of our subject 
was Margret Berns. In the early months of her 
widowhood she came to the United States with her 
children, but only lived for about eighteen months 
after arriving in this county. Slie was then about 
sixty-two j'ears of age, and had been a lifelong 
member of the Lutheran Church. .She was in everj' 
sense of the word a wife and mother, and allowed 
no opportunity to pass without improving it that 
promised good for her family. 

Mr. Neemann is one of the younger of seven 
children who comprised the home circle. He was 
about twenty-five years of age when he came to the 
decision that he would come to this free land. AVhen 
he attained that age he, with his brother, Dick A. 
Neemann, came to this country to make a perma- 
neut home, which they did in the above precinct. 
This was in the year 1859. He was married here to 
Agdie Bruns. She was born in Hanover, Germany, 
and was twelve years of age when she came with 
her parents and settled in the above-mentioned 
district. Mrs. Neemann from that age was brought 
up in McWilliams Precinct until she came to 
womanhood, making her home with her parents. She 
has presented her husband with nine children, of 
whom her son Ockie died at the age of eleven years, 
but the remainder of the family are still living. 
These bear the following names: Mattie, Fannie R., 
Albert J., Hannah C, John G., George F., Lena W. 
and Henry C. 

Mr. and Mrs. Neemann and family are active 
members of the Lutheran Church, into which they 
were brought in early years. Our subject is one 
of the church Directors, a position he has held for 
five yeai'S. He has several times been calUed upon 
to hold several of the school offices, and is much 
interested in educational work. He has made it his 
business to understand the institutions of his 



adopted country, and gives no little thought to 
political matters, usually voting the Republican 
ticket. He is a man of fine reputation, and one of 
the capable and worth}' citizens of the district. 

^ .^^ ^ 



^^55)EORGE W. HAWKE has been a resident of 
ill (=, Nebraska City since 1862, and was for sev- 
^^^ eral 3'ears prominently identified with its 
mercantile interests. He is a native of the county 
of Carroll, Ohio, born one mile from the town of 
Malvern. He is of Irish ancestry, his grandfather, 
William Hawke, being a native of Ireland, as was 
also his father. The former was reared and mar- 
ried in the old countr}', and about 1811 came to 
America, with his family. He cast in his lot with 
the early pioneers of Stark County. Ohio, and there 
bought a tract of heavilj' timbered land, and cleared 
a good farm from the wilderness, where he dwelt 
the remainder of his daj-s. He was a man of re- 
marlcable vigor of both mind and body, and lived 
to the extreme old age of one hundred and two 
years, and up to within two weeks of his death was 
able to walk to town, two and one-half miles dis- 
tant. His wife was likewise a native of Ireland, 
and five of the children of their marriage grew to 
maturity, namely: William, Jane, Eliza, Robert 
and James. 

William, the father of our subject, was their 
eldest child, and he was born in Ireland, May 12, 
1799. He was twelve years of age when he accom- 
panied his parents to this countr}-, and he was 
reared on his father's homestead in Stark County, 
Ohio, and remained with his parents until his mar- 
riage with Eliza Jane Farra, who was born of 
Southern parentage Sept. 25, 1805. After his 
marriage he settled near the home farm across the 
line in Carroll County, where he bought a tract of 
timber land, on which he erected a log house, in 
which humlile abode the subject of our sketch was 
born. Mr. Ilawke cleared a farm, felling the tall 
old trees of the primeval forest which covered his 
land, and rolling the large logs together, that 
would now be very valuable, and burning them. 
The nearest market for grain and produce was at 
Wellsville, thirty-six miles distant, and Philadel- 



• » II <• 






428 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 






phia. Pa., was the market for live stock. There being 
uo railway at that earlj' day, horses, mules, cattle, 
hogs and sheep that the Ohio farmers raised were 
driven all the long way to that city. Mr. Hawke 
sold that farm in 1842, and moved to Holt County, 
Mo., going by team to Wellsville, and thence with 
his team and all on a boat down the Ohio and up the 
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Rubedeux Point, 
now St. Joseph, and there disembarked with his 
team, and he and his family proceeded to Holt 
Count}', of which he became a pioneer. He se- 
lected a suitable location, and entered the tract 
from the Government; his land was partly prairie, 
and the rest timber, bordering on the Missouri 
River. The nearest store or mill was at Rubedeux 
Point, which was a mere trading-post kept by a 
French Canadian for the purpose of bartering with 
the Indians, there being no white settlers there. 
In 1844 Mr. Rubedeux laid out the i^resent city of 
St. Joseph on the site of his post. There being no 
markets in that part of the country Mr. Hawke 
found it to be of little use to do much farming, so 
he left the farm work to his sons, and he turned 
his attention to his trade of brickmason. He built 
the first brick house ever erected in Kanesville, 
now Council Bluffs, Iowa, and was busily employed 
at his trade in different places. A few days after 
the arrival of the family in Missouri, and before 
the^r had scarcely had time to settle in their new 
home, the shadow of death fell over them, and 
Sept, 9, 1842, the devoted wife and tender mother, 
who had sickened on the journey, passed away 
from the scenes of earth. In 1846 Mr. Hawke es- 
tablished himself in the mercantile business in 
Kanesville, becoming one of the early merchants 
there. He continued as a merchant there, and at 
Hemmie's Landing until 1850, when he sold out, 
and started westward with a part}' bound for Cali- 
fornia. He engaged in the mercantile business at 
Jacksonville, that State, and continued there until 
his death, March 1, 1855. The following is the 
record of the eleven children, nine of whom grew 
to maturity, who were born to him and his wife: 
Robert was born Jan. 25, 1826, and died in Ne- 
braska City, May 2, 1887; Jacob F. was born Feb. 
16, 1829, and died in Nebraska City, Feb. 14, 1876; 
John was born Aug. 20, 1830, and died in Califor- 

-^•^ 



nia, Sept. 27, 1867; Hamilton was born Feb. 15, 
1832, went to California with his father, returned 
a few years after, went to California again in 1859, 
and was last heard from in 1862; Whiting was 
born Nov. 24, 1834, and died in Holt County, Mo., 
Feb. 14, 1856; Nancy was born July 25, 1835, 
married John Brusha, and now resides in Clay 
County, Neb.; George W., our subject, was born 
April 19, 1837; Mary was born Jan. 11, 1839, 
married Huston Nuckolls, and now lives in Crete, 
Neb.; Hannah was born Dec. 22, 1841, married 
William E. Dillon, and lives in Nebraska City. 

George W. Hawke was five years old when his 
parents moved to Missouri, and his mother dying 
a few days later, the care of himself and his young 
brothers and sisters fell on the older members of 
the family. In 1848 he and his three sisters were 
taken to Carroll County, Ohio, and there George 
and one of his sisters made their home with their 
uncle, Robert Hawke, and the other sisters with an 
aunt. He made the best of his opportunities to 
gain an education, attending the district school, 
two miles distant. While not in school he assisted 
on the farm until 1856, when he returned to Mis- 
souri, and engaged as a clerk in a general store at 
Hemmie's Landing. At the end of a year he left 
the store and came to Nebraska, which was then 
under Territorial Government, and took charge of 
his brother's store at St. Stephen's, Richardson 
County. He managed the store successfully for a 
year, and- in the spring of 1858 entered into part- 
nership with his brother Jacob, and opened a store 
at Rockport, Atchison Co., Mo., under the firm 
name of J. F. & G. W. Hawke. In the fall of 1859 
thej' moved their business to Glenwood, Mills Co., 
Iowa, where he resided until March, 1862. He 
established himself in the mercantile business here, 
and conducted it with great financial success until 
the 4th of March, 1872, when he sold out to his 
brother Robert. He then bought a tract of land 
in Wyoming Precinct, and turned his attention to 
the improvement of a farm. He still continued to 
reside in the city, however, and for the past few 
years has not been actively engaged in business, 
aside from looking after his private interests, until 
his brother Robert's death, when he was selected to 
settle the estate. 



-^^i-^ 



*>HI^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-I -2 9 



Jh 



To the good wife who presides over his liome, 
our subject was united iu marriage May 24, 1859. 
She was formerly Miss Susan, daughter of John L. 
]3ozier, a native of Kentucky, and a pioneer of 
Holt County, Mo., where she was born. Six chil- 
dren survive the union of our subject^ — Leone, 
Edna, Georgia, Farra, Nellie and Robert. Birdeau 
became the wife of A. B. Browne, and died Feb. 
24, 1888, leaving one daughter, Lillian. Mrs. 
Hawke and three of her daughters are valued mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are 
zealous workers in the cause of religion. Mr. 
Hawke takes a warm interest in everything per- 
taining to the welfare of his city or county. 
Politically, he is a Democrat, and is now Deputy 
Revenue Collector. He is well liked in this com- 
munity, and his neighbors find in him a true friend. 

^F_^^ON. GEORGE W. SROAT is distinguished 
(irjij as a pioneer of Nebraska, he being one of 
5^^ the early settlers of Nebraska City, of which 
(^J he is still an honored resident, and wo are 
pleased to be enabled to represent him in this Al- 
bum. He was born in Jefferson County. Ky., Aug. 
3, 1829, his father, Peter Sroat, having been a na- 
tive of the same county. His grandfather, also 
named Peter, was born in Pennsylvania, of Ger- 
man parentage, and removed from there to Ken- 
tucky previous to 1800, the removal being made by 
^ 'ay of the Ohio River on a flatboat. He landed 
a Louisville, whicli then comprised only three 
buildings, one of hewed logs and the other two of 
round logs. He did not tarry there, however, but 
pushed on into the depths of the primeval forests 
fourteen miles distant, and settled on Floyd's Fork 
of the Salt River, where he took up a tract of tim- 
ber land, adjoining the present site of Fishersville. 
He built up a log cabin in the woods and lived 
there with his family, clearing a good farm, and 
dying there, having rounded out a useful life of 
seventy-seven years. Bears, deer, and all other 
kinds of wild animals common to the country 
abounded in the forests near his home, and the sav- 
age Indians were numerous and ofttimes trouble- 
some. There were no markets in those days, and 



they were practically dependent on home supplies, 
raising all their provisions, generally using rye for 
coffee. Mr. Sroat raised flax and cotton and kept 
sheep, and his wife spun, wove, and made all the 
clothes for the famil3^ She was a woman of un- 
common energy and force of character, and was 
endowed with good nerves and a courageous spirit. 
She was an expert in the use of the rifle, and wlien 
over eighty years of age shot a wild turkey. She 
died on the old homestead in Kentucky at the re- 
markable old age of one hundred and one years. 
Her maiden name was Catherine Lethermann, and 
she was a native of Germany. Her father, the 
great-grandfather of our subject, came to America 
from Germany and settled in l\Laryland, and his 
was the first barber-shop opened in Hagerstown, the 
place where he resided. 

The father of our subject was reared in his na- 
tive county, learned the trade of millwright, and 
resided there until 1846. He then went to East 
Tennessee and located in Henry County, where he 
bought land and engaged in farming and stock- 
raising. He died in his new home about a year 
and a half after his removal, to it. He was a man 
of great worth, industrious in his habits, and was 
highly thought of by all who knew him. The 
m.aiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Conn, and 
she was born in Jefferson County, Ky., where her 
death afterward occurred about 1833. Her father, 
the grandfather of our subject, Edward Conn bj' 
name, was a native of Maryland, and an early set- 
tler of Jefferson County, Ky., where he improved 
a farm. 

George W. Sroat was reared in his native county 
until he was seventeen years old, when he accom- 
panied his father to Tennessee. He lived there 
three years, and then returned to his native State to 
learn the trades of plasterer and brick and stone 
mason. He resided in Kentuckj' until 1855, when 
the same bold, enterprising spirit that had made of 
his father and grandfather pioneers, determined 
him to seek the broad prairies of the then but little 
known Territory of Nebraska. Accordingl}', he 
traveled this way on the waters of the Ohio. Mis- 
sissippi and Missouri Rivers, there being no railroad 
west of the Mississippi River, and all transportation 
was done by water or with teams overland. He 



•►Hl^ 



t 



430 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-t 



located in Nebraska City, which at that time had a 
Ijopulation of less than fifty people, and tlie coun- 
try all around was in a rude, unsettled condition. 
The old block house built by the Government was 
still standing and occupied by the settlers, as was 
the Government Hospital, and there were but a 
few houses besides, and but one brick building. 
There were no villages in the interior of Nebraska 
at that time, although some venturesome settlers 
had taken up claims a mile and a half west of the 
city, and all the land was owned bj' the Govern- 
ment. Indians were much more plentiful than white 
people; deer, elks and antelopes abounded, and also 
a fevv bears, wild turkej'S and wolves were to be 
seen. 

Our subject relates that the first morning after 
his arrival here he was awakened about daybreak 
by the howling of wolves, and looking out of the 
window he counted twenty-eight wolves in front 
of where the court-house now stands. Mr. Sroat 
immediately took up a claim of land a mile and 
a half south of the city, built a log house thereon, 
and kept a bachelor's establishment throughout the 
following winter. In the spring he commenced to 
work at his trade as contractor and builder, and the 
growth of the city being quite rapid during the 
next few years, he did an extensive and profitable 
business; he being a master of his trade, his work 
was always in demand. In 1860 he abandoned the 
building business to deal in real estate, which he 
has conducted ever since, and he has thus in an- 
other manner contributed to the development of 
the city and its interests, and is numbered among 
its prominent citizens. 

Mr. Sroat has built up a commodious and com- 
fortable home, in which he has been greatly as- 
sisted by his estimable wife, to whom lie was united 
in marriage Oct. 21, 1861. Mrs. Sroat was formerly 
Miss Georgenia North, daughter of George and 
Maria E. North, natives of Ireland. Tlie marriage 
of Mr. and Mrs. Sroat has been blessed to them by 
the birth of nine children, namely: George N., 
Frederick (who died in infanc}'), Arthur (who died 
in infancy), Grace E., Paul H., Bertha, Irving, 
Edith and Alice C. 

Our subject has always been a firm adherent of 
the Democratic party, and he is influential in polit- 

<■ 



ical and public affairs, and has held some of the 
highest and most responsible offices in the county 
and city, discharging their onerous duties in such 
a manner as to reflect credit on himself and his 
constituency. In 1860 he was appointed Sheritf to 
fill a vacanej', aud in 1861 he was elected to that 
office, to which he was re-elected in 1863. After 
that he served as Deputy Sheriff for two j'ears. In 
1866 he was elected Representative to the Territo- 
rial Legislature, and served with great ability in that 
capacity for two sessions. His wide experience, 
trustworthiness and practical sagacity have ren- 
dered him an invaluable civic officer of tliis munici- 
pality, and he has been a member of the City Coun- 
cil, Justice of the Peace and City Marslial. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Sroat are influential members of the 
Baptist Church, in whose organization he zealously 
assisted, and he has served as Trustee and Deacon. 
Socially, Mv. Sroat is identified with the Western 
Star Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M. 



lUCEPHALUS WOLPH, a very intelligent 
and well-educated gentleman, and a gradu- 
ate from the classical department of Doane 
College, at Crete, finds his chief pleasure 
and pride in skillful agriculture, and is proprietor 
of one of the best stock farms along the banks of 
the Weeping Water. He is the son of one of the 
wealthiest men of Cass County, and has been given 
all the advantages incident to refined and culti- 
vated life. His home is presided over by a very 
estimable and amiable lady, who in the adornings 
of her dwelling and the management of her domestic 
affairs, has the true perception of those things wliich 
conduce to the comfort and happiness of the house- 
hold circle. 

The parental history of our subject is in tlie 
main as follows: His father, Hon. Henry C. AVolph, 
was born in Richland County, Ohio, and married 
Miss Esther Bevier, a native of the same. The pa- 
ternal grandfather emigrated to Ohio during its 
pioneer days, locating near Rome, where he carried 
on farming successfuU}', and spent his last years in 
Nebraska. The maternal great-grandparents traced 
their ancestry back to the French Huguenots, and 



■•►Hl^ 






OTOE COUNTY. 



431 



-t 



emigrated from their native P'rance to the United 
States, settling- in New York State, where they car- 
ried on agriculture successfully, and where they 
spent the remainder of their lives. 

The AVolph family is of German descent. The 
father of our subject left the Bucke^'e State in 1849, 
and journeyed overland to California, where he 
worked in the mines three years with good success, 
and then returned home, mailing the journe}- via 
the Panama route. Not long afterward he was 
taken ill, and, in addition to having lost an eye in 
California, suffered a long time, but finally par- 
tially regained his health. Air this time he had 
been unmarried, but after his wedding, which took 
place in Ohio, he went with his young wife im- 
mediately to Glenwood, Iowa, where he lived a 
year, and then removed to the vicinity of Mt. 
Ple-tsant. There he purchased 160 acres of land, 
upon which he labored two j'ears, and then took 
up his line of march to this county. 

In Berlin Precinct the father of our subject pur- 
chased 360 acres on section 2, which he imju-oved, 
and where he made his home for a period of twenty 
years. In the fall of 1874 he removed to Crete; 
he is now residing in Cass County, and has accu- 
mulated a fine property. His farm comprises 400 
acres of valuable land, and he is chiefly engaged in 
stock-raising. He served one term in the Nebraska 
Legislature before the Territorj- was made a State, 
and one afterward. In early manhood he identi- 
fied himself with the old Whig party, but upon its 
abandonment cordially endorsed Eepublican jirin- 
ciples. He is a man enterprising and public-spirited, 
and a member in good standing of the Congrega- 
tional Church at Eagle. He is now sixt^-fivej-ears 
of age, and the mother is the same. The parental 
family consisted of three children, who were named 
respectively: Our subject, Bucephalia and Sh.<ista. 
Our subject, a native of this State, was born in 
Mt. Peasant Township, Oct. 8, 1856. He was two 
years old when his parents came to this county, and 
his first recollections are of the log house on the un- 
cultivated prairie land. He lived at home with his 
parents until sixteen years of age, and then en- 
tered the college at Crete, from which he was 
graduated six years later, in 1878. He began teach- 
ing in Cass County, and sulisequently followed tliis 



profession at Nehawka for three years, and at 
Eagle for one j-ear. This confinement, however, 
was far from being conducive to his health, and he 
returned to the farm, working again with his father 
two years. 

In the spring of 1884 our subject purehaised 160 
acres of land in Cass County, and fort3' acres in 
Otoe. In 1886 he bought 320 acres of land, and 
in the summer of the year 1888 moved to his pres- 
ent place, in Berlin Precinct, which adjoins the 
latter. Here he has erected good buildings, and 
this land is amply watered by Sand Creek and the 
AVeeping Water. He has 1 70 acres of valuable tim- 
ber, and has iilanted an apple orchard with trees of 
the smaller fruits. The fields are enclosed with 
neat wire fencing, and the live stock comprises ex- 
cellent grades of cattle, Poland-China swine and 
good horses. In addition to what he raises 3Ir. 
Wolph is also engaged in the bujdng and feeding 
fif cattle, and ships numbers annually. 

The wife of our subject, to whom he was married 
April 2, 1884, at her home in Cass County, was 
formerly Miss Gertrude Sheldon. IMrs. AVolph was 
born in Nehawka, Neb., in July. 1861, and was 
given a thorough education, completing her studies 
in the State University, at Lincoln. She has con- 
siderable musical talent, and is quite proficient in 
the art. Of this union there have been born two 
children, daughters, Julia E. and Sl.abel E. ilr. 
Wolph is a member in good standing of the Con- 
gregational Church. Politically, he is a stanch Re- 
publican. Mrs. Wolph is the daughter of Lawson 
and Julia (Pollard) Sheldon, who were natives of 
Vermont, and are now residents of Cass County-. 
Her father is a farmer b}' occupation, and a man 
who by his thrift and indnstrj' has accumulated a 
fine property. 



^TpSDMUND E. WOOLSEY. This gentleman 
11^ is widelj' and favorably known throughout 
/ I' — ^ Wyoming Precinct and Otoe County, being 
one of the wealthiest men of this countj^ and one 
who has taken the lead among its agricultural in- 
terests. He is the owner of 2,000 acres of land in 
Otoe Countv. and is an extensive c.ittle raiser. 



•►Hl^ 



432 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^TC 



making a specialty of graded Durham stock, while 
he also is a breeder of Poland-China swine, and his 
stables contain some remarkably |;fine horses, mainly 
IIaml)letonians. The homestead lies on section 14, 
and in all its appointments is indicative of the cul- 
tivated tastes and ample means of the proprietor 
and his wife. The land has been brought to a high 
state of cultivation, and the farm buildings and 
machinery are of first-class description, erected 
after the most approved plan, and thoroughly 
adapted to the requirements of the scientific and 
progressive agriculturist. The residence, "Prairie 
Home," is built in modern style of architecture, and 
commands a fine view of the surrounding country, 
and a living stream aifords abundant water, being 
a never-failing branch of the Squaw Creek. Adja- 
cent to the building is an orchard of 400 bearing 
apple trees, and there ai-e varieties of. the smaller 
fruits in abundance, besides shade trees and shrub- 
bery, which add greatly to the value and beauty 
of the propertj'. 

Perhaps that in which Mr. Woolsey takes most 
pride is the stable of fine horses, at the head of which 
is Black Hawk Harry, who was raised by our sub- 
ject and is now ten years old. He has acquired a 
reputation as one of the most valuable roadsters 
and general purpose horses in this part of the 
county, and is kefrt at the homestead proper, which 
embraces 160 acres of choice land, and to which 
Mr. W. has naturally given the greater part of his 
time and attention. His lands are in Wyoming, 
Belmont and Delaware Precincts. He has been a 
resident of Wj'oming Precinct for a period of 
thirteen years, and to which he came in Februarj-, 
1876, from Cass Count}^ 

Edmund E. Woolsey was born in Ulster County, 
N. Y., March 16, 1834, and is the son of Elijah 
and Ruth (Hawkins) Woolse}'', who were natives 
of Orange County, that State. There they were 
reared and married, and took up their residence in 
Ulster County, where the father carried on farm- 
ing until his death, which occurred July 7, 1881, 
when he was seventy-three 3^ears old. He came 
from an excellent family, had been taught habits 
of industry, and was an industrious worker all his 
life. The mother is still living, and makes her 
home with a jounger daughter, Ida, INIrs. Dej'O, in 



Poughkeepsie, N. Y. She is now sevent3'-five years 
of age. Her father, Jonathan Hawkins, was a 
soldier and a patriot, doing good service in the 
War of 1812. He spent his last years in Orange 
County, N. Y. 

Our subject was reared to manhood on his 
father's farm, and acquired a common-school edu- 
cation. He came to the West a single man, cross- 
ing the Missouri in May, 1857, and settling in Cass 
Count}-, near Mt. Pleasant, in Rock Bluff Precinct, 
where he operated on rented land a year, harvest- 
ing his first crop in the summer of 1858. He 
finally pre-empted 160 acres, and soon bought 160 
more, it being the north half of section 34, Rock 
Bluflf, Cass County, upon which he resided until 
1876, and where he effected such improvements as 
enabled him to sell for the snug sum of $10,000. 
He then transferred his interest to this county, of 
which he has since been a resident. 

Mr. Woolsey after coming to this State made the 
acquaintance of Miss Helen AI. Tuxburj% to whom 
he was united in marriage in Nebraska City, Dec. 
9, 1867. INIrs. Woolsey was born near Windsor, 
Vt., April 15, 1838, and is thellaughter of Albert 
and Harriet (Gallup) Tuxbury, who were natives 
respectively of Vermont and New Hampshire, and 
who, leaving New England in June, 1854, first 
settled in Rock Island, 111., and several years later 
came to the Far West, locating in the eastern part 
of Otoe County, on the present site of Nebraska 
City, which was then a hamlet of but a few houses. 
The father after a time assumed the management 
of the Morton House, following the calling of 
'•mine host," to which he had been accustomed 
from early manhood. He was a very popular land- 
lord, and naturally made the acquaintance of a 
large number of travelers passing through the 
country, who, whenever possible, never failed to 
put up with him when stopping at this place. The 
mother died in Nebraska City, Oct. 20, 1875, when 
about seventy years of age. Mr. Tuxbury sur- 
vived his wife a few j^ears and died at the home of 
his daughter, Mrs. Woolsey, in Wyoming Precinct, 
Oct. 8, 1882. The parental family consisted of 
four cliildren, and Mrs. Woolsey is the only sur- 
vivor of the family. 

Mrs. Woolsey received a good education, com- 



-^^ 



h 



OTOE COUNTY. 



433 1 ) 



pleting her studies in the academy at Greenfield, 
Alass. Under the training of an excellent mother 
she became familiar with all household duties, and 
lilce the women of Scripture, looks carefully after 
the needs of her family. Of. her union with our 
subject there have been born five children, two of 
whom, Lewis E. and Charles B., died at the ages 
of three and ten years respectively. Little Lewis 
was drowned by falling head foremost into a bar- 
rel of water, being unable to extricate himself. 
Their eldest living son, Fred A., is a very intelli- 
gent and well-educated young man, having com- 
pleted his studies in Doane College at Crete. The 
two daughters, Ida and Harriet, bright and interest- 
ing girls, are at home with their parents. Mrs. 
AVoolsey is a devout member of the Episcopal 
Church, while our subject, politically, is a sound 
Republican. He has carefully avoided the respon- 
sibilities of office, preferring to give his time and 
attention to his extensive farming interests. He 
is a man of decided views, one who keeps himself 
well posted upon current events, and one whose 
o|)inion is held in universal respect. 



JOHN W. TANGEMAN. This gentleman is 
a member of the firm, well-known in busi- 
ness circles throughout the county, of Becker 
& Tangeman, doing business at Talmage, 
Mc Williams Precinct. They are handling all kinds 
of hard ware, both for farm, household, and other pur- 
poses, agricultural implements, etc. The firm was 
established in 1882, and succeeded the business 
house of T. E. Farnsworth. The trade is quite ex- 
tensive, and has grown to represent a business of 
about $60,000 annually. This year promises to go 
some thousand above that figure, for although their 
patrons are chiefly local, yet the territory drawn 
upon is very large. The reputation of the firm and 
their excellent stock .account for the large business 
done. 

Previous to engaging in his present business Mr. 
Tangeman followed agricultiu'al pursuits in Osage 
Precinct of this county for about one year. His 
residence in the county dates from the year 1868; 
the greater part of the time he made his resi- 



dence in that precinct with his father, John G. 
Tangeman, who was an extensive farmer, and our 
subject remained until he attained his m.ajority, 
wlien he started out for himself. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Clayton 
County, Iowa, Nov. 17, 1851. He is the second 
child of six born to his parents. His father was a 
native of Hanover, Germany, when ten years of 
age accompanying his parents to this country. They 
located in Auglaize County, Ohio, removing sub- 
sequently to CLayton County, Iowa. There they 
continued to live for about thirty years. There 
also are laid the scenes of youth and early manhood 
of Mr. Tangeman, Sr., and also that of his marriage ; 
his wife, like himself, was born in Hanover. She 
was but five years of age when her mother brought 
her to America, and their home was made in the city 
of Cincinnati. Her father died in Germany about 
three years prior to the emigration of his widow to 
this country. From Cincinnati the mother removed 
to Clayton County, her daughter of course accom- 
panying her. After about one year the mother 
died at her home, and later the daughter united her 
fortunes and life with that of our subject, as above 
mentioned. 

The parents of our subject are now living in Jen- 
nings, La., having gone South in the spring of 1888. 
They had been residents of Otoe County for eight- 
een years. The father had been interested in mill- 
ing and farming, and still owns an interest in the 
flouring-mill in McWilliams Precinct. He is, how- 
ever, retired from active participation in business 
affairs. In the Lutheran Church the father and 
mother are active and respected members, and have 
so continued throughout their lives. 

The subject of our sketch was educated in Blairs- 
town, Benton Co., Iowa, and received a thorough, 
serviceable, English education. He came to Ne- 
braska before he was of age, and married Miss Liz- 
zie O. Risser in Osage Precinct, Otoe County. This 
lady was born in Lee County, Iowa, on the 4th of 
December, 18.58. She is the daughter of David and 
Christina (Hubach) Risser, both of whom look to 
the Fatherland as the place of their nativity. 
There also they were brought ui), educated and 
married, but came to the United States almost im- 
mediately after that important and interesting in- 



*► II <• 



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••»- 



43-1 



OTOE COUNTY. 



cirlent. They also at first marie their home in Ohio, 
but removed thence to Lee County, Iowa, where 
they lived upon a farm until 1870, from there re- 
moving as a family to Osage Precinct in this county, 
where they have since continued to follow hus- 
bandry. They also are attached to the German Lu- 
theran Church, in which they were brought up. 

Mrs. Tangeman, the wife of our subject, was edu- 
cated after she came to this county. She is now 
the mother of two children, who have received the 
names of Elmer and P^lla. These are now receiv- 
ing instruction in the schools of Talmage, and with 
the additional advantages which are theirs in this 
direction, doubtless their future will be brightened 
by the roseate halo of successful life. Our subject 
and wife are members in good standing of the Lu- 
theran Church. Mr. T. indeed holds the office of 
Deacon, which he has filled since 1888. Politically, 
he is a Republican, and enjoys the confidence and 
esteem of his fellows and the community at large. 



(5*=^ RANK P. IRELAND. Among the lawyers 

PS> of Nebraska Mr. Ireland has a reputation 
that places him in the front rank. He is a 
member of a good family, justly esteemed, and 
takes laudable pride in the fact. The highest re- 
gard of which he is capable is given to his family and 
his profession. Everywhere he is much respected, 
and as a lawyer enjoys the well-nigh perfect confi- 
dence of the people. Political honors have no at- 
tractions for him, and the only office he would ever 
accept was that connected with the Board of Edu- 
cation, of which he is Secretary. The duties con- 
nected with that department are to him a pleasure 
because he is devoted to children and everything 
that concerns them, and especially such funda- 
mental matters as those that look to their education, 
and among the 3'oung people he is intensely popular, 
they being quick to recognize in him a true friend. 
The subject of our sketch was born in Newl)ury- 
port, Essex Co., Mass. His birth occurred Dec. 
6, 1851. His father, Jere R. Ireland, engaged in 
various pursuits, largely as a shipping merchant at 
Newburyport. The family of which he was a 
member was (originally of English blood. The first 



representative thereof to come to this country was 
John Ireland, who was the great-great-grandfather 
of our subject. He came from England in com- 
pany with his brother Nathaniel, and settled in New 
Hampshire about the year 1710. His brother made 
his home in New Jersey, and his children scattered 
and settled at various points in the South and 
West, while those of John Ireland inclined to make 
their homes in the North and East, and in later 
years in the West. 

The father of our subject was born at Newbury- 
port, May 11, 1823, and lived to attain the age of 
sixty-five years; by his occupation, that of ship- 
ping merchant, he was enabled to accumulate a 
competency. His death occurred April 21, 1888, 
at Newburyport, Mass. The maiden name of his 
wife, the mother of our subject, was Eliza B. Pick- 
ett. She is still living on the old homestead. Their 
family circle included four children, viz: Charles 
W., Frank P., Ben P. and Jere R. Charles is a resi- 
dent of Syracuse, in this State; Ben is upon the old 
h<jmestead, and the j'oungest son is in New York 
City and occupies the position of agent for the 
Monumental Mills of Housatonic, Mass. 

The education of our subject was obtained in the 
common schools, supplemented by a High School 
course, being graduated from that institution at the 
close of the course, when he was about fifteen years 
of age. He then entered the Bowdoin College to 
take the classical course, but at the close of his 
junior j'ear he entered upon a course of legal study 
under Col. E. F. Stone, of Newburj-port. with 
whom he continued for three years. In the mean- 
time he also took a course in the law department 
of the Boston University. He was admitted to the 
bar of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts after a 
careful examination, and began the practice of his 
profession in connection with his former preceptor, 
and continued the same until he came to Nebraska 
Cit3', in the spring of 1874. In this place he 
opened his office on what is now Central avenue, 
and from the first made a most favorable impres- 
sion. At the close of the first year he entered into 
partnership with G. B. Schofield, which continued 
for about four years. 

On the 14th of November, 1878, the subject of 
our sketch was united in the bands of wedlock, at 



.>-H:: 



4^ 



!?!^»- 



t 



>► II M- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



435 



Nebraska Cit\-, with Miss Eloise Coe, tiie onlj- rlaugli- 
ter of Gen. Isaac Coe. (Tlie readei\is refeired to tlie 
sketch of this gentleman to be found on another 
page). This most excellent lady was born in Mid- 
dlefield. Conn., July 14, I85"2. There has been born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Ireland one daughter, who received 
the name Sarah Coe, and has manifested, as the 
3'ears have passed, the foundation of a character 
and a disposition unusually attractive. 

Mr. Ireland was admitted to the Supreme Court 
of Massachusetts in April, 1872, and to that of 
Nebraska in 187G; to the Circuit Court of the 
United States for the district of Nebraska, on the 
14th day of November, 1876, and to the Supreme 
Court of the United States on the 8th diiy of 
May. 1882. He was appointed United States Ex- 
aminer in Chancer3- b3' the District Court of the 
United Stales in 1877. In 1876 Mr. Ireland offered 
himself for District Attorney', and ran far ahead of 
his ticket, which was Democratic. Upon three dif- 
ferent occasions Mr. Ireland has presided with 
much abilit}' over the Democratic State Convention 
for Nebraska, viz: in 1880,1881 and 1884. Re- 
ligiously, he is most thoroughly in favor of the 
teaching of the Unitarian Church, and is an able 
and generous supporter of the same. He has the 
greatest possible faith in the future of Nebraska 
Citv. 



j^^ ACKETT C. CASE, M. D., was one of the 
^^^ first physicians to locate at Syracuse. His 
Iv^Uf) "'^^'^^ place was Binghamton, Broome Co., 
N. Y., where his birth took place Feb. 2, 
1842. His parents were Covell and Minerva 
(Saekett) Case, who were natives of New York. 
The father died in Philadelphia in 18S6, and the 
mother resides in Michigan. 

To Covel! and Minerva Case there were l)orn five 
children, and the family lived on a farm near Bing- 
hamton, where our subject grew to manhood and 
received his literary- education. At an early age he 
had decided upon his future calling in life, and soon 
after leaving school commenced the stud^' of medi- 
cine in the office of Dr. Hart at Binghamton. Later 
he attended lectures at the medical department of 
the Miclilgan State University at Ann Arbor, and was 



graduated from the Medical University of Iowa Cit\-, 
and commenced the practice of his profession at 
Omaha, Neb., about 1866. He sulisequentl^' re- 
moved to Decatur, Neb., and in 1869 to Nebraska 
City. In the latter place, abandoning the regular 
profession for a time, he confined himself mostlj' to 
the insurance business. 

Dr. Case in the fall of 1874 took up his residence 
in Sj'racuse, and from that time on gave his close 
attention to the practice of his profession until his 
death, which occurred March 27. 1879. At the time 
of his coming here the country around was thinly 
settled, and he rode over a large extent of terri- 
tor}\ His promptness in attending to the calls of 
duty, and his conscientious methods of treatment, 
secured for him a large and lucrative patronage. 
He meddled very little with political affairs, although 
a strong advocate of Republican principles, and at 
different times was persuaded to discharge the 
duties of the local offices. He thus enjoyed a large 
acquaintance with all classes of men. He was 
of studious habits and literary tastes, and was a 
frequent correspondent both of the local and East- 
ern papers. In this capacity he chronicled the 
earlj' history of Syracuse, a paper which possessed 
much interest for those most nearlj' concerned. 
Socially, Dr. Case belonged to the Masonic frater- 
nity and the Good Templars. 

Mrs. Mary C. (Warner) Phillips was wedded to 
Dr. Case Nov. 27, 1870, at Nebraska City. Mrs. 
Case is a daughter of Seth O. and Sarah (Warner) 
Warner, although no relative of her husband before 
marriage. She was born in the town of Clay, 
Onondaga Co., N. Y., Sept. 11, 1835, and com- 
pleted her education in the seminar}' at Fulton, 
Oswego County. In 1858 she was married to 
Augustus Phillips, a native of LeRoy, N. Y. He, 
during the Civil War, enlisted, in 1861, in the 24th 
New York Infantry, served two years, and was 
mustered out with the rank of Captain. Later he 
re-enlisted, in the 184th New York Infantry, and 
met his death at the battle of Cedar Creek, from 
which Gen. Phil Sheridan accomplished his famous 
ride to Winchester. 

Mr. Phillips had participated in many of the im- 
portant battles of the war, being with the Army of 
the Potomac. Of this marriage tliere was born one ^ ' 



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ti^ 



43G 



OTOE COUNTY. 



child, a flaiighter, Mniide A., wbo is now the wife 
of D. T. Cornell, of Xelson. Nel). To Dr. and Mrs. 
Case there were born two children : Ernest S., May 
14, 1872, and Leonora, March 15, 1876. 

Mrs. Case, with tastes similar to those of our sub- 
ject, had since her oriilliood been interested in 
medicine, and after her marriage with him spent 
her leisure time reading and receiving instruction 
from him. She frequently told him " When the 
babies are grown up I will assist j"0u in your 
practice." But alas for human calculations, the 
father died before this could be accomplished, and 
she was left with the care of a little family. She 
persistenll}' clung to her first purpose, however, and 
continued her reading of medical works under the 
tutorship of Dr. Littletield, the successor of her 
husband. In the winter of 1883 she took a course 
of lectures in the medical department of the State 
University at Lincoln, Neb., from which she was 
graduated with the class of '85, and entering upon 
the regular practice, has been very successful. .She 
was thus enabled to support and educate her chil- 
dren in a manner approaching her desires. She be- 
came a resident of Nebraska City soon after the 
death of her first husband, removing thence to 
Syracuse at the time of her marriage with Dr. Case. 
She is a member in good standing of the Congre- 
gational Church, and in her practice exercises that 
conscientious care which has gained her the confi- 
dence and esteem of the community. 



,^^\ ARTIN R. WALBRIDGE, deceased.- This 
gentleman w-as for twenty years one of the 
esteemed citizens of Wyoming Precinct, 
and one of the progressive and prosperous 
farmers who had grown up with the country. He 
w.TS born in Vermont, on the 27th of April, 1826, 
and w;is the son of John and Polly (Reynolds) 
Walbridge; while yet a child our subject was left 
motherless. Shortl3' after this event the father left 
Vermont and emigrated to LaPorte County, Ind., 
where he resided for the remainder of his life, which, 
however, was not of long duration. Thus in earl3' 
youth our subject had to face tlie world an orph.in. 



Remembering the innumerable difficulties conse- 
quent upon the above-mentioned condition, the 
success that afterward became his reflects to great- 
est credit upon our subject. He began the strug- 
gle for existence not only orphaned but poor, and 
was compelled to work hard for his living. He did 
not, however, neglect schooling, which happil}^ it 
was within his power, as it is within the power of 
ever}' American child, to obtain in the usual insti- 
tution. When about eighteen years of age he sold 
all his earthly possessions in order that he might 
start West. He first purchased a good cow, and 
then started for Wisconsin, where he located in 
Iowa County, not far from Madison, at which place 
he had a brother, who had gone there some time 
previously, and was engaged in farming and was 
doing well. 

After a few months our subject returned to La- 
Porte County, Ind., and there entered into his first 
matrimonial alliance. This deeply interesting event 
occurred upon the 17th of Februarj', 1853, the lady 
being Sarah A. Thurber. She was born in LaPorte 
County, and there also brought up and educated. 
The day of her nativity was the 31st of August, 
1834. She came of good family, and her home 
training was such as to make her a true help to her 
husband. She was a lady of great personal worth, 
prepossessing and of splendid disposition. Of this 
union five children were born; of these two are now 
deceased, viz: Ida M. and Ross W^ Those still 
living bear the following names: Jessie, who is 
married to Montgomery Robb, of Wj^omiug Pre- 
cinct; Charles P., who is living in New Mexico, 
■was married, in September, 1883, to JMiss Louisa 
Yard, of Princeton, 111.; Carrie A., who is living in 
South Bend, Ind., where she is a prominent and 
•well-established teacher of music, and is a graduate 
from Central Music Hall Conservatory, Chicago, 
111. On the 20th of June, 1874, Mrs. Walbridge 
died at the old homestead in Wyoming Precinct. 

The second marriage of our subject was cele- 
brated in AVyomiug Precinct, April 27, 1876, the 
ladj' of his Choice being Mrs. Ellen Cherry, nee 
Jones, who was born in Seneca Count}', Ohio, Aug. 
21, 1837. She is the daughter of Filander H. and 
Lydia A. (Jewett) Jones, who were natives of "\'er- 
mont, where the}' were lirought up and educated. 



.#-11^ 



?^h 



•^"^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



=4 

437 ( i 



^ 



They were married at Detroit, Mich., and Mr. Jones 
there entered the profession of teaching, having 
been thus engaged in earlj' manliood. lie contin- 
ued tlius employed in Michigan for many years, 
and later went to Indiana. He is now seventy-five 
years of age, is retired from active work, and makes 
his home in Weir City, Kan. His wife is seventy- 
one 3-ears of age, and is still the light and bright- 
ness of their home. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are mem- 
bers of the Metliodist Church, and he has been a 
standi Republican in political affairs for more than 
a quarter of a century. 

The wife of our subject was the first of the chil- 
dren born to her parents. She was educated in 
Indiana, and until her marriage with Mr. Cherry 
made her home with her parents. This important 
event occurred .Sept. 11, 18.58, the name of her hus- 
band being R. W. Cherry. This gentleman was 
born in Marion County, Ohio, April 19, 183.5. He 
had been carefully trained by his parents and well 
educated, and was engaged subsequently in mercan- 
tile pursuits. For two years he served gallantly as 
a soldier in the late Rebellion, and was finally hon- 
orably discharged, owing to disability. He served 
in Company I, 29th Indiana Infantry. His death oc- 
curred in Rochester, Fulton Co., Ind., Nov. 20, 
1872. He was a good, honorable and intelligent 
man and an esteemed citizen. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Cherry were born four children, 
two of whom, Adelbert and Minnie, are now de- 
ceased. The living children are: May L., who is 
a successful teacher in the public schools of Cass 
County, and a member of the Otoe County Teach- 
ers' Association'; Nellie D. is happily married to C. 
M. Fenuo, a successful farmer in Thomas County, 
Kan.; they have two little ones, named Ellen M. 
and John R. 

The subject of this sketch attained to the ad- 
vanced age of sixty-two years before he passed to 
his place with the sitent majorit3\ He died deeply 
regretted by all who knew him, at his home in 
Wyoming Precinct, on the 10th of May, 1888, 
where he had lived since the year 1867. In his 
politics he was a sound Republican, and was at all 
times a truly loyal and upright citizen. Mrs. Wal- 
bridge is a devout member of the Baptist Church, 
and attends with tlie congregation meeting at Ne- 



braska City. With her two sons, Frank B. and 
Eugene M. Walbridge, she resides upon the farm 
which has so long been her home; it comprises 160 
acres of fine agricultural land, and is situated on 
section 15 of the above-mentioned precinct. 



^ 



WILLIAM II. JOHNSON, a farmer and car- 
penter combined, cl.aims to have put up one 
of tlie first dwelling-houses in his neigh- 
borhood in Russell Precinct, where he now lives. 
He is the owner of the north half of section 9, 
and is one of the most prosperous of the earl^^ pio- 
neers of this county. Much of the time he has 
operated as builder and contractor, and some of the 
best structures in his community are the result of 
his taste and skill. His own residence is more than 
ordinarily attractive and convenient, and its sur- 
roundings are indicative of cultivated tastes and 
abundant means. 

Our subject is the offsjiring of an excellent New 
England family, Jedediah and Melietabel D. (Clark) 
Johnson, who were natives respectively of Middle- 
town and Chester, Conn. Both the grandfathers, 
Freelove J. Johnson and Girard Clark, were old 
Revolutionary soldiers, and a book entitled the 
"History of England," found by Grandfather .John- 
son many years before his death, is still preserved 
with great care by some of the members of the 
family living in Connecticut. 

Later in the history of the Cnited .States, .Jede- 
diah Johnson, the father of our subject, served in 
the War of 1812, being present at the battle of 
New London. After laying down his musket he 
took up the implements of agriculture, and tilled 
the soil of his native Connecticut until the final 
illness which resulted in his death on the 19th 
of May, 1863. He was then seventy years of age. 
The mother, who was considerably younger than 
her husband, survived him a number of years, her 
death taking place in 1875, when she was seventy- 
six years old. 

Of the fourteen children comprising the paren- 
tal family, eight lived to mature years, namely: 
Hamlin F., Sarah S., L. Janette, Nancy J., Samuel 
S., William Henry, Edwin R. and Ellen R., the two 



•► I I <• 



H 



438 



OTOE COUNTY. 



latter twins. With the exception of Samuel S. 
and our subject, William H., the living are resi- 
dents of New England. E^dwiu R. died in 1873, 
leaving two children. 

The subject of this sketch was born Oct. 1, 1832, 
on the banlvs of the Connecticut River in Middle- 
sex County, Conn. He grew up on the farm, and 
remained a member of the parental household until 
twenty-six years of age. He then learned the 
trade of carpenter and joiner, which he followed 
for a period of twenty years. In his native State 
he put up the Custom House and State House at 
Mlddletown, and a large number of other build- 
ings, including some fine private residences. 

In the spring of 1860 Mr. Johnson, leaving New 
England, went to Licking Countj^, Ohio, but not 
being satisfied with this experiment, after nine 
months returned home. In the meantime he had 
accumulated considerable property, and in the sum- 
mer of 1878 again turned his face toward the set- 
ting sun. Upon coming to this State, the outlook 
impressing him favorably, he made his way to this 
county and purchased a tract of railroad land, pay- 
ing cash down. Russell Precinct since that time 
has been the scene of his operations, and his fine 
large farm of 320 acres is one of the most valua- 
ble in the western part of this county. 

June 6, 1883, our subject was united in marriage 
with Miss Catherine O. Raymond, who, like him- 
self, is a native of Connecticut, and born in West 
Hartford, Aug. 12, 1848. The parents of Mrs. 
Johnson were Josiah and Fanny A. (Hurlbut) Raj^- 
mond, natives of Connecticut, where the father 
spent his last years. The mother makes her home 
with our subject. The fatlier traced his ancestry 
back to Richard Raj^mond, who landed at Plj^mouth 
Rock with his two nephews, William and John, 
in the j^ear 1622. From these sprang the Ray- 
mond family in the United States. They were the 
scions of an energetic and enterprising race of 
people, and became closely identified with the early 
history of New England. Grandmother Raymond 
was a niece of the Hon. James Ilillhouse, who 
is frequently mentioned in the history' of those 
times. The father of JMrs. Johnson during the 
session of 1858 was a member of the Connecticut 
Legislature, and died in 18(i2, attiie .age of forty- 



seven years. Tlie mother is still living, making 
her home with her daughter Catherine, Mrs. John- 
son; she is now sixty-eight years of age. The seven 
children in the parental family, of whom Mrs. J. 
was the eldest, were named respectively: Catherine 
G., Robert O., John F., James H., Fanny E., Char- 
lotte H. and Henry J. 

Mrs. Johnson received a good education, com- 
pleting her studies in the High School at Hartford, 
and was for some time engaged as a teacher there, 
She came to Nebraska with her mother's family in 
the spring of 1879. Of her union with our sub- 
ject there liave been born two children, a babe un- 
named and Henry Raymond, both of whom died 
in infancy. They have now an adopted daughter, 
Emily Catherine, four years old. Mr. Johnson has 
been identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church 
a number of 3^ears, and Mrs. J. seefa religious con- 
solation among the Presbyterians. Our subject 
votes the straight Democratic ticket, but has steadily 
refused becoming an office-holder. 



1/, ON. J. O. MOORE, an ex-member of the 
1)1) Nebraska Legislature and one of the most 
'Jb^ prominent citizens of Otoe County, is still a 
•!^ gentleman in the prime of life, and it is to 
be hoped has 3'et before him many years of useful- 
ness. He became a resident of Palmyra March 
4, 1872, and has become closely identiSed with the 
interests of Southern Nebraska. 

Our subject is the offspring of an excellent fam- 
ily, being a son of Kimber A. and Nancy J. 
(Speer) Moore, natives of Pennsylvania, the mother 
born in Franklin County. The paternal grand- 
father, also a native of the Keystone State, was a 
farmer by occupation, and spent his entire life 
there. The great-grandfather did good service as 
a Major in the Revolutionari' War. He was a na- 
tive of Scotland, and crossed the Atlantic during 
the Colonial days, settling after the war in Pennsyl- 
vania, Grandfather Speer was a native of Ireland. 
He was a merchant, and spent his last years in Bed- 
ford County, Pa. 

The parents of our subject, after their marriage, 
settled on a farm in Fulton County, Pa., where the 



•►Hh-^*- 



•^1 



M^i^ 



^i^K-* 



OTOE COUNTY. 



439 



father, in adflition to the successful pursuits of ag- 
riculture, acliieveil local fame as a politician. He 
was a Whig until the abandonment of the old party 
and then cordially endorsed Republican principles. 
After the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted as 
a Union soldier, being the eldest of eight brothers, 
all of whom gave their services in a like mannec to 
their countr3'. 

Kimber A. Moore emerged safely from the dan- 
geis of warlare, and leaving his old home in Penn- 
sylvania in the fall of 1868, crossed the Mississippi 
to this State, and settled on a tract of land in Gage 
County. He is still living but now retired from 
active labor, being seventj' years of age. and mak- 
ing his home in Adams, Gage County. 

The parental household included eight children, 
namely : John O., our subject ; Ella, D. H., Augustus, 
Etta, Gertude Y., Union L. and Ernest. The latter 
died when a lad of thirteen years. The survivors 
are mostly residents of Nebraska. John O. was 
born near New Grenada, Fulton Co., Pa., March 10, 
18i4, and after emerging from the district school, 
pursued his studies in a select school in Wells' Val- 
ley for seveial terms. He then began to work in 
the coal mines of his native county, and during the 
eight years in which he was thus occupied filled 
every position from mule driver and office boj' to 
that of wa3raaster. He was holding this jjosition 
upon a good salar}' at the breaking out of the Re- 
bellion. The j'ear following he was constrained to 
follow the example of his honored father, and ac- 
cordingly enlisted as a Union soldier. Aug. 7, 1862, 
in Company F, 125th Pennsylvania Infantry, going 
in as a private under the command of Capt. J. J. 
Lawrence. The latter had been a railroad Super- 
intendent, and thej' entered the service in response 
to the nine months' call. 

This regiment was drilled at Ft. Bernard and 
Arlington Heights. They left the latter place on the 
6ih of September, 1862, and first saw the smoke of 
battle at South Mountain. On the 17th of the 
same month thej' were at Antietam, where their 
regiment suffered a loss of 162 men within the 
space of ten minutes. Mr. Moore was wounded by 
the explosion of a shell, although not seriously. 
He was, however, rendered insensible, but upon re- 
gaining consciousness resumed iiis position in the 



ranks. After lying thirty days at Maryland 
Heights, this regiment with others went to Lou- 
doun Valley, Va., and thence to Fairfax Court 
House, engaging in the conflict there. The scene 
of their next engagement was at Stafford Court 
House, where they remained in camp thirty days, 
and in due time met the enemy at Chancellorsville. 
Thej' moved on to Harrisburg, where our subject, 
with his comrades, received his honorable discharge 
on the 23d of M.ay, 1863, having served nine and 
one-half months. 

Mr. Moore now returned to his native countj', 
and resumed his former position as vvajmaster un- 
til the 1st of March, 186.T. He next repaired to 
AVashington. attended the inauguration of President 
Lincoln, and was appointed Superintendent of the 
Government stables at a point in Virginia. He was 
occupied with the duties of this position until the 
1st of October, then going back to his native State 
engaged in farming until the fall of 1867. 

Our subject now began making preparations for 
settlement in the West, and in the spring following 
came to Nebraska, arriving in Adams Precinct, 
Gage County, on the 10th of March, 1868. He at 
once took up a homestead claim, and while carry- 
ing on to a limited extent the improvement of his 
property, also taught school and engaged in break- 
ing prairie for other parties. In the fall of 1871 
he look up his residence in the embryo town of 
Bennet, where he engaged in the lumber and grain 
trade, at the same time having charge of the freight 
and express business of the Missouri Paciflc Rail- 
road and also the post-office. 

In March, 1872, Mr. Moore changed his resi- 
dence to Palmyra Precinct, of which he has become 
a resident. Here he also engaged in the lumber 
and grain business, establishing the first yard in 
the town of Palmyra and operating with a partner, 
the style of the firm being Hill & Moore, In 1874 
they disposed of their lumber business and pur- 
chased a flouring-mill in Palmyra, which they 
operated in connection with their grain business 
successfully until 1883. Mr. Moore then forming a 
partnership with J. R. McKee, began dealing in live 
stock, and was engaged in buying and shipping three 
years. In July, 1884, he became manager for a 
Chicago lumber company, and still holds the (wsi- 



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440 



OTOE COUNTY. 



tion. In 1880 the heavy rainfalls caused a gen- 
eral washout, doing great damage to mill property 
by the carrying away of dams, and there also oc- 
curred great loss of stock by drowning, and depre- 
ciation in value to the extent of $5,000. The 
credit of Mr. Moore, however, remained unim- 
paired, and in due time he recovered from his 
losses. 

Our subject, on the loth of June, 1873, was 
united in marriage with Miss Mary R., daughter of 
William and Catherine Blachart, who at that time 
were residents of Adams Township, Gage County, 
where the wedding took place. Mrs. Moore was 
born in Blairsville, Pa., Aug. 26, 1835, and was a 
maiden of sixteen years when she came with her 
parents to Nebraska. In the meantime, however, 
they had removed from the Keystone State to Mer- 
cer County, 111., where she lived from a child of 
five years until the age mentioned. She received 
a common-school education, completing her studies 
in Gage County. Her parents were natives of 
Pennsylvania, and are now living in Gage County, 
this State. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Moore have been horn four 
children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, Blanche, 
died at the age of three and one-half years. Lillie 
G., Myrtle M. and Darlej' are at home with their 
parents. Mr. Moore has always taken a warm in- 
terest in the progress of his adopted count3', and 
has been identified with many of its leading enter- 
prises. At the incorporation of Palmyra Village, 
on the 5th of Ma3', 1882, he was elected President 
of the Village Board, in which office he served two 
years. He had been elected to the State Legislature 
in the fall of 1880, and served through the special 
session held in May, 1882. He introduced Bill No. 
71, providing for a license of $1,000 for selling 
spirituous liquors. By agreement with Hon. Mr. 
Slocum, he permitted the bill to go bj' default, as 
one introduced by the latter had practicallj' the 
same provisions. To Mr. Moore is fully due the 
honor of introducing the first high license bill in 
the Nebraska Legislature. 

Mr. Moore was also actively interested in several 
other bills in connection with his county and con- 
stituency. He has filled many positions of trust 
and rcponsibility, and for a number of years has 



been sent as delegate to the various conventions of 
his part}'. As an ex-soldier, he is naturally inter- 
ested in the perpetuation of the G. A. R., with 
which he is prominentl}' connected, being a charter 
member of Mansfield Post No. 54, at Palmyra. Of 
this he is now Commander, which office he has oc- 
cupied three years, and which is in a very prosper- 
ous condition. He also belongs to Palmyra Lodge 
No. 45, A. F. & A. M., having passed all the 
Chairs, and has several times been a representative 
to the Grand Lodge. In the I. O. O. F., with 
which he identified himself in 1866, he has been a 
District Deputy of the Grand Lodge, has passed 
through all the Chairs in this likewise, and is Treas- 
urer of the lodge in Palmyra. In religious matters, 
with his estimable wife, he belongs to the Baptist 
Church at Palmyra, being Treasurer, and one of the 
most liberal and cheerful contributors to its sup- 
port. Mr. Moore and his family occupy a tasteful 
and comfortable home, their own property, and en- 
joy the acquaintance of a large circle of friends. 



LIJAII D. MARNELL, a young man of ex- 

Eceptional talent and ability, is the well-known 
Secretary and General JNIanager of the News 
Company, and assistant editor of the Nebraska City 
Daily Neivs. He is a native of the city of Hanni- 
bal, Mo., March 5, 1855, being the date of his birth. 
His father, James E. Marnell, was born in Phila- 
delphia, Pa., where his father, who was a native of 
Ireland, had settled after coming to America in 
early manhood. He, the grandfather of our sub- 
ject, married in the City of Brotherly Love, and 
seven years later moved with his family to Ken- 
tucky. He located in Bardstown, and there pur- 
sued his trade of hatter until his death, which 
occurred in 1854. 

The father of our subject was an infant when his 
parents moved to Kentucky, and there he grew to 
manhood. He learned the trade of tinner, and in 
1 843 established himself in business in Hannibal, Mo. 
When the Mexican AVar broke out he sold out and 
went to Mexico with Shepard's Regiment, 2d Mis- 
souri Cavahy, and was in quite a number of the 
most important battles, including that of the City 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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441 



of ISIexico. He was discharged with his regiment 
at the close of the war, and in 1850 made an over- 
land journey to California, where he engaged in 
mining until the spring of 1853. He then returned 
to Missouri, by the Isthmus and New York, and 
was married there, in December of that year, to 
Miss Kate Hawkins, a native of Maysville, Ky. 
After his marriage INIr. IMarnell opened a stove 
and tinware stor^, at that time the only establish- 
ment of the kind in the city of Hannibal. He also 
ran a line of boats to New Orleans in companj- with 
his brothers-in-law. Soon after the breaking out of 
the Civil War he closed his business, but continued 
to be a resident of Hannibal until his death, June 
14, 1870. He was a man of more than usual in- 
telligence, and he inherited the genial, frank man- 
ners and ready tact of the Celtic race from which 
his paternal ancestry sprang, so that he made friends 
wherever he went. The mother of our sirbjeet is 
still spared to bless her children, and makes her 
home in Nebraska City. To her and her husband 
were born six children, namely: Elijah, Edward, 
Mary, Laura, Frank and Eobert. 

The subject of our sketch received his e.arly edu- 
cation in the city schools of Hannibal. "When he 
was fifteen years old he began a life of self-depend- 
ence ill the office of the Watchman in Hannibal. 
He worked there three months, and then engaged 
as a clerk in the drug-store of J. B. Brown in his 
native city. He was emploj'ed there four years, 
and the following two years was in the same busi- 
ness with D. B. Barnes. After that he was engaged 
in the drug business for nearly a year in Illinois 
on his own account. He then sold out, as his health 
was not good, and spent eight months among the 
mountains. In October, 1877, he came to Nebraska 
City to make his home, that he might enjoy its salu- 
brious climate and its manj^ business and social 
advanta^jfes. He immediately engaged in the office 
of the Daily N^eu-s, and has been connected with 
that paper ever since in various responsible capaci- 
ties — was editor until 1882, and has been assist- 
ant editor and manager ever since. In February, 
1887, the News Company was formed, and he was 
elected its Secretarj' and General Manager. He has 
been very successful in the management of the af- 
^ ' fairs of the company, which are in a very prosper- 



ous condition, as he pays strict attention to his 
business, and is zealous and faithful in looking after 
the interests of his associates. The Nev^s is a popu- 
lar sheet, a Democratic organ, and is all that its 
name implies. 

Mr. Marnell was married, Aug. 5, 1880, to ]\Iiss 
Ida Ilawley, a native of Nebraska City, and a 
daugliter of Martin and Elizabeth B. Hawley. Their 
pleasant home has been brightened by the birth of 
one child, Frank by name. Mr. Marnell has been 
an enthusiastic Democrat ever since he was old 
enough to vote, at which time he cast his first Presi- 
dential ballot for the Hon. 8. J. Tilden. He oc- 
cupies a prominent position in many social organi- 
zations of this city. He is Receiver of Nuckolls 
Lodge No. 7, A. O. U. W. ; Commander of Nebraska 
City Legion of Select Knights of the A. O. U. W. 
of Nebraska City, and he is Past Master Workman 
and Venerable >Sage of Foster Assembly, K. of L., 
No. 8,248, and a member of Ramplin Camp No. 
331, M. W. A. 



OHN MATTES, of Nebraska City, is well 
known among its most prominent residents, 
^ where he occupies a good position socially 
(^/y and financially. His business is that of a 
brewer, and he represents a fine amount of property, 
while at the same time he is public-spirited, liberal, 
and warmly interested in the welfare of his adopted 
cit}^ and State. Mr. Mattes came to Nebraska City 
with his family in July, 1886. He was born in the 
Kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, June 4, 1847, 
and was the youngest of six children, the offspring 
of Frank and Frances (Sperry) Mattes, who were 
also of German birth and ancestry, and the father 
a large land-owner and farmer in his native Prov- 
ince. The brothers and sisters were named respect- 
ively: Rosa, Xavier, Aloes, Alex and Paul. 

Young Mattes was given a thorough education 
in the common schools, and in addition to becom- 
ing familiar with farm pursuits, also learned the 
trade of wagon-maker. Three of his brothers, one 
in 1853 and two in 1864, emigrated to the United 
States, settling in Burlington, Iowa, and our sub- 
ject joined them in 1866, when a little over eighteen 



sen T 



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442 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



years of age. He worked at wagon-making in that 
place two years, then, in company with his brothers, 
began operating a brewery at Des Moines, where he 
lived until the spring of 1886. 

Mr. Mattes was married in Des Moines, Iowa, in 
1875, to Miss Mary Hummel, of Monroe, tliat State, 
and who was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in January, 
1853. Her parents, Michel and Josephine Hum- 
mel, were natives of Germany, and emigrated to 
Iowa in the spring of 1854, when their daughter 
Mary was less than a 3-ear old. They are still liv- 
ing in Iowa. 

Our subject had, in company with his brother 
Paul, put up a brewery in Des Moines, and they 
were very successful. In 1880 he sold out his in- 
terest and rented a brewery in the same city, where 
he remained until coming to Nebraska City. Here 
he has since invested a portion of his capital in his 
brewery, and also has some valuable real estate. 
Politically, he votes the straight Democratic ticket. 
He is a man prompt to meet his obligations, and one 
thoroughly reliable as a business man and citizen. 

To JNIr. and Mrs. Mattes there have been born 
eight children, three of whom, Josie, Mina and 
Frank, died in infancy. The survivors are: Josie 
(2d), Louis, Rosa, Carl Grover C. and Alexander. 
The eldest is twelve years of age and the youngest 
two; they are a bright and interesting group, being 
carefull}' trained and educated, and the parents may 
be pardoned for looking upon them with pride. 
Mr. Mattes cast his first Presidential vote for Gree- 
ley, when a resident of Iowa, and since coming to 
tliis country has been a conscientious member of 
the Democratic party. 



I^^i H. MASON. In the career of the subject 
^^^ of this biography we find that of a man 
(ll£_Jl) whose course in life has been such as to 
commend him in a marked manner to the 
esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. Up- 
right in his dealings, generous and public-spirited, 
he has been a member of a community exerting a 
good influence around him and furthering the en- 
terprises calculated to upbuild the moral and re- 
ligious elements of society. In this praiseworthj' 



labor he has been encouraged by one of the best of 
women, a lady possessing rare qualifications, and 
one who has assisted in drawing around herself and 
her family the best social elements of the commu- 
nity. "We timsfind a home, which, without preten- 
sions to elegance, is encircled bj' an air of culture 
which makes it a most delightful resort. 

The Mason homestead occupies the southwest 
quarter of section 7, in Otoe Precinct. Before go- 
ing any further we give a brief glance at the ances- 
try of our subject. The family is supposed to have 
been of English ancestry, and the parents of S. H. 
were Abraham and Elizabeth (Gartin) Mason, the 
father a native of Albemarle Count}', Va., and the 
mother born in what was then Washington County, 
now Marion County, Ky. Abraham Mason re- 
ceived careful parental training, and during his 
early manhood served as a soldier in the War of 
1812. Afterward he took up his residence in Wash- 
ington County, Ky., where he was married. Not 
long afterward he. started for the farther West with 
his young wife, and they settled on a tract of land 
in Monroe County, Mo. Ti)e father purchased 160 
acres which now lie in the vicinity of the flourish- 
ing city of Paris, which at that time gave no indica- 
tion of a town. There his death took place in 1849, 
when he was sixty-one years old. The mother sur- 
vived her husband twenty years, remaining a widow, 
and died in 1869, at the age of seventy -seven. 

The parental household included eleven children, 
namely : Perry L., George G., Uriah G., Martin F., 
Abraham G., Amanda G., Nathan W., Stephen G., 
Sylvester H. (our subject). Mary H. and William H. 
The mother of our subject was a child of one of the 
first families of Kentucky, and many of her relatives 
are to-day prominent as politicians and professional 
men, and almost invariably people of wealth and 
position. Sylvester H. was born near Paris, Mon- 
roe County, Mo., on the 28th of September, 1838, 
Among his first recollections is that of the Presi- 
dential election of 1848, when Harrison was seated 
in the National Executive Chair. Even at that 
early day the educational advantages of that lo- 
cality were very good, butyoung Mason was unable 
to avail himself of them to the extent he desired on 
account of an afl'ection of the eyes. This, however, 
he overcame in due time, and when a youth of 



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i 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



443 



seventeen years went into the office of the Mercury, 
at Paris, to learn the printer's trade. The close ap- 
plication required brought on his old trouble, and 
he was oblijred to abandon his labors in this direc- 
tion. His brother, Abraham G., also had a taste 
for newspaper work, and was a man of much liter- 
ary merit, becoming one of the noted journalists of 
Missouri. His death took place at Shelbina, Mo., 
on the 23d of April, 1887. Martin F., another 
brother, and the only one living besides Sylvester 
H., is engaged at farming, and continues his resi- 
dence near his old home in Paris, Mo. 

Young Mason after leaving the printing-office 
embarked in the livery business, setting up in busi- 
ness for himself at Paris, Mo. Upon the outbreak 
of the Rebellion he sold out and removed to Doug- 
las County, 111., where he engaged in farming a 
period of four years, and thence removed to Cass 
County. 111., locating on a farm. Before leaving 
Missouri he had been married to Miss Laura Bounds, 
who only survived her wedding about ten months. 
This was a sore affiiction to Mr. Mason, and for a 
time thereafter he felt unable to go on with the 
duties and labors of life. 

After going to Douglas County, 111., Mr. Mason 
entered the employ of a very excellent man and an 
extensive farmer, and in due time, on account of 
his honcstjf and fidelity to duty, was given the su- 
pervision of a part of the land. After removing 
from Douglas to Cass Count}', lie made the acquaint- 
ance of Mrs. Annie Jenkins, whose home at that 
time was in Peru, Nemaha Co., Neb., but who was 
visiting her parents in Illinois. This acquaintance 
ripened into a mutual affection, and on the 8th 
of October, 1873, Mrs. Jenkins having returned to 
her home, our subject joined her there, and they 
were married. 

Mrs. Annie Mason was born in Ohio, in Cosehoe- 
ton County, Oct. 10, 1839, where she lived until a 
young girl fifteen years of age, and then accom- 
panied her parents to Illinois. She was there 
married, Aug. 11, 1861, to Henry F. Jenkins, a Vir- 
ginian by birth, and a farmer by occupation. The^"^ 
came to Nebraska in 1863, settling in Nemaha 
Count}', subsequently moving to the present farm in 
Otoe County, Neb., where the death of Mr. Jenkins 
occurred Oct. 17, 1869. Of this union there have 



been born three children — Mary H., Olive T. and 
Verda A. Mary H. is now the wife of T. S. Ma- 
son, agent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad at Hol- 
liday,Mo. ; they have one child, Henry M. Olive 
T. is the widow^ of George E. Smith, and the 
mother of two children, Annie M. and Neola G., 
and lives in Auburn, Nemaha Co., Neb. ; Verda A. 
is employed as a typewriter in Kansas City, Mo. 

The parents of Mrs. Mason were Elijah and Jane 
(Hankii.s) Duling, the father a native of Virginia 
and the mother of Ohio. The Dulings were of 
Scotch and English ancestry, and were largely rep- 
resented in the early days in Ohio, being promi- 
nent in the Methodist Church, and many of them 
ministers. They, like the Ilankins family, were of 
English and Scotch ancestry, an admixture of two 
of the best nationalities on the face of the globe. 
Mr. Duling was a farmer by occupation, and the 
parents after their marriage lived in Ohio for a 
period of twenty-one years. Thence they removed 
to Cass County, 111. Before his marriage to the 
mother of Mrs. Mason Mr. Duling had by a previ- 
ous alliance become the father of three children, two 
of whom survive — Nathan McKendry and Syvilla. 
Of his marriage with Miss Hankins there were born 
the following children: Laban, William, Annie 
(Mrs. Mason) Anderson, Elijah, Amelia and John. 
Mrs. Jane Duling died about 1846, in Ohio, and 
Mr. D. was the third time married, and became the 
father of three more children. His third wife was 
also the mother of three children by her former 
marriage. An older brother of Mrs. Mason died 
and left a little girl. They all lived together, so at 
one time the fatiier's roof sheltered fi\e different 
sets of children. In 1854 they all removed to Cass 
County, 111., where the father carried on farming 
successfully, and lived to. be seventy-eight years 
old, his decease taking place in July, 1876. He 
w.as a man possessing all the better qualities of char- 
acter, beloved and resjjected by his neighbors, popu- 
lar, public-spirited, charitable and kind to all who 
came within his reach. In early manhood he had 
identified himself with the old AVhig party, and 
upon its abandonment cordially endorsed Repub- 
lican principles. The members of that large family 
are scattered in different States. 

To our subject and his present wife there have 



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^ 



444 



OTOE COUNTY. 



been horn two children, daughters, Edna J. and 
Annie B., whoattend school and constitute the light 
and joy of the household circle. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Mason are members in good standing of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, attending regularly at 
Harmony. The}' have l)olh been active workers in 
the Master's vineyard, Mr. Mason offlcialing as Sec- 
retary and Trustee of his church, and both largely 
instrumental in the organization of the Zion Sun- 
da}' -school at Zion, in 1 888, and vehere Mrs. Ma- 
son officiates as a teacher. She is also prominently 
identified with the W. C. T. U. at Harmony, which 
enjoys a membership of fort}' persons. Of this Mrs. 
M. is the librarian, and a most efficient laborer in 
tliis good work. Mr. Mason, politically, votes with 
the Prohibitionists, and has served a period of nine 
years on tlie School Board of his precinct. 



^^.A ANNOY HANKS is among those pioneers of 
'/(^-^ Nebraska who 



111^-^ Nebraska who have give her reputation as 
^^f' a great agricultural State, and who now rank 
among her most extensive farmers and stock-raisers, 
his claim to this distinction being based upon the 
fact that he owns one of the largest farms in the 
county, located in Otoe and Hendricks Precincts, 
and has large herds of fine graded cattle. 

Mr. Hanks was born in Carroll County, Va., Feb. 
10. 1830. His father, Thomas Hanks, was a native 
of the same county, and his grandfather, Joshua 
Hanks, vvjis for many years a resident of that county, 
where he was engaged as a farmer, and he died 
there. 

Thomsis Hanks was roared in his native county, 
and there married to Jane Moore, a native of Surrey 
County, N. C, where her father. George Moore, so 
far as known, spent his entire life. Mr. Hanks 
bought a tract of land in his native county, and 
there spent the remainder of his life, dying about 
1840. His wife, the mother of our subject, died 
about 1850. They were the parents of eight chil- 
dren, namely: David, Edward, Hallie, Lee, Can- 
noy, Hugh, Thompson and Susan. 

Cannoy Hanks, of whom we write, was reared in 
his Virginian birthplace. He was ten years old 
when the sad death of his father left his mother with 



a family of small children to care for. Slie nobly 
performed her task, carefully training them to habits 
of industry and self-reliance, and as soon as old 
enough our subject and his brothers and sisters 
went out to work to assist in the support of the 
family. The summer after his father's death our 
subject, then only a small lad of ten years, went to 
work on a farm, receiving eight cents a day for his 
services. As he grew larger his wages were in- 
creased, until when he was man grown he was paid 
fifty cents a day during haying and harvesting. 
He was prudent and saved his earnings, until finally 
he had saved money enough to engage with his 
brother in trading horses, mules, w.agons and to- 
bacco, making two trips to Georgia every year for 
that purpose, between the months of September and 
April. In the summer seasons they were engaged 
in farming. In 185.T Mr. Hanks concluded to come 
West, and in the fall of that year started with a 
teain from his old home in Virginia, and drove the 
entire distance across Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkan- 
sas and Missouri, to his destination in Nebraska. 
He arrived at Rockport, Mo., after forty-eight days 
of travel, spent one nigiit there, then came on to 
Otoe City, and from there to Nebraska City. For 
awhile he engaged in teaming between the latter 
point and Hamey Landing and Sioux City. In 
185G he bought the cUtim to the land where he now 
resides in Otoe Precinct, built a log cabin thereon, 
and, when the land came into the market entered it 
from the Government in the land-office at Omaha. 
He farmed one year, and then, in 1857, went to the 
mountains to engage in mining some twenty-six 
miles northwest of the presentsite of Denver, which 
was not founded until the following year. At that 
time there were no railw.ays .across the plains, and 
all transportation w.as done with teams. Mr. Hanks 
mined in Colorado until the fall of 1861, when he 
returned to this State, and resumed farming and 
stock-raising, in which he has since met with more 
than ordinary success, having increased his real es- 
tate to 2,080 acres, and large numbers of cattle of 
high grades, among the finest in the State, roam 
over his rich pastures. He hiis all the conveniences 
for carrying on agriculture after the most approved 
metiiods, and his farm is provided with neat and 
substantial buildings. 



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i 




^S-i^?>i'-^<S'>5-tS'o<l" <?V^— 




y^''^<^t'^p0-r^^^y^ /2^-*-^-'<2?^^<:^?^^'e-^;^ 



•►Hl^ 



t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



->^l 



449 



J. 



Mr. Hanks was married, in 1864, to Miss Martha 
Wilkinson, a native of Carroll County. Va., and a 
daughter of James and Mary (Lyon) Wilkinson, 
natives of Virginia. Her father was born in the 
same county as herself, and his father, Thomas Wil- 
kinson, is supposed to have been a native of Vir- 
ginia, and to have passed his entire life there. Mrs. 
Hanks' father was reared and married in his native 
county, and resided there until 1857, when he 
moved to Lafayette Countj', Mo., bought a tract 
of land there, and has made it his place of residence 
ever since. His wife died in the old home in Vir- 
ginia in 1847. 

In their marriage Mr. and jNIrs Hanks have been 
blessed by the birth of eight children, as follows: 
Mary S. is the wife of Charles Bickle, and they live 
in Omaha; Lee, Currenner, Huston ; Stella died in 
1877; Gilbert; Cannoy. Jr., died in 1880, and Lola. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hanks are devoted members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and the3' are foremost 
in elevating the religious, moral and soci,al status of 
the community. Mr. Hanks is a man of strong 
character, possessing superior judgment and fore- 
sight, and he is, moreover, one in whom his fellow - 
citizens place absolute confidence. In politics he 
is and always has been a strong supporter of the 
principles of the Democratic party. 



Vt'ULIU.S NORMAND. The subject of this 
biograph}' occupies a leading position among 
the extensive land-owners of Rock Creek 
Precinct, being the proprietor of 1,400 broad 
acres, Ijing on sections 5, 7 and 8, the homestead 
being on section 7. Mr. Normand came co the Ter- 
ritory of Nebraska on the 1st of May, 1858, and 
secured first 160 acres by pre-emption. His present 
surroundings and the extent of his possessions in- 
dicate the perseverance and industry with which he 
has labored. 

There are comparatively few pioneers who have 
been so noticeably fortunate in their labors amid 
the difficulties of a new settlement as Julius Nor- 
mand. Nature endowed him with those qualities 
most necessaiy to success, and a praiseworth}' ca- 
reer. Nut only has he been diligent and economi- 



cal, prompt to meet his obligations, conscientious 
as a man and a citizen, but in building up one of 
the most valuable estates in Southern Nebraska has 
thus been no unimportant factor in the develop- 
ment of its resources. This has not only been an 
advantage to himself, but has resulted in attracting 
to this county an intelligent and enterprising class 
of people, who would not do otherwise than settle 
in a community promising something for the future, 
morally, socially and financially. 

Mr. Normand prior to his arrival in Nebr.aska had 
been a resident of Scott Count3-, Iowa, for a period 
of three years, having removed there from Blair 
County, Pa. In the latter he was born Feb. 14, 
1830, his early home being in the vicinity of the 
city of Pittsburgh. The Normand family is of 
French ancesy-y. The parents of our subject, 
James and Catherine Normand, were natives re- 
spectively of France and Germany, and spent their 
last years in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 'Their 
family consisted of seven children. Our subject 
was reared and educated in his native city, where 
he attained his majorit}' and married Miss Mar- 
garet Kylor. 

Mrs. Normand was born in Huntingdon County, 
Pa., Jan. 22, 1833, and is the daughter of George 
and Mary (Carcon) Kylor, who were also natives of 
the Keystone State, where they spent their entire 
lives. The mother died when her daughter Mar- 
garet was a little child five years of age, and the 
latter as soon as old enough began earning her own 
living. She thus acquired those habits of industry 
and self-reliance which have enabled her to be a most 
worthy and efficient helpmate of her husband, by 
whose side she has labored early and late, working 
equally with him in securing their valuable prop- 
erty. Of their union there have been born ten 
children, three of whom died in infancy. Of the 
survivors the record is as follows: James married 
Miss Mary Hawn, and is occupied as a butcher in 
Ft. Byron, 111. ; Augustus wedded Miss Hattie 
Wilcox, of this State, and lives on a farm in Saline 
County; Catherine Josephine is the wife of H. A. 
Crandall, who is eng.aged in farming near Unadilla, 
this county; Belle, Mrs. George Barth, lives on a 
farm in Mc Williams Precinct; Julia is the wife of 
Nelson Tary, and they live on a farm in Johnson 
•^ 



i 



4 450 



,t 



• ►I I -^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



i^ 



County; .Julius .aiul Levi remain at liome with their 
parents. 

Mr. Norraand cast his first Presidential vote for 
Franklin Pierce, and is a stanch supporter of Demo- 
cratic principles. He presents the picture of a man 
firm in the support of his convictions, and one who 
is not easily moved after he has once made up his 
mind. This characteristic has been noticeable all 
through his career, and has doubtless been the 
secret of his phenomenal success. His has been a 
record which his children may look upon with pride, 
and in the establishment of his homestead and the 
estate he has built up for himself a lasting monu- 
ment. Of this latter we are pleased in being able 
to give an extended view, and also the portraits of 
Mr. and Mrs. Normand. Otoe County may point 
to them wi-th pride as being among Ijer best citizens, 
representing her best interests, and being identified 
with her wealth and progress. 



NTHONY A. JAMES. The name of 
this gentleman, who departed this life at 
ill his home in Wj'oming Precinct, May 10, 
1870, is held in kindly remembrance by a 
large circle of friends and acquaintances as that of 
an honest man and a good citizen. As a farmer 
he was thorough and skillful, and as a member of 
the community contributed his full quota toward 
advancing its general interest. 

Ml'. James was a native of County Donegal, in 
the North of Ireland, and was born in December, 
1830. His father, William James, a farmer by oc- 
cupation, was also of Irish birth and ancestry, and 
died in middle life in County Donegal. Anthony 
at the time of his father's decease was a lad of thir- 
teen years, and a few years later accompanied his 
mother and the younger members of the family to 
America, joining some of the elder ones in Butler 
County, Pa. There they engaged in farming, but 
a year later changed their residence to Mercer 
County, Pa., where our subject was reared to man- 
hood. He received a common-school education, 
and when ready to establish a home of his own was 
united in marriage with Miss Eliza Burrows, a na- 
tive of his own country. They lived for a 3 ear in 



the Keystone State, then concluded to trj- their 
fortunes in the regions beyond the Mississippi. 

Our subject arrived in this county in the spring 
of 1 860, and purchased 200 acres of land on section 
16, in Wyoming Precinct, in the improvement and 
cultivation of which he was eng.aged until resting 
from his earthly labors. He was prospered in his 
labors as a tiller of the soil, but for some time be- 
fore his decease suffered from a wound which he 
had received while serving as a cavalry' soldier in 
the White Rock Hills, D.ak. Soon after the out- 
l)reak of the Civil War he had enlisted in Company 
F, 2(1 Nebraska Cavalry, the regiment being chiefly 
employed on the frontier. In this, as in all other 
duties in life, Mr. James fulfilled each duty consci- 
entiously, being always at his post when needed, 
and upon two occasions received quite serious gun- 
shot wounds. He participated in considerable hard 
fighting, and was always spoken of as a brave and 
faithful soldier, who received the approval of his 
superior officers and the respect of his comrades. 

To Mr. and Mrs. James there were born six chil- 
dren, two of whom, Sarah B. and John N., died at 
the ages of seventeen months and seven weeks re- 
spectively. Besides these two infants di«d unnamed. 
William G., the eldest son living, married Miss 
Clara A. Swan, who was born in Liberty Precinct, 
Cass County, June I, 1865, and is a very intelligent 
lad}', with an excellent education; the younger son 
is named Robert, and both are very intelligent and 
enterprising, carrying on the homestead in a man- 
ner similar to that with which it has always been 
conducted, and doing honor to their training. The 
boys are stanch Republicans, politically, as was 
their honored father 

Mrs. Eliza (Burrows) James was born m County 
Tyrone, Ireland, Dec. 29, 1830, and is the daughter 
of George and Mary (Burrows) Burrows, who were 
of Scotch ancestry, the latter having been among 
those who fled from Scotland to the North of Ire- 
laud on account of religious persecution. The par- 
ents of Mrs. James were also natives of County 
Tyrone, and Protestants in religion. After mar- 
riage George Burrows and his wife settled upon a 
little farm in their native county, where were born 
a son and daughter. In the spring of 1834, leaving 
their eldest child, Eliza, with her maternal grand- 



'■► ■ <• 



•►Hf^ 



^^^h 



OTOE COUNTY. 



451 



J. 



parents, they emigrated to America, bringing with 
them the younger, aurl located first in Trumbull 
County, Ohio. Later they removed to Mercer 
County, Pa., settling in New Vernon Township, 
where the fatiier improved a farm from a tract of 
uncultivated land, and where he spent the remainder 
of his days, his decease taking place in February, 
1883. at the advanced age of seventy-nine years. 
Both parents had identified themselves vvith the 
Methodist Church at an early period in life. The 
mother is now seventy-nine 3'ears old. She still 
lives on the old homestead in New Vernon Town- 
ship, Mercer Co., Pa., with her son John N. 

To the parents of Mrs. .James there were born 
seven cliildren after coming to the United States, 
and of the nine comprising the parental household 
all are living but one. These are mostly residents 
of Pennsylvania. Mrs. James remained with her 
grandparents in Ireland until a maiden of seven- 
teen j'ears, then came to America accompanied by^ 
her aunt and uncle, Hugh Burrows. The meeting 
with her parents after the long separation wfis most 
pleasant and gratifying, and siie afterward made 
her home with them until her marriacfe. 






LIVER C. WIGGIN, M. D., is a descendant 
one of the good old New England fam- 
whose name is graven upon the very 
foundation stones of early New England history. 
The originator of this family in America was 
Thomas Wiggin, who had emigrated to this coun- 
try in 1634, returned to England, and finally re- 
turned with his familj' in 1636, and arrived in the 
midst of the struggles of the early colonies for an 
existence and foothold on the Western Continent, 
lie received from his Sovereign a patent of Gov- 
ernor of the North Plantations, w^hich comprised 
the district now embraced in the State of New 
Ilamijshire. This position, that of Governor, he 
held for several years, and in that time did much 
to establish the Colonists and bring to them the 
position of independence and brightness of pros- 
perity that fairlj- started the young colony on its 
way. He was the first Governor. The descend- 




ants of this illustrious gentleman, Thomas AVig- 
gin, for several generations married into the fam- 
ilies of the Massachusetts Governors Bradstreet, 
Dudley and Winthrop, besides others equally well 
known that might be mentioned, representing men 
of worth and note in the higher circles of thought 
arid action in life. 

The subject of our sketch is one of the ninth 
generation from the above-mentioned gentleman, 
and is the second son of the Hon. John M. Wig- 
gin, of Meredith, N. II. He was born in July, 
1810. In his e.arly life the father of our subject 
manifested no little ability as a student. From his 
boyhood he had been devoted to earnest thought 
and careful study, and this he followed from his 
youth up, always engrossed in a never satisfied 
effort to assauge his thirst for knowledge. While 
yet a young man he became instructor in the 
public schools near the home of his boyhood. 
Later he turned his attention to the business of 
architect and contractor, and while his sons were 
growing up he lived upon a farm in order that 
they might have such surroundings as would tend 
to make them true men, that he might the better 
instruct them in such a manner as would bring out 
the very best that was in them as regards character 
and disposition. 

Mr. Wiggin was elected by the people of his 
county (where he had well-nigh innumerable friends, 
for he was much respected and was very jjopular) 
for three consecutive terms to the New Hampshire 
State Legislature, where he served, as had been ex- 
pected, the interests of his constituents in a most 
self-forgetful spirit and with a single eye to their 
welfare. When about seventy years of age he went 
to live with his children in Providence, R. I., and 
there died three years later. He was a lifelong 
member of the Baptist Church, and was for some 
3'ears a Deacon in that communion, as his father 
had been before him. The family for several gen- 
erations had held its membership within the same 
church. His wife, whose maiden name was Polly 
(Fox) Wadleigh, was' a descendant of another of 
the old families of position of New Hampshire. 
She was a brilliant and yet thoughtful woman, true 
to herself and to all to whom she was rel.ated. She 
.also reached the good old .age of seventy-three 



•►Hl^ 



4;j2 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4p 



j^ears, and died about the same time as her hus- 
band. 

Dr. Oliver C. Wiggin was born May 3, 1839, in 
Meredith, N. H., spent the first eighteen years of 
his life upon a farm, and received his education at 
the school-house. The institutions of learning of 
that daj- were not of course so complete, either as 
regards the instruction or appointments, as they 
are to-day. As soon as he was sufficiently ad- 
vanced to so do he entered Brown's University, at 
Providence, where he remained for some time, and 
then entered the Harvard Medical College, being 
graduated from that institution in the class of '66. 

Upon receiving his diploma Dr. Wiggin en- 
gaged in the practice of medicine, locating in 
Providence, where he remained for about twenty 
years, becoming long before that term had expired 
one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons 
of Rhode Island. He was very largely successful in 
his practice, and perhaps for the reason that it has 
always been his custom to enter into every trans- 
action giving his whole mind and power to the 
engagement, whatever that might be, that demanded 
his attention. During that time he vras elected 
President of the Rhode Island INIedical Society, and 
was also President of the Providence Medical As- 
sociation, and also President of the Lying-in Hos- 
pital of Providence, of which he was the chief 
promoter and founder. For ten j-ears he continued 
visiting physician to the Rhode Island Hospital 
and consulting phj'sician at Dexter Asj^lum and 
the Home for Aged Men, and also that for Aged 
Women. 

The marriage of Dr. Wiggin and Mrs. Helen M. 
Jenckes, eldest daughter of Hon. Charles Nourse, 
was celebrated Dec. 3, 1878. Her father is now 
deceased. He was formerly a successful cotton 
manufacturer in Woonsoeket, R. I., and occupied 
a high position in the community, being prominent 
in the social, political, religious and educational 
circles, as well as the business world. His daughter 
Helen received the best possible education, and 
was conversant with all the usual subjects then 
taught, and was also endowed with several accom- 
plishments as then • considered, and was fitted by 
these and her careful liome training for any posi- 
tion in life. She became connected with most of 



the prominent religious and educational societies, 
including the widely known Rhode Island Women's 
Club. It has been a principle of her life to make 
others happy and to spend herself in helping those 
who need aid, and she is wortliy of rank among 
the first ladies of the State. 

From boj-hood Dr. Wiggin has taken the greatest 
possible interest in fine cattle and graded stock, of 
which there were several upon the home farm. In 
1883 he found his failing health would not permit 
of his continued practice of medicine, and because of 
the above-mentioned desire and natural liking for 
stock, he decided to take up the breeding of blooded 
stock, and determined only to handle the pure Hol- 
stein stock, and in October, 1882, he imported a 
choice herd of the most noted strains from Holland. 

Dr. Wiggin found himself well prejiared to keep 
fully abreast of the times in his new occupation. He 
began in Providence, but the necessity of seeking 
broader fields led him to turn his mind to the 
Western prairies, and in 1886 he transported his 
cattle and interests to this State, locating in Wyo- 
ming Precinct of this county, about nine miles 
north of Nebraska City and three and a half miles 
from Union, which is his post-office and is a station 
on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. His property is 
splendidly located, and admirably adapted for his 
purpose. It is known as the ''Crown lihiff Stock 
Farm." Since the transfer to Nebraska the head 
of the herd has been superseded hy a son, an excep- 
tionally fine animal, who is named ''Netherland 
Standard," and the farm is most thoroughly stocked, 
the herd numbering about fifty. 

Partly associated in the business with Dr. Wig- 
gin is a younger brother, whose given name is 
Charles D. Wiggin, M. D. He also is now a resi- 
dent of Wyoming Precinct, and is connected with 
his brother in his stock interests, and at the same 
time is a practicing physician and surgeon. He was 
born upon the old homestead in New Hampshire. 
After obtaining the principles of an education he 
entered Brown University, at Providence, complet- 
ing the curriculum of study and being graduated in 
the class of '68, subsequently receiving tlie degree 
of A. M. He then came West, and spent four years 
in Nebraska on the present farm, which his father 
had some time before purchased. At the end of 



■<*■ 



-^•- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



••► 



453 



that period, iu 1872, he decided to return East. 
This he did, and entered the Yale Medical School, 
and devoted himself to hard and faitliful study, 
being graduated with honors in the class of '74, re- 
ceiving the degree of M. D. 

From Yale Dr. C. D. Wiggin went to Providence, 
R. I., and began the practice of medicine, continu- 
ing there until 1886, when he came to this State 
and joined his brother, our subject. He has since 
resided on the Wiggin property at "Crown Bluff, 
continuing, as above mentioned, the practice of his 
profession. He was united in marriage to Miss 
Adelaide Buckley, the daughter of John Buckle}', 
of Providence, R. I. She was well educated, and 
previous to her marriage had been a most success- 
ful teaclier in the public schools of Rhode Island. 
"While }-et in the prime of life she died, leaving 
two daughters, Marion and Hope. 

A second marrriage was entered into b}- Dr. C. 
D. Wiggin. The maiden name of the lady who 
united her life interests with his upon that occa- 
sion was Lucy D. Bucldin, the daugliter of Samuel 
Slater Bueklin, of Providence, R. I., where she 
was liorn. Previous to her marriage she had been 
engaged for some years as a teacher in the gram- 
mar schools of Providence, and in her present 
position in his home gives abundant evidence of 
her every qualification for that or any other she 
might be called upon to occupy. 

Our subject and his brother combine the indus- 
tries of the dairj' with their stock farming, and 
their goods are such as to command a steady mar- 
ket at Omaha. They also have choice family pork 
products. Their cattle are the most perfect dairy 
stock that could be found, so far as breed is con- 
cerned, their cows coming of the celebrated fami- 
lies of Netherland, Aggie, Alexander, Texelaar, 
Operdoes, and others equally valuable. It is a fre- 
quent thing for them to obtain as much as eighty- 
seven pounds of milk per daj- from several of their 
choicest cows, some of the two-year-olds averaging 
fifty pounds per day. 

Dr. Oliver Wiggin is an acknowledged expert 
and authority in matters pertaining to cattle breed- 
ing, raising and feeding. His arrangements for 
the sheltering and feeding of his stock are all of a 
model character. He uses only the best o1)tainable 



feed, supplying them with tlie ordinary forage as 
long as it remains green; following that with en- 
silage, for which he has silos with a capacity of 
160 tons, which enables him to feed at the small 
expense of fifty-four cents per ton, which is a 
practical demonstration of the utility of this method. 
For grain feed he gives corn-meal, bran, oatmeal, 
ground oats, and cottonseed meal in their proi)er 
proportions. 

Sufl3cient has been said to portray the position, 
high character and personal worth of our subject 
and those associated with him, and we leave the 
sketch to make its own impression in this regard. 
Suffice it here to say that the Doctor is most 
highly esteemed by all who know him. He is a 
member of the Baptist Church, and as a true and 
loyal citizen, is a member of the'Repulilican party. 



— a?^>«^»S^ 



<tf5*^««^«eH. 



OA. SEVERE. The gentleman whose name 
stands at the head of this sketch is one of 
the most prominent cattle dealers of Palmyra 
Precinct, and a man who, beginning at the foot of 
the ladder in life has made his waj' by his own un- 
aided efforts to a good position socially and finan- 
cially. His farm of 280 acres is finely located on 
section 13, and forms one of the mpst desirable 
homesteads in this region. Upon it is a neat and 
substantial farm dwelling, and adjacent are the 
barns, sheds, scales, and all the other appliances 
adapted to the modern stock-raiser, while for the 
comfort of the family is a fine orchard and trees of 
the smaller fruits. A beautiful grove forms another 
attractive feature of the premises. The household 
is presided over by an intelligent and accomplished 
lady, the wife of oursubject, and one child, a bright 
little boy, Harry, who was born April 8, 1883, 
completes the happiness of the borne. 

Mr. Severe, a native of Knox County. Ohio, was 
born in Liberty Township, Jan. 29, 1854, and is 
consequently still a young man. He was a lad of 
nine years when he left his native State, and accom- 
panied his parents to Harrison County, Mo., where 
they lived on a farm a period of six j'ears. Our 
subject in September, 1869, came to Nebraska and 
purchased 120 acres of land, to which he added a 



*► ■ 4" 



^F^^ 



454 



OTOE COUNTY. 



like amount a few months later. While a resiflent 
of Missouri he was married, .Jan. 18, 1877, to Miss 
Martha E. Morgan, also a native of Ohio, and who 
was born Sept. 23. 1858. Her parents, Amos and 
Jane (McCammon) Morgan, emigrated from the 
Buckeye State to Harrison County, Mo., when she 
was a young girl twelve years of age. Her parents 
were natives of Ohio; the father is living in Mis- 
souri, and the mother is deceased. Mrs. Severe, a lady 
who is greatly respected in her community, is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church at Palmyra. 

Mr. 8. identified himself with the Masonic frater- 
nity in 1883, and is now a member of Lodge No. 
64, at Palmyra; he also belongs to the Knights of 
Workingmen, and politicallj', votes the straight Re- 
publican ticket. 

The parents of our subject were Bethel and Char- 
lotte (Conway) Severe, who were natives of Ohio 
and Virginia, and are now living w\ih our subject. 
The father was a farmer by occupation, and the pa- 
rental household included two sons and three daugh- 
ers, of whom one sister of our subject is living. 



It were hard 
an<i honorable 



^^ LEXANDER McIN TYRE. 
\ .@/lJI to find a more worthy 

/// IS representative of the business world of 
(^ Palmyra or indeed of Otoe County than 
the well-known gentleman and much valued citi- 
zen whose history is here recorded. Mr. Mcln- 
tyre is in the dry-goods and general mercantile 
business, and has established a reputation that is be- 
yond question, and in his daily life manifests a 
character that is of the highest order. 

Mr. Mclntyre is the son of Duncan and Cather- 
ine Mclntyre, of Argj^leshire, Scotland. His father 
was a shepherd all his life. He came to America to 
join our subject, who had previously settled in this 
State, and died in Russell Precinct in this county, 
in 1873, aged seventy-three years. His mother re- 
sides in Kansas, with her daughters, and has at- 
tained the advanced age of eightj'-four years. The 
family circle includes five children, who received 
the following names: Archibald, Alexander, Mary, 
Donald and Catherine. 

The suliject of our sketch was born on the 2d of 



October, 1839, in Argyleshire. His experience was 
common to that of boyhood in Scotland ; his educa- 
tion obtained in the parish schools was thorough 
and practical, such as would do him good service in 
the ordinary affairs of life. At fourteen he was 
apprenticed as clerk in a dry-goods house in Edin- 
burgh, where he continued for three years. 'Ihis 
was his business college, and the practical education 
and training there received are with him in effect 
to-day, and his customers in this county may trace 
his efHciencj' in business back to thtit time. 

In 185G Mr. Mclntyre went to Worcester, En- 
gland, and there he served for several j'ears in the 
dry-goods business, thus making, properly speaking, 
his first start in life, for at Edinburgh, as above men- 
tioned, he was simply an apprentice. On the 1st of 
September, 18G3, was celebrated the marriage of 
Mr. Mclntyre with Sarah, the estimable daughter of 
Joseph and Ann (Burden) Grainger. The parents 
of this lady were English, her father being a native 
of Worcester and her mother of London. Mr. 
Grainger was in business as a grocer at the above 
city, and there met our subject. He is still living, 
and is seventy-five years of age. His wife died in 
1^75, being sixty-three years of age at the time of 
her demise. Of thirteen children born to them six 
grew up, of whom three were girls and three 
boj's. The wife of our subject, who was born on 
the 24th of February, 1840, is the eldest of the sur- 
viving children. Her education w:is received in 
private seminaries and is complete. 

Four years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Intj're set sail for America. They left Liverpool 
on April 3, on the steamship "Louiscana." He took 
a homestead of 160 acres, and in 1867 purchased 
an adjoining 160. He now found scope for all his 
experience, and plenty of work that demanded just 
such determination and muscle as is usually found 
in natives of Scotland. He continued prosperously 
as a farmer for seventeen years. On the 3d of 
January, 1884, he came to Palmyra and engaged in 
mercantile pursuits, buying out Mr. R. Oakley, who 
had formerly carried on business here. 

Mr. Mclntyre is a prominent member of the A. 
O. U. W., and is at present the Financier of the Lo- 
cal Assembly, of which he is one of the charter 
members. In religious circles he also occupies a ' ' 



HI--4*- 



::?^::¥-^ 



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-a^ 



-* 



OTOE COUNTY. 



455 



high position. From his youth he has been much 
attached to the Presbyterian Church, and of that 
communion his wife and he are members. He is 
one of the pillars of the church at Palmyra, and 
serves it both in the otBce of Elder and that of 
Sunda}'-school Superintendent. In these relations 
as in every other he is held in the highest possible 
esteem and regard, sentiments that are accorded 
in like measure to his wjfe. In his position as a 
citizen Mr. Mclutyre supports the Republican 
party, and is now a Councilman of Palmyra, wliere 
his manliness of character, his shrewd sagacitj'^ 
and business habits, enable him the better to repre- 
sent his constituents. 

■^ OHN KASBOHM. The northeast quarter of 
section 29, in Wyoming Precinct, has been 
most effectively utilized by the subject of 
J this sketch in the building up of one of the 
best regulated homesteads of this part of the county, 
to which he came in the spring of 1879. His land 
at that time had undergone verj'^ little improve- 
ment, there being upon it at the time of its pur- 
chase by Mr. K. small buildings and no fences. It 
is hardly necessary to state in viewing his present 
surroundings, that he has employed his time in the 
most industrious manner, and invested his capital 
where it would do the most good. 

The buildings of the Kasbohm farm are espe- 
ciallj' noticeable as being tasteful, compact, and 
erected in that substantial manner which insures 
the protection of both man and beast. Mr. K., in 
addition to general farming, has given considerable 
attention to live stock, having a good assortment 
of horses, cattle and swine. He has an orchard of 
flourishing apple trees, besides the smaller fruits, 
and has gradually gathered about himself and his 
family those little comforts and conveniences which 
have so much to do with the happiness of a home. 
Our subject, a native of the Grand Duchy of 
Mecklenburg, Germany, was born Aug. 22, 1839, 
and was the third child in a large familj-, the off- 
spring of Jacob and Fredricka (Clocksim) Kas- 
bohm, who were of pure German ancestry, and 
■^« 



spent their entire lives upon their native soil. The 
father earned an honest living as a laborer, and 
died at the age of sixty years. The mother passed 
away in middle life. They were members of the 
Lutheran Church, in the doctrines of which they 
carefully trained their children. Six of the latter 
are living, three sons and three daughters, and are 
residents of the United States. 

Mr. Kasbohm, in common with the children of 
his native Empire, was placed in school at an early 
age, and made his home with his parents until 
twenty-four years old. He then decided to cross 
the Atlantic and try to accomplish in America 
what there seemed little hope of his becoming in 
Germany — a man of property and influence. He 
realized that he must make his way b}' slow de- 
grees, but he possessed largelj^ the qualities of per- 
sistence and resolution, handed down to him from 
his ancestors, and accordingly, after landing in New- 
York City, was ready to employ himself at what- 
ever he could find to do. There and in the city 
of Brooklyn he lived for the following nine years 
or more, becoming in the meantime established in 
a putty and paint house, of which he was a trusted 
employe. In the spring of 1879, however, he re- 
solved to cross the Mississippi and see what lay 
bejrond. 

Mr. Kasbohm has certainly had little reason to 
regret crossing first the Atlantic and then the 
Father of Waters. He had little capital upon land- 
ing in this country, being thrown upon his own re- 
sources in a strange land, but his inherent integrity 
and his willingness to employ liimself at anj'thing 
which would make him an honest living, soon se- 
cured him friends, which he has never lacked to 
this day. One of the earliest of these was a most 
estimable young lady. Miss Catherine Maefort, 
with whom he became acquainted in New York 
City, and to whom he was married there in 1866. 

The wife of our subject was, like himself, born 
in Germany, on the 18th of October, 1841. She 
came with friends to the United States, and, like 
her husband, commenced independentlj' to earn her 
own living. Their wedded life began in New 
York, and a few months later they bid adieu to the 
metropolis and came to the young State of Ne- 
braska. They have been steadily advancing since 



•►:JI-^ 



45G 



OTOE COIJNTT. 



4 



<9 



making the experiment of life in a new country, 
and have contributed their full share to tlie pros- 
perity of Otoe County. Of their union there was 
born one child only, a boy, whom they named 
John, and who to their great sorrow died when 
tenweelvS old. Mr. and Mrs. K. are both members 
of the German Lutheran Church, and our subject, 
politically, is a solid Repulilican. 



^P-^ 



ORLANDO J. DAVIS is one of the prominent 
citizens and enterprising stock-raisers and far- 
mers of North Branch Precinct, and resides 
on section 35, where he settled in 1880. Mr. Davis 
was born on the 26th of December, 18-14, in North 
Carolina, of which State his parents, Ruell R. and 
Biddy (Hoiison) Davis, were also natives. The fam- 
ily removed from that State to Nebraska, settling at 
Mt. Pleasant, in Cass County, in the year 1856. 
There the father entered land and improved a farm, 
giving his careful and undivided attention to the 
cultivation of the same for the remainder of his 
life, whicli closed in the year 1864. Mrs. Davis is 
.•itill living in Cass County, and has reached the age 
of sixty-three years. 

The faniilj' circle of which our subject is a mem- 
ber included nine children, of whom but seven are 
living: Stephen, now a grain merchant at Platts- 
mouth; Orlando J., our subject; Bradley H., a resi- 
dent of this county; Wesley A., of Weeping Water, 
this State; William R., who still lives at Mt. Pleas- 
ant; Julia A., the wife of William Jameson, and 
John H., both of Weeping Water. Eunice, died 
in the year 1861, at the age of eighteen years. 

The subject of our sketch was twelve years of 
age when the family^ settled in this State, and can 
well remember man}' of the more striking features 
and incidents of their pioneer life. The journeys 
his father was compelled to take when any trading 
or marketing had to be done, either to Plattsmouth 
or Nebraska Cit}'. His father had an unusually 
fine advantage in settling, being possessed of over 
$1,000 in money, besides teams and household goods. 

As a lad, Orlando Davis spent his early days 
upon the home farm, and his recollections cluster 
around and are filled with the simple, healthful life 



at the home. He was from his youth acquainted 
with agricultural pursuits and farm life, so that it 
was no difficulty for him to take charge of similar 
work on his own account. The year 1867 wit- 
nessed his marriage with Elizabeth Howard, the 
daughter of William 11. and Julia A. Howard, who 
were natives of Ohio. 

Mr. and Mrs. Howard were married in Parke 
County, Ind., and settled in Vermillion County, 
where their daughter I-llizabeth was born on the 3d 
of June, 1848. Later the}- went to Hancock County, 
111., where they lived until 1863, and then came to 
Cass Countj', where, two 3'ears later, Mrs. Howard 
died, leaving her husband and six children. Mr. 
Howard is still living, but is a resident of Lan- 
caster County, Neb, 

The subject of our sketch and his young wife 
continued to make their home in Cass Countj- until 
1870, when thej' migrated to Butler Count}', Kan., 
and pre-empted 160 acres of the Osage Trust Lands, 
which he improved by cultivation, setting out a 
large number of fruit trees, and erecting good 
buildings. After awhile he purchased an additional 
eighty acres, making him the owner of a total of 
240 acres. In the year 1873 he lost his crop by 
grasshoppers, but did not require aid, as he had 
provisions in reserve, the result of more prosperous 
years. 

Mr. Davis continued his residence in Kansas for 
a little over ten years, but was not infatuated with 
the State and did not like the climate, consequently 
he removed and came to Nebraska, where he pur- 
'jhased his present farm, comprising 160 acres of 
excellent land, on which he has put up two sets of 
good buildings for stock and farm purposes. He 
feeds about fifty head of stock annually, and is the 
owner of some fine animals. In the vicinity of the 
house there are two flourishing orchards, filled with 
fruit trees of diverse kinds of choice variety, and 
all excellent bearers. 

The family of our subject and his wife numbers 
eiffht children, whose names are as subjoined: Mary 
Eva, Frank V., Milton C, Howard O., Winford W., 
Pearl Ethel, Edward C. and Hannah A. The home 
is one of the most complete and pleasant that can 
be found within quite a large distance, and the chil- 
dren reflect the high moral tone of their parents in 

— ■ ► 



•►ii^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



457 



their own lives. In the Methodist Episcopal Church 
Mr. and Mrs. Davis find that which is congenial 
from a religious standpoint, and their family have 
been instructed in the same faith. 

The subject of our slietch is an old member of 
the 1. O. O. F., and is also affiliated with the 
Society of Modern Woodmen of America. He 
thinks stronglj' and independently upon the temper- 
ance question, and is quite a worker in the cause. 
lie has been called upon to hold several local offices, 
and was also appointed to take tlie State census for 
his district in 1875. He is an active worker for the 
Republican part3', which he has continued to sup- 
port from the time he had the privilege of fran- 
chise. He is a member of the Central Committee, 
and has frequently been called upon to act as a 
delegate to conventions. As a man he is highlj' 
respected, and has tlie confidence of his fellow-citi- 
zens to a marked degree. 



j^^\ ICHAEL HENG, a very prosperous farmer 
ll i\\ "-"^ Belmont Precinct, and one of its most 
il LS extensive land-owners, is the proprietor of 
* 410 acres of valuable land, all of which 

is under a fair state of cultivation. It is chiefly 
devoted to stock-raising, his animals including 
Short-horn cattle of excellent breeds, Berkshire 
and Poland-China swine and first-class draft horses. 
These latter, however, he makes use of mostly on his 
hand. He has operated with that genuine German 
thrift land prudence which are among the most 
distinctive characteristics of his nationality, and is 
not only in the enjoyment of a competence for the 
present, but will have sufHcient to surround him- 
self with all the comforts of life in his declining 
years. 

Our subject was born in the Province of Alsace, 
which now belongs to Germany, but was at that 
time a Province of France. He first opened his 
eyes to the light Sept. 21, 1834, and is the son of 
George and Mageleud (Saner) Heng, who were na- 
tives of the same Province. Michael when a youth 
of twenty years left his native land in April of 
1855, and thereafter for one j-ear was a resident of 
Shelb3' Count}-, Ohio. Thence he emigrated to the 



cit}' of Dayton in that State, but from there emi- 
grated to Greene County, Ohio, where he lived 
three years. 

Mr. Heng came to Xebraska Aug. 18, 1859, while 
it was still a Territor}-, and settled upon land which 
is now included in his present farm. Of this but 
thirty acres had been disturbed b}^ the plowshare, 
and there had been built a limited amount of fence. 
There was no house, and the scene around presented 
one extremely wild and desolate, with not the habi- 
tation of a white man in view. Our subject, how- 
ever, was born with that courageous element which 
did not allow any ordinary matter to discourage 
him, and he set to work with a will to build up a 
home and improve his land. His iirst years were 
spent in the inanner common to the early pioneers, 
laboring with limited market facilities, imperfect 
transportation, and amid all the other difficulties 
which beset the pioneer farmer. In the course of 
a few years, however, his labors met with their 
legitimate reward, his farm began to yield in abun- 
dance the rich products of Southern Xebraska. and 
he had gathered around hiim the various modern 
improvements which become necessary to the in- 
telligent and progressive farmer. He is now num- 
bered among the most prosperous men of his pre- 
cinct, and is one of its most valuable and reliable 
citizens. 

After laj-ing the foundation of a future home 
our subject was married, on the 8th of February, 
1865, to Miss Jane Hoffman, who was born in Jan- 
uary, 1845, in Germany, and is a daughter of Jo- 
seph Hoffman, who, with his wife, was a native of 
Germany. Both parents spent their last j-ears in 
Illinois. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Heng there were born nine 
children, namely: George, Mary, Michael, Katj^, 
Wilhelmina, Phelimina, John, Jennie and Sally. 
Mary is the wife of Mattis Meyer, of Cass County, 
this State. The other children are at home. The 
mother of these departed this life at the homestead 
in Belmont Precinct, June 17, 1884. 

Our subject in 1885 contracted a second matri- 
monial alliance, with Miss Theresa Schrider, who 
was born in 1850, and is the daughter of Joseph 
and Catrenia Schrider. Her parents were natives of 
Germany, and the father died about 1874, in Otoe 



oi 

:oe ^ • 



A. 



-•►Hl- 



458 



OTOE COUNTY. 



w 



County; the mother Feb. 2, 1885, also iu Otoe 
Coimty. Of this union of our subject there are two 
children, a sou and daughter — Frank and Theresa. 
The career of Mr. Heug has been signalized as 
that of a man more than ordinarily industrious 
and clear sighted. He began life without capital, 
dependent whollj^ upon his own resources, and 
from first principles has built up an estate of i 
which he has reason to be proud. He votes the 
straight Democratic ticket, but has never sought 
official honors. He and his wife are members in 
good standing of the German Catholic Church. In 
the support and maintenance of this he takes a warm 
interest and is noted for his charities, giving largely 
of his means to benevolent objects. He is likewise 
active in his encouragement of education, believ- 
ing that the young should receive every advantage 
in order to fit them for worthy' and useful citizens. 
In 1864 the Indians became very troublesome, and 
INIr. Heng joined a company to suppress them. 



WASHINGTON C. "WOLF. South Branch 
has within its confines many thoroughly 
practical farmers, enterprising and prosper- 
ous stock-raisers, men of intelligence and character. 
Among these and worthily representing the indus- 
tries is the subject of our sketch, who has 480 acres 
of splendid land devoted to the above interests, sit- 
uated on section 30 of that precinct. 

Our subject is the son of Frederick and Sophia 
(Clark) Wolf. His father was born of German 
parents, who settled in Maryland, in whicli State he 
first saw the light. His mother was born in Bowl- 
ing Green, Ky., where she was mariled to Mr. Wolf 
in 1827. The grandfather upon the maternal side 
was of English family, and served in the War of 
1812 as a private. 

After some time spent iu Kentucky the parents 
of our subject removed to Ohio, and made their 
home near Eaton, and at that place all their chil- 
dren were born. In 1832 they removed to Shelby- 
ville, 111., where Mr. Wolf continued farming until 
his death, which occurred on the 12th of June, 1879, 
at the age of seventy -seven years. His wife died 
at Athens, 111., on the 1st of October, 1858. There 

-^•^ : 



were thirteen children born to them, the family 
record giving their names as subjoined: Sarah, 
Louis, Nancy, Frederick, Daniel, Susan (died when 
three years of age), Sophia, Rebecca, Cornelius, 
Jacob, Washington C, Melinda and Oliver. Cor- 
nelius was in the 73d Illinois Infantry, was mus- 
tered in at Camp Butler in 1862, was taken with 
fever, and died at Louisville, Ivy. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Preble 
County, Ohio, on the 11th of November, 1845. 
Accompanying his parents to Illinois, he continued 
to live with them until he was thirteen years of age, 
attending the classes of the common schools. When 
his mother died he began working for himself, and 
at the age of sixteen years he . enlisted in the 2d 
Illinois Cavalry, in 1861, and became a member of 
Company B. He was mustered in at Camp Butler 
and served under Gen. Banks. He took part as an 
active combatant in the siege of Vicksburg, the 
raid up the Red River, the battle of Memphis, 
Jacksonville and Baton Rouge, besides many smaller 
battles, skirmishes and conflicts, and was mustered 
out after a service of three years at Camp Butler, 
and there received his honorable discharge. 

Hanging up his saber and dotting the Union 
blue, Mr. Wolf returned to the more peaceful avo- 
cation of husbandry. In beginning he started 
in Township No. 19, Logan County, continuing 
there until he came to this county in 1879. At 
that time he settled on his present property, which 
was at the time entirely unimproved, and offered an 
inviting field for intelligent industry, unflagging 
perseverance and resolute energy. The reward of 
his labor is his. 

Mr. Wolf has been twice married; first on the 
8th of August, 1867, while residing in Illinois. The 
maiden whom he sought for his companion in life 
was Mathilda Donovan, daughter of David and 
Sarah (Alartin) Donovan, who were both born in 
the Buckeye State. She wa,s the youngest of five 
children, and was born on the 15th of November, 
1848, in Logan County, 111., and prior to her mar- 
riage ably filled the position of schoolmistress. She 
died on the 24th of November, 1865, leaving her 
husband their son Charles Edward, as a pledge and 
memorial of their affection. 

The second alliance in matrimony of our subject 



■•►-IK 



>► ir^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4.59 



was with IMrs. !Mary Farrall, relict of Francis Far- 
rail, and was celebrated on the 11th of November, 
1885. The first liusband of this lady was born in 
Ireland, and came to this country when a young 
man, settling in Illinois in Cass County. He then 
went to Kearney. After seven years they removed 
in 1875 to this county, where he died on the 17th 
of March, 1884. He was the father of three chil- 
dren, named John, Lucy and Maggie. ]Mrs. Wolf 
was born in Queens County, Ireland, May 22, 
1845, and is the daughter of Charles and Bridget 
(Butler) Flinn. She came to America alone when 
sixteen years of age. 

The farm of Mr- Wolf, which lies partly on sec- 
tion 13 and partly on section 31, comprising as 
above noted 480 acres, is carefully kept and worked. 
From house to field, barn to orchard, the improve- 
ments are the work of the proprietor. The fields 
are fertile and very productive, the cattle sheds and 
pens are well stocked with high-grade stock, in- 
cluding cattle, hogs and horses, many of them very 
valuable creatures and of fine appearance. Mr. 
"Wolf is Supervisor of roads, and has held other 
oflices, being popular, intelligent, a man of charac- 
ter and social j^osition. Our subject and wife are 
both members of the Catholic Church at Palmyra. 
Although one in religious faith they differ mater- 
ially in politics. Mr. Wolf is a stanch Republican; 
his wife, although Irish by birth, has carefully 
studied the institutions of her adopted country, and 
is very intelligent upon this and upon all general 
topics, and also some of the more erudite. This 
lady espouses the cause of the Democratic faith. 

'f' UDGE JESSE S. MAPES is one of the most 
worthy and valued citizens of Nebraska Citj-, 
and was born July 20, 1838, in Warwick, 
Orange Co., N. Y., in the same house in 
which Gov. Seward was born, as was also his 
father, Sanford Mapes, whose nativity dates the 
11th of September, 1811, and his father, Jesse 
Mapes, and also James IMapes, grandfather of San- 
ford H. Mapes. The family is of German extrac- 
tion. The first member of the familj' to come to this 
country was Thomas INIeppes, great-great-grand- 



father of our subject, who was born at Elberfeldt, 
Germany. (In later generations the name was An- 
glicized, and is now spelled Mapes.) He settled in 
Blooming Grove, Orange Co., N. Y., and took up a 
large tract of land, and clearing a plantation, made 
for his family a liome. There he resided until his 
death. 

The great-grandfather of our subject came with 
his parents from Germany, and was reared upon 
the above farm. He served in the War of the 
Revolution under Washington, after which he re- 
tired to his farm, and there made his home until 
his death, in 1834, when the property passed into 
the hands of his son Jesse, and then to Sanford 
H., the father of our subject, who continued to 
make it his home. The maiden name of his wife 
was Hannah Little, a native of Orange County. 

The father of Jesse S. was brought up on a 
farm, and continued to operate it. In 1838 with 
his wife he went to Warwick, and for a time re- 
sided on the Seward homestead; while there the 
subject of our sketch was born, in the month of 
July, as above mentioned. Mr. Mapes afterward 
purchased a farm at Warwick, and was there engaged 
in agricultural pursuits until his death, March 8, 
1874. The maiden name of his wife, the mother 
of our subject, was Ruth Rose Mapes, who was 
born in Blooming Grove, Orange Co., N. Y. The 
father of this lady, Rumsey Mapes, of the same 
count}', was a soldier in the War of 1812. The 
maiden name of his wife was Mary, daughter of 
James and Rachael (Miller) Rumsej-. The first hus- 
band of this lady, Joshua IMiller, was murdered by 
the Claudius Smith gang during the Revolutionary 
War. They watched for him, loiowiug him to be 
home on furlough, and discovering his hiding- 
place, followed his wife when she took him food, 
and sprang upon him and assassinated him. 

There were six children born to the parents of 
our subject, as follows: Jesse S.; Horace was born 
in 1840, and died in 1862; William served in Com- 
pany B, 127th New Y'ork Infantry, in the late war; 
he lost an eye in the battle of Spottsylvania Court 
House, and in the battle of Deep Bottom lost a leg, 
and now resides in Orange County. Mortimer and 
Walter are both residents of the town of Warwick; 
Eugene is a minister in the Presbj^terian Church, 



>^h 



li 460 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^ 



now stationed at Carlisle, Pa. ; he is a graduate of 
Union College, N. Y., also of the University at 
Leipsic, Germany. 

The subject of our sketch received his early 
education in the district schools of his native place, 
and afterward i-eceived instruction in the "S. S. 
Seward" Institute, at Florida, Orange Co., N. Y., 
an institution endowed bj^ the father of Gov. Sew^- 
ard. After being graduated he served three years' 
apprenticeship in order to learn the trade of car- 
penter. In 1861 he was appointed Deputy United 
States Marshal for the Eleventh New York District, 
and served until the close of the war, and was then 
appointed Deputy County Clerk of Orange County; 
this office he continued to fill for nine years, during 
which time he was a student-at-law. In 1877 he 
came to this State, and bought the farm on which 
he has resided ever since. This is a vei-y fertile 
and well-cultivated property, comprising 160 acres 
on section 29 of Syracuse Precinct. In 1879 he was 
elected Assessor of Syracuse; in 1880 he became 
Justice of the Peace, was elected County Judge of 
Otoe County in 1885, and re-elected in 1887. 

On the 16th of May, 1861, Judge Mapes was 
united in marriage with Evelyn F. Randall, which 
union lias resulted in the birth of four children — 
Jessie Benton, Willie S., Lena and Bernie. Mrs. 
Mapes was born in New York City, on the 16th of 
May, 1841. Her father, Culver llandall, was born 
in 1804, at Goshen, Orange County, while his 
father, Jesse Randall, was a native of New Jersey; 
his father, William Randall, the great-grandfather 
of Mrs. Mapes, was a Welshman, who came to 
America in the employ of C. C. Seward in the 
early daj^s of the Colonies. 

The grandfather of Mrs. Mapes was a young 
man when his parents migrated to York State; 
there he built a gristmill in Goshen, and con- 
tinued to do business there, at the same time run- 
ning his extensive farm, upon which the father of 
Mrs. Mapes was reared. After he was married he 
went to New York City, and engaged in business 
there as a ship's chandler, and afterward returned 
to Goshen to take charge of his father's mills, 
which ultimately came into his ownership. There 
he resided until his death, which occurred in Sep- 
temlier, 1 888, when he was eighty-five years of age. 



His wife, whose maiden name was Sophia Provost, 
was born in 1808, in New York Citj^ Her father's 
name was Daniel Provost. 

Judge Mapes has been a member of the Masonic 
Lodge for twenty-four years, joining at Goshen, 
Orange Co., N. Y., of which lodge he was Master 
six 3'ears, and has been a Royal Arch Chapter Ma- 
son for, fifteen years. He is much interested in po- 
litical matters, .-md is a stanch Republican. With 
his wife, he is a member in good standing of the 
Episcopal Church. 



•►HH^*- 



ERMAN KREIFELS. The comfortable and 
well-regulated homestead of this gentleman 
embraces 160 acres of land situated on sec- 
tion 10 in Rock Creek Precinct, Most of 
it has been brought to a productive condition, 
the buildings are comfortable and in good repair, 
and the entire premises presents a cheerful picture 
of rural life. 

Mr. Kreifels settled upon eiglity acres of his pres- 
ent farm in the fall of 1869, and followed the usual 
routine of the early settler, enduring many hard- 
ships, and being obliged to labor early and late in 
order to obtain a foothold. He has been fairly 
prosperous in his labors and been able to surround 
himself and his family with many comforts. Prior 
to his arrival in Nebraska he had been a resident 
of Stearns County, Minn., for a period of fourteen 
years. To that place he had migrated from Osage 
County, Mo., where he first took up his resi- 
dence wlien coming to the LTnited States in the early 
summer of 1846, taking up his residence there on 
the 2d of May. 

]\Ir. Kreifels was born near the River Rhine, in 
Prussia, Dec. 30, 1824, and is a son of John and 
Sibela Kreifels, natives of the same country, where 
the father followed farming, and where both parents 
spent their entire lives. The father died when his 
son Herman was twelve years old, and he was then 
thrown mostly upon his own resources, earning 
thereafter his own living. He was twenty-one 
years of age when he decided to seek liis fortune in 
the New World. He was married in Osage County, 
Mo., to Miss Margaret Bloomer, who was born in 



r 



ii^h-^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4GI 






Prussia. April 20, 1828. and came in the spring of 
1840 with her father, Matthew Bloomer, to America. 
They also located in Osage County, Mo., where 
jMrs. K. was reared to womanhood, remaining un- 
der the parental roof. After her marriage with our 
subject her parents removed to Minnesota, and died 
in Stearns County. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kreifels began their wedded life 
together on a farm in IMissouri, when later they re- 
moved to Minnesota, and from there to this county. 
Of their union there have been born ten children, 
namely: Peter, Louis, .Sebastian, Frank, Melcher, 
Joseph, Elizabeth, Marj-, Anna and Helen. Joseph, 
Elizabeth and Mary are married, and make their 
homes in Otoe County. Our subject, politically, is 
independent, and he and his estimable wife are 
members in good standing of the German Catholic 
Church. 

TEPIIEN A. HAIL is the oldest native- 
born citizen of Otoe Count}' now a resident 
within its limits, his birth occurring in Ne- 
braska City June 2, 1855, and ever since 
attaining manhood he has been identified with the 
best interests of his native city and county, and is 
now numbered among the leading business men of 
this part of Nebraska. He is the j'oungest son of 
William B. Hail, of whom an extended sketch ap- 
pears elsewhere iu this work. 

Our subject received the preliminaries of his 
education in tlie early schools of this city, and com- 
pleted it by attendance at Talbot Hall, an advanced 
school, under the charge of Prof. Diffendorf. This 
school was first conducted in a building erected for 
the purpose thr«e miles southwest of this city. It 
was afterward moved to the city, and was known for 
some time as Nebraska College, but is now called 
the Nebraska City Academy, Prof. Car}' being the 
proprietor. Our subject was a student of the col- 
lege after its removal to the city. When he was 
twenty-four years old he entered upon the mercan- 
tile business as a clerk in the store of S. B. East- 
man, and was employed in that establishment for 
two years. He then went to Omaha and kept books 
for a lumber firm in that city two j'ears. At the 
ex])iration of that time he returned to this city and 



went into the insurance office of David Brown, and 
was a clerk for him until 1885. In September of 
that year Mr. Hail bought Mr. Brown's insurance 
business, and has conducted it himself ever since 
with marked success. He repi-esents ten of the 
leading insurance companies of the United States, 
and his business extends over Otoe, Nemaha and 
Cass Counties. By his close attention to his affairs, 
and his prompt and systematical business habits, he 
has not only been exceedingly prosperous, but has 
won the confidence of the many who have dealings 
with him. 

Mr. Hail was married, March 4, 1881, to Miss 
Anna V. Steinhart, a native of St. Louis, and a 
daughter of John and Anna Steinhart. In their 
pleasant and attractive home two children, Warren 
Lee and Irene, complete the family circle. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hail are active members of the 
Presbyterian Church, and it is through Mr. Hail's 
efforts as leader of the choir that this church is 
greatly indebted for its beautiful music, as he is a 
fine singer and an enthusiast in music. 

Mr. Hail is a fine representative of the young 
men of the West who have grown up within its 
borders, he having a full measure of the push and 
energj' that characterize so many of them, and 
make them conspicuous in the industrial, commer- 
cial and other business interests of their native 
towns. He is earnest and sincei*e in his convic- 
tions, straightforward .ind manly in all his acts, and 
one upon whom friend or stranger can place the 
utmost reliance. He is, of course, interested in all 
that tends to promote the growth of his native cit}', 
and as a member of the Buil(iKug and Loan Associa- 
tion, is an important factor therein. Mr. Hail 
is an ardent advocate of the policy of the Demo- 
cratic party in his political views. 

■vwlOHN NUTZMANN. The subject of this 
sketch represents a fine pro|>erty in the State 
^.„^ I of Nebraska, including 480 acres of hmd in 
(^^' Berlin Precinct, this eonnty, and eighty acres 
in Cass County. His homestead is embellished with 
first-class improvements, including a commodious 
residence, a good barn and other out-buildings, and 



•►Hl^ 



462 



OTOE COUNTY. 



all Ihe appliances requireri for the convenience of 
the extensive stock-dealer, of which industrj' our 
subject makes a specialty. For his partner and 
helpmate Mr. Nutzraann has one of the most in- 
telligent of wives, a lady with fine tastes, who ex- 
ercises rare and good judgment in the adornment 
of her home, and is possessed of tliat genial and 
hospitable spirit which makes it a most welcome 
place for friend or stranger. 

The family history of our subject is in its main 
points as follows: His parents. Christian and Marj- 
(Brandt) Nutzmann, were natives of the Grand 
Duchy of Mecklenburg, Germany, and Grandfather 
Brandt served in the wars against the first Napo- 
leon. His son Christian followed farming on a 
small scale in his native Province until 1865, when 
he emigrated with his family to the United States. 
Soon after landing in New York City they took up 
their abode in IMilwaukee, AVis., but six montlis 
later came to this county, and the father purchased 
160 acres of improved land in Berlin Precinct, upon 
which he operated successfully, and to which later 
he added forty acres. He thus left an estate of 200 
acres at his death, which took place in December, 
1 870, when he was sixty-one years old. The mother 
is still living at the old homestead, being now sixty- 
seven years old. The five children of the parental 
family were named as follows: John, Henry, Christ, 
Ernest and Frederick. They are all residents of this 
State, and well-to-do. 

Our subject was born not far from the earl}' home 
of his parents in Mecklenburg, Germany, Oct. 21, 
1846. He received a limited education, and re- 
mained under the parental roof until a youth of 
sixteen 3'ears. He then began an apprenticeship at 
the blacksmith trade, serving until making up his 
mind to emigrate to America with his parents. 
They left the city of Hamburg in October, 1865, 
and after a voyage of nineteen days on an ocean 
steamer, landed in New York City, and our subject 
thereafter leaving his parents in Milwaukee, worked 
at his trade in Chicago six months, subsequently 
joining them and accompanying them to this county. 
This journey was made by rail to St. Joseph, Mo., 
and thence to Nebraska City by steamer. Here 
our subject resumed his trade, and was thus occu- 
pied mostly for two years. In 18G9, having with 



true German thrift and forethought saved what he 
could of his earnings, he purchased the quarter-sec- 
tion of land whereon stands his present homestead, 
and of which he took possession Nov. 14, 1870. 

Mr. Nutzraann in starting out to develop a farm 
began with the raw prairie, with rude farm imple- 
ments, a far-away market, and other difficulties in- 
cident to pioneer life. The provisions which he 
could not raise and his building material were 
hauled from Nebraska City. He proceeded with 
the cultivation of his land, and in due time set out 
groves of shade trees, 250 apple trees, planted hedge 
fences, and from year to year added something to 
the beauty and value of his property. About 1876 
he turned his attention more exclusively to live 
stock. He ships annually a carload each of cattle 
and swine. He keeps sixteen to twentj' head of 
graded Norman horses, and employs four teams in 
his farming operations. His land is supplied with 
running water from Spring Creek, and a fine wind- 
mill takes it to the places desired. The land is 
operated bj- modern machinery, and no pains or ex- 
pense have been spared in making the farm first- 
class in every particular. 

Our subject, among the other good things found 
in Nebraska, found here also the estimable lady 
who in her girlhood was Miss Philipena Opp, and 
to whom he was married Nov. 13, 1870, in Ne- 
braska City. Mrs. Nutzmann was born in Prussia, 
on the 8th of May, 1853, and came to the 
United States with her parents in April, 1868. Of 
her union with our subject there have been born 
eight children, namely: Richard, Christ, Alfred, 
Ernest, Julia, John, Rosa and Dina. They form a 
bright and interesting group, none of whom have as 
yet fled from the home nest. Mr. and Mrs. M. are 
charter members of the German Lutheran Church at 
Avoca, to which they tender a cheerful and liberal 
support. Our subject, politically, is a true Repub- 
lican, prominent in the councils of his party in this 
region, and frequently sent as a delegate to the 
County Conventions. He is a member of the School 
Board of his district, and was Supervisor two years. 
Socially, he belongs to W^'ruui Lodge No. 29, I. O. 
O. F.. in which ha has held the various offices. He 
has also served on the Grand Jurj'. 

Mrs. Nutzmann is the daughter of John and Cath- 



*► II <• 



f 



»► II <• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•► 



463 



eriiie (Gruber) Opp, who were boin in Rlienisb 
Prussia, where the father carried on farming, anrl 
was also connected with a hotel. Grandfather Joiin 
Opp was at one time a very prosperous farmer, and 
the owner of a good property, whicii he lost later. 
Grandfather Gruber served against the first Napo- 
leon during the War of 1812 and thereafter. He 
was of Spanish birth and ancestry, and during the 
wars of Spain with other powers migrated to Ger- 
inanj\ where he spent the remainder of his life. 
Mr. Opp came to America with bis family in 1868, 
and purchased land in the vicinity of Nehawka, 
Neb., where his estimable wife spent the re- 
mainder of her days. She died at the age of six- 
ty-seven years. Their five children were named 
respectivel}' : Peter. Jacob, Philipena, Nicholas and 
Catherine. The fatiier is still living, residing in 
Cass Conntj'. 

^ .*>#. ^ 



lURTON DORM AN. The snug homestead 
of this gentleman comprises eighty acres of 
thoroughly cultivated land, lying on section 
34, in Russell Precinct. He possesses all 
the elements of a substantial and reliable citizen, 
and as an agriculturist has operated with that skill 
and good judgment which have resulted in the 
construction of one of the most desirable home- 
steads in the western part of the county. Every- 
thing about the premises is neatl3' kept and in good 
order, and there have been added from time to 
time the little comforts and conveniences which have 
so much to do with the happiness of a home. 

Our subject is the offspring of a good family, his 
parents being Michael and Ann (Burton) Dorman, 
the former of whom was a native of Worcester- 
shire, England, and the latter of Rutland. Michael 
Dorman was a successful farmer and stock dealer, 
and spent his entire life upon his native soil, his 
death taking place in 1853, at the age of fiftj'-seven 
years. The mother had preceded her husband to 
the silent land, dyiug in 1850, at the age of forty- 
seven. The nine children of the parental family 
were named respectivelj' as follows: Elizabeth, 
Mary A., Fann3% P^mma and William (deceased), 
Frederick, Burton, Charles and Thomas. Those 



living are residents mostly of England; Thomas 
lives in Sioux City, Iowa. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject, also 
Michael Dorman by name, was born in Lincolnshire, 
England, and during the time of the first Napoleon 
served in the P^nglish armj-, and was present at the 
battle of Waterloo. He spent his last years in En- 
gland. Burton, our subject, was born in Medborn, 
Leicestershire, England, April 23, 1836, and lived 
with his parents attending school until a lad nine 
years of age. He then commenced an apprentice- 
ship at the butcher's trade, of which he gained a 
thorough knowledge in all its details, and which he 
followed three years in his native town. He was 
afterward a resident of the city of Birmingham four 
years, and during the time of the Crimean War- 
Here he started in business for himself, and was 
thus occupied a period of twelve 3- ears, at the ex- 
piration of which time he determined to change his 
location to the United States. 

Mr. Dorrnan, in pursuance of the above-men- 
tioned plan, engaged passage on the old ship '-Den- 
mark," and after a voyage of seventeen da3's landed 
in New York. Thence he proceeded to Chicago, 
111., and for a year theieafter was employed in the 
stockyards adjacent to that citj'. Afterward he 
was engaged four and two years respectively' in two 
market houses, and then established in business for 
himself at No. 1168 State street. In the meantime, 
in the summer of 1868, he had visited this county, 
and purchased eighty acres of land in Russell Pre- 
cinct, and of this, in the fall of 1878, he took pos- 
session, and upon it has since remained. It was a 
ti-act of wild prairie at the time he purchased it, 
and the groves, orchards, fruit trees, and buildings 
which we now behold, are all the result of the per- 
severance and industry of the present proprietor. 

While a resident of the city of Birmingham, En- 
gland, our subject was united in marriage with Jane 
Cartwright, on the 9th of January, 1865. This 
lady was born in Birmingham, Dec. 16, 1841, and 
is the daughter of George and Sarah (Underbill) 
Cartwright, natives of the same city. The father 
was a jeweler by trade, and carried on his own 
factory in Birmingham, where he accumulated a 
good property. There he spent his entire life, 
dying in 1876, at the age of sixty years. The 



H^K 



.J^ 



464 



OTOE COUNTY. 



mother had passed away some j'ears previous to the 
decease of her husband, her death occurring Oct. 
18, 1851, when she was but forty years of age. 
Their two eldest sons, John and George, died at 
the ages of nine and forty-one years respectively, 
while of their two younger sons Albert is deceased, 
and George (2d) living in England. It will thus 
be seen that Mrs. Dorman and George are the only 
survivors of her family. 

Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Dorman there have 
been born three children — Elma, Fanny A. and an 
infant who died unnamed. The two daughters are 
fourteen and seven years of age respectivel}', and, 
it is hardly necessaiy to say, constitute the light of 
the household. Mr. Dorman has become thoroughly 
identified with the institutions of his adopted coun- 
try, and uniform!}' votes the Republican ticket. He 
has served as Assessor in his precinct two years, as 
School Director nine years, and been otherwise in- 
trusted with matters of importance. Religiously, 
he belongs to the United Brethren Church at Una- 
dilla, in which he has served as Treasurer several 
years, and also as Superintendent of the Sunda}'- 
school. He is somewhat prominent in local poli- 
tics, and has twice been sent as a delegate to the 
County Conventions at Syracuse. Mrs. Dorman is 
a very pleasant and intelligent lady, a genuine help- 
mate to her husband, and their combined efforts 
have built up one of the most pleasant and desir- 
able homes which it is the lot of mortals to enjoy. 



-vv/Wv<j2££;©.^/"^ 



»^-a/Zrzr?r»\~-i 



•► 



t 



ATRICK McGUIRE, whose name will be 
mentioned as one who has both faithfully 
served his country in her hour of need, 
and as heartily assisted in the develop- 
ment and advancement of the interests of a com- 
paratively new section of the country, is one of 
the esteemed citizens of Russell Precinct, at once 
an old settler and successful farmer. He is now 
operating 160 acres on section 6 of that precinct. 
Our subject is of Irish descent, his father, Patrick, 
and his mother, Katharine (McGrath) McGuire, 
both being natives of Ireland, and born in the same 
county. In the 3'ear 1838 his father, who had been 
a small farmer in his native countrj', emigrated to 
«•- 



America, sailing from Queenstown to New York, 
where he worked for awhile on the railroad, then 
removed to Benton Townsliip, LaFayette Co., Wis., 
where he rented a farm and embarked also in mining, 
which, however, was not in every regard a success. 
In 1858 he went to Iowa, and purchased 120 acres 
of land and improved the same. While in Wis- 
j consin he was one of the petitioners for its admission 
as a State. 

When the War of the Rebellion broke out Mr. 
McGuire, Sr., watched its progress with'much inter- 
est, and in 1862 he enlisted, and became a member 
of a regiment of Iowa Infantry, nearly ever\- member 
of which was over forty-five years of age, to which 
possibly is due the nickname they afterward ob- 
tained, which was that of " the Graybeards." 
The}' were sent South to do garrison duty, after 
having been mustered in at Dubuque. They were 
stationed at Nashville and St. Louis, and were at 
the latter city at the close of the war, but were 
mustered out at Nashville. Politically, Mr. McG. 
was a member of the Republican party ; religiously, 
of the Catholic Church. He attained the advanced 
age of threescore and ten years, and died in 1876. 
Mrs. McGuire, who is now eight}' years of age, is 
still living at Clermont, Iowa. She is the mother of 
nine children — Peter, Bridget, Patrick, James and 
Katherine (twins and both deceased), Rosanne, 
Thomas, Julia E. and Michael. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Benton, 
LaFayette Co., Wis., on the 16th of March, 1843. 
He staid at home upon the farm, and attended the 
common school until he was about fourteen years 
of age. About that time his parents removed to 
Iowa, but he elected to remain upon the farm, and 
remained operating it successfully until he was 
about twenty-two years of age. Upon reaching 
that age he determined to go West, and in the year 
1866 he started overland on foot to Cedar Rapids, 
where he took the train to Boone, Iowa, and from 
there walked to Council Bluffs, where he took the 
steamer for Nebraska City. At that time there 
were only sixty miles of railroad in the State of 
Nebraska, and considerable money was made, al- 
though sometimes at considerable risk, by the car- 
rying of freight and passengers to different points. 
He entered into this business, and continued freight- 



■•►HH 




Parm Residence and Tenant Houses ofJui 






.4'^^ 



Vf*^'' 









^ ^Ma If II 



■T^i^c-r r.T-tfX Fr£cinct._: •■■:ji Sec 31. Belmont Prlcinct.:^ 




JSNORMAND, SITUATED IN OtoE C0UNTY,N EB. 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4(;u 



ing, as it was called, fur four years, and did well 
from a financial point of view. In December, 1869, 
he returned to Iowa. 

Mr. McGuire celebrated his marriage with Miss 
Maj' Fitzgerald on the 18th of April, 1870, at 
Clermont. This lady is the daughter of IMichael 
and Joanna Fitzgerald, who were born in Ireland. 
Mrs. McGuire was born in Pennsj'lvania in April, 
1849. Her parents were natives of Ireland, and 
came to America in r830, settling in the Keystone 
State; they farmed there for several years, but 
later removed to Clermont, Iowa, and purchased 
eighty acres of land. The father continued farm- 
ing until 1886, and then retired to enjoy the com- 
petencj' acquired. He is eighty years of age; his 
wife, the mother of Mrs. McGuire, died in the 
year 1877, being sixty-five years of age. She was 
the mother of three children — Michael, Katharine 
and Mary. 

Mr. and Mrs. McGuire have seven children in 
the home circle, viz: John, James, Emmet, Hugh, 
Frank, Mary and Rosa Ella. They are members of 
the Catholic Church at Palmyra, and are among 
the most stanch itdherents. Mr. McGuire is a 
strict Republican, has been called upon to hold 
several township offices, and is at present serving 
on the School Board, where he has been for the 
past five years. 



m 



LAREXCE L. FRANCE. This young and 
111 enterprising farmer owns 160 acres of laud 

^^Jl' on section 9, in S.yracuse Precinct, and has 
been a resident of this county since the spring of 
1879. He is a New Yorker by birth, having first 
opened his eyes to the light in Orange County, Oct. 
25, 1858. He lived there until twenty years of age, 
and then, being ambitious and anxious to do some- 
thing for himself in the world, came to the broader 
fields of the "West, and certainly, apparently, has no 
reason to repent of the experiment. He owns one 
of the best farms in his precinct, where he has a 
good residence, with the necessary barns and out- 
buildings, and is apparently on the high road to a 
competence. 

The parents of our subject were Oliver D. and 



Jlary A. (Crist) France, who were also natives of 
the Empire State. The father was at one period a 
manufacturer of sc^'thes, at Pine Bush, Orange 
County, where he accumulated a fine property, but 
lost it subsequently on account of undersigning 
notes for friends. He afterward changed his resi- 
dence to Ulster County, where he died Oct. 26, 1888, 
not far from the county line. The mother died in 
Ulster County in the fall of 1874. Their seven 
children were named respectively: Elting, a resi- 
dent of Middletown, N. X. ; Bernice O., Abbie, Clar- 
ence L.; Maria J., the wife of John Beckwith, of 
Frankfort, N. X. ; Theresa, teaching in this count}-, 
and Oliver, residing at home in New York. 

Mr. France acquired a common-school education 
in the counties of Orange and Ulster, and remained 
a member of the parental household until the spring 
of 1879. He then set out for the West, with a very 
small amount of capital, and crossing the Missis- 
sippi came to this county, where he secured em- 
ployment as a farm laborer, and was thus occupied 
the first year of his residence here. At the expira- 
tion of this time he purchased a team and rented a 
tract of land, upon which he labored successfull}^ 
as a tiller of the soil until the present time. In the 
meantime he secured for himself a wife and help- 
mate, being married, Dec. 19, 1883. to Miss Eva- 
gene Andrews, at the home of the bride in this 
county. 

Mr. and Mrs. France, immediately after their 
marriage, set out on a wedding tour to the old 
home of our subject, which he had not visited since 
leaving, and in the interim of four years had not 
met a man whom he had formerly known. Being a 
man of business, the visit was neeessaril}- limited, 
and the young pair returned to the home which 
our subject had provided, where Mr. France con- 
tinued farming, on land belonging to his father-in- 
law, where he still resides. He has purchased 160 
acres of land half a mile north of the town of 
S3'racuse, which is supplied with fairly good build- 
ings, and upon which he expects to settle on the 1st 
of March, 1889. 

Mrs. France was born Maj- 6, 1863, in Onondaga 
County, N. Y., and is the daughter of Edwin and 
Diana (AV'eller) Andrews, who are natives of New 
York, and are now residents of this countj^. Their 



-IF^ 



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470 



OTOE COUNTY. 



familj- included eight cliildren, wlio are now resi- 
dents of Nebraska and Colorado. To our subject 
and his estimable wife there liave been born three 
daughters and a son, namel}': Agnes, Mabel, War- 
ren and Helen. Mr. France, politically, is an un- 
compromising Democrat, but meddles ver}' little 
with public affairs, preferring to give his time and 
attention to his farming interests and liis family. 



EDWARD MITZNKE, Postmaster, and en- 
gaged in general merchandising at Paul, 
Rock Creek, located here on the 23d of Jan- 
uary, 1888, and established the first store in tiie 
place. He carries a full line of all the articles re- 
quired in countrj' or village, and is rapidlj' build- 
ing up a good patronage. He is a man popular in 
his community, being upright in his business trans- 
actions and prompt to meet his obligations. His 
store occupies a corner of section 12, on which 
section he formerly carried on farming, and of 
which he still owns eighty acres of good land. 

Mr. Mitzner came to Nebraska in March, 1871, 
and on the 23d of January, 1873, made his first 
purchase of land. He instituted good improve- 
ments, laying off the fields with neat and substan- 
tial fences, cultivating the soil, and putting up 
flrst-class buildings. He commenced at first prin- 
ciples in the development of this farm, there having 
been no attempt at improvement or cultivation 
upon it. 

For a period of ten years prior to his removal 
across the Mississippi Mr. Mitzner had been a resi- 
dent of Cook Count}', III., employing himself at 
whatever he could find to do as a general laborer. 
He was faithful and trustworthy, earning good wages, 
and saved up a snug sum of money. This fact is 
not surprising when .we learn that he is of German 
birth and ancestry, having first opened his eyes to 
the light in the Prussian Province of Posen, July 
3, 1848. He came to the United States when 
but a boy fourteen years of age. He had received 
a thorough education in his native tongue, and 
been trained by careful parents to habits of indus- 
try anil economy. His father. Christian Mitzner, 
preceded him to America one year, and is now liv- 



ing on section 11, in Rock Creek Precinct, where 
he owns a good farm of eighty acres, which be also 
purchased in 1873. 

The marriage of our subject and Miss Caroline 
Baccard took place at the home of the bride in 
Rock Creek Precinct, Jan. 29, 1874, Mrs. Mitz» 
ner is a native of the same Province as her hus- 
band, and was born May 15, 1850. She came alone 
to America a short time before her marriage, her 
mother having died in Germany, and her father 
married a second time. The latter is still living, 
and a farmer in prosperous circumstances in Ger- 
man)'. 

Mrs. Mitzner received a good education, and it 
was understood between herself and our subject 
that they were to join their lives and fortunes as 
soon as the young man could provide a comforta- 
ble home for his bride. Of this congenial union 
there have been born seven children, namel}': 
Moll}', Gusta, August, Edward, Emma, Huldah and 
a babe, Louie. ■ Both our subject and his estima- 
ble wife are members in good standing of the Ger- 
man Lutheran Church. Mr. Mitzner is a sound 
Republican, politically, and was appointed Post- 
master at Paul, in Rock Creek Precinct, Jan. 23, 
1888. 



^ APT. DANIEL M. ANDERSON. The name 
(if ^. of this gentleman is familiar to most of the 
^^^ older residents of Otoe Count}', as that of 
one, who, while watching its growth and develop- 
ment, has been largely instrumental in bringing it 
to its present condition of prosperity. He is a citi- 
zen whom the people regard with both pride and 
respect, as he has been an honor and a credit to his 
community. He owns and occupies a quarter of 
section 23, Wyoming Precinct, which he secured by 
pre-emption, and upon which he has lived and 
labored since the year 1856, a period of thirty-two 
years. 

Capt. Anderson, upon coming to this county, 
found a wild and desolate region with the cabins of 
the settlers few and far between, and was one of the 
first to locate in this part of it. His first business 
was to put up a shelter for himself and family, and 



■-^1^ 



•► 



-#^ 



OTOK COUNTY. 



471 



^y 



tlie next to plant a spot of grounrl with that which 
woukl yield most readily- for their necessities. The 
first few years were spent in true pioneer fashion, 
which has been so often described in this volume, 
and as time passed on he began to realize the re- 
wards of toil and sacrifice. He was particularly 
fortunate in his ciioice of a location, and has been 
enabled to put up a residence which commands a 
fine view of the surrounding countr3'. In the dis- 
tance is seen the Missouri River, and portions of 
Nebraska City, five miles awa}'. His own fields 
too, whicii have been brought to a high state of 
cultivation, and which yield in abundance the rich 
crops of this section of country, form a feature of 
the landscape delightful to contemplate. He has 
good buildings, all the requisite farm machinery' 
for prosecuting agriculture successfully, and a fine 
assortment of live stock. For a man who came to 
this section with little excei)t strong hands and a 
courageous heart, his career has been one upon 
wliich he should reflect with satisfaction. He has 
withdrawn partially from active labor and is in the 
enjoyment of a competency. 

Our subject was born in Orange Count}', N. Y., 
Oct. 22, 1807. and one looking upon his well-pre- 
served frame to-day could scarcel}' realize that be 
is eight3'-one j'ears old. He has been a man of 
stricllj' temperate habits, and has implicit faith in 
this as a means of prolonging his life and health. In 
addition to this he comes of a long-lived race. His 
father, William Anderson, also a native of New 
Y''ork State, was born in .Sullivan County, where he 
carried on farming, and spent his entire life, dying 
when middle aged. He had been a man prominent 
in his community and active in every good work, 
living honestly, and truly earning his bread by the 
sweat of his brow. The mother. Mrs. Zilpah (Mar- 
tine) Anderson, was of French ancestry. Her pa- 
ternal grandfather emigrated from France to this 
country during the Revolutionary War, and in lime 
to particfpate with the Colonists in their struggle for 
liberty. Like his great countrj-man. Gen. LaFayette, 
he syrapathizeil entirely with the cause of Amer- 
can freedom, and ^served valiantlj' to bring this 
about. His daughter Zilpah lived to be an old 
lady, and spent hei' last days in the vicinity of 
Ft. Jarvis, Orange Co., N. Y. 



The paternal grandfather of our subject w.as Will- 
iam Anderson, a native of the North of Ireland, 
and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He married a lady 
of the same section of country, and of Holland 
birth and parentage, and also emigrated to Amer- 
ica in time to serve as a soldier in the Revolution- 
ary War. The grandmother's maiden name was 
Isabella Newkirk. After the independence of the 
Colonists had been established the}' located in Sul- 
livan County, N. Y., where they spent the remainder 
of their lives in agricultural pursuits, Grandfather 
Anderson dying in Sullivan County, and the grand- 
mother in Tompkins County. He was not con- 
nected with any religious organization, but Grand- 
mother Anderson was a .devout member of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

The parents of our subject had a farailj' of six 
sons and three daughters, of whom Daniel M. was 
the second child. He lived with his parents both 
in Orange and Sullivan Counties, N. Y., their home 
being on the dividing line between the two coun- 
ties, and near the Chewanda River. At the time 
of his father's death he was but thirteen years of 
age, and two years later set about to earn his own 
living. He was first emplo3'ed with a company' of 
surveyors, at the time of marking out the line of 
the Hudson and Delaware Canal, for a length of 
thirty miles. He was a well-developed lad, and 
about the time of reaching his majority distin- 
guished himself in athletic exercises and hunting, 
and on account of his agility and strength was 
given the title of Captain, which has clung to him 
ever since. 

Capt. Anderson subsequent!}' engaged in the 
butcher business, which he followed in Wurtsboro, 
N. Y., for a period of eighteen 3'ears. In 1 838 he was 
m.arried, in Sullivan County, to Miss Mary Thomp- 
son, who was born there in 1 805, and was of Scotch- 
Irish aiicestr}'. Her parents were natives of New 
York State, and her father, Hugh Thompson, with 
his wife Mary, spent his entire life in Sullivan 
Count}', engaged in farming. Of this union there 
was born one child, a son. James N., who married 
Miss Nancy Hale, aud is farming in Wyoming Pre- 
cinct. Mrs. Mary (Thompson) Anderson departed 
this life at the homestead in the year 1839. 

In 1876 Capt. Anderson contracted a second 



■^^ 



t 

t 472 



OTOE COUNTY. 



marriage, with Mrs. Hannah Rundberg, who was 
born in Sweden in 1829, where she was reared and 
first married to John Riindberg. The latter died in 
his native Sweden after he had become the father 
of two chiklren, William and Axel. The sons and 
their mother came to tiie United States, and at once 
located in this county. They are now assisting 
Capt. Anderson in tlie management of the farm. 

Our subject cast his first Presidential vote for 
Gen. Jaciison, and is a lifelong Democrat. He is 
a man of sound principles, decided views, and one 
whose opinions are generally respected. He keeps 
himself well posted upon current events, and has 
watched with the warmest interest the growth and 
development of his adopted State, contributing as 
opportunity has occurred to tiie advancement of the 
people around him. 

\f;()llN F. MARTIN, whose beautiful and 
highly cultivated farm of 165 acres is situ- 
ated on section 26 of Wj'oming Precinct, is 
one of tlie older citizens, and is widely 
known and that most favorably throughout the 
county. He has lived upon his present property 
ever since he pre-empted it in 1856. He first came 
to the county when the Otoes were still in full force, 
and land was in its primitive condition. His ex- 
periences have therefore been v.iried, and not alto- 
gether without a spice of danger, nevertheless he has 
come through them prosperously, and rejoices in 
the well-nigh unparalleled progress that has been 
made by the State of his adoption. 

The subject of our sketcii was born in Venango 
County, Pii., on the 29th of March, 1822. There 
he grew up to manhood, in its schools was edu- 
cated, and subsequentl3' engaged in farming as his 
chosen occupation. His f.ather being a farmer 
trained him to those habits of industry and honesty 
thiit are usual in agi-icultural communities. 

The parents of our suliject, John and Polly 
(Foster) INlartin, were born in Marj-land, and were 
married in I'ennsylvania. The father was a young 
man and unmai'ried when he went to that State 
with his fatiier. John iMartin, Sr.. a native of Mary- 
land. They settled in Venango County, which 



continued to be the home of his father until his 
death. The maiden name of his wife, the gr.ind- 
mother, was Katharine ilumford, who was a native 
also of Maryland. They were representatives of a 
good old Christian family, and for very many 
years held membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. In the Revolutionary "War John IMartin, 
Sr., showed himself a patriot in every sense of the 
word, fighting bravely and well under the flag of 
libertj'. Like many others he exchanged all liis 
property for Continental money, only to find that 
he had lost all by the money becoming worthless. 
He, however, survived, and when his turn came 
to cross the silent river he was again well-to-do, 
and was one of the honored and esteemed members 
of the community wherein he dwelt. 

The father of our subject was a Captain in the 
War of 1812, .and, like his f.ather before him, from 
whom doubtless he received the inspiration, was a 
soldier worthy the country .and cause for which he 
drew his sword. After his marriage he, with his 
wife, settled to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture 
in Venango County, where both continued to make 
their home until their death, which occurred when 
they were about seventy years of age. 

When he became of age our subject started life 
by hiring out as a farm hand, and has worked his 
way up from that first round of the ladder. ' AVhile 
yet in the home countj' he was united in marriage 
with IMiss Maria Reynolds, who was bom there on 
the 6th of June, 1829. They continued their life 
in the county for some time after marriage, and 
then removed to IMercer County, Pa., and lived 
there nine years, coming thence to this State. 

There were twelve children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. JMartin. Two of these died in inf.ancy un- 
named, and a third, Hir.am A., died when about 
four years of age. The surviving members of the 
family are as follows: Fantley, who was married to 
Mary A. Giles, resides in AVashington Territory; 
Anna, the wife of Robert Delard, and now living 
in Fillmore County, this State; Mary J. is married 
to W.ashington Giles, one of the live, wide-.awake 
farmers of AVyoming Precinct; Lasetta is happily 
married to James Fort, a prosperous farmer in 
Thomas County, Kan.; Sarah is the wife of vStuart 
Heath, a grain dealer in Frontier County: Julia is 



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*► I I ^> 



OTOE COUNTY. 



473 ' > 



married to Mr. Jolin Bo\'d, also of AVyoming Pre- 
cinct; Albert, unmarried, lives in Wasliington Ter- 
ritory ; George W. L. is at present on his 'homestead 
in Tliomas County, Kan.; Hiram B. is still .at 
liome. and is the ''best man'' of our subject in liis 
fai'ni work. 

Mrs. Martin departed this life at licr home in 
Wyoming Prec-inct, on the 17th of March, 1881. 
She impressed all who knew her with the beauties 
of lier character, and the happiness of her disposi- 
tion. She was a noble woman and true mother, 
and in every vray a helpmate to her husband. 
Throughout all their married life slie was the same 
in her devotion and true faithfulness to her hus- 
band and family. She was the daughter of Hiram 
and Jane H. ( Nickinson ) Reynolds, who were 
among the worthy citizens of Venango County, Pa., 
wlierc they commenced life togetlier, and continued 
to live until tlieir death. Hiram Reynolds was 
born in Genesee County, X. Y., and went to Penn- 
sylvania when a young man, There he made the 
acquaintance of, and was married to his wife, who 
was a native of the Keystone State. Both were 
firm and devout members of the jMethodist Church 
for many years. 

The subject of our sketch is. religiously, a ^leth- 
odist, and in politics has all las life been a Whig 
and Republican, taking the greatest possible inter- 
est in all m.atters pertaining to the welfare of the 
country-, especially that section of it in which is 
situated his home. He is a man of large reserve 
force, determination and energy, in character up- 
right, and of unimi)eacliable lienor, everywhere 
respected and by all esteemed. 



-5-<-i'=^^€-^-H- 



1F_^ ENRY A. BUTT, Cashier of the Bank of 
IIJIJ Unadilla, is one of its most active business 
[■y^ men, and has been largely instrumental in 
'^X the building up of the town. He is Clerk 
of the Village Board, Notary Public, and is always 
in some cap.icity or other performing the duties of 
a useful citizen, and one warmlj' interested in the 
welfare of his community. He lias been particu- 
larly fortunate in the choice of a wife and helpniale, 
Mrs. Butt, the presiding genius of the household, 



being a finely cultured lady, of good education, and 
an ornament to the social circle. Their home is 
one of the most attractive in the place, and is the 
frequent resort of a host of warm friends. 

Our subject until the spring of 1878 was a resi- 
dent of the Province of Hanover, Germanj-, wiiere 
he liad spent his boyhood and 3'outh, and where liis 
birth took place -Tan. 13, 1862. His fatlier was a 
farmer in modest circumstances, and Henry A., in 
common with the children of Germany, received a 
thorough education in his native tongue. After 
completing his studies in the Higli Scliool at Bas- 
sum, where he attended three years, he studied the 
English language and tlie classics, and w.as in school 
most of his time until a lad of sixteen years. He 
then determined to seek liis fortunes on the other 
side of the Atlantic. 

On the ■28th of April, 1878, our subject set sail 
from the port of Bremen, and after a two-weeks 
voyage landed in New York City. Thence he 
proceeded to Hoboken, N. J., where he procured 
emploj-ment in a store of general merchandise as 
clerk, and where he remained ten months. In 
Marcl), 1879, he turned his steps westward, and 
soon afterward we find him engaged as clerk in a 
grocery store in Nebraska City.. 

Tlie year following, our subject w.as so well 
pleased with America that he leturned to his home 
and kindred, resolved to bring his father's family to 
this country. To this the latter were agreed, and not 
long afterward set sail, and our snl)ject reached Ne- 
braska City a second time on the 1 5th of May. The 
father located on a tract of land in Otoe Precinct, 
and Henry A. staid with him until the 1st of Sep- 
tember. Then returning to Nebraska City, he en- 
tered the employ of H. H. Bartling, witii whom he 
remained two years, engaged in general raercliandise 
and the grain business. 

Our sul)ject had always been of studious habits 
and ambitious to learn, and in the fall of 1882, go- 
ing to Burlington, Iowa, attended the liusiness 
college there a term of si.K months, and perfected 
himself in bookkeeping. He was now prepared to 
take a good position, and returned to his old em- 
ployer, with whom lie remained this lime six moiitlis. 
He next changed his residence to Syr.acuse, lieconi- 
ing bookkeeper for tlie First National Bank, with 



•►Ht-4^ 



*^l 



' ^ 474 



OTOE COUNTY. 



which he was connected foi- four years following:. 
In the spring of 1888 he took up his abode in Una- 
dilla. and assisted in organizing the Bank of Una- 
dilla, becoming a partner and also cashier. This 
institution is now in a flourishing condition, and 
patronized by the leading business men of Russell 
Precinct and vicinity. 

The evening of the 18th of May. 1887, witnessed 
the marriage of our subject to Miss Katie I. Woods, 
who was born in Weston, Mo.. May 12. 1863. Mrs. 
Butt is the daughter of John S. Woods, the latter a 
native of Kentucky. He and his wife removed from 
the Blue Grass regions to Missouri at an early day, 
where the father, as a builder and contractor, oper- 
ated successfully in that region, and later put up 
the first building in the now flourishing city of 
Council Bluffs, Iowa. He is still a resident of 
Weston, and in good circumstances. The wife and 
mother died at her home in Missouri. The six chil- 
dren of the parental family were named respectively : 
AVilliam, John, Perry. Lee. Katie and Sadie. They 
are residents now of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. 
Mrs. Butt received a good education, completing 
her studies in the High School at Weston. Mo. 
Later she learned dressmaking, which she carried on 
successfully before her marriage. She is a member 
in "ood standingof the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
while Mr. Butt, who was reared in the doctrines of 
the German Lutheran Church, remains loyal to the 
teachings of his honored parents. Politically, he is 
a stanch Democrat, and has been quite prominent 
in local affairs, serving as Clerk of the Village Board, 
and occupying other positions of trust and respon- 
sibility. On the 16th of January, 1888, he was ap- 
pointed Notary Public by Gov. Thayer for a term 
of six j-ears, and has his office at the bank. In all 
the leading enterprises of the community, social, 
moral or religious, he bears a prominent part, and 
is a citizen respected by all. 

Henry Butt, Sr.. the father of our subject, was 
born in what was then the Kingdom of Hanover, 
Germany, in 1826, and there married Miss Anna 
Borchers, a native of the same Province. He car- 
ried on farming very successfully upon his native 
soil until the year 1880, then sold out preparatory 
to joining the fortunes of our subject in America. 
Upon arriving in this county he purchased 160 acres 



of good land five miles south of Nebraska Citj-, 
where he has since carried. on farming, and still lives 
with his excellent wife, his age being sixty-two 
years, and that of the mother fifty-five. Their 
eight children were named respectively : John H., 
William J., Mary, Henry A., Catherine, Sophia, 
Frederick W. and Annie. Three are married, and 
all are living in this county, being numbered among 
its most substantial and honored citizens. 

St} AMES C. WHITE. This gentleman is one 
I of the old settlers and' prominent farmers 
, and stock-raisers of Russell Precinct. He is 
{^J/ the owner of 560 acres on sections 5, 6 and 
7. His father, Anderson White, was born in Albe- 
marle County, Va., on the 4th of Jul^^ 1794. His 
mother, Lucinda White, was born in Orange County, 
Ya., in 1802. The family upon the father's side is 
of English descent. John White, the grandfather 
of our subject, served as Captain in the Revolution- 
ary War, and has left quite a good record in that 
connection. The maternal side of the family is of 
German ancestry. 

Mr. Anderson White was bj' occupation a far- 
mer, and also owned a large plantation, upon which 
he raised chiefly tobacco. The War of 1812 broke 
out when he was about eighteen years of age, and 
he served throughout the war as a private. In the 
late war he lost nearlj' all his property and otherwise 
suffered. He died in the year 1882, aged eighty- 
six years, and was survived about two years by 
his wife; both were for many years members of the 
Baptist Church. There were nine children in the 
family circle, all of whom came to mature years. 
Their names are as follows: Susan, Agnes, John 
(deceased), Cornelia, James C, William, Newton, 
Franklin and Lucinda. AVilliam, Newton and Frank- 
lin were each in the late war and served in the same 
regiment. F'ranklin died of a fever two weeks after 
the battle of Bull Run. Newton and our subject 
served in the same regiment and company. 

Like his father, our subject was born in Albe- 
marle County, Va., on the 29th of Aug-ust, 1829. 
His education is good and the foundation of it was 
laid in the common schools of his native place 



^Ju 



■► II <•• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



475 



After leaving the school-liouse as a scholar he was 
accredited worthy to return to it as a teacher. Tiiis 
he continued to do for seven years, and then gave 
his attention to farming and became an overseer. 
He bought some land, but shortly after sold it again, 
retaining his position until he went into the Con- 
federate Army, enlisting in the year 1861. The 
first year he served in Wise's Legion; tlie second 
year he was one of Company F, 10th Virginia Cav- 
alry, and served under J. S. Davis. He took part 
in tlie Canawale Valley skirmishes, was at Little 
Sewell Mountains against Rosecrans; in 1862 he 
was at the battles of Yorktown and Williamsburg, 
and took part in all the battles of the Army of the 
Potomac and '\'irgiuia. He was wounded at tlie 
battle of .Julesburg, being shot in the upper part 
of the arm, the shot going completely through it. 
Although he was only laid up one month he was 
unfitted for cavalry service, and until the close of 
the war discharged the duties of Quartermaster. He 
was fifteen miles from Gen. Lee when the order 
came to disband, upon wliich he returned to his 
home and more peaceful employment. 

For three years after the war Mr. White con- 
tinued in the old home county, and then removed 
to Nebraska, arriving on the 28th day of Novem- 
ber, 1868. He remained in Neliraska City for about 
a year, then went to Russell Precinct and home- 
steaded eighty acres of prairie land. He found a 
rich but wild soil that required much lal)or to sub- 
due. This he supplied, and with the buildmgs and 
other improvements he put upon the property he 
soon had a splendid farm. He set out large groves, 
had an orchard that covered three acres, besides 
other works in proportion. 

In 1883 our subject eug.aged in the grocer^' busi- 
ness at Palmyra, in partnership with J. N. F'oster. 
However, he did not lilve the trade as much as he 
had supposed he would ; he then went back to farm- 
ing and took the place he now owns. He is now 
chiefly engaged in raising stock, which he does upon 
a very extensive scale, bii^'ing, raising and feeding 
cattle of all kinds. He is now raising mules ex- 
tensivelj' and almost exclusivel}'. 

Mr. White was married on the- 22d of October, 
1850, while still a resident of Virginia. The ladv 
who came to share his life was Mildred A. Hill, the 



estimable daughter of William H. and Sarah (Tut) 
Hill, both of whom are now deceased. She was 
the eldest of the following children: Mildred A., 
Betty J., Susan, Fannie, Silecia, Eddie J., Robert 
and William, both deceased, and J. P. 

Mrs. White was born in Culpeper County, Ya., 
on the 10th of June, 1826, and died on the 21sl of 
Januarj", 1886. She was the mother of five chil- 
dren, who are still living, viz.: Alice Susan, James 
A., William H., Edgar E. and Sarah S. Alice S. is 
now the wife of W. S. B. Chamberlin, of Grant 
Count}-, who follows the dual occupation of farm- 
ing and merchant; they are the parents of four 
children — Bertie, Abbie, Bessie and Bertha. James 
A. was married to Miss Mollie Martin; they have 
three children, who are named Cornelius, Floyd 
and Glenn. William H. is in Portland, Ore.; Ed- 
gar resides in Russell, and is married to Miss Jenny 
Koons; they also have two children, Lena and Ber- 
tie; Sarah still remains at home. 

For four years Mr. White served upon the School 
Board. While at Palmyra he served upon the vil- 
lage board as Councilman, and has been spoken of 
for several other offices. For many j'ears he has 
been a member of the Baptist Church, and is affili- 
ated with the A. F. & A. M., holding his mem- 
bership in Palmyra Lodge No. 45. Politically, 
he is with the Democratic party at all times, willing 
to do what is in his power in the interests of the 
same. He has seen much of both the ups and downs 
of life, but is a man of stamina and character, re- 
spected by all who know him in the various circles 
and departments of society. 



ON. M. L. HAY WARD is one of the leading 
lawyers of the State of Nebraska and Ne- 
br.iska City, and is enterprising and suc- 
ce^ful. He was born at Willsboro, Essex 
N. Y., Dec. 22, 1840. His grandfather, David 
Hayward, was a native of New Jersey, but re- 
moved to New York State with his parents when 
quite a little fellow, aud distinctly remembers walk- 
ing the greater part of the journey to the new 
I home, carefully carrying a little tree he desired to 
transplant, and which lias now grown to noble pro- 



»► I I 4* 



♦^1 



476 



OTOE COUNTY. 



poi'tions. SLibseqiieiitly lie was extensivelj- en- 
gaged in the lumlier trade and agiieultuie. He 
died in 1832. The maiden name of the grand- 
mother of our subject was Lucretia Chapman. She 
also was a native of Essex County. 

The father of our subject was reared and married 
in his native county, engaged in the lumber business, 
and also operated a farm. In 1865 he moved to 
Wisconsin, and made his home at White Water, 
continuing there until 1872, when he removed to 
Kellogg, Iowa, and engaged in the lumber business, 
removing to Davenport in 1877, where he now re- 
sides. Tlie maiden name of his wife, the mother of 
M. L., was Betsey Leland, who was born in Essex 
County, N. Y., to Thomas and Priscilla Leland, 
in August, 1820. This is a New England family, 
and its representatives may be traced for several 
generations. Of this marriage there were born 
four children — Henry, M. L., fc^ugene B. and Frank. 

M. L. was i-eared in his native county, and was 
educated in the district schools, and afterward .at- 
tended Ft. Edward Collegiate Institute, Ft. Edward, 
N. Y. In 1861 our subject was among the first to 
answer the call for defenders of the Union, and en- 
listed in Company I, of the 22d New York In- 
fantry. He was subsequently transferred to the 5th 
New York Cavalry, and served until December, 
1862, when he was discharged owing to disability. 
He had seen much service, and took part in the 
several actions up the Shenandoah Valley under 
Banks and Pope. In the spring of 1863 he entered 
the Ft. Edward Institute, being graduated in 1866, 
when he went to Wisconsin and read law at White 
Water. Upon being admitted to the bar in^l867 he 
came to Nebraska City, and formed a partnership 
withT. B.Stevenson, which was continued until De- 
cember, 1875, after which he continued his business 
alone. 

Mr. Hayward celebrated his marriage with Miss 
Jennie Pelton June 14, 1870. This lady was born 
at Cold Springs, Putnam Co., N. Y., to E. A. and 
Almire (Clark) Pelton, who were natives of Con- 
necticut. She was carefully trained at home and 
received a good education, and was eminently fitted 
to take her place either in the home or in society, 
and is much esteemed by all who know her. There 
have been born to them three children, whose names 



are subjoined, viz: Edwin P., Mattie and William 
H. Mrs. Hayward is a member of the Baptist Church, 
and she is there very highly respected. Politically, 
Mr. Hayward is a stanch Republican, and has always 
taken an .active interest in political affairs. He was 
appointed to fill a vacancy of Judge of the District 
Court, in the year 1886, and continued the office 
until 1887. He was a member of the State Con- 
stitutional Committee of 1875. was sent as a dele- 
gate to the State Convention on several occasions, 
and upon three occasions has been Chairman of the 
Kepublican State Convention. He is a man of fine 
character, a clear thinker, energetic worker, genial 
and popular. 



/^^ ARL H. KORFF has been for many years 
(l(^„^ prominently identified with the leading busi- 
^^^' ness interests of Otoe County, he being a 
pioneer of Nebraska City, where he is engaged as 
a merchant. He has also dealt largely' in real es- 
tate, and has improved a number of farms in East- 
ern Nebraska. He is a native of the principality 
of Schaumburg-Lippe, Germany, his birth occur- 
ring there Jan, 29, 1830. His father, Charles F. 
Korff, was born in the same localitj', and there grew 
to manhood and married, Sophia Reinne becoming 
his wife. In 1846, accompanied by his wife and 
five children, he started for America, setting sail 
at Bremen in October, and landing at New Orleans 
in the following December. From there he as- 
cended the Mississippi River to St. Louis, where he 
and his family lived until 1852. He then turned 
his attention to agriculture, at first renting a farm 
in Sheridan County, Mo., and later buying one, on 
which he resided until his death, his wife also dying 
there. They were people of irreproachable charac- 
ter, whose integrity won the respect and confidence 
of all about them, and by their industrious persever- 
ance and prudence they gained a competency, and 
built up a comfortable home in their adopted coun- 
try. The record of their children is as follows: 
Carl H. is our subject; Caroline is the wife of Henry 
Neemeyer, and they live in Sheridan Countj-, Mo.; 
Sophia is the wife of Harmon H. Meyer, of Sheridan 
County, Mo. ; Christine is also married ; Frederic, ^ r 



••-HI::. 



-^^^i^ 



•►Hf^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



477 



♦At 



tlie third cliild, was a gallant soldier during the late 
war, and died a few j'ears later In Sheridan County, 
Mo. 

Carl Korff, of whom we write, attended school 
quite steadil}' in Germany, and acquired a substan- 
tial education. Soon after coming to America with 
his parents, he engaged in a foundry in St. Louis, 
being emploj'ed as assistant engineer, and later, 
with other parties there as engineer. From that 
city he went to Minnesota, and as.sisted in building 
mills at the mouth of the St. Croix River, remain- 
ing there two years, ere his return to St. Louis. 
During that time, with wise economy and fore- 
thought, he saved his earnings, and with this capi- 
tal purchased an interest in a grocery store, with 
which he was connected about eighteen months. 
He then sold out and engaged as a shipping and 
delivery clerk with a commission house, continuing 
In that capacit)' for the same firm until 1859. In 
that year he caught the gold fever, then so preva- 
lent, and starteil for Pike's Peak, crossing the wild 
prairies of Kansas and Colorado. When he arrived 
there he found that there were but few chances to 
enter on the road for wealth, and with many other 
disappointed gold hunters, he started to retrace his 
steps across the plains, and on the 22d day of June, 
185"J. he arrived in Nebraska City. Being very 
favorably impressed with the country and the cli- 
mate, he decided to locate here, and has ever since 
been a resident of this city. At that date the set- 
tlements in Nebraska were few and far between, 
simply along the streams, and but little attention 
had been paid to agriculture. Nebraska City, how- 
ever, was a thriving town, being the headquarters 
for expeditions and trains going west across the 
plains, and boats made regular trips up and down 
the Missouri River, there being no railway commu- 
nications then in this part of the countrj'. Our 
subject very judiciously invested his money in real 
estate, purchasing 160 acres of unimproved land in 
Nemaha County, a quarter-section in McWilliams 
Precinct, Otoe County, pre-emjtting a quarter-sec- 
tion in the same Precinct; and he also purchased 
city property, comprising one lot on Lower Main 
street, three on Sixth street, one on Main, near 
Seventh street, and three on Ferrj' street. Having 
thus invested all his money, Mr. Korff engaged 

41 



as a clerk in the establishment of Charles Vogt, who 
kept a full line of groceries, iron and steel, and also 
dealt in wool, leather and hides. In 18G6 our sub- 
ject formed a partnership with John H. Arends, 
and opened a store on the corner of Tenth and Main 
streets, his present location. The partnership con- 
tinued until 1877, when Mr. Korff became sole pro- 
prietor. He has built up a large trade, and is re- 
garded as one of the moneyed men of Nebraska 
City. Notwithstanding the care of his mercantile 
business absorbs much of his attention, our subject 
has found time to deal in real estate to a consider- 
able extent, and he has also improved several farms, 
amongwhichmay.be mentioned the following: a 
quarter-section in Nemaha County; a quarter-sec- 
tion in Wyoming Precinct, Otoe County ; a quarter- 
section in Delaware Precinct, and three-quarters of 
a section in Russell Precinct. Mr. Korff has like- 
wise dealt largely in grain. 

Our subject was married, in 1866, to Miss Tolka 
M.ary Arends, to whom he is greatly indelited for 
encouragement, and for making home pleasant and 
comfortable. She was born in Hanover, Germany, 
and came to America with her parents, Richie and 
Tolka Arends, when she was six years old. Their 
marriage has been blessed to them by the birth of 
five children, namely : Lillie S., Maurice, Annie, 
Charles R. and Julia. 

Both as a business man and as a private citizen, 
Mr. Korff is justl3' held in high regard, as he is in 
every respect an upright. Christian man, and, with 
his good wife, is a i-taneh member of the Lutheran 
Church. Politically, our subject favors _,the Re- 
publican party, firmly believing that its policy, if 
carried out, would be for the best interests of the 
country. 



<^1 I^ILLIAM HUNT is a most worthy repre- 
\pj// seiitative of British-American citizenship 
'\^^ in that which pertains to character, enter- 
prise and prosperity. He is the son of John and 
Mary (Poop) Hunt. They were both born in Dev- 
onshire, England, as was also their son William. 
The chosen occupation of Mi". Hunt was that of a 
bl.icksmith and wagon-builder. After living and 
working in Torrington for about thirteen years 



f 



•h 



478 



U 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and building up a large trade, he emigrated to 
Canada in the fall of 1846 with his family, and 
settled at London, Middlesex County, Ontario. He 
■was twice married ; by his first wife he became the 
parent of five children, and by the second, eleven. 
These bear the following names: Grace, Thomas, 
William, Ann, Samuel, Elizabeth, Roliert, Sarah, 
Henry, Fannie and Mary Jane. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 5th 
of April, 1836. He lived at Torrington with his 
parents, where his fatiier had a farm which he ran 
in connection with his other business. Long before 
he was nine years of age he had learned to work 
a span of horses on the farm. He was but ten years 
of age when he came to Canada with his parents. 
His father was not rich and was compelled to slight 
the education of his son, needing so much his help, 
so that in this part his life preparation was neg- 
lected. 

The first three years of life in Canada were spent 
in the employ of Dr. Moore, of London, by whom 
he was engaged to take charge of his office. After 
that he worked at home with his father on the farm 
until he was twenty-one, when he began life for 
himself, and continued to work at home on and off 
until he was thirty-two years of age, when he was 
married, in 1869. The lady with whom he linked 
his life was Miss Dorotha Young, who was born in 
Middlesex County, Canada, and is the daughter of 
Warner and Christina (Mustetto) Young, who were 
natives of Canada. 

Mrs. Hunt was born on the 7th of May, 1843, at 
Dorchester, Middlesex County, and made her home 
with her parents until her marriage. They came to 
Nebraska shortly after their marriage, and settled in 
Falmj'ra Precinct, of this county, in 1871, and 
filed upon a homestead for eighty acres, which is 
part of the present home farm. The remaining 
eighty acres he purchased in 1882. He has always 
been a man active, dUigent and enterprising, ready 
to make any improvements that are at all practical, 
and has given much attention to his orchards and 
groves, as well as to the more regular agricultural 
duties. He carefully studied the institutions of this 
country, and just .as speedily as the National Con- 
stitution would permit became a citizen, tand from 
that time has I)een even more anxious than liefore 



to meet every responsibility of citizenship. During 
the years 1865 to 1868 he worked in the lumber 
trade in Sand Lake County, Mich., and became a 
thorough expert in the use of the ax. The religious 
associations of Mr. Hunt and his family are in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Politicallj^, he is a 
Democrat. There is no family more esteemed, and 
rightly so, in the district than our subject, who is an 
honor to the community, which is rightfully proud 
of so good a citizen. 

UILLIAM J. ARMSTRONG became a pio- 
neer of Nebraska during the early ^^ears of 
W^ its settlement, when it was under Territorial 
government, and was sparselj' inhabited, tlie most 
of the land then belonging to. the LTnited States, and 
before much was known of its marvelous agricult- 
ural resources. He has thus witnessed its growth 
from an insignificant Territory to a powerful State 
and he may well be proud to be classed among 
the men who made this possible by their labors and 
sacrifices in the days gone by. His farm adjoining 
Nebraska City is one of the most valuable in Otoe 
County, being unrivaled for location, fertility of 
soil, state of cultivation, fine and commodious 
buildings, and the various other things that go to 
make up a model farm. 

Mr. Armstrong was born in LTnion Township, 
Warren Co., Ohio, July 26, 1819, and is a son of 
James Armstrong, a native of Delaware. When his 
father was a young man he went to Ohio and located 
in Warren County. He served in the Indian war un- 
der Gen. Wayne, and later, in the War of 1812 under 
Gen. Harrison. He was a farmer by occupation, 
and cleared a farm from the wilderness in Union 
Township, and resided there until his death in 
1826. He was ever a loj^al citizen, both in time of 
war and in time of peace, and his energy, prudence 
and wisdom made him respected of all men. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Isabella Liggett, was 
a native of Mar^'land, and her parents were pio- 
neers of Warren County, Ohio. She died on the 
homestead in LTnion Township in 1860. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in his 
native county, and lie rememliers well the incidents 



■^h^- 



■•►HI— <• 



■► ir^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



479 



of pioneer life tliere. His mother had no stove, and 
for many j'ears did all her cooking before the open 
fireplace. His father kept sheep and raised flax, 
and his mother spun both wool and flax and made 
all the clothes used in the family, and used to make 
her own thread. He was one of nine children, six 
of whom grew to maturity, namely: John L., 
Kebecca, James, Eachel, William and Alexander. 
John L. and our subject are the only ones now liv- 
ing. The latter was but seven years old when his 
father died, but he continued to live on the old 
homestead with his mother and assisted in tlie farm 
work until he had grown to manhood. He was a 
resident of AVarren County until 1856, when he 
came to this part of the country to seek a suitable 
location, having determined to try farming under 
the sunny skies of Nebraska, where were millions 
of acres of land owned by the Government, and 
since sold at $1.25 an acre. He journeyed on the 
waters of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Bur- 
lington, Iowa, and thence across the wild prairies 
of that State to Nebraska City. After buying his 
laud he retraced his steps to Warren County, Ohio, 
and in the following spring started on his return 
to his future home on the prairies of Nebraska, 
accompanied by his family. They came as far as 
Hannibal, Mo., on a boat, from there bj' rail to 
St. Joseph, and thence to Nebraska City on a 
boat. At that time in the Territory of Nebraska 
there were no villages in the interior, the settle- 
ments being confined to the river. Mr. Armstrong 
resided in the city until 1864, when he settled on 
the farm that he still owns and occupies. At that 
time his land was unimproved except that a few 
acres were broken, and he bought a building in the 
city and moved it to his farm, remodeled it, and 
added to it from time to time, and made it his home 
until 1882. In that year he erected his present 
residence, a large and handsome brick house, of a 
modern style of architecture, conveniently arranged 
and well furnished. 

]\Ir. Armstrong has been twice married, first in 
1842, to jNIiss Mary Hall, a native of Deerfield 
Tpwnship, Warren Co., Ohio. She was a most e^tcel- 
lent woman, and none knew her but to respect and 
esteem her, and her death in 1858 was a sad blow 
to her family and friends. There were five chil- 



dren born of that marriage : Isabella, wife of D. F. 
Benham, lives in Clarksville, Tex.; Peter lives in 
Syracuse, Otoe County ; Melville lives in Nebraska 
City; Albert lives at home with his parents; Mollie 
is the wife of N. A. Duff, and lives in Syracuse. 

Blr. Armstrong's second marriage, which took 
place Aug. 22, 1867, was to» Miss Ann E. Stitt, a 
native of Deerfield, Warren Co., Ohio. She is a 
woman of much capability and decision of character, 
and of an amiable disposition, and to her sympath}', 
encouragement, and active co-operation in his work, 
her husband gratefully adniowledges his indebted- 
ness for the comforts and pleasures of a cozy, happy 
hqme. Mrs. Armstrong's father, Isaac Stitt, was, 
it is thought, born in Deerfield, Warren Co., Ohio, 
of which his father, likewise named Isaac, a na- 
tive of Pennsj'lvania, was an early pioneer. He 
cleared a farm there and spent the remainder of his 
life there. Mrs. Armstrong's father was reared 
and married in his native countj', and farmed there 
until his death in his sixty-ninth year. The maiden 
name of his wife was Sarah E3'non, and Cincinnati, 
Ohio, was her birthplace. Her father, Mrs. Arm- 
strong's grandfather, Zebulon Eynon, was of Welsh 
ancestrj', and was a pioneer of Hamilton Count3-, 
Ohio. 

Mr. Armstrong has nearly reached the seven- 
tieth milestone of life's journey, and he can look 
back with satisfaction upon long years well s])ent, 
wherein he has ever been true to his responsibili- 
ties both as a man and as a citizen. Since his resi- 
dence here he has identified himself with the best 
interests of the community, and has liberally 
seconded every effort to promote the advancement 
of the city or of the countjf. In his political sym- 
pathies he is a stanch Democi'at, and cast his first 
vote for Van Buren. 



OBERT H. BELL takes his place among the 
enterprising, popular citizens of Delaware 
\\\ Precinct, and is the owner of a fine and 
^©)well-cultivated farm of 160 acres, which he 
utilizes in the line of general farming and stock- 
raising. It is situated on section 23 of the above 
precinct. The subject of our sketch was born in 



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U 480 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



Muskegon County, Ohio, on the 24th of ]March, 
1849, and is the son of E. D. S. and Elenor Bell. 
Mr. Bell, Sr., removed to Marshall County, 111., in 
the year 1855. Our subject remained a resident of 
Illinois for about twenty-five years. He received 
his education in the common schools. He was 
reared upon a farm, and from his youth has been 
fully conversant with agricultural employments, so 
that he is a practical farmer in cverj^ department of 
such occupation. 

Upon beginning life on his own account the sub- 
ject of our sketch went to Kansas and followed 
farming, and came to this county in the spring of 
1881, settling upon the property he now owns. It 
was then but slightly improved, if indeed it could 
be called improved at all. He has, however, made 
it one of the most productive in the district, and is 
rising very rapidly in the scale of prosperity. 

In order to make his life the more livable, and 
that his home life might be the more complete, Mr. 
Bell was united in wedlock with Ida M. Davidson, 
the estimable daughter of William F. and Harriet 
(Dungan) Davidson, upon the 21st of April, 1875. 
The parents of Mrs. Bell had in their family circle 
eleven children, of whom seven only survive. 
Their names areas follows: Earl, James F., Thomas 
D., Stephen, Hattie, William and Maggie. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Davidson are now deceased. 

Next to his home and farm our subject takes a 
chief interest in religious affairs. He and his wife 
are consistent and devoted members of the United 
Presbyterian Church, and both there and in the 
Sunday-school they are found among the able 
workers. They are much esteemed in this and 
in every other circle in which they move, and are 
worth}^ and valued members of the community. 

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y^ILLlAlNI D. ASHLEY. This gentleman is 
a member of a family that is of English 
W%' extraction, but has been identified with the 
United States since the landing of the Pilgrims at 
Plymouth, and has filled very important positions 
in history in other j-ears. The first settlement was 
effected in Massachusetts. This is also true of the 
maternal ancestry in every particular. The f.ather 



of our subject was an agriculturist, as had been 
his father and grandfather before him. He was 
very successful in life, and accumulated a fortune 
of over 1250,000. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 15th 
of May, 1834, at Springfield, Mass., to William and 
Eliza (Champion) Ashlej'. He is the third of nine 
children born to them, of whom but three are now 
living, viz: Eliza J., now Mrs. Nichols; our sub- 
ject; and an elder brother Homer, who is Superin- 
tendent of the American Express Company at 
Boston. Mr. Ashley continued to reside with his 
parents until he was nineteen years of age, during 
which time he had been occupied in obtaining an 
education and becoming a practical farmer, but at 
that age he left home, and went to Chicopee to learn 
the trade of a machinist. There he remained work- 
ing for seven years. At the end of that period 
he went to Boston for one year, then on to New 
York City, Bridgeport and Hartford, where he was 
in charge of a boiler and gasfltting works. At 
Meriden he had charge of making 50,000 guns for 
the Government, worldng for the Henry Rifle 
Company. He also worked in the Smith Rifle shops 
at the time when the shops were burned during the 
riot to resist the draft. He continued to follow his 
trade until 1866. 

When the subject of our sketch w.as about tliirtj-- 
two years of age his father very much desired that 
he should take charge of his estate. This our sub- 
ject did not see his way to do, and accordingly 
refused, and was at once disinherited ; but as he had 
about $1,500 in money he brought the same to 
Nebraska, and went to work on the homestead he 
now owns, and began to make varied improvements 
necessary. His success both here and in the culti- 
vation of the soil has been more than could have 
been anticipated or hoped for. He is now pos- 
sessed of a valuable farm on section 31 of Syracuse 
Precinct, that is operated in the line of general and 
stock farming. 

The marriage of our subject was celebrated at 
Springfield, Mass., April 13, 1863. Then he be- 
came the husband of Addie B. Carpenter, who is the 
daughter of Samuel and Sarah Carpenter, of Brat- 
tleboro, Vt. She was born April 22, 1835, was 
carefidly nurtured and l)rought up by her i)arents. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



481 



-At 



educated in the common schools of her native place, 
and finished her education in the Brattleboro Semi- 
narj', making her home with her parents until the 
happy daj- above mentioned. Of this union there 
have been born three children, viz: Dexter U., 
Luvern F. and Elsie Maud. 

As a general rule ever since he has held the 
power to vote IMr. Ashley has supported the Repub- 
lican part}-, but has never done so excepting when 
he has been convinced that the candidate put for- 
ward by that body was a capable and worthy man ; 
otherwise he has acted independently, and in fact 
has so governed .ill his political connections. He is 
a man who holds a prominent place in the commu- 
nity, .and is thoroughly trusted .and respected by all. 



E'lER BERLET. In the present writing 
is presented an epitome of the history of 
the gentleman who holds the responsilile 
and honorable position of President of the 
Bank of Tahniige, which is a State institution es- 
tablished by James Sweet & Co. in 1883, and Mr. 
Berlet succeeded two years later to the business. 
From that time it has been run on a stock basis of 
^20.000, with a surplus capital of S4,000. 

Mr. Berlet and his cashier, Mr. Ferrick, have both 
been active in the endeavor to make the bank an 
institution worth}' of the county, and have seen no 
little success attend their efforts. Our subject has 
also !in interest in cattle raising, and is the owner 
of 1,1"20 acres, which is in one ranch, and is situated 
in Keya Paha County, this State. The ranch is thor- 
oughl}' stocked, and that only with cattle of the 
best breeds and of high gi-ade. This enterprise was 
commenced in the year 188"2, and has since been 
man.aged by Charles F., the son of our subject, who 
makes his home at that place. 

Yet another place is owned by Mr. Berlet, and 
that is situated in Nemaha County, and comprises 
8-10 .acres. It was here that he settled in the spring 
of 1865, when the whole State was in a somewhat 
primitive condition, and contained few settlers. So 
little was that district known that it was general!}' 
believed, even at so late a date as that, that little if 
any rain fell west of the Nemaha River. But our 
<• 



subject was not the man to be scared at reports and 
vague rumors. He pushed out, determined to as- 
certain for himself, and was rewarded in his effort. 
His farm is one of the best in the county, which is 
s.a}'iiig a great deal. He h.as a fine residence and 
good buildings. He has never had a failure in the 
small grains, and only two slight and partial fail- 
ures in corn throughout the twent^'-three years of 
his occupancy. It is not, therefore, surprising that 
he is entiiusiastically proud of his adopted Slate. 

The subject of our sketch came to this place from 
Hancock County, 111., where he had resided for the 
ten j'ears previousl}', during that time being en- 
gaged successfully in agriculture. He was born in 
Franche-Comte, in the east of France, on the 15th of 
September, 1841, to Francis and Catherine (Senoir) 
Berlet. He was but a l.ad when his parents brought 
him to this country in the early part of 1857, and 
his experiences at that time were the reasons for 
his being willing to send one of his sons, the third, 
for service in the late war. Accordingly Charles 
and Frederick offered themselves. Charles was 
drowned in the Mississippi River while on his w.ay 
to the front, and was never attached to any regi- 
ment; Frederick became a member of the 32d Illi- 
nois Infantry, and served until 18G5, when he died 
at Orangeburg. S. C, during the progress of Gen. 
Sherman in his world-famed march. He had seen 
much active service, and had the record of being a 
good soldier. 

After the family removed to this State the father 
m.ade his home with his sons until his death, which 
occurred in 1886. He was then eight3'-seven years 
of age. After coming to this country he espoused 
the principles of the Republican party, and so con- 
tinued until his death. The mother of our subject, 
who is still living, is sevent^'-eight j'ears of age. 
She lives with her son, Emile Berlet, in Nemaha 
Count}'. Like her husband, she h:is been from youth 
a member of the Lutheran Church. 

The subject of our sketch is the third child of a 
family of five, of whom our subject and his brother 
Emile are the only surviving members. He was 
first married in Jersey County, III., to Pauline W. 
Prevot, who was born in Switzerland, and was 
brought to this country by her parents in child- 
hood. She died at the Nemaha County homestead 



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t. 



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482 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



of our subject in 1876, leaving two children: 
Charles F., who now manages the Keya Paha ranch ; 
and Lucille, who is the assistant cashier and book- 
keeper at the bank. She is a well-educated, intelli- 
gent and accomplished young lady, and fills her 
position in a most admirable and complimentary 
manner. 

The present wife of our subject gave liim her 
hand at Neuchatel, Kan., Oct. 13. !879. Her 
maiden name was Laura Jeanuret. She was born in 
Neufch.itel, Switzerland. She came to this country 
alone when sixteen years of age. This marriage 
also has been blessed by the birth of two children, 
viz: Minnie and Emma, both of whom are at home. 

Before the war Mr. Berlet was numbered among 
the stanch Abolitionists, but since the rise of the Re- 
publican party he has been one of the stanchest 
members of that party. He has taken a lively in- 
terest in political affairs, and has no little influence 
in the community, having the esteem and regard of 
all who know him. He has not been a central fig- 
ure in political and official circles, altliough fre- 
quently called upon for that purpose. He has been 
a member of the Town "Board, and while in that 
position labored faithfully for the interests of the 
people. 

ylLLIAM W. ADAMS. The career of this 
honored pioneer of Otoe County is one of 
more than ordinary interest. He came to 
the Territory of Nebraska in the fall of 1857, and 
secured first a tract of land in the central part of 
the county, upon which he effected a little improve- 
ment, but soon sold out and took up his residence 
in what was then the hamlet of Nebraska City, 
where he established a boarding-house and carried 
on farming combined upon land adjacent. In 1865, 
turning his attention more closely to the pursuit of 
agriculture, he selected a tract of land in Wyoming 
Precinct, where he took up his residence, and where 
he has since lived. His homestead is pleasantly 
located on section 10, and embr.aces 200 acres of 
land, which has been brought to a high state of cul- 
tivation. 

Mr. Adams, feeling that he had contributed 
his share to the development of Otoe Count3-, has 
^0 



retired from active labor. He is the occupant of a 
most comfortable and attractive home, and is sur- 
rounded by the good tilings of life, to which he is 
amply entitled by a long life of labor and sacrifice. 
His buildings are substantial and kept in good 
order, and adjacent is a large apple orchard, con- 
taining nearly a thousand bearing trees, while the 
smaller fruit trees yield in abundance for the use of 
the family. A goodly proportion finds its way to 
market. Mr. Adams, like the majority of the men 
around him, has been a hard worker, and no man has 
watched with warmer interest the growth and de- 
velopment of his adopted State. 

William W. Adams was born in Rockport, South- 
ern Indiana, Jan. 1, 1820, and is the son of Joseph 
and Mary (Flemming) Adams, who were natives of 
Kentucky, and the father a farmer by occupation. 
The parents were reared and married in the Blue 
Grass regions, whence they migrated to Indiana, 
and taking up a tract of land lived in true pioneer 
style, enduring the privations and hardships of life 
in a new settlement. After the birth of seven 
children, Joseph Adams was gathered to his fathers 
about 1822. The mother with her children then 
returned to Kentucky, where she resided for a pe- 
riod of eight or ten years. She finally decided that 
there would be a better opportunity for her boys 
upon the soil of the Prairie State, and accordingly 
moved to Morgan Count}', 111., afterward moving to 
Hancock County, 111., where thej' all lived upon a 
farm a number of years. William W. vvas a child 
eighteen months old at the time of his father's death, 
and was about three years old when he moved with 
his mother to Illinois. The mother died in Han- 
cock Count}' in August, 1845, after attaining her 
threescore years. Mrs. Mary (Flemming) Adams 
was a lady of more than ordinary capabilities, very 
intelligent, a kind and tender mother, a devoted 
wife and a hospitable neighbor. After the death 
of her husband she devoted herself to the training 
of her children, who in remembrance of her affec- 
tionate care hold her name in the tenderest regard. 
Of these two are living. Her children all became 
well-to-do citizens and useful members of their com- 
munity. 

Our subject was the sixth child of his parents, 
and was reared to manhood in Hancock Count}-, 



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1^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



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483 



111., where he followed farming from his youth up, 
and when readj- to establish a home of his own was 
united in marriage with Bliss Mary A. Sparks. 
This lady was horn in Kentuckj', in 1830, and re- 
moved with her parents when a child to Hancock 
County, 111. She was given a common-school edu- 
cation and subjected to careful parental training, 
remaining under the home roof until her marriage. 
Of her union with our subject there were born two 
children, one of whom died in infancy. The 
mother passed away at her home in Wyoming Pre- 
cinct, in May, 1881. 

Nancy M., the 30unger daughter of our subject, 
grew to womanhood, was married, and became the 
mother of four children, two of whom, Snowden 
and Belle, died when young. The mother soon 
followed her children, her death taking place in Oc- 
tober, 1881. in Wyoming Precinct. Her two living 
children, Delia and Luc}', now live with their 
grandfather, and are bright and interesting young 
ladies. 

Mr. Adams in earl}' life, politically, was a Dem- 
ocrat, but about 1859 identified himself with the 
Republicans. He, however, votes independently, 
believing it right to support the men best qualified 
for ortice, irrespective of party. He united with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church near Augusta, Han- 
cock Co., 111., in 1835, over fiftj' years ago, and for 
this long period has adorned his profession by his 
Christian walk and conversation. He is a man held 
in high regard by bis entire communilj', a peaceful 
and law-abiding citizen who has built up for him- 
self a good record. 



TL^ENRY WATHEN. Among the honored 
jTjV pioneers of this county the subject of this 
/iW^ sketch is entitled to a prominent place, being 
(^) one of the very first settlers of South Branch 
Precinct, where he homesteaded a tract of land in 
the spring of 1866, before Nebraska had been trans- 
formed from a Territory into a Slate. Then there 
were no neighbors within sight of the place where 
he erected his first rude dwelling, and the country 
around bore no evidence of having been trodden by 



the foot of a white man. A period of twenty-two 
years has worked vast changes, both upon his own 
property and that of his neighbors. 

Mr, Wathen has now a well-cultivated farm, with 
good buildings, groves of maple, Cottonwood and 
boxwood trees, an orchard of 200 bearing apple 
trees with the smaller fruits, and a comfortable 
dwelling, with the barns and other outhouses neces- 
sary for his convenience. He was fortunate in his 
selection of land, the soil being well watered by 
running streams, and under his wise management has 
become highly productive. Mr. Wathen has signal- 
ized himself .as an honest, hard-working man, of good 
business capacities, prompt to meet his obligations, 
and one entirelj' worthy of the esteem and confi- 
dence in which he is held. In his journey of life 
he has been a(;companied by one of the most esti- 
mable and intelligent of ladies, who has been brave 
in the performance of her duties as the wife of the 
earl}' pioneer, and borne her full share of the heat 
and burden of the day. Her father Was one of the 
first settlers of Southern Nebr.aska, and she, with her 
husband, has watched the growth and development 
of this now important State with the interest which 
can only be felt by those who looked upon it dur- 
ing primitive dajs, ere the hand of the husband- 
man, holding the plowshare, had begun to turn its 
undisturbed soil to the sun. 

Our subject is the son of an old Kentuckian, 
George W. Wathen, who left the Blue Grass regions 
when a j'oung man, and settled in Gallatin County, 
III. He was married in Gallatin to Miss Rebecca 
Pantier, who was born in Ohio. The paternal 
grandfather, Thomas Wathen, was a soldier of two 
wars, assisting the Colonists in their struggle for in- 
dependence, and later fought during the troubles of 
1812. He was a native of England, of robust 
frame and splendid constitution, and lived to the 
unusual age of one hundred and four .years, spend- 
ing hjs last days in Dubuque, Iowa. 

The parents of our subject were married in Gal- 
latin Count}', III., where the father followed his 
trade of cooper, and also carried on farming. His 
sister had married unfortunately, having a husband 
who abused her, and in interfering in behalf of his 
sister Mr. Wathen was shot by his brother-in-law, 
with fatal results, in 1852. The mother had died 



=t*-* 



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t 



484 



OTOE COUNTY. 



two years previously, in 1850. Four children were 
thus orphaned, namely: Joseph, Henrj', Rebecca 
and Annie. Joseph, during tiie late Civil War, en- 
listed in the 114th Illinois Infantry, and was in the 
midst of many a fight during his army service. At 
the charges of Vicksburg and Ft. Jackson he was 
shot four times, but recovered, resumed his place 
in the ranks, and was mustered out at the close, in 
Springfield, 111., in 186.5. The sisters of our sub- 
ject are Rebecca Nelson and Anna Sikes. 

Henry Wathen was born in Gallatin County, 111., 
Feb. 14, 1841, and was a lad of eleven years at the 
time of his father's death. He was then thrown 
upon his own resources, and worked for farmers in 
his native county until reaching manhood. He was 
a man twenty-five years of age upon coming to Ne- 
braska, and the year after his arrival was united in 
marriage, Aug. 4, 1867, with Miss Angelina, daugh- 
ter of Stephen and Belle (Mapps) Powell. The 
wife of our subject was born Dec. 1, 1848, in Ohio. 
Her parents were natives of Ohio, where they were 
reared and married. Mr. Powell died in Nebraska 
about 1864. The mother is a resident of Johnson 
County, this State, being now seventy years of age. 
They were the parents of nine children, who are 
now mostly in Nebraska. To Mr. and Mrs. Wathen 
tliere have been born ten children, only four of 
whom survive, namely : Hattie, Jefferson, Thomas 
and Charles. The eldest is eighteen years of age, 
and the youngest one, and all except one make 
their home with their parents. Mr. Wathen is an 
uncompromising Democrat, politically, but has 
never sought the responsibilities of office. Aside 
from serving as a member of the School Board one 
term, he has given his undivided attention to his 
farm and his family. 



JOHN W. McCORMICK, whose farm and resi- 
dence are upon section 7 of Syracuse Pre- 
cinct, holds a high place among his fellow- 
citizens, and since his locating, in March, 
1882, has been prominently identified with such 
projects and enterprises as have been for the ad- 
vancement and progress of the district. He is of 
Scotch-Irish descent, and manifests the character- 



istic traits of those races. The grandfather of our 
subject, John McCormick, was a native of North 
Ireland, but while a young man he came with his 
parents to this country, settled in Pennsylvania, 
and made husbandry his chosen life occupation. 

The father of our subject, who was born and 
brought up in the Keystone State, also followed 
agriculture, in which he was quite successful. The 
companion of his life was Elizabeth Anderson, a 
native of the same State and county. They first 
settled in Pennsylvania, but later migrated to Ohio, 
locating in Hancock in 1854. Four years later 
they removed to Peoria County', 111., and in 1866 
to Montgomery County, Iowa. There they spent 
the remainder of life. The family circle included 
five children, viz: James, now a resident of Hitch- 
cock County: Thomas J., of Montgomery County, 
Iowa; Benjamin F., of Page County. Iowa, and 
John Yf. There is one adopted daughter. Lavina 
Bradley', now living in West Virginia. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Beaver 
County, Pa., on the 17th of March, 1844; when his 
parents removed West he accompanied them. His 
education was obtained in the schools of Pennsyl- 
vania and Ohio. His marriage occurred in 1873, 
when he received the hand of Mary Ewalt, the es- 
timable and accomplished daughter of Clem and 
Margaret Ewalt. This lady was born in Peoria 
County, 111., in Maj'. 1842. Her parents were na- 
tives of Ohio, who had migrated to Peoria County 
and taken land. Their daughter Mary was brought 
up and educated in her native place, and continued 
at home with her parents until the above event. 

Upon their marriage the young couple made 
their home in Montgomery County, Iowa, until the 
year 1882, when that property was sold to good 
advantage, and the present home and farm pur- 
chased. This includes 120 acres of land, all well 
improved and highly cultivated, operated along tiie 
line of mixed farming. The buildings, although 
perhaps not so fine in appearance as those of more 
recent erection, are comfortable for the stock and 
convenient for the miscellaneous purposes incident 
to the farm. 

The home of our subject is one of the brightest 
and happiest, and our subject and his true and 
fathful wife are happy in being the parents of three 



^U. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



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4S7 



•^ 



^: 



children, who bear the names Earl. Wayne and 
Lynn. Mr. and Mrs. McCormiek are highly" es- 
teemed in the community and enjoy the confidence 
of all. Politically, our subject is affiliated with the 
Democratic party. He is a true citizen, loyal and 
patriotic, bearing wliatever responsibilities may 
come to him as a citizen in a mani}' and most com- 
mendable spirit. 



RS. MARGARET JESSEN, widow of the 
late well-known Andreas Jessen, of Ne- 
braska City Precinct, who was a pioneer 
of Otoe County, and was for several years 
one of its successful agriculturists, is a fine repre- 
sentative of the noble women of refinement and 
culture who came to Nebraska in the early days of 
its settlement with their fathers, husbands or broth- 
ers, and b^' their presence, encouragement and as- 
sistance did much not only to elevate the social 
and moral status of the then wild, sparsely settled 
Territory, but have been important factors in bring- 
ing about its present proud position as a rich and 
prosperous State. Mrs. Jessen may well be consid- 
ered the pioneer educator of Nebraska, as in 
March, 1855, she commenced to teach for a term 
of six months in a small frame building, the first 
school ever taught in this part of the country south 
of the Platte River, and probably the first in the 
whole Territor3\ 

Mrs. Jessen is a native of Indiana, lier birthplace 
being five miles from Madison, the county seat of 
Jefferson County. Her parents, Solomon and Jen 
nie (Thompson) Martin, were natives respectively 
of Pennsylvania and Kentuck3'. Her paternal grand- 
father was a native and livelong resident of Penn- 
sylvania. Her father was reared in that State, 
and when a young man went to Virginia and there 
married, and in 1826 removed to Indiana. The 
removal was made on the waters of the Ohio on a 
raft, constructed for the purpose of the lumber 
destined to build their new home. He bought a 
tract of heavily timbered land in Jefferson County, 
five miles from Ma^lison, the nearest market, and he 
at once commenced to clear a farm from the dense. 



primeval forest. He succeeded in his undertakirig, 
and lived in that place until 1852, when he sold out 
and started West by the way of the Ohio, Missis- 
sippi and Misouri^Rivers, and after a vo3'age of two 
weeks landed at El Paso, Mo. He resided in Rock- 
port until 1854, and in December of that year, on 
the 27th day of the month, sought "greener fields 
and pastures new" in the Territory of Nebraska. 
He located in Nebraska City, and from that time 
until his death was a resident of Otoe County-, dy- 
ing Jan. 23, 1873, at a ripe old age. His memory 
is held in deserved respect as an early pioneer of 
Nebraska, and also for those traits of character 
which won him the confidence and respect of his 
fellowmen. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, 
and had an honorable discharge from the Govern- 
ment. His death occurred at the home of his 
daughter, Mrs. Jessen, at the age of eighty-six 
years, and his remains were buried in the cemetery 
at Nebraslia City. His estimable wife had preceded 
him to the better land many years before, dying 
June 25, 1849, on the old homestead in Indiana. 
There were nine children born to them, three of 
whom are living: Catherine, widow of Henry Cole; 
Mary, widow of Charles Cole; and our subject. 

Mrs. Jessen was reared in her native county, re- 
ceiving a careful training in all that was then 
deemed necessarj' to make a thrifty housewife, and 
she thus earl}' became an adept in spinning, weav- 
ing and knitting. Nor was her higher educa- 
tion neglected, as she was a fine scholar and was 
given all the advantages afforded by the scliools in 
her native county, so that she became well qualified 
for the profession of teacher, which she adopted at 
the age of twent}--two. In 1854 she taught six 
months in Fremont Countj', Iowa. It was on the 
3d of July of that year that she for the first time set 
foot in Nebraska City, coming with others to cele- 
brate our National holiday, the first celebration of 
the kind ever held by the white citizens of Nebraska. 
The small hamlet that she then saw by the waters 
of the Missouri bore no resemblance to the busy 
and populous citj' that has since sprung up on the 
same site. There were but four white families liv- 
ing here then, and but two houses besides the Gov- 
ernment buildings, and Indians were camped all 
over the village. She visited her brother-in-law 






488 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



4- 



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I 



Charles Cole, and on the 6th of Jiilj' returned to 
Iowa to complete the term of school. In Decem- 
ber of that jear she returned with Judge Bradford 
and famil3', crossing the river a part of the way on 
ice, a part of the way on the driftwood, and the 
rest of the way in a skiff. In March, 1855, she 
commenced to teach here llie first school ever 
taught in the Territorj- south of the Platte River, 
as we have before stated. 

Novembei' 20, 1855, our subject left the educa- 
tional profession to take upon herself the solemn 
duties of a wife, as on that date she was united in 
marriage to Andreas Jessen. He was born in 
ISlcswick-Holstein, Germany, Nov. 7, 1827. He 
was reared in his native land, and there learned the 
trade of shoemaker. He was a man of libeial edu- 
cation, speaking fluently five languages — French, 
Swiss, German, English and Danish. In the year 
1851 he came to America and took up his resi- 
dence in Davenport, Iowa. On the 3d of July, 
1854. he crossed the Missouri River to locate in the 
Tenitorj' of Nebraska, and in the fall of that year 
made a claim to a tract of land on the banks of 
Walnut Creek. He soon sold that, however, and 
bought the claim on which his family now lives, 
and when the land came into the market entered it 
at the land-office, paying $1.25 an acre for it. He 
was from that time until his death, March 20, 1867, 
actively engaged in farming, and by his industry, 
sound judgment and able management, improved 
one of the finest estates iu the county, comprising 
320 acres of land, mostly under cultivation, with 
substantial frame buildings, and many other valua- 
ble improvements. In his death the community 
suffered a severe loss, as he was a good citizen, and 
in all the relations in which he was placed he was 
faithful and trustworthy. He w-as a sincere, manly 
Christian, always true to the tenets of the Lutheran 
Church, in which he was reared. His union with 
our subject was blessed by the birth of six children, 
namelj': Solomon, Otto, Anna, Jennie, Paul, and 
Maggie, who died at the age of ten years. The 
three youngest are teachers in the public schools. 

Mrs. Jessen is dowered with all the attributes 
that go to make a womanlj' woman. As a wife, she 
did all that she could to lighten her husband's bur- 
dens, and he was often guided by her counsel to 



successful issues. As a mother, she is wise and 
tender, devoting herself to the interests of her 
children. She is a cheerful worker in the cause of 
religion. She joined the Presbyterian Church in 
Indiana in 1848, and she assisted in the organiza- 
tion of the Presbyterian Church in Nebraska City, 
of which she is still a communicant. She seeks the 
good of others, and her strong religious faith has 
carried her serenely through the bitter tri.als of life. 
Portraits of Mrs. Jessen and her deceased hus- 
band are shown in connection with this sketch, and 
that of the latter will be especially valued I13' his 
numerous friends in this county. 



->/>/\, »\i2C£/®-^/«-| 



»^>5i/2>?ra»~-w-,- 



ANIEL T. HILL, D. D. S. This gentleman 
enjoys the reputation of being one of the 
most scientific, practical and able dentists 
in the State of Nebraska, and, as a natural 
result, his clientage is very large, and his practice 
quite lucrative. He located in .Syracuse in 1883, and 
before many months had passed was well and favor- 
ably known, and his business tirmlj- established. He 
is a native of C'armel, N. Y., the day of his nativity 
the 19th of July, 1857, whereon the home of Daniel 
T. and Sarah J. (Meritl) Hill was gladdened liy his 
advent. 

The parents of our subject were likewise natives 
of the Empire State ; his father was a well-known 
clergyman of the Baptist denomination, who had 
held charges in New York and New Jersej'. He was 
pastor of the church at Plainfield in the latter State 
for twenty-two years, and was accounted one of 
the most successful pastors and able preachers of 
the State. He occupied the pulpit for many years, 
being ordained at the age of nineteen, and continu- 
ing until he had passed his eightieth birlhd.ay, 
wielding an influence for good, right and the truth 
that will go on affecting countless homes and lives, 
and has been the instrument of turning thousands in 
the pathway leading to life. The mother of our 
subject died in New York in 1884, and was buried 
in Somers. Her husband subsequently came to 
Syracuse, where he died in March, 1887. They 
were the parents of five children, viz : Isaac N., 
Greek and Latin Professor in Bucknell University, 



f 



•►Hl-^^ 



OTOK COUNTY. 



489 



Lewisburg, Pa. ; David J., formerly President of 
tlie above university, now President of the univer- 
sity at. Rocliester, N. Y. ; this gentleman is the 
author of the well-known text-book, "HiU's Rheto- 
ric." Elizabeth, now the wife of Samuel T. Merritt, 
a grain merchant of Hudson, AVis. ; Lydia, wife of 
William L. Brown, who is cashier of the bank at 
"Williamston, Mich.; and our subject, who is the 
j'oungest of the famil3\ 

Dr. Hill vfas educated at Cliappaqua. N. Y., al- 
though owing to ill-health he was compelled to leave 
school before being graduated. Upon recovering his 
health he determined to study dentislr5\ and accord- 
ingly entered the New York College of Dentistry in 
that citj', being graduated from that institution at 
the age of nineteen years. For the next five years 
he practiced in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N. Y. Next 
to the deep interest in his profession our subject 
was more attracted to the American trotting horse 
than anything. This has been almost a passion 
with him from childhood, and when he came to 
Nebraska he gave not a little attention to the breed- 
ing of such stock. This occupied all his time the 
first 3'ear he was in Nebraska, and for that purpose 
he purchased a stock farm of 320 acres, which was 
situated about three miles south of the city, and is 
known as the Hillsdale Stock Farm. 

Life upon the farm to one who, like our subject, 
had always lived in cities, was very lonelj'and dull, 
in spite of the fine stock with which he had sur- 
rounded himself. This resulted in the sale of the 
property and the removal to Sj'racuse, where he 
purchased twenty-five acres, upon which he made 
such arrangements of barns, stabling, etc., as he 
deemed necessary for indulgence in his favorite 
hobby. He is the owner of twenty-five standard 
bred trotters. He is also the owner of the trotting 
horse "'Young Sentinel," which he brought with him 
from New York, and who has a record of 2:2ii. 
He has also other horses of some note and good 
record, which it is impossible in the space of this 
sketch to mention in detail. He is one of the 
organizers of the Nebraska State Association of 
Trotting Horse Breeders, of which he holds the 
position of Secretary'. The Doctor is not careless 
of his profession, and keeps full3' abreast of the 
times in all matters connected therewith. He has a 



very complete and beautiful library, and in his in- 
strument case may be found almost ever^' appliance 
and instrument known or used in his profession. 
These the Doctor does not keep for show, but 
understands their use, and perfects himself in the 
same. 

In 1877 the subject of our sketch was married to 
Telia H. Capron, the amiable daughter of Joseph 
and Hester E. Capron. She was born in Westchester 
County, N. Y., and made her home with her par- 
ents until her marriage, and brought to her husband 
all the cheering, brightening influences and inspira- 
tions that were designed by the Originator of the 
sacred relationship. The}' are the parents of three 
children, who bear the names here subjoined, viz: 
Pearl, Myrtle and Claire. 

Dr. Hill and his family occupj' a high position in 
society, moving in its most select circles, and he 
enjojs the high esteem of all who know him. Asa 
citizen, the Doctor is always happy to respond 
promptly to everj- duty that is his in that relation, 
and usually votes the Republican ticket. As a pro- 
fessional man, as has been already remarked, he is 
among the first of his fellows. As a man and as a 
friend, he is honorable, courteous and affable, and 
one of the much valued citizens of Syracuse. 



#-# 



-5— 



^h 



LBERT THEIS. The subject of this biog- 
i(^'£j|i I'aphy occupies a snug homestead of eighty 
acres l^'ing on section 31 in Nebraska City 
Precinct, where he settled in the spring of 
18G7, about the time Nebraska was tr.insformed 
from a Territory into a State. For a period of 
twenty-one j'ears he has labored industriously in 
its cultivation and improvement, and has been 
amply repaid for his labors, the land now yielding 
him handsome returns. It is hardly necessary to 
state that his management has been wise in the ex- 
treme, and his enterprise a little beyond the ordinary. 
Our subject was born in Rhenish Prussia, on the 
2Gth of January, 1835, where he lived until a man 
of twent3'-eight years. His parents were Philipaud 
Agnes Theis, natives of the same Province as their 
son, the father a cabinet-maker bj' trade, which he 
followed the greater part of his life. Both parents 



•►Hl^ 



490 



otop: county. 



•► 



^h-f 



spent their entire lives upon their native soil, the 
mother passing awaj' at the age of fortj'-nine 3'ears 
and the father when seventy-six. 

Mr. Theis when a lad of thirteen years began 
the trade of cabinet-maker under the instructions of 
his excellent father, and five j'ears later, after a 
thorough apprenticeship, began working as a "jour," 
and was thus occupied until emigrating to the 
United States. Ho worked thereafter four years in 
New York City, then decided to seek his fortune 
in the West. After locating in Nebraska City he 
still followed cabinet-making for a period of nine 
j'ears, then concluded to invest his capital iu a farm. 
Since that time he has given his attention closely to 
agricultural pursuits, and has no reason to regret 
his change of occupation. 

Our subject found his future wife in America, 
being married in Nebraska City, Aug. 7, 1859, to 
Miss Lona Scharp. ' Mrs. Theis is also of German 
birth and parentage, being a native of Sleswick- 
Holstein, where she was born Dec. 29, 1838. Her 
parents, James and Mattie (Hauschildt) Scharp, were 
natives of the same Grand Duchy as their daughter, 
where the father carried on farming until the spring 
of 1857. Then, accompanied by his family, he sailed 
for America, and after landing proceeded directly 
westward to this county. He purchased land in 
Wyoming Precinct and built up a comfortable home- 
stead, which provided him a shelter until his days 
on earth were numbered. His death was occasioned 
by the running away of a team he was driving, he 
being thrown from the vehicle and instantly killed. 
The wife and mother is still living at the homestead, 
and is now seventy-four years old. 

Mrs. Theis was a maiden of eighteen years when 
her parents came to the United States, and she 
lived with them until her marriage. Of her union 
with our subject there have been born ten children, 
five of whom died at an earlj' age, namely : Agnes, 
Mattie, Mar}', Amelia and Anna. Of the surviving 
the record is as follows: Alvina is the wife of Henry 
Korff, a well-to-do farmer of Wyoming Precinct. 
Emma married Herm.au Brugmann, who is occupied 
in general merchandising in Council Bluffs, Iowa; 
Nellie, John and Lona are at home with their 
parents. Mr. Theis, as one of the pioneers of Ne- 
braska, endured manj- hardships and privations 



during the first years of his struggle for existence 
in the West, and now, in the enjoyment of a com- 
fortable home, and the prospect of plenty for his 
old age, is reaping tiie reward of his toil and sacri- 
fice. He came to this county poor in purse, but 
with an indomitable energy that admitted no such 
word as fail. Not only has he accumulated property 
but has built up the record of an honest man and a 
good citizen, occupying a worthy position in the 
community and enjoying the respect and confidence 
of his neighbors. 



---^•:N 



'|W| AMES B. NORTHCUTT, who is imminently 
identified with the mercantile interests of 
Nebraska City, is proprietor and manager 
of one of the oldest retail grocerj' houses in 
the State of Nebraska. He is a Kentuckian by 
birth, born in Millersburg, Bourbon County, Jan. 
11, 1832. His father, Benjamin F. Nortbcutt, was 
born in Scotland. His parents were natives of En- 
gland, who for several years lived in Scotland. 
They subsequently came from there to America and 
settled in Kentucky, and later they moved to Boone 
County, Mo., and spent their last years there. 

The fatlier of our subject learned the trades of 
carpenter and millwright when he was young. In 
the spring of 1836 he moved to Missouri and lo- 
cated in Boone County, being one of the first set- 
tlers of that section of country. There were no 
railways then, and he and his family made the 
journey to their new home with teams. That part 
of the country was then heavily timbered, and Mr. 
Northcutt bought a tr.act of land and erected one 
of the first saw and grist mills in that section. He 
operated the mills untd 1842, when a freshet swept 
them awaj'. He then moved to Nashville, on the 
Missouri River, but after working at his trade as a 
carpenter a short time, went to Buchanan County 
Mo., and there built a steam saw and grist mill, 
which he managed very successfully until 18G3, 
when, on accoupt of the war, he suspended business. 
He is now an esteemed resident of Blue Springs 
Kan., and at the age of eighty-six 3-ears still retains 
much of his early vigor. The maiden name of his 



-•►HK 



»► I I <•• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•► 



491 



wife was Angeline McGufflii, and she was born in 
Scotland and came to America with lier parents. 
.She died in 1869. 

The subject of this sketch was four 3-ears old 
when his parents moved to Missouri, where he was 
reared to manhood. There being no free schools, 
he obtained his education in a school taught on the 
subscription plan. As soon as he was large enough 
he commenced to work to earn his own living, his 
first emploj'ment being to saw wood at twenty-five 
cents a cord. When he was in his eleventh year he 
commenced to work in a brickyard at St. .Joseph, 
Mo., receiving $4 a month for the first two years 
and 16 a month the next two j'ears, as compensation 
for his services, working hard from sunrise until 
sunset. When he was fifteen years old he had his 
first experience of the mercantile life as a clerk in 
a general store in St. Joseph, Mo., receiving a suit 
of clothes in payment for his work. He attended 
Lexington College during the winter season, and 
thus completed an excellent business education. 
When his parents first settled in Buchanan County 
it was in a very wild condition and was sparsely 
settled. St. Joseph was a liamlet of but a few log 
cabins, and the only hotel in the city was a log 
house. Indians were more plentiful than white peo- 
ple, and one time when our subject w.as about nine 
3'ears old he stole awaj' from home and joined the 
Indians on one of their hunting expeditions and 
was gone thirty daj's. 

Mr. Northcutt continued to clerk for the same 
firm until 1862, when he started, in the month of 
October, from Kansas Citj' with a train of ox-teams 
loaded with freight bound for Ft. Union, N. M., 
900 miles distant. He made the round trip, and 
arrived in Kansas City Feb. 3, 1863. He had not 
slept in a house during all the long journey. In 
May, 1863, he bought a pair of mules .and a wagon, 
and set out from St. Joseph for the gold fields of 
Idaho. He crossed the Missouri River at Peru in 
the month of Maj', and from Nebraska City pro- 
ceeded across the plains, via Salt Lake to Idaho 
City, which he reached on the 3d of July. On the 
same day he eng.aged as a miner, at $7 a day. He 
conti^iued thereuntil October, 1864, and then, after 
spending a few days in W.alla Walla City, went 
down the Columbia River to Portland, Ore., and 



>► I I <• 



from there to Victoria, British America, and thence 
to San Francisco. After staying there a month, he 
proceeded to his old home in Missouri by way of 
the Isthmus of Panama and New York Cit3', and 
finally arrived in St. Joseph in January. 1865. He 
there engaged with J. E. Barrow & Co., and went 
with a train to Salt Lake City, crossing the Mis- 
souri River April 1, and arriving at Salt Lake Sep- 
tember 25. There was a train of ninety-eighty 
wagons, all heavily laden, and on the 2d and 3d of 
August the teamsters had a battle with the Indians, 
who were then on the warpath, but they escaped 
without the loss of a man. He acted as a clerk for 
Barrow & Co. in Salt Lake City until the following 
December, when he started on his return with a 
mule train for Atchison City, and thence pro- 
ceeded to St. Joseph. At one time during the war 
Mr. Northcutt started from Kansas City to go to 
Independence to buy cattle for his employers. He 
had not gone far before he was advised to return, 
as Quantrell's guerrillas were infesting the country, 
and were more numerous than he had expected. 
He did not heed the warning, however, as he was a 
man of steadj' nerve and cool courage, but kept on 
until he met a party of soldiers who had been at- 
tacked l)y the rebel marauders, and were fleeing for 
their lives. He then concluded that " discretion 
would indeed be the better part of valor," and 
wisely returned to Kansas City. He soon after 
went to Lawrence, Kan., for the same purpose, and 
in that State he found trading rather unpleasant, 
as the people were at that time quite suspicious of 
anj' one coming from the Southwestern States. He, 
however, satisfied all queries, and finally reached 
Lawrence all right, and then returned, after buying 
^8,000 worth of cattle. 

Mr. Northcutt came to Nebraska City in the 
spring of 1866, arriving on the 15th of April, and 
at once established himself in the grocery business, 
which he has conducted continuously since with 
marked success. He is now one of the leading 
grocers here, and is numbered among the men of 
wealth in the city. 

Mr. Northcutt was married, in March, 1865, to 
Miss Katie Toole, a native of Weston, Mo., and a 
daughter of W. C. Toole. They have five children 
living, namely: Ebbie, Harry, Jesse, Wilbur and V 



.^1^ 



*. ^ 492 



OTOE COUNTY. 



iT" 



James. Our subject is a man of wirle experience, 
is prompt and wide-awaije in business, and by bis 
strictly honorable dealings has gained the confidence 
of his fellow-citizens. The a<lvice and support of 
such a man are greatly valued in the administration 
of the civic affairs of a prosperous and growing 
municipality like Nebraska City, as is evinced by 
the fact that Mr. Northcutt has served as a mem- 
ber of the Citj' Council for eight years; and his 
wisdom is also sought in the guidance of the affairs 
of the Christian Church, of which he and his wife 
are devoted members, and he has been its Secretary 
and Treasurer. Sociall}', he is identified with the 
A. F. & A. M., belonging to Nebraska City Lodge 
No. 12. 



ON. WILLIAM B. HAIL, deceased. Otoe 
County is greatlj' indebted for its wonderful 
growth and present prosperity to the men of 
intelligence, enterprise and action who were 
its pioneers, and who have watched with intense 
interest its entire development. The subject of 
this sketch was identified with those early settlers, 
and took a verj' active part in the public life of 
the county, and also of the Territory, as he was for 
several years a prominent member of the Territorial 
Legislature, and it gives us much pleasure to be 
able to transcribe to these pages a brief .account of 
his life and work. 

Mr. Hail was born in Graj'son County, Va., 
Aug. 4, 1811, and his father, Stephen Hail, was 
born on the same farm. Lewis Hail, the grand- 
father of our subject, was a native of Franklin 
County, Va., and was one of the early settlers of 
Grayson County. He took up a large tract of tim- 
ber land there, and made his home in that county 
■until his death. He Lad six sons and two daugh- 
ters, and he gave each of them a farm close by his 
homestead, and all but one of them spent their 
entire lives there. The father of our subject in- 
herited the old homestead where he was born, and 
there, after a well-spent life as a farmer and stock- 
raiser, he closed his ej'es to the scenes of earth in 
tiie month of February, 1854. He \Vas a valiant 
soldier in the War of 1812, and his record in public 
and in private life was that of an honest, upright. 



siigacious man. The maiden name of his wife was 
Frances Bourne, and she was also a native of Grayson 
County, Va. They were the parents of eleven 
children, all of whom grew to maturity. 

William B. Hail, of whom we write, was reared 
in the home of his birth, and received an excellent 
training in agricultur.al pursuits. He was married 
in his native county, Jan. 31, 1833, to Miss Matilda 
Jones, who was also born in Grii3-son County. Aug. 
13, 1811, being the date of her birth, and she is 
a daughter of Maj. Abner and Hannah (Forbes) 
Jones, natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Hail 
have eight children living, of whom the following 
is the record : C. Currin lives in Omaha ; Silas 
Friel lives on the homestead with his parents; Laura 
J. is the wife of L. F. Cornutt, of Nebraska City ; 
Celia is the wife of James S. Miller, of Nebraska 
City; Alverda lives at home; Scott, Taylor and 
Stephen A. are residents of Nebraska Cit}'. 

AVhile our subject remained a resident of his Vir- 
ginia birthplace he was engaged in farming, and even 
as a 3'oung man he became identified with the public 
interests of Grayson County, being elected Sur- 
veyor of the county in 1838, and served in that capac- 
ity continuously for sixteen 3'ears, until he resigned 
to come West. He also served four or five years as 
Magistrate. In the last of August, 1854, Mr. Hail 
severeil his connection with his pleasant Southern 
home, and, accompanied by his wife and nine chil- 
dren, started for the wilds of the far-off Territory 
of Nebraska, making the entire journey with a car- 
riage, two wagons and eight horses, arriving in Ne- 
braska City sixty days after they set forth. The 
sight presented to the eyes of those weary travelers 
as they entered this promised land was far dif- 
ferent from what one sees to-day. The rolling 
prairies stretched away to the West a wild sea of 
grass, with no signs of human habitation, as the set- 
tlements were then confined to the river. Deer and 
antelopes were plentiful, and away off toward the 
western boundary of the Territory buffaloes roamed 
at will. The land was held by the Government 
and had not been surveyed, and the Indians still 
lingered about their old hunting-grounds. Where 
Nebraska Citj' now stands they found about half 
a dozen rudely constructed houses and but one 
store, which was kept in a small frame building, lo- 



-^1^ 



*li 



OTOE COUNTY. 



••► 



493 



■M9 



i 



cated on the north side of Main street near the 
corner of Sixth street. There was no railway west 
of the Mississippi, and all travel and transportation 
was either by team or by boat, and one ma}' readily 
judge that the facilities for communicating with 
their friends in the East were not of the best. In 
this connection Mr. Hail related that Charles Pierce 
was the first Postmaster, and that the mail, which 
was received but once or twice each week, was 
brought ou horseback from Sidney, Iowa, and when 
Mr. Hail went for his share Mrs. Pierce would take 
a box from under the l)ed and select his from the 
rest. 

Mr. Hail made a claim to a tract of land now in- 
cluded in the city, and known as Hail & Co.'s 
Addition. A few days after coming here he and 
his nepiiew bought a sawmill in Iowa, and he drew 
it here with his horses and operated it by horse- 
power for a year, settlers coming in so rapidly that 
they could sell their lumber as fast as they could 
manufacture it. Mr. Hail had been a resident here 
but three weeks when the first election was held, at 
whicii delegates were elected to the first Territorial 
Legislature, and he was chosen to represent Otoe 
Count}-. He proved to be a wise and able states- 
man, and he was influential in obtaining the passage 
of many of the most important measures devised 
for the advancement of Territorial interests, and 
for the preservation of law and order. So well 
pleased were his constituents by his course, that he 
was sent to represent them in the halls of legislation 
five terms in succession. Mr. Hail also held the 
office of Justice of the Peace for some years after 
coming here. He was always a Democrat in poli- 
tics, and cast his first vote for Gen. Jackson. Mr. 
Hail met his death by being run over by a railroad 
train near his home, on the 1st day of October, 
1888. 



x^^ IIARLES W. STAHLHUT, who is said to be 
(l( n ''"^ ^^ ^^^ finest looking men in Nebraska 
^^^ City, is no less a stirring member of the 
business community, and is engaged in general mer- 
chandising on Central avenue, where he occupies a 
fine new brick block, which was erected by him in 
^' the^wino^of 1888. This building at 07ice attracts 



the attention of the stranger passing through the 
city, it being not only an ornament to the town, but 
occupied by some of its leading enterprises. Mr. 
Stahlhut commenced in life dependent upon his own 
resources, and has climbed up step by step to an 
enviable position socially and financially. 

A native of Westphalen, Germany, our subject 
was born Nov. 26, 1841, and is consequentlj' in the 
prime of life and the midst of his usefulness. His 
parents, Frederick and Ernestine (Senne) Stahlhut, 
were also of German birth and ancestry, and the 
father also followed merchandising, spending with 
his excellent wife his entire life upon his naUve soil. 
He died about 1873, aged sixty-five years, and the 
mother in 1878, when sixty-nine years old. Their 
five children were named respectively: Frederick, 
Charles W., Frederick William G., Ernestine and 
Lena. They are all living, our subject and his 
brother being the only ones in the United States. 

In common with the youth of his native land, 
our subject was placed in school at an early age, 
where he received a practical education, and later 
learned the carpenter's trade. In the spring of 
1868 he decided to emigrate to America, and set- 
tling in DuPage County, 111., emploj'ed himself as 
a farm laborer for a few months. Not quite satis- 
fied, however, with the outlook in the Prairie State, 
he came to Nebraska City with a capital of $20 in 
his pocket, and resumed his trade of carpenter. 
Later we find him clerking in a grocery store, which 
also combined general merchandise. He was simi- 
larly occupied until 1875, and in the meantime ex- 
ercising the economy which is a well-known char- 
acteristic of his jiationality, he saved up a snug 
sum of mone}', which, with his unlimited credit, 
enabled him to establish in business, Oct. 13, 
1875, in comjiany with a partner, under the firm 
name of Straub & Stahlhut. He operated with Mr. 
Straub for a period of three years, and then substi- 
stutcd his brother for Mv. Straub, and the two lat- 
ter have carried on business two years successfully 
with a prosperous outlook for the future. 

Mr. Stahlhut, in 1873, purchased the lots whereon 
his building now stands, which was erected during 
tlie summer of 1888, and is called the Stalilhut 
Block; it covers an area of 48x80 feet, is two stories 
in heiglit, built of brick, .and equipped with all mod- 



■^•- 



i- 



494 



>«► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ern conveniences. The business of C. W. Stahl- 
liut occupies half of this building, while the other 
half is rented to other parties. 

Our subject, in Kovember, 1876, was united in 
marriage with Miss Anna Wille, who was born in 
Brooklyn, N. Y., in January, 1856, and came to Ne- 
braska City with her parents in 1870. The latter, 
August and Emily Wille, were natives of Germany ; 
the father is now deceased, and the mother resides 
in Nebraska City. Mr. and Mrs. S. are the parents 
of five children, namely : Emily, Clara, Elsie, Hilda 
and Carl. Our subject, politically, is a lively Re- 
publican, and, with his estimable wife, is a member 
in good standing of the Lutheran Church. 



^f_^ ERBERT H. REED. Among the agricult- 
Wjjj. nrists of Delaware Precinct there are few 
Ij^^ more enterprising or successful than the gen- 
ial tleman whose biography is here briefly |)re- 
sented. There are many his senior in age, and of 
larger experience, but he possesses in no small me.is- 
ure the vim and Western push that count for so 
much in the development of a corapar.'itively new 
region. His property is situated on section 31, and 
is well worthy of a more extended notice than can 
be conveniently given in this volume. 

Our subject was born on the 15th of January, 
1860, to Cyrus and Anna (Lowe) Reed, at their 
home in Pickaway County, Ohio, which was the 
native place also of his father, who is now deceased. 
The latter was a farmer, and stood in the front rank 
of successful men similar]}' engaged. With his 
family he removed to this county in 1865 and set- 
tled in McWilliams Precinct, where he purchased 
over 1,600 acres of laud, which, with the exception 
of fifteen acres that were broken, and a diminutive 
shanty, w.<is in its virgin state. After a long sick- 
ness, caused by Briglit's disease, he departed this 
life in 1872. 

Mr. Reed was reared under the care of his father 
on the farm, and from his boyhood was given such 
tasks .as his strength would permit, until he was in 
every way competent to take full management of a 
farm. Attending the common schools, he received 
instructions in the ordinary branches of an English 



education, and b}' careful training his mental powers 
were developed so that he was in due time prepared 
to take his place in the more serious engagements 
of life. 

The marriage of Mr. Reed with Catherine Damme 
was celebrated on the 23d of November, 1884, at 
Delta. Mrs. Reed was born in Perry County, Mo., 
and is the daughter of Frederick Damme, of Mis- 
souri. Their union has been consummated by the 
birth of one daughter, who bears the name of Car- 
rie E. 

The homestead of our sul^ject is 320 acres in ex- 
tent, and although some attention is given to grain 
farming, he makes a specialty of raising graded 
stock of fine breed. He has erected a complete set 
of the needed buildings, stables and cattle pens, and 
these are above the average in pointof stability .and 
arrangement, convenience and finish. He is a man 
who takes an interest in the various enterprises that 
promise to advance the interest of the community 
or town. Politically, be is a stanch Republican, and 
an earnest worker in a modest waj-. 

A view of the home of Mr. Reed is given on an- 
other page, in which it will be seen that both indus- 
try and taste have been emplo}'ed to make it both 
valuable and attractive. It forms no unimportant 
item in the great whole which distinguishes Otoe 
County as a section of country peculiarly fortunate 
in the men who have directed its destinies. 



^^ HARLES DANN, a native of Lincolnshire, 
fif England, emigrated to the United States in 

^9^y 1852, when a j-oung man seventeen 3'ears of 
age, and is now numbered among the well-to-do 
farmers of McAVilliams Precinct. He was born 
Aug. 8, 1 835, and after his bo.yhood days were over, 
was employed at farming near the place of his birth 
until reaching manhood. His mother died when he 
was about eighteen years of age. James Dann, our 
subject's father, came to this country the following 
spring, and at Clinton, Iowa, he spent the remain- 
der of his da3's, psissing awa}' when ripe in years. 

The maiden name of the mother of our subject 
was Mary Ketler. The parental household included 
eight sons and two daughters, five of whom are now 



^U 




Residence or Charles Dann,5ec.7. ivi£ Williams Precinct. 




Residence of H. H.Reed, Sec.3I. Delaware Precinct 



-thM^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



497 



living. Charles, our subject, was a resident of 
Scott County, Iowa, a period of four years, from 
1852 until 1856, when lie came to Nebraska, set- 
tling: at first in the city uf Omaha. For some years 
afterward he was engaged as a teamster across the 
plains, being the pioneer of this business, making 
his first journey in the fall of 1859. For two years 
he lived in Colorado, and had ample experience 
■witu frontier life, and some experience with Indians. 
Upon coming to this county he purchased, in 1868, 
331 .acres of land which comprises the fine home- 
stead in his possession to-day. He has himself 
effected all the improveraents upon it, laying off the 
land into convenient fields with neat fences, putting 
up a residence, barns and out-buildings, gathering 
together the farm stock and machinery, and has now 
one of the most desirable estates in the county. 
Among the numerous views presented in this vol- 
ume may be found that of the residence and sur- 
roundings belonging to this gentleman. Our subject, 
in 1873, was united in m.arriage with Miss .Jane Will- 
iams, the wedding taking place at the home of the 
bridegroom in McWdliams Precinct. Mrs. Dann 
was born in Toronto, Canada, and came to the 
States with her uncle in 1867 ; her parents were John 
and Henrietta (Fitzgerald) AVilliams. Her f.ather 
was a carpenter by occupation, and a native of 
Closbyshire, England. He crossed the Atlantic in 
1850, and spent his last years in Palmyra Precinct, 
on the western line of this county, wliere his death 
took place about 1883. Mrs. Dann lived for several 
years before her marriage with her uncle in Nebraska. 
Of her union with our subject there has been born 
one child, a daughter, Ettia M., who continues at 
home with her parents. Mr. Dann has become thor- 
oughly Americanized, meddles very little with 
politics, and signifies his sentiments of freedom and 
equality by voting independently. 



•rsi^l 



<Tt. ENRY BRINKMANN occupies an uncon- 
WjWj troverted position among the substantial 
'M^ farmers of Otoe County, and is located 
■(^ on section 14 of Syracuse Precinct. He is 
a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was born 
on the 9th of .January, 1827. In early life he was 



bound as an apprentice, and learned the trade of a 
tailor, but did not follow it after attaining his ma- 
jority. At that time he was united in marriage 
with Louisa Tagmeyer, who was born in Prussia in 
the year 1829. 

Our subject and his young wife settled in the 
village of Neanberg, and their residence being quite 
large they derived quite an income from the rental 
of rooms by them unneeded for other purposes. 
Mr. Brinkraann gave his attention to agricultural 
pursuits, and being a thorough, practical man. and 
fully conversant with farming, was enabled to su])- 
port his family in comfort and comparative afflu- 
ence, and also accumulated a surplus. 

The first misfortune that befell Mr. Brinkraann 
came to him in the year 1858, when his wife was 
removed from his side by the imperious and never 
to be denied destroyer. Death, leaving him with 
two little ones who had been born to them. One 
of these is now deceased ; the other, Lena, now the 
wife of August Bartling, of Beatrice, this State. 

Some time after the above bereavement our sub- 
ject became the husband of Christina Bierman. He 
continued to make his home in Germany until the 
year 1869, then with his family he took passage at 
Bremen on the steamship " Baltimore," and after a 
stormy passage of eighteen days' duration landed 
in the harbor of the cit^' of the same name. This 
trip was anything but pleasant, and will always be 
remembered. Mrs. Brinkmann was sick through- 
out the passage, and the task of caring for her and 
their little famil3' devolved upon him. 

Landing at Baltimore Mr. Brinkmann was unable 
either to speak or understand one word of the 
English tongue, and unfortunately he fell into the 
hands of men whose despicable employment it was to 
fleece him and others similarly situated of their 
little hard-earned store, rather than lend a hand to 
smooth the difficulties from his path and assist him 
on his way. He purchased, as he supposed, a rail- 
road ticket for Nebraska City, but upon reaching 
Chicago was called upon for |30 more in order to 
carry him to Council Bluffs, where another $15 was 
demanded to take him to Nebr.aska City. The rail- 
road company left him at Eastford, opposite Ne- 
braska City, where he was met by a Mr. Stroup, 
who, instead of telling him that his tickets were 



•►Hl^^ 



■•► 



498 



OTOE COUNTY. 



good to the city, took him in and kept him over- 
night at his hotel, if such a place as he used for 
that purpose could by anj' stretch of the imagin- 
ation be deemed fit for such designation, even 
though a word of such vast latitude as that of 
" hotel " be used. In the morning he was called 
upon for $11 hotel bill, and a man was hired to 
bring him to where he now lives, and for this was 
charged an additional $10. Looking back over this 
experience he cannot but contrast it with the fact 
that he has manj' times since taken a full load of 
potatoes to Nebraska City, and only realized one- 
half that amount. 

The troubles of our subject were not over, al- 
though he had reached Nebraska City. He had 
come thus far to a half-brother who had been in 
the country several years, and owned a piece of land 
in the neighborhood. In all kindness of heart this 
gentleman sold to our subject forty aci-es of land at 
$19 per acre, and when subsequently he learned that 
be could have obtained just as good or better for 
$5, or which would have been even of greater advan- 
tage to him, have entered a homestead, he did not 
appreciate his relative's goodness as he had done at 
first. Upon his arrival he had $1,346 left, but at 
the end of one year he was in debt. The land was 
almost wholly unimproved, his house was but a 
shanty, and having no team he was compelled to 
exchange work with his neighbors, in order to effect 
anything at all. 

The first true friend our subject met upon Amer- 
ican soil was a gentleman who still occupies a 
prominent position in Nebraska City, and whose 
life story will be found presented in compendious 
form in this volume. This was Carl Korff, who, 
appreciating the situation, gave him kindly and 
valuable counsel, trusted him with goods and other 
things that were needed, and extended to him a 
helping hand. Our subject worked on the con- 
struction of the railroad at Belmont, aTid the familj' 
managed as best they could in very straitened cir- 
cumstances for over two years, living chiefly upon 
corn bread, bearing their hardships and trials in a 
bright and cheerful spirit, although manj' a tear was 
shed when the situation in all its forcefulness pre- 
sented itself before them. But this has long since 
passed awaj'. With the hel|) of tiie good Samari- 



tan friend, slowly but surely he has progressed, and 
to-day, if lie needed it, could raise an almost un- 
limited amount in a very few hours. He is one 
of the largest land-owners of the county, having 
600 acres of pasture land, which is occupied by a 
large herd of cattle, and which he has leased. 

The second wife of oursubject died on the 22d 
of March, 1871. She was the mother of seven chil- 
dren, three of whom are now living, viz: Minnie, 
Charley and Freda. The other children died in 
Germany. On the 30th of June, 1871, he was 
united in marriage with Sophia Steba. This lady 
was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, in 1842, and 
is the daughter of John and Mary Steba. Her 
father died in his native country, and after that 
bereavement her mother came to the United .States, 
and now resides in this county. She has three 
sisters also living in this State, who bear the names 
Marj', Minnie and Frederika. She has presented 
her husband with five children, four of whom now 
survive, viz: Henry, who was born on the 26th of 
April, 1872; Anna, on the 10th of February, 1875; 
Mary, Feb. 25, 1877; Sophia, on the 22d of Janu- 
ary, 1885. 

The subject of our sketch is one of the sub- 
stantial and earnest members of the Lutheran 
Church, as is also his wife. He is a stanch adherent 
of the Democratic party, and has so been since he 
has been able to understand and appreciate the in- 
stitutions and political relations of his adopted 
countrj*. He is ver}' highly esteemed throughout 
the community, and has a character that will bear 
the closest investigation. As a result he holds an 
unrivalled position in the community as a man of 
honor and integrity. 



^^^EORGE K. BOTTCHER is successful as 
general farmer, and operates 260 acres 
on section 17, Mc Williams Precinct; the 
farm usually produces good crops, even when others 
fail, for the reason that it is watered b}' the Nemaha 
River, which is a most valuable acquisition. This 
farm he has owned since 1883, but his connection 
with the State dates from one 3-ear earlier. Pre- 
viously he had lived in Gasconade County, Mo., 



■•►-11^ 



-4^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



■•»- 



499 



T 



where he had made his home for twentj'-two years, 
having been brought up and educated there. He 
was born on the loth of March, 1857, in Germany, 
and came to the United States with his parents 
when be was two years of age. 

The subject of ourskcteli is the son of Henry .ind 
Ellen (Dricker) Bottcher, who were natives of Ger- 
many. Upon coming to America they located in 
Missouri, and there made their home and became 
identified with the agricultural interests of the State. 
There the father died in September, 1885, having 
reached the age of seventj' years. He was for a 
number of years a member of tiie Methodist Church. 
He took a great interest in the politics of his coun- 
try, and usuallj' voted the Republican ticket. His 
wife is yet living with her oldest son, and has 
reached the age of sixty -six years. 

Tiie subject of our sketch was the ninth of twelve 
cliildren born to his parents, the family circle com- 
]3rising five sons and seven daughters. Seven mem- 
bers of the family are still living, and are all now 
married. Mr. Bottcher was united in wedlock with 
Anna Renkin, who was born in Germany, on the 
21st of May, 1857. She came when eight 3'ears of 
age to this country with her father, Henry Renkin, 
who located in Rock Creek Precinct, where he still 
resides and has became a large land-owner, and is 
numbered also among the successful farmers. The 
wife of our subject has presented him with three 
children, viz: Henry G., John F. and William F. 
She has also one child by a previous marri.age. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bottcher are regular attendants of 
the Lutheran Church, with which they have been 
connected for many years. Our subject is not 
prominent in political circles, but is a stanch Re- 
publican, and usually votes that ticket. 

OSEPH B. BALLARMAN. In the Grand 
Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, on the 14th 
of September, 1 830, was born a bo}' bab^' who 
(^^' is now numbered among the most successful 
farmers and stock-raisers of Rock Creek Precinct. 
He is a man who has inherited from his substantial 
German ancestry those qualities of perseverance and 
resolution which have upheld him through many 

4* 



difficulties, and which are the secret of his present 
success. For the last twentj'-one j'ears he has oper- 
ated successfully a farm of 160 acres on section 4, 
which he eliminated from a tract of raw prairie land 
into one of the most desirable homesteads, and he 
also has 100 acres on section 33, Belmont Precinct, 
Otoe County. He keeps a good assortment of live 
stock, has a comfortable residence, a good barn and 
all the other necessary buildings, and is surrounding 
himself and his family with everything needful for 
their comfort and enjOyment. 

Our subject is the son of Joseph and Mary Ballar- 
man, whose family consisted of three children, and 
of whom Joseph is the only survivor. The father, 
a farmer by occupation, spent his entire life upon 
his native soil, and died at the age of sixty-six 
years. The mother had preceded her husband to 
the silent land many years before, dying In the 
prime of life, when her son Joseph was a little lad 
three years of age. He was reared by his father, 
and lived with him until attaining his majorit3'. 
Not long afterward he set sail for the New World, 
making his way first to Hamilton County, Ohio, 
whence he migrated three years later to White 
County, Ind., thence he crossed the Mississippi into 
Monroe County, Iowa,- employing himself there as 
a farm laborer two years. 

After the outbreak of the Rebellion our subject 
enlisted as a soldier in the Union Army in Com- 
pany D, 22d Iowa Infantry, the company under 
command of Capt. Wilson, and the regiment under 
command of Col. Stone. The latter formed a por- 
tion of the 13th Army Corps, and our subject with 
his comrades subsequently met the rebels in many 
of the most important battles of the war, namely: 
at Gibson, Miss., May 1, 1863; Champion Hills, 
May 16; Black River Bridge, May 17; and the 
siege of Vicksburg, ending on the 4th of July, 1864. 
After fort}' days of almost continual fighting they 
moved to Jackson, Miss., meeting the enemy there 
July 17, 1863, and afterward our subject was at 
Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864; at Fisher's Hill, 
September 22, and at Cedar Creek October 13 to 
19 following. 

Mr. Ballarman, although frequently in the thick- 
est of the fight, escaped unhurt from the dangers of 
shot and shell, although the hardships and priva- 



T 



• ► 1 1 ^^ 



f 



■*►- 



a 500 



OTOE COUNTY. 



tions of array life had their natural effect upon his 
health. He reported for daily duty without fail, 
and at the close of the war received his honorable 
discharge at Savannah, Ga., July 25, 1865. Soon af- 
terward he sought his old haunts in Monroe County, 
Iowa, where he was most properly welcomed as one 
of those who had douQ most patriotic service in be- 
half of their adopted country. 

Leaving Iowa in the fall of 1865, our subject 
came to this county a single man. It was not verj' 
long, however, before he met the ladj' who became 
his wife, Miss Anna Sardnery, to whom he was mar- 
ried in Otoe County, Aug. 19, 1867. Mrs. Ballar- 
man was born in the Empire of Austria July 2, 
1840, and emigrated alone to America when a 
young lady of twenty -five j'ears. She at once made 
her way westward t.o this county, and two years 
later became the wife of our subject. She is now 
the mother of seven children, two of whom, Anna 
and Tlieresa, died when very young. The sur- 
vivors, Lizzie, Joseph G., Katie, Mary and John, 
are all at home with their parents. 

It is hardly necessary to state that Mr. Ballar- 
man is a fervent supporter of Republican principles. 
Both he and his excellent wife attend the Catholic 
Church at Rock Creek. 



^^ EORGE S. BOTSFORD. The picture of the 



( Gw' complete home is amply illustrated in the 
^^1 surroundings of the subject of this biog- 
raphy wlio, with his estimable wife, which com- 
prises his family, is spending his declining years 
surrounded by all that makes life desirable. His 
has been a career eminently praiseworthy, filled in 
with industry and good deeds, during which he has 
built up for himself the record of an honest man 
and a good citizen. Providence hasgreatlj' blessed 
him in his labors, giving him strength of body and 
mind, enabling him not only to provide hand- 
somely for his own necessities, but assist those less 
fortunate. 

The modest dwelling of ]\lr. Botsford is attract- 
ive within and conveniently arranged, while with- 
out are orchards, groves, the smaller fruit trees and 
shrubbery, barns, cattle sheds, and all the other 



.^h 



buildings necessary for his own convenience, for the 
domestic animals and for the storage of grain. 
These are the results of the industry of the proprie- 
tor, who settled up his present homestead when the 
land had undergone very little cultivation. Of late 
years he has given much attention to stock-raising, 
and it has been remarked by those who have seen 
them that his swine are as fine as any to be seen in 
the State of jSebraska. 

Next to a man's own personal record is that of 
those from whom he drew his origin. The parents 
of'our subject, Elnathan and Zilpha (Terry) Bots- 
ford, were natives of Livingston County, N. Y.; the 
father was born near Livonia and the mother near 
Lima. Elnathan Botsford was a painter by trade, 
but died when a j'oung man thirty-two years of age 
in 1837, in his native town. The family included 
two sons only, our subject and his elder brother 
William. The latter, when a little lad six j'ears of 
age, removed with an uncle to Seneca County, Ohio, 
and was joined there by the mother and George S. 
the year following, when the latter was five years 
old. The mother had been left in limited circum- 
stances, and two years later contracted a second 
marriage, the issue of which was three more chil- 
dren. Two only of these are now living, and in this 
State. 

George S. Botsford was born Maj' 27, 1835, near 
Livonia, Livingston Co., N. Y., and after the 
second marriage of his mother was placed in charge 
of a guardian, Oliver Crockett, who proved a very 
kind man, and finding the boy not properly cared 
for, took him into his own home, where he remained 
until a youth of seventeen years. Mr. Crockett then 
gave him his cfioice of remaining with him or going 
into a store at Green Springs. He chose the latter, 
but on account of impaired health returned to Mr. 
Crockett and assisted him as well as he could in the 
tanner}'. Later, through the influence of his guar- 
dian, he secured a position as purchasing agent of 
an Eastern manufacturing company, which handled 
black walnut lumlier. His duties then lay in 
Southern Michigan, to which he repaired, and was a 
resident of that section for one and one-half j'ears. 

In the spring of 1854 Mr. Botsford, then a man 
of nineteen years, crossed the Mississippi River and 
purchased 160 acres of land in Faj'ctte County, ^ r 



"^r* 



t 



* ► I I <• 



-•► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



501 



Iowa. He, however, did not settle upon this, but 
eng.iged as a stage driver from Dubuque to St. 
Paul, Minn., and driving four and six horses_ 
Later, for a period of fifteen months, he drove a 
stage from West Union to Decorah, Iowa. This 
contract ended, he began hauling goods for a mer- 
chant at West Union to and from McGregor, Iowa, 
and was thus occupied until after the outbreak of 
t he Civil War, 

Mr. Botsford now sold out his teams and enlisted 
in the State Militia, expecting to join the first 75,- 
000 men called for by President Lincoln. On the 
8th of June, 1861, his regiment was sworn into the 
National service at Keokuk, Iowa. Mr. B. was a 
member of Companj^ F, 3d Iowa Infantry, and af- 
ter drilling awhile at Keokuk, Iowa, they departed 
first to Hannibal, Mo., and during the summer of 
1861 his regiment was stationed as guards along 
the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in Northern 
IMissouri. 

Our subject first saw the smoke of battle at Pal- 
myra, Mo., in June, 1861 ; was at Ft. Henry, and was 
later at Ft. Doiielson. At the latter place he first 
looked upon Gen. Grant, and declares that, not- 
withstanding reports, "the General was not drunk.'' 
Mr. Botsford subsequently fought at Pittsburg 
Landing, the siege of Corinth, and later was 
stationed with his regiment as a guard along the 
Charleston & Memphis Kailroad. 

The spring of 186.3 saw the Army of the West 
moving toward Vicksburg, in the siege of wliichour 
subject participated. The winter of 1863-64 was 
passed in the vicinity of Natchez, Miss. Tbe term 
of enlistment of Mr. B. having expired he veteran- 
ized, and was commissioned Orderly Sergeant. Sub- 
sequently he was appointed Sergeant Major. In 
March, 1864, he was given a furlough, and return- 
ing to Iowa settled up various business matters there, 
and upon rejoining his regiment marched with the 
army of Gen. Sherman to the sea. On the way 
there he fought at Chattanooga and Lookout 
Mountain, Missionary Ridge. Dalton,Rorae and At- 
lanta. For valiant service he was made Captain 
of Company B, and after the death of Lieut. Col. 
Jacob Abernathy, was placed in regimental com- 
mand. 

On the 21st and 22d of July, 1864, the regiment 



of our subject lost heavily at the battle of Atlanta, 
and on account of their reduced numbers were made 
a p.art of the 2d Iowa, and Mr. Botsford was given 
a Captain's commission under Gov. Stone, with 
which rank he was mustered out at the close of the 
war. The 17th of January, 1865, found them re- 
turning North through the Carolinas, during which 
they marched through Goldsboro, and experienced 
the terrors of the dismal swamp, where the soldiers 
underwent great sufferings, being exposed to 
nightly frosts of great severity, and often making 
their way through mire and water knee deep. This 
naturally resulted in much sickness and death 
among the soldiers, and while at Goldsboro they 
received the news of Lee's surrender. This buoyed 
up the sinking spirits of the troops and gave them 
courage to push on to their destination. On ac- 
count of his bravery and fidelity to duty Capt. 
Botsford was the recipient of the commission of 
Lieutenant Colonel, the papers reaching him al- 
though he was never sworn in. 

Our subject looks upon liiis period of his life as 
an experience with which he would not willingly 
part, although it was one fraught with many hard- 
ships. Although he was remarkably fortunate in 
escaping wounds, sickness and death, the sufferings 
of those around him were such as to leave an in- 
effaceable impression upon his mind for all time to 
come. He became intimately acquainted with the 
brave Gen. McPherson during liis boyhood, but 
with his characteristic modesty he never made 
his presence known to the General, and it was onlj'^ 
by accident that the latter learned in the third year 
of his service that his old boyhood acquaintance 
was in the same division. Capt. Botsford marched 
with his comrades to Washington, and had the 
pleasure of being present at the grand review, and 
of marching with his com pan}' through the streets 
of Davenport, Iowa, where they were honorably 
discharged on the 19th of July, 1865. 

Our subject now returning to Fayette County, 
went from there in August following to Sandusky 
County, Ohio, where he occupied himself at farm- 
ing until March, 1869. At this place he met his 
future wife. Miss Agnes Scattergood, to whom he 
was married at Waterloo, Ind., March 24, 1869. 
Mrs. Botsford was born Aug. 4, 1848, at Elyri.a, 



• ► I I <• 



»^h 



502 



OTOE COUNTY. 



■*^r* 



Ohio, where she attended the common schools; she 
was deprived by death of her affectionate mother 
when a 3'oung girl of fifteen years. She then kept 
house for her father until his second marriage, when 
she was permitted to resume her studies in the High 
School at Clyde. 

Mrs. Botsford now also commenced teaching, al- 
though at the same time pursuing her studies, and 
thus taught and attended school for five j'ears be- 
fore her marriage. Our subject and his wife after- 
ward took up their residence at Waterloo, Ind., 
where they lived until coming to this State. In the 
spring of 1873 they settled in a little log house on 
eighty acres of land which is now included in their 
present farm. Here they commenced to live in 
true pioneer style, laboring early and late in the 
building up of their homestead and the cultivation 
of the land. The first dwelling in 1874 was re- 
placed b}' the present tasteful residence, and there 
gradually grew up around it the buildings adjacent, 
and fruit and shade trees which add so much to the 
attractions and the value of the property. 

Mrs. Botsford is the daughter of Charles W. and 
Lucinda (Reynolds) Scattergood, the former a 
native of Sheffield, England, and the latter of Essex 
County, N. Y. Mr. Scattergood crossed tiie At- 
lantic when a lad twelve years of age with his par- 
ents, who settled in Ohio. He was married to Miss 
Reynolds at Elyria, Ohio. They left the Buckeye 
State about 18G8 and settled on a farm in the vicin- 
ity of Waterloo, Ind., where he now resides, being 
seventy-one years of age. The six children of the 
parental family were named respectively: Irwin, 
Agnes, Viola, Eva, George and Harrison. Of these 
four are living, and three reside at Waterloo, Ind. 
Mr. and Mrs. Botsford have no children, but their 
home is the frequent resort of the many friends 
whom they have gathered around them during their 
long and pleasant lives. 



•»He»- 



^^EORGE HARTMAN, who has been identi- 
ijl (=> fied with Syracuse Precinct smce February, 
^^ 1880, resides on section 17, within about a 
half-mile of the town of Syracuse, and is one of the 
enterprising, intelligent and prosperous farmers and 



stock-raisers of the district. He was born in Sus- 
ses County, N. J., within forty miles of the city of 
Philadelphia, on the 1st of November, 1811. The 
Hartman family is of C4erman extraction, although 
for many years its members on this side of the At- 
lantic have been numbered among the substantial 
and valued citizens of the United States. 

The paternal great-grandfather of our subject, 
came from Germany and settled . in New Jer- 
sey more than 150 j-ears ago, and. was the first 
representative of the family to cross the Atlantic 
with the view of making his home here. His son, 
John Hartman, the grandfather of our subject, was 
born in New Jersey, of which State he was a 
citizen until his death, which occurred in the year 
1818. He followed successfully throughout his 
long life the trade of a blacksmith, and had a large 
business connection. The home circle was quite 
large, and all the children attained to from sixty to 
ninety years of age. 

Tlie father of our subject, Peter Hartman, was 
born upon the old homestead in Sussex County, 
and was there brought up, learning the trade of his 
father and also farming. He became the husband 
of Betsey Pickle, also of German ancestry, and a 
true and faithful helpmate. In 1816 this family 
removed to Lycoming County, Pa., and there set- 
tled upon a farm in the vicinity of three of his 
brothers, who were each operating farms there. At 
that home Peter Hartman passed the remainder of 
his life, dying at the very advanced age of ninety- 
four years, his wife having died a few years previ- 
ously.. She had attained the good old age of eighty- 
four 3'ears. 

The mother of oursuliject gave birth to eighteen 
children, two of whom died while quite small, and 
six sons and four daughters are still living. Our 
subject is the second eldest child. The first-born 
was John, who is still living, in Lycoming County, 
Pa., and was born in the year 1809. With the ex- 
ception of our subject all are living in the same 
county. The family record gives the other mem- 
bers of the family as follows: Katie, Julia A., De- 
borah (deceased), Hettie, Peter, Polly (deceased), 
Barbara, Rosella, Mathia, William, Elizal)eth and 
Amia (both deceased) and Mathias. 

The subject of our sketch grew to manhood in 



y 



»► I I <• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



503 



Lycoming County, and received wliat scliooling was 
obtainable in tlie same district. When sixteen j-ears 
of age he helped to build a school-house, which was 
the first in the neighborhood, and upon its eom- 
liletion seized this the first opportunity of attend- 
ing school. When twenty-two years of age lie 
entered the married state, and became the husband 
of Sarah Follmer, who was also born and brought 
up in the same place as Mr. Hartman. She was the 
daughter of William and Katie (Scwartz) Follmer. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hartman has been 
consummated by the birth of fourteen children, all 
of whom grew up to mature years. Their names 
are recorded as follows: Henry ; Sarah J., who mar- 
ried L. Hayes, and after his death was united with H. 
Lake, but is now deceased; John F., who died in 
Nebraska in 1880, leaving nine children; Catherine 
A., now the wife of Robert Forsman; William, who 
died during the late war; Margaret A., who died in 
September, 1888; George, who served during the 
war, and after spending six months in prison died 
almost immediately at the close of hostilities; Peter, 
now deceased ; Mary E., wife of Hiram Wise ; Thomas 
L. ; Emma R. and Clara L., both deceased ; Ephraim 
P., and Hattie W., Mrs. S. E. Brown, of Syracuse. 

Mr. Hartman's mother was the daughter of Peter 
and Mary (Kester) .Scwartz, who was brought from 
Germany and sold as a slave to pay his passage. 
Subsequently, however, he became one of the sub- 
stantial members of the community, and owner of 
a large distillery and gi'istmill, and had a very fine 
home in Lycoming County. The P'oUmer family 
also came from Germany. 

Life in the present decade is more changed from 
that of the beginning of the century than we can 
even imagine, and the change can hardlj'be said to 
have been gradual. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman were 
in the age and among the people who were not 
reached by any such conveniences as are presented 
by the modern dry-goods factories and stores. 
Whatever material was recjuired for the person or 
home was woven by the good wife, and it became 
a matter of worthy ambition and laudable pride to 
have the reputation among neighbors and friends 
of being the best spinner and weaver, a reputation 
that justly came and belonged to Mrs. Hartman. 

Our subject helped to clear the forest from the 



•► II <• 



f 



surface of the land in order that it might become 
suitable for farming purposes, and all the hardships 
and toil, incident to what, looking back, seems to be 
comparatively a primitive order of things, were en- 
dured, undergone, and triumphed over by the hardy 
pioneers of that day. There were pleasures, how- 
ever, that are to us unknown, as, for instance, 
that of the long winter evenings spent by the old 
open fireplace, with its huge blazing log, the father 
repairing or fixing some broken or injured imple- 
ment, or perchance cleaning his gun ready for the 
morrow; children variously emploj'ed in childish 
frolic or tiie discharge of some light duty, and the 
mother with affectionate, watchful care, busy at the 
wheel. 

Tlie great-grandfather of Mrs. Hartman. Freder- 
ick Follmer, came from Germany about the year 
1776. He was accompanied by a brother. One 
hundred years later a family reunion was arranged, 
and the descendants numbered about 800. The 
grandfather of Mrs. Hartman, Adam Follmer, was 
born in Penns3-lvania, as was also his son William. 

Fourteen years after the marriage of our subject 
he purchased a farm in Lycoming Count\\ P.a. 
Until that time he had rented a farm in that county. 
In 1880. leaving the home that had become 
endeared to him by family reminiscences and in- 
effaceable memories, our subject turned his face to 
the Far West, came to this State, and took land in 
this county, where he now resides. After a long 
season of frontier life and pioneer work, which was 
in many ways a repetition of previous experiences, 
the land was cleared and improved, and the regular 
farm life commenced, but so different in every way 
as to be almost inconceivable in the greatness of 
the contrast of farming in a new country and 
farming in an old, staid and established community. 
The first railroad ties for the Philadelphia & 
Reading Railroad, at Williamsport, were cut on 
the farm of our subject. He is the owner of 320 
acres, which was their first purchase; 120 was sold 
to one of the sons. The farm is in every way 
well ])rovided for, carefully tended, and splen- 
didly cultivated and highly fertile. All the im- 
provements made, including the excellent farm 
buildings, extensive orchard, and really fine dwell- 
ing, are the work of Mr. Hartman, and he has 



r 



•»-4^^ 



504 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 






given to the place the appearance of property that 
has been under the domination of a master-hand 
for at least a score of years, instead of the brief 
space of time that has really passed since possession 
was taken. 

Mrs. Hartraan deserves all the generous expres- 
sions of appreciation freel3' pronounced in her favor 
as a friend, neighbor and true woman. If her hus- 
band has accomplished much upon the farm, she has 
done even more than her full part in the home and 
in filling the obligations that came to her in the 
domestic relation. Few members of her sex, per- 
haps, have done more real hard work than she. Her 
home has always been her first care, and it has been 
her pleasure to make it and keep it in the best pos- 
sible manner. Not only has she taken the raw ma- 
terial and worked it from one stage to another until 
it was ready for use as wearing apparel, or for the 
various requirements of the home, but after it has 
served these offices she has wrought a transforma- 
tion that has made it useful as a carpet, and has cut 
and prepared sufficient material, and from it woven 
over 500 yards of that both useful and ornamental 
article, the rag carpet. 

This interesting family occupy a place in the 
community and countj' that is worthj' of more ex- 
tended remark, and in religious and social circles its 
members are well known and received, and enjoy a 
most desirable reputation and character. 



EUBEN WHITTAKER is one of the ex- 
tensive and prosperous agriculturists of 
Belmont Precinct. He was born in Caroline 
County, Va., on the 'iDth of December, 1831. 
His father, Reuben Whittaker, was also a Virginian, 
although of English descent, as was also his wife, 
whose maiden name was Priscilla Saunders. The 
occupation of the father was a farmer, and our sub- 
ject was reared upon the home farm. 

Such education as our subject could obtain as a 
boy was received in one of the primitive school- 
houses, where the chief building materials employed 
were the logs from the neighboring clearing and 
mud cement from the stream. The internal arrange- 
ments were equally rough, but then they served 
4* 



their purpose, and there went from these houses 
men who have made their mark in every part of 
the world's great field of battle. 

Mr. Whittaker went to Licking County, Ohio, 
in the year 1846, and settled at Etna, which is 
situated upon the National Park. Subsequently he 
went to Franklin County, in the same State, and 
worked upon a farm for three years. Then he 
went South to Louisiana and other Southern States, 
and also for a time worked on a flatboat on the 
river. He went to Illinois in 1852, and for two 
years lived in Winnebago County, near the town of 
Rockford. From there he went to his uncle in 
Northeastern Iowa, and in 1856 came to this county 
and settled on the southeast quarter of section 36, 
in Delaware Precinct. 

In the fall of 1857 our subject took the place he 
now farms, built a residence and settled there. It 
was wild land at that time, and he was compelled 
to hunt for the line and the corners of his property 
by the help of a pocket compass, and then stepping 
the distance. Indians were not at all unusual visi- 
tors, but bej'ond causing his wife an occasional 
fright in his absence, gave very little trouble. 
From that time until the present he has patiently 
gone on with the good work of improving his 
property, and building up and solidifying his in- 
terests. He now owns 400'acres, and uses the same 
for general farming and stock-raising, giving the 
chief importance to the latter. His stock are chiefly 
high-grade Short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs. 

On the 29th of December, 1857, Mr. Whittaker 
was married to Jane, daughter of Thomas and Jane 
(Dunbar) Wilson. The^' came here from Canada 
in 1856, and she was the eldest of eleven children 
born to her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker 
became the parents of eleven children, six living — 
Thomas R., Priscilla, Nancy E., Merinda, Silas A. and 
Ada M. One daughter, Rebecca, was married to John 
St. Clair, and died leaving two children, one of whom, 
Walter, is still living; the other members of the 
family were John, Ida, William H. and Elizabeth. 
The eldest son, Thomas, married Fannie Cooper, 
and now lives at Delta, in this county, and has two 
children, Roy and Eugene; Priscilla is the wife of 
Samuel Lowery, of BlcWilliams Precinct, and the 
mother of three children — Maj', Myrtle and Ida; 
•^ 



f- 




^2A.^n..^cA_ ^z) (^-^^<yyi-.^A^-^'L — 



i 



■•►^l-^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



507 



i 



Nancy is now Mrs. John Biiekridge, of Rock Creek 
Precinct; Merinda married Mr. Edward J. Cooper, 
of Delta, and li.ns one cliild. to wliom is given the 
name Kate. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wliittaker are members of the 
Baptist Church, and attend at Delta. The}- liave 
been connected with the Baptist communion fur 
twenty J'ears. Our subject has never taken any 
prominent part in political affairs, although he is 
a true and lo\'al citizen, and always votes the Re- 
l)ublican ticket. 



RS. CARRIE DAVENPORT. This lady 
occupies a comfortable and tasteful home 
adjacent to the village of Syracuse, and is 
noted for her superior business qualifica- 
tions, and as a person of more than ordinary in- 
telligence. She is the only living representative 
of her family, her three brothers having died early 
in life. She was born in Wayne County, N. Y., 
Oct. 27, 18.38, and is the daughter of Joshua and 
Adelia (Wilson) Bonney, who were natives of Con- 
necticut, where the father spent his last j^ears. The 
mother' still survives, and lives in Cornwall, that 
vState. When she was a child of eighteen months 
the parents of Mrs. Davenport returned to Con- 
necticut, where the father closed his eyes upon the 
soil of the State which gave him birth. 

The Bonuev family were people who stood high 
in their community, and Jliss Carrie was given a 
good education, and continued a member of her 
father's household until her first marriage, w'ith 
Lewis Jessup, who was an eminent and popular 
minister of the Congregational Church, presiding 
over a parish at Millburj', Mass. Two children 
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jessup, one of whom, a 
son Charles, died when five years old; the other, 
Mary I., is now the wife of C. W. Beach, of Au- 
burn, this State. 

The subject of this sketcli at an early age gave 
evidence of superior mental endowments, and was 
at different times proffered lucrative and responsi- 
ble positions, three times with leading insurance 
companies with a liberal salary, but there being no 
necessity for thus leaving home and friends, she 



declined. Subsequently', upon the urgent solicita- 
tion of the publisher of Kitts' Historj^ of the Bible, 
she consented to a month's trial, and after a vigor- 
ous can%'ass sold nearly 300 books in territory 
where a gentleman had met with total failure. 

In the summer of 1871 Mrs. Davenport repaired 
to New York Cit}"^, and during a period of ten 
months cleared $2,200 at the business of preserv- 
ing funeral flowers. Later she invented and se- 
cured the patent on a compartment kettle for 
cooking purposes, which she handled with success, 
both in selling territory and in organizing stock 
companies for the purpose of its manufacture. In 
1878 she came to Nebraska as general agent for an 
oil stove, and soon sold even more than its com- 
mission houses in Chicago, St. Louis and San Fran- 
cisco combined. 

During her first visit to Nebraska 3Irs. Daven- 
port purchased 200 acres of land, of which she re- 
tained possession until 1880, then sold it and 
purchased the farm which she now owns and occu- 
pies, and which is devoted to stock-raising, the 
stock consisting of road horses and Jersey-Red 
swine. Besides the 225 acres which she owns, Mrs. 
Davenport leases 320 acres additional, the whole 
of which she manages in a remarkably successful 
manner. Indeed she has been successful at what- 
ever sbe has undertaken. 

In the spring of 1881 the subject of this sketch 
returned to Connecticut, and was united in marriage 
with Joseph Davenport, a gentleman who for many 
j^ears was variously engaged and amassed a fortune. 
He was born in Franklin Countj-, Mass., Sept. 25, 
1806, and is the son of Edward and Betsey (Adams) 
Davenport, natives of New England. The father 
was a minister of the Baptist Church, and a de- 
scendant of the celebrated Adams family, who at 
an earl}' day were prominent among the aristoc- 
racj' of Massachusetts and Connecticut. In the 
boyhood da3's of JMr. Davenport cloth for the fam- 
il}- use was manufactured in the household, while 
the tailor and the shoemaker called from house to 
house, and taking this material made it up for the 
farail}'. Joseph at an early period in his life saw- 
the necessity of money as a medium of exchange, 
and set about earning the same as soon as he was 
able. He learned the art of grafting fruit trees, 



l-i^ 



^^►^1--^ 



508 



OTOE COUNTY. 



IX wor 



and in pursuance of this business traveled over con- 
siderable territory in the East, and at the same time 
visited many manufacturing establishments, where 
he obtained all the information he possibly could 
concerning machinery and its workings. He also 
at the same time realized the importance of a home 
market, and proposed to a mone3^ed friend that if 
tlie latter would build a cotton factory he would 
furnish the land and water power, and add to the 
enterprise a foundry. The proposal was accepted, 
the machinery speedily put in opersition, and from 
this humble beginning the town of Colerain, Mass., 
sjirang into existence. Mr. Davenport having ac- 
complished his object, sold the foundry later for 
about what it cost him, and in 1837, disposing of 
other interests in the Bay State, removed to Hart- 
ford, Conn., and establishing a nursery, began the 
propagation of a vast number of mulberry trees, 
the natural food of the silk worm, and which in- 
dustry he believed might be profitable. He sold 
a quantity of trees throughout the country, and 
invested a portion of the proceeds in valuable prop- 
erty in Connecticut, and land in some of the "West- 
ern States. 

In 1870 Mr. Davenport found himself a million- 
aire. He was also numbered among the leading- 
citizens of Hartford, whose endorsement on paper 
made it acceptable .it all the banks to any amount. 
He subsequently met with reve'rses, and in 1888 
retired from active business. While a resident of 
Syracuse he devoted 180 acres to the raising of 
cucumber seeds, which brought him the snug sum 
of $4,700. Like his wife, he is a man of large in- 
tellectual endowments, and in earlier years there 
was scarcely a subject upon which he could not 
converse intelligently'. Self-educated and well in- 
formed, he was alike at home in the field of science, 
politics and religion, and could hold his end of the 
argument with the most learned professor. He was 
in the earlier days a member of the old Whig party, 
but later endorses Republican doctrines. He is 
now a strong Protectionist, and amply able to give 
reasons for being so. 

iSIr. Davenport was for many years a leading 
member of the Baptist Church at Hartford. In ad- 
dition to his other capacities he h,as given to the 
Id many useful inventions, possessing this ge- 



nius in a ratio equal to that of his gifted wife. Mr. 
and Mrs. Davenport are a remarkable pair, and in 
this respect one has been largely the assistant of 
the other. We take pleasure in presenting the 
sketch of Mrs. Davenport, as that of one of the 
first ladies of Eastern Nebraska. 



[I|_, ON. .JOSEPH W. TALBOT is the proprietor 
IjjJ of the elegant boot and shoe emporium of 
/^W^ Syracuse. He is a native of Lockport, N. Y., 
^p and was born March 4, 1829. His parents, 
Joseph and Hannah (Wilson) Talbot, were na- 
tives of Vermont, but of English ancestry, their 
parents having come from that country and made 
their home in the Empire State. The father of our 
subject was by occupation a farmer, and continued 
therein until he had passed the prime of life, and 
then engaged in the hotel business. He died in 
Batavia, N. Y., in the year 1833. Subsequent to 
her bereavement the mother of our subject emi- 
grated with her children to Barry County, Mich., 
and settled upon a farm, where she eventuall3' died, 
leaving ten children, all of whom grew to the es- 
tate of man and womanhood, and their names are 
recorded as follows: David, Mary, Lucy, Joseph, 
Hannah, Sarah, Wealthy, George, Zilphia and .John 
B. The last four are deceased. 

Our subject was but foui- years of age when his 
father died and thirteen when the ]-emoval w.is 
made to Michigan, where he grew to manhood. He 
received a good, practical, English education in the 
common schools, and was considered capable of 
exchanging the scholar's desk for the teacher's, and 
in this occupation he evinced consideraljle aptitude 
and talent. In 1860 he removed to this State, and 
two years later settled upon section 2, Syracuse 
Precinct, where he owns 160 acres of excellent, 
arable land. He was again occupied as a teacher, 
devoting his attention to his farm when not thus 
engaged. Thus he continued until 1882; by that 
time the children whom he had instructed had grown 
up and had qualified themselves for teaching, and 
he retired from the profession. In 1885 ]Mr. Tal- 
bot established the store which he has since con- 
tinued with a largely increasing patronage. The 

~ -•► 



t 



•►Hh-^*- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



509 



•4^ 



siK'cess that had been his in previous occupations 
did not leave him when he tooli up this engage- 
ment, and he is more tlian ever appreciated b3' those 
who have made acquaintance with him therein. He, 
however, still continues to operate liis farm, of 
which mention was made above. 

The subject of our sketch was married in the year 
1859 ; the lady of his choice was Evelyn Reeves, who 
is the daughter of James and Alvira Reeves, natives 
of New York. She was born in Ohio, and was 
still an infant when the family removed to LaPorte 
County, Ind., and subsequently to Pulaski County. 
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Talbot has been ren- 
dered more felicitous, and their happiness more 
complete by the birth of their three children, Selma 
G., Earl R. and Guy D., who have manifested dis- 
positions and personal traits that are at once the 
pleasure and hope of their parents. Our subject 
has given his children an excellent education; the 
eldest is a graduate of the State University of Lin- 
coln, and is engaged in teaching in the Seward High 
School; EMrl has attended the university, but his 
education is not 3-et completed. He is preparing 
to enter the legal profession. 

The subject of our sketch was selected by the 
people of his district in 1869 to represent them in 
the Legislature, and he served in the session of 1869- 
70 in a manner most complimentarj' to himself and 
gratifying to his constituents. In former years he 
was an affiliate of the Republican party, but being 
impressed by the position of the Prohibition party 
and the issues at stake, he has become a member of 
the same. He is a man of no small influence in the 
community, where his high personal character, un- 
impeachable business honor and courteous affabil- 
ity' have won for him the highest esteem and regard. 

1ER0ME LATHROP. The farming commu- 
nity of Belmont Precinct acknowledges in 
this gentleman one of its most esteemed 
members and prosperous agriculturists. He 

omfortably located on section 13, where he has 
160 acres of land, and to which he came in the 

ing of 1861. The offspring of a good famil}-, 

was born in LeRov. Genesee Co.. N.Y., -lune 20, 



1826, and is the son of Abiel and Ordelia (Beckley) 
Lathrop, the former a native of Vermont, and a 
millwright and miller by trade. 

The father of our subject jiut up a large luimber 
of mills in the Empire State, including buildings at 
LeRoy, Warsaw and Cattaraugus Falls. He changed 
his residence in 1836 to LaPorte County, Ind., and 
also at the same time changed his occupation, taking 
up farming. The country was wild and new at that 
time, and he experienced all the hardships and dif- 
ficulties of the early pioneer. After the lapse of 
twelve months his health became seriously impaired, 
and he was unfitted for active labor, although he 
lived several years, and until the advanced age of 
seventy-six, dying in 1874. The mother passed 
away at the old homestead in 1888. Of their chil- 
dren, six in number, five are now living. 

The subject of this sketch completed his educa- 
tion in the schools of Kinggbury, LaPorte Co., Ind., 
where he also became intimately acquainted with 
the employments incident to farm life; with these 
he has also been since occupied. He came to this 
county in the fall of 1860, and settled on his pres- 
ent farm the following year. The first winter west 
of the Mississippi he spent in the embryo town of 
Osceola, Clarke Co., Iowa, when the settlements of 
white men were few and far between. The coun- 
try around was wild and new in Iowa as well as 
Nebraska. 

Upon coming to this county our subject shel- 
tered himself and his family in a small brick house, 
around which was broken about fortj' acres of land. 
Indians were numerous and often called at their 
door upon various pretexts, but otherwise than beg- 
ging for something to eat or some article of cloth- 
ing which they fancied, -gave them very little 
trouble or apprehension. Mr. Lathrop and his wife 
endeavored to treat them kindly and they were sus- 
ceptible to this. 

Our subject, while a resident of Indiana, had been 
married, April 2. 1850, to Miss Marj' Angeline 
Pratt, who was born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., 
in 1825. She was the daughter of Lyman and Sal- 
lie Pratt, who were natives of New York, and are 
now dead. 

Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Lathrop there were 
born six children, two only of whom are living — 



•►Hl^ 



■•►HI: 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Ellen J. and Ida M. The former married John W. 
Gilmore, a farmer of Thomas County, Kan., and 
has three daughters — Nettie, Carrie and Elizabeth. 
Ida is the wife of Frank Forber, of Beatrice, Keb., 
and the mother of two daughters and a son — Fannj', 
Mamie and Jerome. Mrs. Mary Angeline Lathrop 
departed this life at her home in Belmont Precinct, 
on the 5th of August, 1864. 

Our subject contracted a second marriage, Sept. 
12, 1865, with Miss Ann Eliza Warren, who was 
born in 1842, in New York State, and is the daugh- 
ter of Nathaniel and Etza A. ( Willson) Warren, who 
were natives of New York; the father is living, but 
the mother is dead. The wedding took place at 
the home of the bride in Newark, Rock Co., Wis. 
Of this union there have been born eight children, 
seven of whom are living, namely: Warren, Jay W., 
Agnes E., Orrin J., Mark N., George M. and Carl 
W. Mr. Lathrop is a member in good standing of 
the Baptist Church, together with his excellent wife, 
as also was his first partner. He takes a warm inter- 
est in the success of the temperance movement, and 
gives his political support to the Prohibition party. 
He has served as Assessor three terms in his pre- 
cinct, and this is the extent of his office-holding, as 
he has refused all further responsibility in this 
direction. 

Mr. Lathrop, in 1870, erected one of the finest 
lirick farm residences in Otoe County. It is hand- 
somely finished and furnished, and its surroundings 
are in keeping with the taste and means of the pro- 
prietor. Mrs. Lathrop, in her own right, is the 
owner of 160 acres in Thomas County, Kan., and a 
fine timber claim also belongs to the estate. 



\ENJAM1N S. MOTHERSEAD, proprietor 
of the Talmage Hotel in the town of that 
name, and one of the highly respected citi- 
zens, has resided in the district since the 
town was platted. He has been one of the active 
citizens in promoting the interests of the county, 
and was one of the first members to sit on the Vil- 
lage Board, and was there at the time it received 
the charter. He came to the county in 1864, and 
located upon a farm which he operated for a num- 



■^*' 



ber of years, afterward renting the place, and in 
1865 purchased property in Four Mile Precinct. 
He lived on it for about seventeen years, effected 
considerable improvement, and was financially suc- 
cessful. 

The subject of our sketcii was born in Kentucky, 
near Frankfort, on tiie 15th of March, 1836. His 
father, Nathaniel Mothersead, was born in England, 
and came to this country when but a lad, and was 
brought up in Virginia. There, also, later he was 
married to Miss Marj' S. Sweard, who was born and 
brought up in Virginia but of Eng ish descent. The 
husband and wife started out in life together mak- 
ing their home in Kentucky, and the father of our 
subject took land and began to operate it. There 
were born and brought up eight children, three of 
whom were sons. Of this family our subject was 
the youngest child. 

The parents of our subject, with their children, 
subsequently removed to Missouri, locating in Gen- 
try County, and there made the home that was 
theirs for the remainder of life. Both were con- 
sistent members of the Baptist Church for many 
years, and were active in its support. The father 
was a sound Democrat, and represented his county 
in the State Legislature in 1856, and also in 1858. 
He was elected to the State Senate in 1858, and 
represented the district embracing the counties of 
Buchanan. DeKalb, Harrison, Gentry and Worth. 
In 1860 he was appointed County Enroller Of the 
Census for Gentry, but died during that year. He 
was also prominent in the Masonic fraternity, and 
highl}' respected among the members of the order, 
as he was in every other relation. 

The subject of our sketch grew up at home until 
the year 1852, when he, in companj' with several 
others, set out from St. Joseph, and went across the 
plains to California, and after six months' travel 
landed in Sacramento. Before long our subject 
went to Virginia City, Nev., and for four years was 
in the mining district there. He then returned to 
California and traveled considerably in that State, 
and afterward went back by the water route. In 
1858 he made a second trip to California, returning 
the following year, making his home in Missouri 
for about twelve months. He then went to Mon- 
tana, remaining until 1 864, when he returned over- 

4^ 



^ 



*► I I <•• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



••^-^l 



all 



land. He was a true pioneer, and his life is filled 
with thrilling experiences and amusing incidents. 
He has been in several rich mines, the richest being 
owned by a company of which he was a member, 
and which would "pan out" $30 per daj' to a single 
'•drifter." 

Mr. Mothersead was united in marriage while a 
resident in Gentry County, the lady being Hannah 
Jones, who was born in that district in the year 
1 842. Her family was of Eastern origin, her father, 
Jacob Jones, having been a resident of New York 
State, but for many years has lived in Missouri, 
where he still resides, and has reached the age of 
ninetj^-two years. His daughter Hannah was edu- 
cated and brought up in Gentry County; her 
mother, also a native of New York, is also living, 
and is in her seventy-fourth year. 

To our subject and wife there have come seven 
children: Andrew J., who is married to Miss Mary 
Staid, of Missouri, but now living in Lincoln 
County; Fanny E. ; Ida, the wife of George Davis, 
of Talmage; Lizzie, now Mrs. Fred Scammell, of 
Atchison; Charles D., who resides at home and is 
eng.aged in the study of pharmacy; Mary, a suc- 
cessful teacher in Osage Precinct, and Frank, who 
is clerking in a general store at Cook. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mothersead .are members in good 
standing of the Christian Church; he is one of the 
active local politicians, espousing the principles of 
the Democratic party, and during the past four 
years has served as a member of the School Board. 



UILLIAM H. MOORE, a pioneer of Otoe 
County, came with his mother and step- 
WW fiither early in the spring of the year 1854. 
Plis stepfather had previously viewed the ground 
in 1853. At that period the place was known as 
Ft. Kearney, Maj. Downs being the Commandant. 
Mr. Moore has been associated with the varied 
interests of the rising State of Nebraska for many 
years, and was residing in it in the early days of 
pioneerdom. He was born in Richmond, Ind., on 
the 18th of May, 1847. His f.ather, Zimri Moore, 
wtis also born in the Iloosier State, his father, Sam- 
uel Moore, grandfather of our sulijeet, having set- 



tled in W.ayne County when the State was first 
opened for settlement. He cleared himself a farm 
from the dense forests and undergrowth, and con- 
tinued to reside there until his de.ath. 

It was on the above-mentioned farm that the 
father of our subject was reared and married, and 
settled in the vicinity. His home was there until 
his death, which occurred in 1850. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Ruth McPherson, died in Ne- 
braska when her son William H. was eleven j'ears 
old. After the death of her first husband she mar- 
ried Daniel Walker, and with him came to Nebraska. 
By her last husband she had three children. Her 
father, Joseph McPherson, was one of the pioneers 
of Wayne County, and of Scottish parentage. 
The mother of our subject and his stepfather came 
to the Terrltor^^ of Nebraska in 1854, and located 
near what is now known as Minersville. The place 
was then overrun by Indians, and it was necessary 
to keep on friendly terms. The better to effect this 
he made them a present of three hogs from his little 
drove that he had brought along from Fremont 
County, Iowa. 

Mr. Walker cleared a considerable tract of land, 
and erected his house on the northeast part of what 
is now Otoe Precinct. He made a business of 
making clapboards, which he sold to the settlers 
and in Nebraska City to shingle their buildings. 
Thej' sold for 11 per hundred, and he could make 
several hundred per day, so that it was quite profit- 
able. He continued to reside in that place a little 
more than a year, then removed to Camp Creek, 
where he settled on section 27 of Otoe Precinct, 
where the mother of our subject died in 1857, after 
which event Mr. Walker sold the claim, and took a 
claim on the river bottom. Later he enlisted in 
the 1st Nebraska Regiment and went South, and 
there died in the service. 

At the time the Western migration was made our 
subject was in his sixth year, and his home was 
with his mother until her de.ath. In Nebraska 
there were no settlers at the time, and it was "still 
chiefly occupied by the Indians. After the death 
of his mother he went to live witli Mr. Absalom 
Tipton in Wyoming Precinct, working during the 
summer upon the farm, and attending school dur- 
ing the winter months. He continued to make his ^ ' 






<• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-t 



home there until 1861, and then engaged with 
Majs. Eussell and Waddell, the Government freight- 
ers, to drive teams across the plains for them, and 
continued thus for two years, making four round 
trips across the plains to Ft. Laramie and Denver 
and Bitter Cottonwood. 

In 1863 Mr. Moore engaged in mining in Colo- 
rado, but in 1864 returned to his teaming, which 
he continued until 1867, when the Union Pacific 
Railroad was completed as far as Chej'enne, and 
freighting of covirse ceased. He then returned to 
mining, and worked at Georgetown,. Col., continu- 
ing there for seven years, and has continued to hold 
interests there ever since, but the high altitude 
affecting his health he was obliged to return East. 
His mining interests have proved very profitable. 

June 6, 1874, the subject of our sketch became 
the husband of Emma C. Cowles, who was born to 
Clmrles H. and Mary (Martin) Cowles (see sketch) 
at Lindell, Mo., on the 29th of July, 1852. Their 
union lias been consummated by tlie birth of three 
children, viz: Jessie, Mark and James. Mrs. Moore 
is an attractive and educated lady of happy dispo- 
sition, and faithful to the responsiliilitics devolving 
upon her in the domestic relation. 

For several j-ears the subject of our sketch owned 
a fine, well»cultivated farm in Wyoming Precinct, 
which he recently sold to his brother-in-law, C. C. 
Cowles. He is the owner of about 400 acres in the 
bottoms in Wj'oming Precinct. Politically, he is 
a stanch Republican. 



Jfi AMES E. BROWN. Upon section 14, Wyo- 
|i ming Precinct, lies the highly productive and 
I well-cultivated farm of the subject of our 
'/ sketch. It comprises eighty acres. He 
owns also a similar number of acres on section 22, 
which also is thoroughly improved. Our subject 
was born in Huntingdon Connt3', Pa., on the 21st 
of March, 1838. He was eight years of age when 
his parents migrated to Allegheny City, Pa. 

Our subject is the fifth child of James and Sil- 
vinia (Van Vliett) Brown, both of wliom were na- 
tives of Huntingdon County. Upon the father's 
side the family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and upon 



that of the mother of Holland Dutch. Mr. Brown, 
Sr.. was a shoemaker by trade. This he followed 
with a fair measure of success, and continued to 
work at it until, in 1881, having become totally 
blind, he was compelled to give it up. and then 
went to live with our subject. He departed this life 
on the 12lh of September, 1887, being then eighty- 
six years of age. In the War of the Rebellion he 
served bravely and well, in the 139th Pennsylvania 
Infantry. He was a life member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and very strict and conscientious in his 
everyday life. Politically, he was first a Whig and 
then a Republican. The mother of our subject is 
living in Allegheny with her children, and is eighty 
years of age. Like her husband, she has been a de- 
vout member of the Presbyterian Church from her 
youth. 

The first seventeen years of the life of our sub- 
ject were spent at home, but at that time he was 
anxious to move westward. Accordingly he started 
upon his journey in the month of May, 1 855, crossed 
the Missouri River to Plattsmouth, and then 
located at Nebraska City. He soon found em- 
ployment, but later joined the first Government 
surveying party sent out to this State. While in 
their company he had abundant opportunity of be- 
coming acquainted with the Indians, their mode of 
living, etc., not omitting their dislike of and 
treachery to the "pale face," and has some experi- 
ence of both. He was a volunteer under O. P. 
Mason to suppress the Indian raiders. Upon leav- 
ing the surveying party he pre-empted a tract of 
land, and farmed until the wave of excitement con- 
cerning Pike's Peak swept over the countrj'. He 
then spent two years in Colorado in the gold mines; 
afterward he was some time in Idaho. Returning in 
1865 to this county, he located upon his farm in 
Wyoming Precinct. 

In Wyoming Precinct, May 24, 1864, Mr. Brown 
was united in wedlock with Julia E. Bishop, who 
was born in Portage County, Ohio, Nov. 3. 1838, 
to the Rev. James and Julia (Allen) Bishop, natives 
respectivelj- of Connecticut and Vermont. Her 
mother was a direct descendant of the old Ethan 
Allen of Revolutionary fame. Her parents were 
married in Ohio, and began life in agricultural and 
dairy pursuits; later her father devoted part of 



*► II <• 



•«► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



513 1 ' 



liis time to tbe ministrj' of the Methodist Church. 
In 1839 they moved to DeKalb County, 111., and 
for some years resided tliere, then went to LaFiiy- 
ette County, Wis. They ' resided in that State 
until 18.56, when they came to Nehraslia, and set- 
tled near Tecumseh in what is now Johnson County, 
and were the first actual settlers of the county. 
Some lime afterward they came to Wyoming Pre- 
cinct in this count3\ where the mother, after a life of 
sixtj'-one j'ears, went to her last rest in the 3'ear 
1863. The father subsequentlj- went to Nemaha 
County, where he died in January, 1883, being 
eight3'-one years of age. 

Mrs. Brown it will be seen by the above has spent 
her early years in different places as indicated by 
the removals of her parents. By the time she was 
seventeen j'ears of age she had prepared herself for 
teaching, and this profession she followed until her 
marriage. She has presented her husband with five 
children. Their first-born, Fannie, died when nine 
j-ears of age; the following are the surviving chil- 
dren : William T. is attending the University at Lin- 
coln, and is a verj' promising student and is fitting 
himself for the ministrj' of the Episcopal Church, 
to which he belongs; the other three children, 
Cliarles S., Florence M. and Jonathan E.,are still at 
home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Brown are regular attendants of the 
Episcopal Church, and are also interested in the 
Prohibition movement, and our subject is in political 
affairs a third party man. He has filled with satis- 
faction to all the position of Assessor of the precinct. 
He is a man largely respected for his high character 
and also by reason of his social position. 



— l-^-i^^^=#^-^ 



ME. DUFF is a member of the firm of Duff, 
Barlling <fe Co., prominent grain dealers of 
Nebraska Citj'. He is a man of wide ex- 
perience, of much practical sagacity, is a 
sound financier, and, although he has been a resi- 
dent of this place but a little over two j'ears, he 
lias alreadj' gained an assured position in its busi- 
ness circles. He was born in LaFayette County, Wis., 
of which his father, Christopher Duff, was an earlj- 
settler. The latter was a native of Ireland, and 



there grew up to manhood. After his marriage 
with Miss Ann McNulty, likewise a native of Ire- 
land, he came to America and settled in New Jer- 
sey, lie there worked at the trade of blacksmith, 
and about the j'ear 1836 moved to the Territory 
of Wisconsin, and located in LaFayette County. 
The countrj' round about was at that time but 
sparselj' settled; mining was the principal industry, 
and but little attention had been paid to agricult- 
ui'e. Mr. Duff was prosperously engaged there at 
his trade until his death in 1852. He was an hon- 
orable, intelligent, liard-working man, and highlj' 
esteemed by Iiis neighbors and friends. His wife 
now makes her home with her children, who sur- 
round her with every comfort that thoughtful love 
can devise to make her declining j-ears pleasant 
and peaceful. 

The subject of this brief life record was onlj' ten 
J'ears old when he had the misfortune to lose his 
father, and he lived with his mother until he was 
fifteen j-ears old. He was a lad of more than ordi- 
narj- ambition and enterprise, was gifted with a 
fine mental capacitj', and at that age started out in 
life for himself. He went to Elkader, Claj^ton Co., 
Iowa, and obtained emploj'ment as a clerk in a 
general store, and was thus engaged until he was 
twentj' J'ears old. At that j'outhful age he was al- 
ready influential in public affairs, and in recog- 
nition of his financial and business abilitj', he was 
ajjpointed to the office of Deputj- Treasurer and 
Recorder of Claj'ton Couutj-, whose duties he dis- 
charged with gratifying success for four years, or 
until ill-health compelled him to seek the beneficial 
air of California for healing. He sjient a year and 
a half in the Golden State, and then returned to 
the State of Iowa, and was made Deputj' Clerk of 
Clayton Countj'. He held that office until the office 
of Countj' Auditor was created, when he was ap- 
pointed to that position, and later was re-elected 
to the same office, which he held continuouslj' for 
three j'ears, acquitting himself in that responsible 
public charge with distinction. After that he was 
engaged with Russell & Co., of Massillou, Ohio, .as 
general collector in the Northwestern States. He 
traveled in the interests of that companj' for two 
or three j'ears, and then took charge of the Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee Sr St. Paul right of w.ij' affairs in 



•► II < •• 



•►^h-* 



•► m^ « 



ol4 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Iowa, INIinnesota and Dakota. For five years he 
was thus emplo3'ed, and subsequently superintended 
the sale of their lands in jMinnesota, closing them 
out to a syndicate in a few months. After that he 
was in an insurance office in Chicago for two years, 
and in 1886 he came from that city to this, and 
formed his present partnership with his brother, 
N. A. Duff, and II. H. Bartling, and has since been 
actively eng.aged in buying and shipping grain 
from this point. 

INIr. Duff has established an attractive, cozy home 
here, and his wife, to whom he was united in mar- 
riage here in August, 1872, cordially unites with 
him in extending its pleasant hospitality to the 
friend or stranger who crosses its threshold. Mrs. 
Duff was formerlj^ Miss Mary F. Odell, and she is 
a native of Indiana. Of this union two children 
have been born — Edwin A. and Reba. Mrs. Duff is a 
valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Cliurch. 
Politically-, Mr. Duff is identified with the Repub- 
lican party, as he firmly believes its policy to be 
the true one for the safe guidance of National af- 



fairs. 



^. : ,s^^m^$ 



AVID BRADDOCK is one of the esteemed 
citizens, prosperous men, and able Justices 
of the Peace of South Branch Precinct. 
His home is upon section 24, and stands 
upon a farm of 160 acres. His father, Marton 
Braddock, was born in Knox County, Ohio, in the 
year 1823, .ind was there an extensive land-owner 
and successful farmer. His wife, Delilah (Lepley) 
Braddock, was born near the same place in 1828. 

The great-grandfather of our subject came from 
England, and settled in Virginia in Colonial days, 
and served under Gen. Washington in the Revolu- 
tionary War, being one of the first to enter, and 
continuing until the end of the chapter. His son 
AVilliam. the grandfather of our subject, was born 
in Virginia, and continued there throughout his 
life. 

The father of our subject moved with his family 
from Ohio to Mahaska, Iowa, in the year 1850, and 
staid for eighteen months, and was one of the 
pioneers. At tlie end of that jieriod he removed to 
Marshall County in the same State, and in the spring 



of .1852 entered 160 acres of land, and is a wealthy 
citizen, now owning 400 acres of well-stocked and 
flnelj' improved land. His dwelling cost him 
18,000, and all the other buildings in proportion. 
He is a well-informed citizen, and sustains a reputa- 
tion for liberality. His family circle Includes eleven 
children, whose names are as follows : David, John, 
Mary, Martha, William, Anginora, Eizzie, James 
F., Harvey T., Anna and Edward. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Knox 
County, Ohio, on the 3d of June, 1850. With his 
father he went to Iowa upon his removal to that 
State, and continued to live with his parents until 
he attained his majority. He attended the cl.asses 
of his school of the district, and also took a course 
of instruction at Albion Seminary in 1871 and 
1872. In 1874 he took a trip across the plains, 
through Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Colo- 
rado and Iowa, and then began farming near his old 
home, continuing the same until 1879. Then he 
came to tliis county, and located upon the farm he 
now occupies. The ground was entirely unim- 
proved, and in a thoroughly native condition. His 
residence and farm buildings are worthy of men- 
tion, the groves of shade and forest trees cover 
seven acres, the orchard comprising about 230 ex- 
cellent bearing trees, besides numerous other works 
and improvements. 

While a resident of Marietta, Iowa, Mr. Bi'ad- 
dock was joined in matrimony with Dora M. Riten- 
our on the 27th of February, 1879. This lady is 
the daughter of William and Daphna M. Taft, who 
were natives of Vermont and Ohio respectively, 
and were married in tlie latter State. Her father 
was by occupation a farmer, and at the outbreak of 
the Civil War he enlisted from Ohio, and died at 
Murfreesboro, Teun. Her mother is now living in 
Lincoln County, Neb. Siie is tlje mother of four 
children — Vestina, Willis, George and Dora. The 
latter was born on the 28th of April, 1863, in Knox 
County, Ohio. There have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Braddock four children — Jennessie, William 
H., John and Odessa. 

Mrs. Braddock is a member of the Christian 
Church, but usually attends that of the Presbyterian 
persuasion, as being more convenient to her home. 
Mr. and Mrs. B. are everywhere much esteemed as 



:^^i^ 






h^^ /3^^ Q/?^u^ 




'-<^-^>9^^'^^tCi^i>'2^ 



^1-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



517 



worthy members of society. Our subject is a mem- 
ber of tlie K. of P., and usuall^^ attends tlie lodge 
at Syracuse. He is a Democrat standi and true, 
heartily supporting the principles and ticket of the 
jjart}'. For eight years he was a member of the 
School Board, and since January last has filled the 
chair of Justice of the Peace. 



||/_^ OX. AXTOX ZIMMEEER, a well-known and 
prominent citizen and business man of Ne- 
braska City, proprietor of the Crj-stal Pal- 
ace Jewehy, China and Crockery Store, was 
one of the early pioneers of this State, and has done 
his share in developing its varied resources and in 
promoting its commercial intei'ests. His portrait is 
given in this volume, appearing on the opposite 
page. He was born Sept. 15, 1832, in the Kingdom 
of AVurtemberg, Germany. His father, Joseph 
Zimmerer, was born in the same locality, as were 
also his parents, Alois and Theresa Zimmerer, and 
they spent their entire lives there. The father of 
our subject was a farmer, owning a farm of thirty 
acres, and he followed agricultural pursuits in his 
native land until his death, in 1871. He was a 
man whose honest, straightforward dealings with 
his fellows gained him the respect and confidence 
of all with whom he came in contact. The maiden 
name of his worthy wife was Maria Mauch, and 
she was likewise a lifelong resident of the Kingdom 
of AVur.temberg, dying there at the home of her 
husband, in 1849. She was a daughter of Anton 
and Theresa (Geiger) Mauch. To her and her 
husband were born eleven children, seven of whom 
grew up: Alois, Anton, Elizabeth, Kunigunda, Gen- 
evieve, Carl and John. Alois lives in France; 
Elizabeth lives on the old homestead; Kunigunda 
came to America, married William Bischof, and 
died in Nebraska City; Carl and John live in Ne- 
briiska, the former in York and the latter in Seward. 
Anton Zimmerer was reared in his native land, 
and received the advantages of its excellent school 
system until he was fourteen years of age, being at 
that time prepared to enter college. But his father's 
limited means obliged our subject to forego his am- 



bitious desire for a university- education, and at the 
age of sixteen he commenced to learn the tailor's 
trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years. He 
subsequently traveled in Switzerland, and worked 
as a tailor in the larger cities there for a time. 
When he was twentj'-one he returaed to his birth- 
place, and at about that time occurred the custo- 
mary drawing of lots to decide which of the young 
men of the village should go to serve in the Ger- 
man Army. Fortunately he drew a lucky number, 
although he came within one of drawing one that 
would have indicated that he must become a sol- 
dier, and being thus freed from militar}' dutj', he 
was granted leave to come to America, and on the 
15th of September, 1853, he set sail from Rotter- 
dam, bound for this land of pi'omise. While still 
sailing on the North Sea cholera broke out on board 
the vessel, and it was quarantined for a time in the 
Marine Hospital of the Netherlands, and did not 
land in New York until the 24th of the following 
December. Our subject proceeded directly to Madi- 
son, Ind., where he arrived not only with empt}- 
pockets, but had to begin his new life $75 in debt. 
Nothing daunted by this discouraging fact, he 
courageously sought work, and was soon employed 
at his trade. At the end of nine months he left 
Madison and proceeded to Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
from there to Springboro, where he worked at tail- 
oring until 1856. In the fall of that year he went 
to Des Moines, Iowa, then a place of about 5,000 
inhabitants. In the spring of 1857 he started on a 
pedestrian tour for this city, there being no railway 
at that time, and coming by the way of Council 
Bluffs, arrived here on the 22d of April, having 
walked a distance of 300 miles. He found Nebr.iska 
City a small town, with but a few hundred inhabi- 
tants; the old block house, built bj' the Govern- 
ment, was still standing, and that part of the town 
on the east side of the creek, known as Kearne}-, 
was the business portion of the city. The whole 
section of country west was wild prairie owned by 
the Government, and not yet in the market, and 
later was sold at $1.25 an acre. Deer, antelopes and 
wild turkeys were plentiful at that time, and there 
were no railways west of Eastern Iowa or Missouri, 
all transportation being done b}' steamers on the 
river or by teams overland. Nebraska City be- 



518 



■*► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 



! 



came the headquarters for the freigliters across the 
plains, and after the surrounding country began to 
be settled it was the market and depot for supjJies 
for the settlements for some time. 

INIr. Zimmerer easily found emplojment at liis 
trade, but he soon concluded that he would turn 
his attention to agriculture on this rich and fertile 
soil, and he went to Pawnee County and took up a 
tract of Government land. In the following year 
(1858) he hired some breaking done, built a log 
house, and in 1859 took up his residence on his 
laud. He remained there engaged in farming, with 
Nebraska City, fifty miles distant, his nearest mar- 
ket, for three years, making an undoubted success 
of his agricultural venture. He then sold his farm, 
returned to Nebraska City, and with the proceeds 
of the sale established himself as a merchant tailor, 
opening a custom shop, and continuing in that 
business until 1868. He then formed a partnership 
with his brother-in-law, Mr. Bischof, and ojiened a 
hardware store, which they managed together until 
1883, when our subject disposed of his interest in 
the establishment to his partner. He then bought 
1,000 acres of land in Gage County, intending to 
engage extensively in farming and stock-raising, 
but he changed his mind, and in 1886 bought his 
present store, and is doing a large business. 

Our subject was married, Aug. 30, 1868, to Emma 
Zepf, and to them nine children have been born, as 
follows: Carl, Tony, John, Maurice, Alpha, Nettie, 
Frank, Eddie and Fred. Mr. Zimmerer has two 
children by a former marriage— Emma and Lizzie. 
Emma is the wife of F. Daniel Kees, a prominent 
hardware merchant, of Beatrice; Lizzie is the wife 
of George Street, a prosperous farmer and stock- 
raiser, of Obcrlin, Kan. Mrs. Zimmerer is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, and, with her husband, 
occupies a high social position in this community. 
Mrs. Zimmerer was born Jan. 22, 1844, in Frittlin- 
gen, Wurtemberg, and reared in the same village. 
She came to this country with her parents when but 
seven years old. Her father, Mr. Nicolaus Zepf, 
resided on a farm near Pontiac, 111., where he died 
in 1872. The mother, Mrs. Francis Zepf^mee Zim- 
merer, is still living at the old homestead in Liv- 
ingston County, 111. 

Mr. Zimmerer is pre-eminently a self-made man, 



owing all that he is and has to his own indomitable 
energy, excellent business talent and persistency, 
so that he is now numbered among the men of in- 
fluence and wealth who reside in this cit}'. During 
the time that he has been in business here his resi- 
dence has been outside of the city limits, so that he 
has not talcen an active part in municipal affairs, 
but he has been a prominent office-holder of Otoe 
County, being one of the leading councillors of the 
Eepublican party. He was a candidate at onetime 
for the county treasure-ship, but was defeated by a 
very small majority, his opponent being an old and 
tried incumbent of the office. In 1868 he served 
with distinction as Representative to the State Legis- 
lature, which then for the first time met at Lincoln, 
and was on several imijortant committees, the most 
important of which was, perhaps, the Committee on 
Emigration. Mr. Zimmerer is promine'ntly identified 
with the I. O. O. F., which he first joined in Ohio, 
and is at present a member of Frontier Lodge No. 
3; he has served as Grand Master of the State, in 
1875-76. He is also a member of Ridglej' Encamp- 
ment No. 1, I. O. O. F., and he has twice been a 
delegate to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of Odd 
Fellows of the United States. 



"if OHN W. HOAGLAND, a well-to-do farmer 
of Belmont Precinct, owns a good property 
on section 17, upon which he has made great 
/ improvements since it came into his posses- 
sion. A native of Morgan County, 111., he was 
born Nov. 16, 1836, and is the son of George W. 
and Catherine (West) Hoagland, the former of 
whom was a native of Morristown, N. J., and the 
latter born near the city of Frankfort, Franklin Co., 
Kj'. They are now residing at Springfield, 111. 

The parental household consisted of six children, 
named as follows: Mary L., Mrs. Ruyan ; Jane, 
Mrs. Easley; Emma, Mrs. Holmes; John W., James 
and George. John W. Hoagland received a com- 
mon-school education, and was reared a farmer's 
boy. He came to this county alone, in the spring 
of 1870, and the year following settled upon the 
land included in his present farm. He is now the 
owner of 480 acres, and makes a specialty of stock- 



■•► 



•%f^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



519 I ^ 



racing, his animals including Short-horn cattle, 
Percheron horses and Poland-China swine. From 
these he realizes a handsome iiicomc. 

Mr. Hoagland has fulfilled in an admirable man- 
ner all the duties of an honest man and a good citi- 
zen, with one exception, and that is that he has 
never been married. He is, however, one of the 
jolliest old bachelors of Otoe County, and in the 
enjoyment of his single blessedness is surrounded 
by hosts of friends. His married sister, Mrs. Eas- 
Icy, i)resides over his domestic concerns, and her 
two sons, Frederick and George, live with them 
and serve to make the home circle brightand clieer- 
ful. They are smart and intelligent lads and at- 
tend the district school. The farm, with its 
well-fed animals and all the comforts of the modern 
rural home, presents a very attractive picture. 



SM^^-'^^ZTtf*^ 



V|/OHN WOLF. There ai'c few homesteads in 
Otoe County more attractive or valuable 
than that of the subject of this sketch, a 
1^^/ self-made man in the truest sense of the word. 
He came to Nebraska in 1867, comparatively with- 
out means, and from first principles has built up a 
fine property. Settling upon a tract of wild prairie 
land, he began the cultivation of the soil and the 
improvetaent of his property, and is now enjoying 
the rich reward of his labors, being surrounded 
with all the comforts of life and many of its luxu- 
ries. To his sensible and intelligent wife much 
credit is also due for the manner in which she has 
performed her part toward the building up of the 
homestead, the training of their children, and her 
studious care in watching over the welfare of their 
family. In their surroundings we have a picture 
of the modern home, blessed by comfort and plenty, 
and those endearing ties which make of the fireside 
the most sacred place on earth. 

The property of Mr. Wolf embraces 320 acres of 
highly cultivated land on sections 14 and 23, Berlin 
Precinct. To commence at the beginning of a most 
interesting career we learn that he is of German birth 
and parentage, a native of Mecklenburg, where he 
first opened his e3'esto the light July 17, 1843. This 



Province was also the native place of his parents, 
Cliarles and Charlotte (Streu) Wolf, and of hie 
grandfathers. Jacob Wolf and John Streu. The 
latter fought in the wars against Napoleon. Grand- 
father Wolf followed farming all his life, and to this 
pursuit reared his sou Charles, and both, with the 
mother of our subject, spent their entire lives in 
their native German\'. The parents of Mr. AVolf 
died each at the age of forty-eiglit 3'ears, the mother 
in 1852, and the father in 18G2. Their six chil- 
dren were named respectively: Maria, who contin- 
ues in her native Germany; Sophia, who died when 
twenty-four years old; Lena, residing in Michi- 
gan; John, our suljject; George, deceased, and 
Christian. 

Mr. Wolf was given a thorough education in his 
native tongue, pursuing his studies from the early 
age of six years until a lad of fourteen. When 
leaving the school he began "paddling his own 
canoe," working at farming mostly until 18G7. He 
then made up his mind to seek his fortune on the 
other side of the Atlantic. Bidding adieu to the 
friends of his childhood, he made his way to the 
city of Hamburg and engaged passage on the ocean 
steamer "Almania," which landed him, seventeen 
days later, in the city of New York. Thence he 
came directly to the new State of Nebraska, lo- 
cating first in Cass County for a brief time, and 
later worked on a railroad in Iowa and Missouri, 
spending the winter in Nebraska. He was there- 
after employed alternatel}', on a farm and on a 
railroad, and finally settled upon a tract of rented 
land in Berlin Precinct, which he operated two 
j-ears. He purchased his ju'esent place of eighty 
acres in the spring of 1870. It was a tract of raw 
prairie, and in its transformation to the present 
beautiful farm there have been employed j^ears of 
labor and thousands of dollars. Mr. Wolf has 
erected a good set of frame buildings, having to 
haul his material from Nebraska City. He has set 
out groves and an orchard of 200 apple trees, be- 
sides the finer shade and smaller fruit trees. His 
land is finely located, and amply watered by Sand 
Creek. In 1875 he purchased 168 acres adjoining 
the first, and two years later another eighty acres. 
It has all been brought to a productive condition, 
and of late years is mostly devoted to live stock, 



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'^ 520 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Mr. Wolf feeding large numbers of cattle anrl 
swine, shipping annuall_v of each a carloart. He 
also has some fine horses, keeping usually about 
eight head. The homestead proper lies on sec- 
tion 14, and his other land is on section 23. 

The marriage of John Wolf and Miss Minnie 
Tesnow was celebrated at the home of the bride in 
Berlin Precinct, Sept. 16, 1868. Mrs. Wolf is a 
native of the same Province in Germany as her 
husband, and was born March 22, 1844. She came 
to America with her parents in 1867, and to Ne- 
braska in the same j'ear as her husband. Of their 
union there have been born six children, onl}' three 
of whom are living, namely u Louis, Adolph and 
Emma. Their eldest-born, Frederick, was killed 
by lightning in the field in 1880, when twelve 
j'ears old; John and Emma died when infants. 

Mr. Wolf, after becoming a naturalized citizen, 
identified himself with tiie Republican part}', of 
which he is a firm adherent, and is frequently sent 
as a delegate to the County Conventions. He is an 
active member of the Lutheran Church, and gives 
liberally of his means for the support of the church 
and in the erection of its buildings. No man takes 
a warmer interest in furthering the public enter- 
prises which shall tend to the moral and religious 
welfare of his community. The home of Mr. Wolf 
and his family is a remarkably pleasant resort, 
where friend and stranger alike are met with that 
courtesy indicative of good breeding and genuine 
hospitality. 

^ .^3^ ^ 



^^ IIARLES F. HUNTER. In the career of 
(|( this gentleman we have that of one who has 

^^^ traveled extensively in the Great West, and 
seen much of life on the frontier. He is now the 
owner of a snug farm on section 8 in Delaware Pre- 
cinct, and takes special interest in the raising of 
stock, cattle and swine. In this branch of agricult- 
ure he is very successful, having the good judg- 
ment required in the selection of stock and their 
care and treatment. 

Our subject was born in Delaware County, Pa., 
Jan. 3, 1828, and is the son of William and Jennie 
(Davis) Hunter, the former of whom was a native 



of the same county' as his son, and served as a 
soldier in the War of 1812. He was a farmer by 
occupation, and departed this life at his home in 
Pennsylvania in 1855. The mother died about 
1839. The parental household included ten chil- 
dren, five of whom are deceased. 

William Hunter, Sr., the paternal grandfather of 
our subject, was the son of another William Hunter, 
who was of Scotch ancestry but born in England', 
and emigrated to the United States, settling in 
Pennsylvania probably during the Colonial days. 
On the mother's side the grandfather of our sub- 
ject was Mordecai Davis, of Welsh ancestry. He 
spent his last years in Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Hunter acquired the rudiments of his edu- 
cation in his native county, and in the spring of 
1851, when a young man of twenty-three years, 
leaving the Keystone State, made his wa}' to Zanes- 
ville, Ohio. In the fall of that year, 1851, he re- 
turned home where he remained five years, but in the 
spring of 1856 turned his face once more toward 
the farther West. This time he crossed the Father 
of Waters, and settling in the embryo town of Bur- 
lington, Iowa, established a candle factory, which he 
operated a year, then changed his residence to 
Iowa Cit}'. 

In the fall of 1858 Mr. Hunter came to the Ter- 
ritory of Nebraska, and occupied himself at freight- 
ing to Utah until the spring of 1860. He then 
started out for the Territory of Utah with a team 
of six yoke of oxen, his destination being Ft. 
Crittenden. For a year thereafter he was in the 
employ of the Government, and afterward followed 
teaming over the Western States and Territories 
in the interests of a stage company. He went 
through to Ft. Hall in Washington Territory, then 
returning to Salt Lake City accepted the position 
of messenger for a stage company at a salary of $75 
per month. 

The fall of 1864 found our subject in Nebraska 
City, where he employed himself until December, 
1866. Thence he went to Davenport, Iowa, where 
he concluded to settle and engage in the employ of 
the Government. With this in view he returned 
to Pennsylvania the winter following, and in the 
spring of 1867 took his family to Davenport. 
They lived tiiere until the spring of 1873, and then 



-^h^- 



*^l 



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^.^(-^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



.■)21 



Mr. Hunter changed his residence to Tama County, 
Iowa, where he occupied himself in farming and 
raising stocii until April, 1879. 

Mr. Hunter now returned to Nebraska Cit3', and 
concluded to make this count3' his future home. 
He purchased eighty acres of land, and began the 
development of the farm which is now the object 
of admiration by the passing traveler. He has neat 
and substantial buildings, and superintends his 
agricultural operations with that good judgment 
which has met with its legitimate reward in the 
building up of a most valuable and attractive home- 
stead. He keeps about ten head of cattle, and a 
herd of forty swine, and from the proceeds of these 
enjoys a handso'me income annnualiy. 

The marriage of Charles F. Hunter and Miss 
Elizabeth P. Nuzum was celebrated at the home of 
the bride in Delaware County, Pa., Feb. 21, 1867. 
Mrs. Hunter is the daughter of William and .Sarah 
(Epright) Nuzum, who were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, and are now deceased. She was born in 
October, 1829. Of her union with our subject 
there is one child, a son, William N., who was liorn 
Nov. 22, 1867, and is a j'oung man gifted by 
nature with more than ordinary capabilities. He 
has received a good education, and possesses in a 
marked degree the business talents of his father, 
whom he assists in the carrj'ing on of the farm and 
in his stock operations. The family is widely and 
favorably known throughout this region, where they 
enjoy the society of hosts of friends. Mr. Hunter 
votes the straight Democratic ticket, but has no de- 
sire for the responsibilities of office. 






■REDERICK H. BRAUER, Coronor of Otoe 
County, and also engaged as an undertaker 
in Nebraska City, is one of its most enter- 
prising young business men, and one who at once 
attracts attention on account of the superior quali- 
ties of his mind and character. He is more than 
ordinarily intelligent, is well educated, refined and 
intellectual, and, surrounded by hosts of friends, evi- 
dently has before him a bright and promising career. 
United with these qualities is sound common sense, 



by which he is enabled to take a practical view of 
life, and adapt himself to its more serious business. 
He has been an industrious student and an extensive 
reader, and there are few men of his age who pos- 
sess a finer fund uf general information. 

Mr. Brauer came to Nebraska City in April of 
1870, when a lad twelve 3-ears of age, directly from 
his native German}'. He was born near the town 
of Jeber, on the borders of the North Sea in the 
Duchy of Oldenburg, and is the son of Frederick 
H., Sr., and Anna Brauer, the former of whom died 
when a young man, leaving one child, Frederick H. 
The father was a stone-cutter by trade, and left his 
little family with moderate means. Our subject 
was then a little lad five or six j'ears old. The 
mother continued at her old home a few years after 
the death of her husband, but in the spring of 1870 
set sail for America, and, after landing in the city 
of Baltimore, proceeded directly to Nebraska, ar- 
riving in this county on the 3d of April. Two 
J'ears later she contracted a second marriage, with 
Mr. Henry Burmeister, by whom she became the 
mother of one child, a daughter, Mary, who is now 
at home. The mother is still living in this city. 

Mr. Brauer applied himself closely to his books 
in the schools of Nebraska City, improving ever}' 
opportunitj' to acquire useful information, and 
when leaving school by no means al)andoned his 
education, this being carried on by the perusal of 
instructive books and the leading periodicals of 
the da}'. At the same time it was necessary that 
he should engage in some useful employment, and 
he began learning the business of undertaker and 
cabinet-maker with Mr. August Krieger, with whom 
he remained a period of three years. Subsequently 
he entered the employ of S J. Faries, now a resi- 
dent of the city of Omaha, with wiiom he continued 
seven years, and then formed a partnership with 
J. W. Butt, at Nebraska City. They, under the 
firm name of Butt & Brauer, were established on 
Central avenue the first year, then purchased the busi- 
ness of Mr. Faries, and operated together another 
year, when Mr. Brauer sold his interest to his part- 
ner, and established in business alone, in August of 
1885. About this time he was elected County 
Coronor, the duties of which ofHce he has since dis- 
charged with credit to himself and satisfaction to 



•►Hl-^^ 



^^t- 



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522 



OTOE COUNTY. 



all uoncernefl, and which he lias held by re-election 
since tliat time. 

Our subject i<lentified himself with the Masonic 
fraternity in 1884, being a member of Western 
Star Lodge No. 2, and Alpha Consistor3' No. 50. 
He is also a Knight of Pythias, in which he is 
Past Chancellor, and belongs to the A. O. U. W. 
He is also connected with the Building and Loan 
Association of Nebraska Cit\', and keeps himself 
well posted in regard to business matters, and those 
enterprises generallj' tending to the advancement 
of the city's interests. He cast his first Presi- 
dential vote for Garfield, and is a stanch supporter 
of Republican principles. Still unmarried, he makes 
his home with his mother. 

ERMAN H. BARTLING. It goes without 
saying that the population of the United 
States is being recruited, and has been from 
the beginning by settlers from homes beyond 
the seas. That there are some more desirable citi- 
zens than others is an equally patent fact, and yet 
another equally incontrovertible truth is, that of all 
from an3' country, district or province, those from 
the Fatherland, taken as a class, are more to be 
commended because of their unostentatious, pains- 
taking, practical and praiseworthj' industry and 
unceasing loyalty. There are, perhaps, not to be 
found throughout the length and breadth of the 
German Empire a more noble people than those of 
Westphalia, a Province where sobriety, morality, 
diligent toil, mutual confidence and regard seem to 
mark the citizen and peasant alike; whether among 
its hills or traversing its plains, or walking its cities, 
one is assured of meeting with courtesy, affa- 
bility and kindness. 

Nebraska Cit}^ has several representatives of the 
people mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, and 
of these bj' no means the least worthy is the gen- 
tleman a sketch of whose life is herein presented 
in brief form. He was born in Halle, Westphalia, 
Sept. 16, 1848. His father, C. H. Bartling, was a 
native of the same place, and followed agriculture 
as his chosen occupation in life. The maiden name 
of his wife, the motlier of our subject. wa.s Eliza- 



beth Poetting. She became the mother of seven 
children, all of whom grew to mature years, but onlj' 
three of them are in America. They are: the sub- 
ject of the present sketch, Clamer F. A. and Will- 
iam H. 

Our subject attended the school steadily until 
he was about fourteen j-ears of age, and when not 
thus engaged, and after reaching that age, he as- 
sisted his father upon the farm, and in such work 
became quite proficient, and was thus employed 
with his father until the year 1865. In November 
of that year he set sail from Bremen, landed at 
New York the following month, and almost imme- 
diately pushed on to St. Louis, where he spent one 
week, and then went to Washington County. There 
he speedil}^ found employment upon a farm, for 
which he was remunerated at the rate of S200 per 
annum, and remained there for about three and a 
half years. At the end of that period he came to 
Nebraska City, and was employed as clerk in the 
general store of F. M. Rottman until the fall of 
1871. Upon leaving Mr. Rottman our subject 
formed a partnership with H. Homeyer, and opened 
a general store. Four 3-ears later he bought this 
gentleman's interest in the business, and since that 
time has conducted it alone. The handsome and 
commodious building, his present headquarters, 
was erected in 1876, and in its designment special 
thought and care were given to especially adapt it 
for his business. It stands upon the corner of 
Main and Eleventh streets, and. occupies a ground 
measurement site of 24x120 feet, is constructed of 
the best Nebraska City brick, and presents an un- 
usually fine appearence, occupying as it does a very 
commanding position. 

On the 21st of July, 1874, our subject was united 
in marriage with Miss Fredericka W. Gaede. This 
ladj' is the daughter of Dietrich Gaede, who, with 
his wife, was a native of Saxony, Germany, and is 
the fourth of five children born to them. This 
union has proved most auspicious and happy in 
its outcome, and not the least element in this hap- 
piness is the presence in the home of the six chil- 
dren who have been given to them, whose names 
are as follows: Nellie, Henry, Willie, Eddie, Frank 
and Arthur. 

In addition to his extensive ))usiness interests 



*t 



■♦ 



*► I I <• 



O'I'OE COUNTY. 



-•^ 



523 



T 



connected with his store, our subject is a large 
stockholder in the ^Merchants' National Bank, of 
which he is one of the Directors; a member of the 
Board of Trade; also a stockholder in the canning 
factory and Nebraska City Manufacturing Com- 
pany, and member of the firm of Duff, Bartling & 
Co., grain buyers, whose connection is perhaps the 
most extensive in the district. He is President of 
the Nebraska City Street Railway Company, of 
which he is also a Director. Mr. Bartling. has 
been called upon to serve as a member of the Coun- 
cil of the city. Both our subject and his wife are 
members of the German Evangelical Church, and 
are regarded therein as among its most worthy 
members. They take their place in the best circles 
of society of the city, and are held in the highest 
possible esteem by the community. It will have 
been noticed that in beginning life Mr. Bartling 
was almost at the lowest round of the ladder, but 
by energy, untiring industrj', intelligence and good 
judgment, he has struggled, labored and toiled 
year after year, and, humanly speaking, whatever 
he is, whatever he has, and whatever influence or 
power he may possess in the community or busi- 
ness world, it is due to his own efforts, svipple- 
mented since his marriage by tliose of his gifted 
and accomplished wife and faithful companion. 



o^»»^ 



-^"K- 



««?<«-» 



\fl ACOB J. HOCHSTETLER. one of the lead- 
ing citizens of Nebraska City, is a tine rep- 
resentative of the pioneers of Nebraska who, 
through 3'ears of toil and self-sacrifiee, have 
aided in building up the wild, sparsely settled 
prairie country that they found on first coming here 
into a great and glorious State, whose inexhaustible 
resources and uncounted wealtli give it a higli 
standing among its sister States in the ^Vest. He is 
extensively engaged in business here as an insur- 
ance, real-estate and loan agent. 

Mr. lioehstetler is a native of Holmes Count3% 
Ohio, coming of an old Pennsylvania family, his 
father and his grandfather both being natives of 
the Keystone State. The latter, who was a farmer, 
moved to Ohio, and spent his last daj's in Holmes 



• > m M - 



County. Jacob lioehstetler, Sr., the father of our 
subject, was reared in Pennsylvania, and wlien a 
young man still unmarried he started out from the 
old home afoot to seek his fortune in the West, and 
in Ohio he found work at twenty-five cents a day. 
He was careful and prudent, and in time saved 
money enough to buy fifty-six acres of heavily tim- 
bered land in Holmes County. Then the pioneer 
task of felling the tall old trees of the primeval 
forest that covered his farm, uprooting stumps 
and breaking the soil began. In doing this he 
burned large logs that would now be valuable, and 
soon he had space enough cleared on which to build 
a log cabin, the same in which our subject was 
afterward born. He improved a good farm from 
the surrounding wilderness, and continued to dwell 
thereon until 1856, when he made another move, 
having sold his place, and Owen County, Ind., be- 
came his home for the rest of his days. He bought 
an improved farm, and until his death in 1861 
was prosperously engaged in farming. He was a man 
whose steady habits and indubitable integrity won 
tlie respect and confidence of all who knew him. 
The maiden name of his wife was Frances Miller. 
She was a mitive of Pennsylvania, and a daughter 
of David Miller, who, with his wife, was also a 
native of Penjisylvauia. The latter's maiden name 
was Michler. Mrs. Hochstetler died on the home 
farm in Owen County, Ind., leaving behind her the 
record of a life well spent. Six cliildren were born 
to that worthy couple, as follows: Eli, who gave 
up his life for his country while serving in an Indi- 
ana regiment in the late Civil War; John J., who 
died in February, 1887, at Coles City, Ind.; Jacob 
J.; Elizabeth, who married Lewis Kerch, and lives in 
Coles City; Josiah J., who lives in Leadville, Col.; 
and Sarah, who died wlien ten years of age. 

Jacob Hochstetler was reared in tlie place of his 
birth, and gained his education in the district 
school. As soon as large enough lie commenced to 
assist his father on the farm, and continued to be a 
member of tlie parental household until his twen- 
tieth year, when he commenced to learn the trade 
of carpenter and builder. He worked at that a 3-ear 
and a half, and then entered the mercantile business 
as a clerk in a general store in Bedford, Ohio, and 
later worked in the same capacity in Louisville, re- 



r 



•^f^ 



524 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ceiving $5 a month the first year, and the following 
}'ear ^144 for his j^ear's work. In 1851 Mr. Iloch- 
stetlcr formed a partnership with G. II. Burgert, 
and they opened a general store in Bedford, Ohio. 
In 1852 they sold out, and after settling up his 
business our subject went to Indiana, and in 1853 
opened a general store in Worthington, conducting 
it for one 3'ear, with a branch store in Stockton, 
Ind. In 1854 he moved to Stockton, and made his 
home there until 1856, when he sold out, settled up 
his affairs, and in the spring of 1857 was ready to 
begin life anew in another part of the country. He 
selected the Territory of Nebraska as his objective 
point, and going by private conveyance to Terre 
Haute, Ind., took the cars for St. Louis, and in that 
city embarked on a Missouri River steamer for 
Nebraska City, where he arrived on the 17th of 
April. It was snowing at the time, and the next 
daj' there was good sleighing, a rare thing at that 
season, but the preceding winter had been one of 
terrible severity, long to be remembered by the 
early settlers. The country was very S])arsely set- 
tled at that period, there being only about 1 ,500 peo- 
ple here at the time, and the small towns were con- 
fined mostly to the streams. But a few miles west 
deer and other wild animals still roamed, and In- 
dians were frequent visitors. On his arrival here Mr. 
Hochstetler assisted Mr. Burnham to open a stock 
of goods, and in June started out in search of a 
suitable location. Twenty-three miles west of the 
city he made a claim, engaged a man for the sum of 
$100 to build him a cabin, 12x15 feet, and hired 
^ another man, for a like sum of money, to break ten 
acres of his land. After residing on his claim a few 
months he returned to the city, and bought a claim 
one and one-half miles from the city in a southerly 
direction. lie erected a hewed log house, in which 
he lived until December, and then moved back to 
Nebraska Cit}^, and opened a general store in that 
part of it known as Kearney. At the expiration of 
a year he sold out that business, built a dwelling- 
house in Nebraska Citj^, and opened a boot and 
shoe store on Central avenue. Later Mr. Hoch- 
stetler formed a partnershii) with his old partner, 
Mr. G. II. Burgert, and the}' managed two stores 
until 1861. In that year our subject was appointed 
Postmaster of Nebraska Cit}-, and selling liis inter- 



r 



est in the business, he assumed his duties as Post- 
master in May of that year, and for ten years, until 
Jul}' 1, 1871, was the incumbent of that office, and 
during that long term his efficiency and fidelity 
made his services invaluable in that responsible 
position, and he possessed the full confidence of the 
citizens of Nebraska City. After giving up the 
office of Postmaster he engaged in the real-estate 
business and the sale of farm implements, with J. 
E. McCoy as partner. In 1874 he bought an inter- 
est with J. W. Patrick in the agricultural imple- 
ment manufacturing, and paid his attention to that 
solely for two 3'ears. At the expiration of that 
time the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Hochstetler 
assuming the indebtedness, and taking all the out- 
standing assets. During the next year he was en- 
gaged in settling that business, and was also 
engaged in selling produce and manufactured vine- 
gar for two years. In 1878 Mr. Hochstetler turned 
his attention to an entirelj' different industry, that 
of raising stock in Western Nebraska and Eastern 
Colorado, grazing the cattle on the wild plains. 
While he found this quite profitable, he yet pre- 
ferred a business life in the city, and in 1882 he 
disposed of his stock interests in order to take 
charge of the extensive insurance business of N. S. 
Harding, and is still conducting that in Nebraska 
City very successfully in connection with real -estate 
dealings and loans. He is a bright, capable busi- 
ness man, sj'stematic in his methods, prompt in his 
habits, and always keeps up with the times, 

Mr. Hochstetler was married, in 1853, to Miss 
Lucinda Burgert, a native of Ohio, and a daughter 
of David and Ellen (lluet) Burgert. Of this mar- 
riage four children have been born, namely: 
Charles E., Frank B., Clarence, and Elsie (deceased). 
Mr. and Mrs. Hochstetler are leading members of 
society in this city, and are active members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, which he joined in 
1861, and he is a worker in the Sunday-school. 

In politics Mr. Hochstetler is a leader in the 
Eepublican party, and he is influential in public 
affairs, and has served two years as County Com- 
missioner. Mr. Hochstetler is a true gentleman, 
alwaj's courteous, kindly and dignified in his man- 
ners, and ever helpful and considerate in his rela- 
tions with his fellowmen, in whose liearts he 



■•^i!-^ 



^ ^ 








t 



j; 



OTOE COUNTY. 



527 



occupies a warm place. He early formed good 
business habits, and in his long and useful career, 
in all his wide and extensive dealings, he h.as borne 
an unsullied reputation, and no man is more deserv- 
ing of trust tb.an he. 

JUDGE T. S. JONES. In the h.inds of this 
gentleman the balance of justice is held 
most firmly and adjusted under all circum- 
stances with extreme nicety — always having 
regard for truth and equity. He has long been 
identified with the citizens of this county, and has 
risen to the heights of his profession, and is receiv- 
ing on every hand most complete regard as a citi 
zen, law3-er and judge. 

The subject of our sketch was born Nov. 6, 1837, 
at 8t. C'lairsville, Belmont Co., Ohio, and for the 
first six years of his life that was his home. He 
then accompanied his parents when they removed 
to Virginia, remaining with them until he attained 
his majority. He is the son of Dr. AVilliam N. 
and Jemima (Smith) Jones. His father was an 
army surgeon, and a graduate of the Jefferson Medi- 
cal College. He died in West Virginia on the old 
homestead, after having practiced medicine for 
over forty-five years. 

The great-grandfather of our subject, Thomas 
Jones, emigrated to this country from Wales, where 
the family was in good circumstances for that coun- 
try, and held a good position in societj^. His son 
Thomas was born in the District of Columbia, 
within sight of the National Capitol. Grandmother 
Jones was of Scotch birth, and upon the maternal 
side Grandfather Smith was English and Grand- 
mother Smith Irish. 

The mother of our subject was born at Cam- 
bridge, Ohio, in the year 1819. She is still living, 
.and makes her home at Hebron, W. Va. The fam- 
ily circle included seventeen children, thirteen of 
wliom are still living. Subjoined are the names 
borne by them; Mar}- E., now of Kansas; Thomas 
S., our subject; Samuel, now deceased; Eliza died 
in infancy; Eliza J. died when twenty 3-ears of 
age; })r. William N. died when thirtj' years old; 
Virginia, Zaehariah, Dr. A. P., Dr. Lewis H., Kate, 



Emma ; Priseilla w.os married, and died when about 
twent^'-eight years of age, leaving three children ; 
Celesta, Sarah, Rachael and Lelia. 

The subject of our sketch upon arriving at a 
proper age attended school in the usual institution, 
receiving instruction in both Virginia and Ohio. 
When sixteen years of age he entered Waynes- 
boro College, in the State of Penns3'lvania. His 
mother was a Quaker, and she was brought up after 
the usual precise methods inculcated by that bod^-, 
surrounded by the associations and devotional at- 
mosphere common to that people. To him an edu- 
cation meant something, and, having no means to 
depend upon excepting his own effort, and such as 
he might attain through it, he went to work stead- 
ily, and despite man\- difficulties that would have 
daunted a less persevering spirit, he worked his 
way through college, as have done many others, of 
whom an illustrious instance is our beloved mar- 
tyred President, James A. Garfield. To this end he 
engaged in school teaching under the State system, 
and was busily employed, while others, apparentlj' 
more fortunate and better circumstanfced, indulged 
in all manner of recreation and amusement. 

Some time after leaving college our subject went 
to Matamoras, Washington Co., Ohio, and there 
engaged in teaching school, retaining alwaj^s, how- 
ever, his studious habits, and ever keeping before 
him the remembrance that there was something yet 
to be learned. Later he went to White County, 
Ind., and continued his work there, but found 
that in some regards it was very different, owing 
to the difference in his scholars. In Indiana there 
was far more wielding of the rod, but there was 
that also which atoned for anything of unpleasant- 
ness arising from this circumstance, for it was 
while a resident there that he made the acquaintance 
of the lady who has through the long j-ears since 
that time been to him ever the most loving and 
faithful companion of his life. 

On the 21st of February, 1858, the subject of 
our sketch was united in marriiige with ISIiss Mary 
A. Jewett, who was born in Erie, Pa., and went to 
Indiana with her father when about ten or twelve 
years of age. She grew to earlj' womanhood in 
White Countj^, of that State, where she continued 
I until her marriage. There have been born to ^Ir. 




■^^• 



i^^h-^ 



b-2S 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 






and Mrs. Jones seven children, n.imely: Letitia, 
who died when three years of age; Minnie; Wil- 
lie, who died when a year old; Ernest A., Emma 
J., Thomas O. M. and Fred. Minnie is now the 
wife of H. Sehanahan, of Nebraska City, and is the 
mother of three children, who bear the following 
names: Mamie, Franlv and Nellie. 

After his marriage our subject turned liis atten- 
tion to farming, teaching the school only during 
the winter months, continuing the same until the 
year 1860. During that year and the following he 
engaged as bookkeeper and salesman in Reynolds, 
Ind., for his brother-in-law, serving at the same 
time as Postmaster. When tlie war broke out he 
deputed to his brother-in-law his duties as Post- 
master, and enlisted in the 63d Indiana Infantry 
for a term of three j'ears. After drilling for six 
months in the city of Indianapolis, he was ready 
for the front. Shortly after he was promoted to 
Orderly Sergeant. The regiment did garrison duty 
in various places in Kentuckj', and until January, 
1864, when it was ordered to join Sherman at 
Cleveland, Tenn., and took part in the engage- 
ments of the Atlanta campaign. 

The first fight in whicli our subject took part was 
the skirmish of Rocky Face, Ga. His first battle 
was that at Resaca, where 1 1 2 men of the regi- 
ment fell in so many seconds. Here the regiment 
won its first real laurels, and established its name 
as one of the most valiant, intrepid and soldierlj' of 
the armj'. Resaca will be remembered by our sub- 
ject for another reason, because by reason of his 
gallantry he was promoted to the Lieutenancy, and 
at Atlanta he did duty as such, and received his 
commission of First Lieutenant. After Atlanta 
they went back to "Check" Hood. At Nashville 
tlie.y succeeded in capturing the bulk of the Con- 
federate army at that place, grouting Hood, and 
causing him to flee the district. In January, 1865, 
they were transferred by steamer, the ice being 
broken for them by tugs, via Bellaire and Wash- 
ington City to Alexandria, where they took trans- 
ports to Ft. Fisher. Despite innumerable vicissi- 
tudes of fortune and hardsliips, they were at last 
successful in joining Sherman's army at Goldsboro, 
and soon after participated in the capture of Fts. 
Andrews and AVilmington, gaining possession of 



both places witliin a few daj's. The regiment contin- 
ued with Sherman until the close of the war, and 
were on the march to Raleigh when they heard of 
Gen. Lee's surrender, and on the 19th of April 
received the news of Lincoln's assassination. At 
the time of Johnston's surrender they were at Dur- 
ham Station. 

The army career of our subject was quite bril- 
liant. He fought valiantly and long, never shrink- 
ing -from duty for any cause, and the fear of 
danger was unknown to him. He was not home to 
see his wife and child during the entire term of his 
service in the Soutli. The last thirteen months he 
marched more than 3,000 miles. Several offices of 
trust were given him, aud he was honored by pro- 
motion. After Johnston's surrender his division was 
left to take charge of the artillery and ammunition 
captured from the reliels. His companj- was alw.iys 
on the sldrmish line of battle, and in spite of this, 
and the fact that he fought in eighteen of the most 
desperate conflicts of the war and was under fire 
over fifty-two times, he came out unscathed and 
unwounded. Upon one occasion his canteen was . 
demolished by bullets, and at another the rim of 
his hat was pierced, and j'et again, seven bullet 
holes in his coat told how near he had been to 
death. He was honorably discharged at Greens- 
boro, N. C, on the 26tli of June, 1865. 

After the war the subject of our sketch returned 
home, and engaged in mercantile transactions at 
Re^molds, White Co., Ind., where he remained until 
1869. In that year he removed to State Line, 
111., and continued his business there until March, 
1871, when he came to Nebraska City to fill the 
position of freight and ticket agent on the Midland 
Pacific Railroad, which he continued to hold until 
1875, when he embarked in business again, selling 
windmills, pumps, etc. In 1881 he purchased a 
farm two and a half miles southwest of the city, 
upon which he made his home for about three 
years, there meeting with no little success until 
1884, when he sold liis farm, and moved back to the 
city. 

In 1875 Mr. Jones was elected City Assessor, and 
served vmtil 1881. In 1884 he was elected to the 
office of Justice of the Peace, and his discharge 
of the duties arising in that connection was such 



r^ 



•¥^f^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



529 



••Ah 



as to mark him for other honors. He was admitted 
to the bar as a lawyer in 1888, and to the District 
Court of Nebraska in the same year. Success in 
life has come to him not as a result of chance or 
some mysterious, unknown cause, but because of 
liis determination and perseverance in whatever he 
undertook, frequently wresting success from the 
liand tliat would have given him only failure. He 
has built and occupies an excellent, substantially 
built residence on Fourth avenue, between Eighth 
and Ninth streets. 

Judge Jones stands in the front rank of active 
citizens, and holds a prominent position in the va- 
rious circles of Nebraska City life. He is an hon- 
ored member of the ilasonic fraternity, and is 
afHliated with Western Star Lodge No. 2, and with 
Keystone Chapter of Royal Arch Jlasons No. 2. 
He is a member of the A. O. U. W., and also of 
Eamplin Lodge No. 331, of the Society of Modern 
AVoodmen, meeting in Nebraska City. Religiousl}^ 
our subject and wife find their home within the 
communion of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Politically, he is one of the leaders of the Repub- 
lican party locally. From 1875 to 1876 he served 
on the City Council, giving to all excellent and 
entire satisfaction as a councillor. His connec- 
tion with the War of the Rebellion was the resiilt 
of his thorough loyalty and patriotism, and this 
also makes him an enthusiastic member of the G. 
A. R. He is allied with the William Baumer Post 
No. 24, and holds the position of Commander. 

The portrait of Judge Jones is given in connec- 
tion with this brief sketch of his life. 



fOUN GAHRKA. a prominent and well-to-do 
German farmer of Russell Precinct, has la- 
bored with more than ordinar}^ success in 
developing one of the best tracts of land 
within its borders. He is a self-made man in. the 
truest sense of the word, having been thrown upon 
bis own resources early in life, and forced to make 
his own way in the world without other assistance 
than that which his strong hands and resolute will 
afforded. He was born in what was then the King- 
dom of Hanover, Germany, May 2, 1843, and is 



the son of John and Anna G.ihrka, wiio were of 
pure German aneestrj'. 

The father of our subject, who was a laborer by 
occupation, died in Germany in 1851, when his son 
John was a lad eight 3'ears of age. The mother 
two years later came with her children to America, 
and settled in Wisconsin, where she spent the re- 
mainder of her days, her death occurring in 1884, 
when she was seventy-five years old. To the par- 
ents there were born three sons and three dangii- 
ters, the latter of whom all died young. Henry 
and Richard, the elder and younger brothers of 
our subject, continue to live in Wisconsin. 

Mr. Gahrka was a lad of ten years when he came 
to America with his mother, and still remembers 
many of the incidents of preparation and the long 
voyage across the ocean. They set sail from the 
port of Bremen, and landed in New York City, 
whence they proceeded to Minnesota, and spent the 
first winter in that State. From there they moved to 
LaFayette County, Wis., and the mother, with the 
assistance of her sons, farmed on rented land until 
1870. John then purchased forty acres near by, of 
which he retained possession until the fall of 1882, 
when he sold out to come to Nebraska. 

Upon his arrival in this county Mr. Gahrka set- 
tled upon 160 acres of land in Russell Precinct, 
which he had previously purchased. This he has 
transformed from an uncultivated prairie into one 
of the most desirable homesteads in this region, 
adding to its extent in 1884eiglit3' acres adjoining 
on section 12. He has groves of willow and Cot- 
tonwood, an orchard of fiftj' bearing apple trees, 
and a spring of running water. Of late years he 
has been engaged mostly in buying and feeding 
cattle. He is known all over his precinct as a man 
prompt to meet his obligations, industrious and en- 
terprising, a model farmer and a thorouglily leliable 
citizen. His career has been one abundantl3^ worthy 
of imitation. 

In LaFayette County, Wis., our subject met the 
lad3'. Miss Dora Windils, who became his wife on 
the 9th of October. 1875. Mrs. Gahrka is a native 
of the same Province as her husband, and is his 
junior by ten years to the very da\', her birth oc- 
curring Maj' 2, 1853. Henry and .Alary (Rinkins) 
AVindils, llie parents of Mrs. Gahrka. were also born 
■» 



» 1 l l •<• 



530 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



in Hanover, where they were rearerl and married. 
The}' also died there in middle life, the father in 
1855, and the mother in 1858. Their eldest child, 
a son, Henr3', died when abont thirty-five years 
old; Dora, Mrs. Galirka, was the second born. 
Her younger brother. August, is a resident of Ne- 
braska. The three children completed the house- 
hold circle. 

Mrs. Gahrka in her journej' across the Atlantic in 
1 872 was accompanied by her brother, and after land- 
ing in New York proceeded to LaFayette County, 
AVis., where she lived until her marriage. Mr. and 
Mrs. G. have no children of their own, butare per- 
forming the duties of kind parents to an adopted 
son, .John Windeits. Mr. G. uniforuilj- votes with 
the Democratic part}', and in religious matters Loth 
he and his excellent wife are members of the Ger- 
man Lutheran Church at North Branch. He is a 
citizen of whom Otce Count}' has reason to be 
proud. 

<^ BRAHAM D. VANTINE. The spring of 
[@/LI|! 1857 found the subject of this sketch on 
his way from Illinois to Nebraska Terri- 
tory, at which time he secured the land 
which he now owns and occupies. He, however, 
did not settle upon it until the spring of 1872, he 
having in the meantime traveled over various por- 
tions of different States. At the time last men- 
tioned he returned to this county and began the 
improvement and cultivation of his purchase, which 
is now numbered among the most valuable estates 
of Wyoming Precinct, and which is pleasantly lo- 
cated on section 5. 

Mr. Vantine makes a specialty of stock-raising, 
and in the spring of 1888 commenced a neat farm 
residence which, with its adjacent buildings, forms a 
very pleasant and attractive home. He has made 
for himself a good record, and is numbered among 
the representative men of the count}'. A native of 
Westmoreland County, Pa., he was born July 18, 
1830. and is a son of Hezekiah Vantine, a native of 
Holland, and of substantial Dutch ancestry. It is 
supposed that he emigrated to the United States 
early in life, and it is known that he was married in 
Pennsylvania to the mother of our subject, who 



in her girlhood was Miss Mary Phillips. She was 
born in Pennsylvania, and was of ancestry similar 
to that of her husband. 

After marriage the parents of our subject set- 
tled on a farm in Allegheny Township, Westmore- 
land Co., Pa., where the father died in middle 
life, when his son Abraham D. was a little lad of 
seven years. Eleven children, seven sons and four 
daughters, were thus left fatherless. Of these five 
are yet living, and lesidents of Pennsylvania. Heze- 
kiah Vantine at the time of his death, about 1837, 
was fifty-six years of age. The wife and mother 
survived until 1871, passing her last days at the 
home in Pennsylvania, and reaching the advanced 
age of fourscore years. Both parents were United 
Presbyterians from their youth, excellent and wor- 
thy people, who were highly esteemed by ail who 
knew them. 

The subject of this sketch was next to the young- 
est of his fathci's family, received a common-school 
education, and grew to manhood in his native 
county. He came to Nebraska a single man, and in 
March, 1859, was married, in Wyoming Precinct, 
to Miss Eliza J. Snell. This lady is a native of 
the same county as her husband, and born also in 
Allegheny Township, March 29, 1844. Her par- 
ents, Jacob and Eliza (Walters) Snell, were also 
natives of the Keystone State, of Dutch ancestry 
on the father's side and of Scotch on the mother's. 

Mr. Snell was a stonemason by trade, and after 
the birth of six children in Pennsylvania, of whom 
Mrs. Vantine was the eldest, the Snell family moved 
to Hlinois and located in Rock Island City, where 
Mr. Snell operated as a contractor for the jail that 
was then in process of construction, and which is 
yet standing. From Illinois, in 1857, the Snell 
family proceeded westward across the Mississippi 
into the Territory of Nebraska, where the father 
homesteaded 160 acres on section 4, in Wyoming 
Precinct. Here he occupied himself as a farmer 
until 1861, then moved to Denver, Col, where, after 
a residence of twenty years, the mother died April 
25, 1880, at the age of fifty-four years. Mr. Snell 
has since made his home with his children, and is 
now seventy years of age. 

Mrs. Vantine passed her eighteenth birthday in 
this county, but her education was completed in 



•►^ll-^ 



*► I I M > 



OTOE COUNTY. 



531 



Illinois. Of her union with our subject there have 
been born eight children, one of whom, a daughter, 
Elizabeth, died at the age of five years. John W., 
the eldest child living, assists his father in the man- 
agement of the farm; Luella is the wife of John 
W. James, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in 
this volume; Sara Littitia, James C, Frank H., 
Nettie and Harry E. are at home with their par- 
ents. Mr.-and Mrs. Vantine have labored hand in 
hand in the building up of their homestead, and en- 
dured together toil and sacrifice, but are now in the 
enjo3'ment of a good home and a competency. Our 
subject, politically, is a stanch Republican, and as a 
man and a member of the community has conducted 
himself in that praiseworthy manner which has se- 
cured him the regard of all who know him. 



I'^ICHARD A. WHITE is a prominent busi- 
P^ir ness man of Nebraska City, where he has 



♦t 



=j 11, been extensively engaged as real-estate and 
^^insurance agent. He is a native of Mis- 
souri, born about twelve miles from Marshall, the 
county seat of Saline County, Aug. 28, 1836. He 
is descended from Virginian ancestr}'. His father, 
John A. White, was born in Virginia, near the 
town of Abingdon, and was there reared and mar- 
ried, Pilizabeth Atkins, also a native of the old Do- 
minion, and a daughter of Joseph Atkins, becoming 
his wife. They moved from their native place to 
Missouri in 1834, and settled in Saline County, the 
removal being made with teams. Mr. AVhite be- 
came a man of mark among the pioneers of tliat 
part of the countrj', as he was a man of great 
enterprise, possessing keen foresight, and was well 
gifted both mentally and physically. He bought 
1,000 acres of wild land, the greater part of it 
prairie, and resided in Saline County until 1838, 
when he sold his pi'operty there and moved to 
Platte County, JIo., where he bought a tract of 
timber land one and one-half miles from Platte 
Cit}'. He engaged activelj- in farming, using slave 
labor, and tobacco and hemp were the chief prod- 
ucts that he raised. In 1843 he disposed of his 
farm and made another move, Andrew County, 
Mo., becoming his place of residence. He purchased 



about 1,500 acres of unimproved land, the greater 
part of it prairie, and devoted his energies to clear- 
ing a large farm, and to raising hemp, corn and 
other products. St. Louis was the nearest market, 
and there being no railway then, he used to ship 
his produce down the river to that city. In 1850, 
with his son, our subject, and three slaves, he 
journeyed overland to California, and there they 
all engaged in mining until the fall of 1851, when 
they returned home, by way of the Isthmus, New 
Orleans, Mississippi River, and from St. Louis on 
the stage to Andrew County. In the following' 
year Mr. White sold his farm in Missouri, and again 
started for California, accompanied by his family 
and a colony of his friends and neighbors, with 
several teams and quite a lot of cattle. He was 
not destined, however, to reach the land of prom- 
ise that held such alluring prospects to a man of 
his temperament and ambition, for when they had 
traveled over 300 miles from their old home, and 
were out on the wild, desolate plains, far from any 
habitation, he was attacked with cholera, and in a 
few hours the world, with its hopes, its joys and 
its sorrows, was naught to him, for he had passed 
from mortality to immortality. Kind and loving 
hands prepared a burial place for him where he 
died, and his bereaved familj-, parting from their 
friends, left the lone grave on the wild prairies, 
and, in accordance with the departed father's advice, 
retraced their way to Missouri, thence to Virginia, 
the home of their forefathers. They resided there 
about three 3'ears, and then returned to Missouri to 
settle in Andrew County, and the mother bought a 
home and lived in Fillmore Village a few years. 
In 1864 she came to Nebraska City to malie her 
home with her children her remaining days, and 
died while visiting her daughter in Fairbury, Neb., 
in 1880. She had married a second time. Benja- 
min F. Dillon becoming her husband, and thej' had 
one child. She had eight children by her first 
marriage, four of whom grew to maturity. 

Richard AVhite, of whom we write, was reared in 
his native State until he was fourteen years old. 
It was at that age that his father took him to Cali- 
fornia, and to the wide-awake young lad who was 
naturally fond of change of scene and adventure, 
this was a great and never-to-be-forgotten event. 



t- 



\ ^ 532 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^ 



He still remembers every incident of- the long 
journey by teams over the plains and mountains, 
from the time that they started, in the month of 
April, until their arrival in Hangtown, 100 days 
later. He can also give a vivid account of life in 
the rude mining camps of that period. After his 
return with his father to INIissouri, he spent the 
intervening few months in his old home before 
the}' started again for California. After his father's 
death he returned with his mother and his brothers 
and sisters to Blissouri and to Virginia, and con- 
tinued to live with them for a time after they had 
again settled in Missouri. He was married in that 
State, in August, 1857, to Miss Margaret E. Burns, a 
native of Clay County, Mo., and a daughter of Jere- 
miah Burns. They have five children living, 
namely: John B., Eflfle, Charles, Lee and Eliza- 
beth. 

In 1863 Mr. White, following in tlie footsteps of 
his father, whose energetic and enterprising char- 
acter he had inherited to a great degree, also be- 
came a pioneer. Pushing on to the very frontier 
of civilization, he located in Colorado, near the 
present site of Denver, and thus became •one of the 
earliest settlers of that State, which was then a Ter- 
ritory with but very few inhabitants, there being 
no settlements in the intervening country between 
that and the Missouri River, excepting on the 
West Branch of that river, where a few people had 
located. Mr. White first engaged in stock-raising, 
and later in freighting across the plains. In 1864 
he removed with his family to Nebraska City, 
making tliat his headquarters, whence he still con- 
tinued freighting to the different military posts, 
and to the mining camps jn the mountains until 
tha completion of the Union Pacific Railway in 
1867. He then turned his attention to the auction 
and loan business, continuing in that about eight 
years. He then opened an office for the purpose of 
engaging in his present business as an insurance 
and real-estate agent. In his busy career Mr. 
White has accumulated a comfortable property, 
and with the aid of his good wife, he has built up 
one of the coziest homes in this vicinity. 

Mr. and Mrs. White are stanch members of the 
Cliristian Church, and none of their fellow-mem- 
bers arc Viehind them in good works or in the kind- 



ness of heart that prompts them to feel charitably 
toward others. Mr. White belongs to Frontier 
Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F., and in his political affilia- 
tions he sympathizes with the Democrats, although 
he was in his earlier years a Whig. 



EKMAN M. FRERICIIS. The agricultural 
and stock-raising interests of this county are 
worthily represented by the subject of this 
sketch, who owns and occupies 160 acres of 
good land on section 7, Rock Creek Precinct. Dur- 
ing his five years' residence here he has effected 
many improvements, and distinguished himself as 
a farmer of modern ideas, not content with any- 
thing less than to excel. 

Mr. Frericlis came to this county during liis 
boyhood daj-s, his father settling in Rock Creek 
Precinct in the spring of 1869. Herman M. re- 
ceived his education in the common schools, an 
education which was begun in his native Hanover, 
where his birth took place A\n-i\ 25, 1851. He was 
a little lad six years of age when he crossed the 
Atlantic with his parents, they first settling in 
Madison County, 111. Thence they crossed the 
Mississippi into the young State of Nebraska. 

The father, Abraham Frerichs, was of pure Ger- 
man birth and parentage, and married Miss Rachel 
Uben, they becoming the parents of six children. 
Further mention is made of him and his excellent 
wife in the sketch of John Frerichs, a brother of 
our subject, which will be found elsewhere in tliis 
volume. 

Our subject continued a member of the parental 
household until reaching his majority, and then 
began on his own account. One of the most im- 
portant steps at this time was his marriage witli 
Miss Rena Bohlken. whicli took place at the home 
of the bride, in Nemaha County, Neb. Mrs. Fre- 
richs was born not many miles from Springfield, 
the capital city of Illinois, Aug. 3, 1859. She came 
to Nebraska with her parents when two 3'ears 
old. She completed her studies in the schools of Ne- 
maha County, this State, and was carefully trained 
by an excellent mother in those housewifely duties 
which liave so much to do with the liappiness and 



^h-^ 



•►HI 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 

533 1M 



<• 



comfort of a home. Tlie three chiklren of our 
subject aud his estimable wife comprise two daugh- 
ters and a son — Lizzie, ]\Iary and Henry. They ai-e 
all at home with their parents. Mr. aud Mrs. F. 
were reared in the doctrines of tlie Lutheran Church, 
to which they still loyally adhere, attending serv- 
ices now in Rock Creek Precinct. Mr. Frerichs, 
politically, is a solid Republican. 



\il EWIS F. CORNUTT. Nebraska City owes 
its importance among the cities of the new 
West, not so much to any natural advan- 
tages or special facilities for commerce or travel, as 
to the wide-awake, far-sightedness and wise con- 
tinued enterprise and effort of certain of its citi- 
zens. Among these, and by no means the least of 
them, is the subject of our sketch, who was born in 
Grayson County, Va., on the 22d of May, 1833. 
His father, Alexander Cornutt, was born in the 
same county, as was his father before him. The 
family is of Scottish extraction, the great-grand- 
parents of our subject having come to this country 
from .Scotland. 

The grandfather of our subject was by chosen 
occupation a farmer, and followed the same in 
Grayson County for many years. Later he oper- 
ated in connection tlierewith a saw and grist mill. 
The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Suther- 
land. She also was of Scotch parentage. The father 
of our subject was reared upon a farm, all his early 
recollections were connected therewith, and event- 
ually he made it his chosen calling. He died in 
August of 1886, having arrived at the advanced 
age of seventy-seven years. His wife, the mother 
of our subject, was Jemima Rhudy, who was a na- 
tive of Virginia and of German ancestry. This 
lady now resides on the old homestead in Grayson 
County, Va„ where the Cornutt family have for so 
many years made their home. There were born to 
■them eleven children, all of whom it was their 
pleasure to see grow to years of maturity and enter 
honorable positions in life. As yet the family cir- 
cle is unbroken by death, all of them are happily 
married, and have families of their own. 

The subject of this writing is the second child. 



and was reared in his native county. Recognizing 
the inestimable value of education, his parents pro- 
vided for him the very best obtainable at that time. 
As soon as he was strong enough various tasks 
were assigned to him in connection with the farm, 
which were increased in proportion to his strength 
and enlarged intellectual grasp. When seventeen 
years of age he was engaged as clerk in a general 
store at Independence, the county seat of Grayson 
Countj^, and continued thus employed for three 
years, when he returned home, and there he re- 
mained until September, 1854. At that time the 
vivid descriptions of the Far West, aud the riches 
promised to those who went there, decided our 
subject to start thitherward. Accordingly he 
started with a colony of families similarly minded, 
who loaded their wagons with everything that 
might be needed bj^ the way, and in beginning their 
new life, and by the aid of their teams, set forth 
upon their journey. The westward way lay through 
the States of Tennessee, Keutuck3% and after cross- 
ing the Ohio River on through Illinois until they 
reached the Father of AVaters opposite St. Louis, to 
which city they crossed. From there they pro- 
ceeded through the State of Missouri to Nebraska 
Territory, reaching Nebraska City on the Cth of 
Noveml^er, after two months of travel, which, be- 
yond the incidents common to such experience, was 
devoid of the more exciting and often tragic scenes 
that came to some such travelers. 

At that time there were but three families in Ne - 
braska City, and the surrounding country was still 
unsurveyed and in the hands of the Government. 
The city was being surveyed at the time of their 
arrival. I^ is difficult looking at the Nebraska City 
of to-day, with its houses of commercial importance, 
its elegant residences, railroads, broad streets, filled 
with the usual busy crowd, all intent upon the vari- 
ous purposes of life, to imagine or picture the city 
as it was when our subject flrst saw it. There was 
but one store, which was kept in a diminutive frame 
building, and carried a stock, all included, perhaps, 
not of greater value than $300. There was nothing 
to indicate the future city. After staying a little 
while here Mr. Cornutt returned to Atchison Citj^ 
Mo., and there engaged until 1860, engaging in 
mercantile pursuits. Then he returned to Ne- 



♦^h 



4 534 



>» ■ ^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



braska City, and with others formed a company to 
develop the mines of Colorado. The company 
bought a saw and quartz mill, and with them our 
subject went to Colorado and located at Quartz 
Valley, near Central City. At that place he oper- 
ated the sawmill for six months, and then sold his 
interest and returned to Nebraska City, by way of 
the overland stiage. 

By that time Nebraska City had grown to be 
quite a town, although west of it no cities had been 
established, and in the interior buffaloes were still to 
be found in large numbers. Upon his return our 
subject engaged in clerking in a general store until 
1862, wluiu he went once more to Central City, 
Col., with his family. There he engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits for some time. There were no 
railroads west of the Missouri River at that time, 
and all goods were of necessity transferred bj' 
teams, coming generally bj' way of Nebraska City. 
Freight was very high, usually about ten to twelve 
and a half cents per pound. This of course hadtlie 
effect of making the retail price high in proportion. 
After two and a half j-ears, a period upon the whole 
prosperous, and financially satisfactory, our sub- 
ject returned to Nebraska City and engaged in 
freighting from that point west to Central City and 
Other points. He continued thus engaged until 
1866, and then embarked in the coal, wood and 
lumber trade, which lie has since been exclusively 
engaged in. 

On the 8th of January. 1856, the subject of this 
epitome was united in marriage with Laura J. Hail, 
who has presented her husband with eight children, 
"William A. and Wiley S. the only two living, both 
of whom are residents of C'ulbertson, Neb. The 
wife of our subject was born in Gra3'son County, 
Va., and is the daughter of William B. and Ma- 
thilda Hail, of whom a sketch is presented elsewhere 
in this volume, and emigrated to the West in com- 
pany with the subject of this sketch. Mr. and 
^Mrs. Cornutt are devout members of the First 
Presbyterian Church, our subject filling the office 
of Elder in the church, and is also Superintendent 
of the Sunday-school. 

Mr. Cornutt has alwa3-s been deeply interested 
in all matters connected with the advancement of 
the interests of the young, and evinced the same 



by the manner in which he performed every duty 
that came to him while serving as a member of the 
School Board. The citizens expressed their high 
esteem and confidence by electing him City Treas- 
urer. His position in regard to affairs of political 
import is with the Democratic party, of which he 
is a firm adherent and hearty supporter. The 
reader of this biograph}^ will have noticed that the 
early opportunities of our subject were circum- 
scribed and limited. The opportunities for ad- 
vancement were not extensive, but he has made the 
most of each presented, and by careful thrift, in- 
telligent planning, and indefatigable perseverance 
and effort, made his way to the front rank of prom- 
inent and honored citizenship. In all business 
circles he is regarded as a man of unimpeachable 
honor and business integrity. His reputation is 
untarnished, and his character much to be admired. 
In the community at large both he and his familj' 
are held in high regard by all. 



/^ H. BROKING, who is a leading farmer 
(|[ of Rock Creek Precinct, is the owner of 240 

^^^' acres of land, having his homestead on sec- 
tion 11, which comprises eighty acres, and 160 acres 
on section 8. He settled where he now lives in 
the spring of 1878, having moved from Madison 
County, 111., of which he had been a resident for a 
period of ten j'ears. 

The birthplace of our subject was in Hanover, 
Germany, where he first opened his eyes to the light 
on the 5th of June, 1848, during the reign of King 
William. His father, Henrj' Broking, Sr., was a 
carpenter by trade, which Henrj', Jr., also learned, 
and which he followed from the time he whs a 
youth of eighteen years until reaching his majority. 
Then, not being satisfied with the outlook for the 
future in his native Germanj', he crossed the Atlan- 
tic in advance of some of his famih', joining his 
two brothers, and located in Madison County, 111.* 
where he occupied himself at farming. In the 
spring of 1874 he was joined by his parents and the 
other children, the latter locating in the vicinity of 
Alton, 111., where they lived until tlie death of the 
father about thirteen j'ears later, when lie was sixty- 



.>-n^ 



^1^ 



•►-11^ 



•«» 



=lh-H 



OTOE COUNTY. 



537 



two years old. The mother, Mrs. Sophia (Wpid- 
niann) Broking, is still living, making her home 
with her children at Pleasant Ridge, 111., and is now 
about sixty-four yeais of age. 

Our subject was tlie second in a family of nine 
children born to his parents, and was the third to 
land on American soil. He employed himself 
on a farm for two years thereafter, then crossed 
the Mississippi into this count}-, and remained a 
single man for a period of ten years thereafter. He 
finally met his fate in the person of Miss Ida Weill- 
sandt, a native of his own Province in German^-, 
and who was born Jan. 10, 1858. She came when 
a child of six years with her parents to America, 
they proceeding directly westward and settling in 
Rock Creek Precinct, this county, where they now 
live and where they have built up a good home- 
stead. 

To JNIr. and Mrs. Broking there have been born 
six children, one of whom, a son, John, died in 
infancy. The survivors are Sophia, Emma, Ida, 
Mary, and a babe named Harry. Mr. Broking is 
an uncompromising Democrat, and, with Lis excel- 
lent wife, is a member in good standing of the 
Lutheran Church. He is regarded among his neigh- 
bors as one of the most useful members of their 
community, a man prompt to meet his obligations 
and straightforward in his business transactions. 



eOL. HENRY CLAY FERGUSON, who 
served with distinction in the Union Army, 
making a most commendable war record, and 
being a well-known and high!}' esteemed citizen of 
Otoe County, it is fitting that his portrait should 
appear in this volume. He sought the new State of 
Nebraska March 25, 1876, and has since been a 
resident of this county. He is widely and favor- 
ably known as a gentleman of more than ordinaij^ 
capabilities, a useful and enterprising citizen, and 
one enjoying the esteem and confidence of his 
community. 

The native place of our subject was about twelve 
miles north of Louisville, Ky., in Clark County, 
Ind., where his birth took place Nov. 10, 1833. 
His father, Benjamin Ferguson, had settled there 
about 181G, and was not only one of the earliest 



pioneers of that region, but one of the leading men 
of Clark County. He represented the county in 
the Indiana Legislature four terms, and was other- 
wise prominently identified with local and political 
matters. He married Miss Sarah Hay, a native of 
that county, and a daughter of one of the leading 
families. She was born in 1801, and was a lineal 
descendant of the Wood family, which held such an 
important position during the early history of Clai-k 
County. She was left a widow by the death of the 
father in 1839, when he was but forty-nine years 
of age, and when their son Henry C. was a little 
lad of six years. The mother survived her hus- 
band fourteen years, her death taking [ilace at the 
old homestead in Clark County, in 1852, when she 
was fifty-one years old. 

The nine children of the parental family are re- 
corded as follows: Samuel H. and John D. died 
at the ages of forty-three and thirty-eight respect- 
ively ; Charles P., a man of fine abilities, is now 
Judge of the Fourth Judicial District of Indiana, 
and a resident of Jeffersonville, Ind.; Sarah died 
when fifty years old; Margaret and Benjamin are 
also residents of Indiana; Henry C, our subject, 
was the seventh in order of birth; William F. died 
at the age of thirty-nine years, at Indianapolis, and 
Adeline is the wife of Thomas Rej'nolds, and resides 
in Illinois. 

The first recollections of our subject are of a 
time when he was a boy strolling along the banks 
of the Ohio River. He acquired his early educa- 
tion in the common schools, and was deprived by 
death of his mother before reaching his majority. 
Soon after reaching his twenty-first year he engaged 
in the drug trade in partnership with his brother 
William, combining also with this general merchan- 
dise, and was thus occupied until the outbreak of 
the Civil .War. 

Under the call for 75,000 three-months men, 
young Ferguson in April, 1861, organized a com- 
pany, and on the 25th of that month reported with 
them for orders to Gov. Morton. The quota under 
this call having already been completed, and his 
company not needed for this department of the serv- 
ice, he and his men enlisted for three years in the 
regular army, being among the first to enter the 
ranks for this length of time. Our subject was 



vas W 



•►Hl^^^ 



i i 538 



OTOE COUNTY. 



given a Captain's commission, and he assumed the 
position as commander of Company I, which was 
made a part of tiie 23d Indiana Infantry. The}- 
were sent to the front at Padiicah, K}'., arriving 
there on the 15th of August, and were among the 
first troops to take possession of that place. They 
remained there under drill until the opening of the 
campaign of 1862. when the regiment was assigned 
to the command of Gen. Lew AV^allace at Ft. Henry, 
and our subject engaged in regular battle on the 
second day of the figlit at Shiloh. Later he fought 
in the engagement at luka, and in the winter follow- 
ing they retired to Memphis. 

On account of meritorious conduct Capt. Fergu- 
son on the 19th of Februarj' following was unani- 
mously elected by the oflScers of his regiment a 
Major, and thereafter distinguished himself in the 
siege of Vicksburg, his regiment belonging to the 
17tli Army Corps under the gallant Gen. McPher- 
son. In the division of Gen. Logan on the 22d of 
ftlay, Maj. Ferguson led the grand charge at Ft. 
Hill, which was attended by heavy loss, and during 
which he was slightly wounded in the left hand. From 
that time on he was in every engagement of the 17th 
Army Corps, and was wounded twice afterward, 
the second time in the engagement with the rebels 
at Ft. Hill. In 1864 he accompanied the Armv of 
the Tennessee under command of Gen. Sherman 
from Vicksburg to Meridian, which constituted the 
Mississippi campaign. He also bore an honorable 
part in the Atlanta campaign. He was at Atlanta 
in August, 1864, the day before the surrender. 

Maj. Ferguson was tendered the rank of Colonel 
of the regiment at that time, but thinking that he 
could be of more service in another direction he 
declined, and returning home assisted in the recon- 
struction of the 144th Indiana Infantry', of which 
he was elected Lieutenant Colonel, and which was 
subsequently known as the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 
Army of the .Shenandoah. They operated mostly 
around Winchester and Harper's P^erry, and at the 
close of the war were mustered out on the 15th of 
August, 1865, at Indianapolis. Our subject had 
thus given four j'ears to the service of his country, 
and had made for himself a record which he may look 
upon with pardonable pride. He was imbued with 
that true spirit of patriotism which w.as willing to 



face danger and even death for the results to be ob- 
tained. 

We append the following letter, which attests 
the bravery and courage of Col. Ferguson : 

"Rear of Vicksburg, Miss. ) 
"May 31, 1863. \ 

"Maj. Henry C. Fkrguson, 23d Indiana Vol- 
unteers : Sir — I have been delegated to present to 
you a sword, the gift of the members of Company 
I. 23d Indiana Volunteers, of which you were for- 
merli' Captain. It was with feelings of regret that 
they parted with you as their company commander, 
only compensated by the fact that you had re- 
ceived promotion to a higher position, which 3'ou 
so deservedly merited. This gift, then, is not only 
made to you b\' them as a mark of that respect 
and esteem which they hold for you as their for- 
mer commander, and which they still entertain for 
you in j'our present position, but as a testimonial 
to that patriotism and love of country which you 
have shown by a faithful performance of your du. 
ties .IS an officer, and to the coolness, courage and 
bravery which you have evinced 113- so boldly fac- 
ing danger on tiie battle-fields of Shiloh, Port Gib- 
son, Ra^-mond, Champion Hills and Vicksburg. 

"In their behalf, then, I tender j'ou this gift of 
their love, respect and esteem, feeling confident 
that no act of j-ours will ever allow it to be tar- 
nished, coming as it does from those with whom 
you were so long and iutimatel}' associated. 
"Veiy respectfully j'ours, 

"B. F. Walter." 

At the close of the war Col. Ferguson returned 
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture in Clark County. 
While home on a veteran furlough he had been 
married, April 21, 1864, to Miss Margaret McAfee, 
who was born near Rockford, Ind , Dec. 22, 1837. 
Mrs. Ferguson is a highly accomplished lady, and 
a daughter of the late Dr. Clark McAfee, who was 
a prominent member of the medical profession of 
Kentuck}', and a member of the noted family of 
that name in the Blue Grass regions. The mother 
was in her girlhood Miss Margaret Huckleberry. 
Dr. McAfee died in 1838. His widow is now liv- 
ing with her daughter, the wife of Col. Ferguson. 
Their famil}' consisted of one daughter only, Mrs. 
Ferguson. 



^ 



■^^t 



•►Hf^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



539 



Mrs. Ferguson was carefully trained and edu- 
cated, completing her studies in the Presbyterian 
Female Seminary at Jacksonville, 111. The Colonel 
and his wife after their marriage continued resi- 
dents of Indiana until the year 1869, when they 
moved across the Mississippi into LaFayetle County, 
Mo., settling upon a tract of land where our subject 
engaged in farming seven years. He then came to 
this county, of which he has since been a resident. 
He and his little family are surrounded by all the 
comforts of life. He is loyal as ever to the stars 
and stripes, a devoted husband and father, and holds 
liistwo children, Edwin and Ora, as the apple of his 
eye. The son is one of the enterprising young 
farmers of Otoe Precinct. He was born Sept. 17, 
18G6, received a good education, and is a young man 
of great promise. The daughter is a student of the 
Nebraska State Normal School, at Peru, Neb., tak- 
ing the classical course. 

The Colonel as an ex-soldier is a member in good 
standing of the G. A. R., belonging to William 
IJaumer Post No. 24, of Nebraska City. He was 
the first candidate for State Senator on the Prohi- 
bition ticket, being nominated in the year 188G. 
Both he and his estimable wife are active in the 
temperance work, and Mrs. Ferguson is a charter 
memljcr of the W. C. T. U., of Paul, and its Presi- 
dent. The Colonel in 1882 was a delegate to the 
Republican County Convention, and at that time 
look issue on the temperance question. In religious 
matters he is a Congregationalist. 

Tlie Ferguson family was prominent in the early 
history of Southern Indiana, and closely identified 
with its growth and development. During his army 
career our subject became intimately acquainted 
with Gen. Logan, and their intercourse thereafter 
was particularly close and friendly. He also en- 
joyed a pleasant acquaintance with Gens. McPher- 
sou, Thayer, Gresham, John E. Smith, Force and 
Leggett, all of whom were fuUy susceptible to the 
merits of a brave and patriotic soldier. 



<jt^ DWARD A. BROWN is a member of the 
11^] firm Brown <fe Wood, proprietors of the Ne- 
/§■ — ii) braska City Press, one of the best conducted 
newspapers in the State. Our subject was born in 



Sterling, 111., on the 26th of December, 1858. He 
comes of good old New England stock, his parents, 
William A. and Mary (Greene) Brown, being na- 
tives respectively of New Hampshire and Jlassa- 
chusetts. His father grew to be a capable and 
enterprising young man among the granite hills of 
his native State, and he then turned his steps to- 
ward Newark, the great manufacturing city of 
New Jersey, where he learned the trade of jeweler. 
About 1850 he left that city for Illinois, .and lo- 
cated in the town of Rockford at first, but after- 
ward went thence to Sterling. Early in the fifties he 
journeyed overhand to California, and there engaged 
in mining for a few years. He then retraced his 
way to Sterling, 111., and after staying there a short 
time, he returned to the Golden State. During the 
war Mr. Brown returned east as far as Omaha, and 
opened a livery stable there, and at the .same time 
was engaged in the sale of general merchandise. He 
resided in that city and in Council Bluffs until 
1867, and then came to Nebraska City for the pur- 
pose of opening a clothing and dr^- -goods store. 
A few 3-ears later he sold out his stock in that line, 
and then engaged in the boot and shoe trade until 
1872. He then entered the editorial arena, purchas- 
ing the Nebraska City Chronicle, a daily and weekly " 
publication, and two years later consolidated it with 
the Nebraska City Press, continuing to manage 
his paper until 1881, when he sold it to his sons, 
and returned to Omaha to engage in the collection 
business. In 1885 he turned his attention to stock- 
raising, taking up a claim under the provisions of 
the Homestead Act in Hitchcock County. In 1887 
he left his son in charge of his farm, and went to 
the Territory of Wyoming, and now resides there 
in the town of Manville, having through his fore- 
thought and enterprise gathered together a com- 
fortable property. In 1866 the devoted wife who 
shared his early labors passed away. To them had 
been born four children, three of whom grew up. 
His second wife, stepmother of our subject, was 
Rilla .Selden, a native of Michigan. One child has 
been born to them. 

The subject of this sketch was nine years old 
when he came to Nebraska City, and from that 
time his education was obtained in the city schools. 
He proved to be a l)right, apt pupil, and stood well 



■♦■ 



:^U 



1 540^ 



- ► 1 1 < • 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•►■ 



in his classes. At tiie age of fourteen bis fatlier 
eniplo3'efl him to carry newspapers, and at the age 
of sixteen he entered his father's ofHce as printer's 
devil, to learn the art preservative in detail. He con- 
tinued with his father until 1881, and then formed 
a i)artnorship with his brother Lot, and bought 
the office, the paper, and the good-will of his father 
on the 1st day of April. In September his brother 
seld his interest in the paper to L. Fairbrother, who, 
in turn, on the 1st of July, lJ-'85, sold his interest 
to Mr. Wood, the present partner of our sut>ject. 
The paper is issued both daily and weekly. It is 
Republican in politics, though not offensively parti- 
san. It is pure and elevated in its tone, and is an 
influence for good in this city and county. 

Mr. Brown is a \"oung man of excellent repute, 
and of considerable talent, and has a fair prospect 
before him of achieving renown as a journalist. 
He is possessed of much geniality and true tact, and 
is prominent in social circles in this city. At the 
age of seventeen he joined a local amateur minstrel 
troupe in Neljraska City, which gave excellent per- 
formances in different towns in the vicinit}'. He 
was connected with the troupe for three j'ears. 



JOHN HENRY ARENDS, the leading mer- 
chant of Syracuse, was one of the pioneer 
settlers of this count}^ arriving upon the 
soil of Nebraska during its Territorial days, 

in the spring of 18.59. A native of the then King- 
dom of Hanover, Germany, he was born April 15, 
1843, and is the son of Rieke and T. M. (Teten) 
Arends, who were also of German birth and par- 
entage. The father of our subject was a linen 
manufacturer by trade, which business he followed 
in Ids native land after serving several years in tlie 
German army. 

Our subject was a lad of eleven years wlien he 
emigrated with his parents to the United States, 
and they settled on a farm in Madison Count}', 111. 
Thence, in 1859, the family came to Nebraska, and 
located on a tract of land near the present site of 
Talmage in Rock Creek Precinct, on the southern 
line of this county. The elder Arends became 
owner of a large tract of land, on whicli he made 



valuable improvements, and at his death, which 
occurred in 1874, he left an estate valued at nearly 
$40,000. He met a tragic death, having gone in 
September of that year to Nebraska Citj- for a load 
of lumber designed for a church he was about to 
assist in building. He was accidentally thrown un- 
der the loaded wagon, and instantly killed. The 
Lutheran Church Society in his death lost one of 
its most active members, and he was sincerely 
mourned by a large circle of friends. He had 
come to Nebraska a poor man, but by the exercise 
of close economy and incessant industry he accu- 
mulated a fortune. 

The mother of our subject is still living, residing 
on the old homested. Tlie parental family included 
six children, namely: Anna, the wife of J. H. Beh- 
rends; John H., our subject; Maggie, Mrs. Rott- 
mann; Mary, Mrs. C. H. Korfif ; Herman J. and Tena. 
Tliey are all residents of this county, and in good 
circumstances financially. 

Our subject attended the common schools in 
Illinois, and received instructions from a private 
tutor after coming to Nebraska, thus securing a 
good practical education, Upon starting out for 
himself, about 1860, he began freighting between 
the Missouri River and Pike's Peak. Later, when 
about twenty years old, he became clerk of a hotel 
at Nebraska City, remaining thus occupied until 
reaching his majorit}-. His regular business career 
commenced as clerk in a store of general mer- 
chandise in the same city, and later he became 
associated with C. H. Korff, and engaged in mer- 
chandising. They carried on an extensive busi- 
ness until 1877, when Mr. Arends withdrew from 
the firm, and established himself at Syracuse. 

Mr. Arends in 1883 erected his present store 
building, a two-story brick structure with base- 
ment, .and which he now has wholly filled with his 
stock of goods. It covers an area of 331^x90 feet; 
within it is a full line of about everything in the 
way of mercliandise witli the excejition of hard- 
ware. The family residence, a fine and commo- 
dious structure, is located on Sixth street, and with 
its surroundings forms one of the most attractive 
homes in the city. Mr. Arends also owns a general 
store at Elmwood, and is a member of the firm of 
ilulirinan it Arends, carrying on gener.al merchan- 



■.»-di^ 



I 



•►-Hl^ 



S^H 



OTOE COUNTY. 



541 



dising at Geneva. He was oue of the organizers 
of the Bank of Syracuse, and continues a member 
of the Board of Directors. In addition to the 
jjroperty mentioned he also owns 480 acres of 
choice land on sections 25 and 26 in Russell Pre- 
cinct, town 9, range 10. He is a member of the 
Lutheran Church, and has officiated as Trustee for 
many years. 

The wife of our subject was in her girlhood 
Miss Georgia M. Mohrman, and their marriage 
took place Jan. 29. 1873, in Nebraska City. Mrs. 
Arends is the daughter of J. H. and Lucy G. (Kuen- 
ning) Mohrman, of Syracuse, and of this union 
there have been born six children, namely: Richard, 
Harve3\ Gertrude, Henry, Walter and Lucy. The 
eldest is fourteen years of age, the youngest, one; 
thej' are all at home with their parents. Mr. A. 
uniformly votes the Republican ticket, and has 
been quite prominent in local politics. 



"S^; 



'^assemmt^ 



^rt-J* 



(F_^ ON. WILLIAM CAMPBELL, a member of 
iTj the Board of County Commissioners, and a 
1^^ prominent citizen of Nebraska Cit}', is an 
(^) important factor in sustaining and advanc- 
ing the immense stock-raising and agricultural in- 
terests of Otoe County. He is a native of County 
Down, Ireland, born April 16, 1841, of a renowned 
Scotch ancestrj', who had left the Kingdom of Scot- 
land to assist in the colonization of the Irish domain 
during the reign of Cromwell. His father and his 
grandfather, both named John, were natives of tlie 
same count}', and there the latter, who was a rigid 
Presbyterian in his religious beliefs, of the John 
Knox type, spent his daj's devoting his life to farm- 
ing. 

The father of our subject was an only son, and 
he was reared in the home of his birth, and there 
married to Catherine McKee, also a native of 
County Down, and like her husband, of Scotch an- 
tecedents. In 1849 Mr. Campbell emigrated to 
America, accompanied by his wife and nine of their 
ten children. He located in the city of Rock Isl- 
and, HI., wiiere his death occurred the following 
year. His family was thus deprived of llie kind- 
est of husbands and the best of fathers, for he was 



in ever}' sense a good, wise and true man. His 
wife survived him only seven years, dying in Rock 
Island in 1857. She was a kind, patient, devoted 
mother, and her children cherish her memor}' with 
reverence. They were ten in number, namely: 
Margaret, Mary. Elizabeth, Hugh, James, John, 
Jane, William, Samuel and Alexander. They all 
came to America, and six of them are now living. 
Hugh, Samuel and Alexander bravely served their 
adopted country in the late war. The latter was 
but a boy of fourteen and a half years when he en- 
listed in the 11th Iowa Infantry, and for fouryears 
he was as faithful and patriotic a soldier as any in 
the ranks. He was with Sherman in his march to 
the sea, and took part in many hard-fought battles. 
He now lives in Rock Island Count}'. III. Hugii 
did good service in an Illinois regiment for three 
years, and is now an honored resident of Keiths- 
burg, III. Samuel was a youth of sixteen when he 
enlisted in the 11th Iowa, and three years later he 
fell while bravely Sghting before Atlanta, "Ga., Aug. 
19, 1864. 

William Campbell, the subject of this biograph- 
ical sketch, was nine years old when his father died, 
and he continued to live with his mother until her 
death when he was sixteen. He attended the pub- 
lic schools of Camden, Rock Island Co., 111., whicli 
was their home, and as soon as he was large enough 
commenced to woik on the farm. At the age of 
fifteen he began to learn the harness- maker's trade 
in Camden, and worked at that for two years. In 
1858, with his brother John, he started West on 
the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Kansas City, 
then a place of about 2,500 inhabitants. There 
were no railways beyond the Mississi|)pi at that 
time, and all transportation was done with team or 
boats. Our subject at once found employment with 
the firm of Russell, Majors & Wardell, Government 
freighters, to drive a team across the plains to New 
Mexico. This was an exciting period in the life of 
our subject, as the route that he was obliged to 
travel lay through a wild, unsettled country, where 
the buffaloes, deer, antelopes, prairie wolves and 
other wild animals abounded, and the region was 
infested by hostile Indians, so that eternal vigilance 
was the price of life, and none but brave men with 
strong nerves cared to face tlie dangers of the route. 



•►HK-^^ 



*^h 



■ ► i r <i~ 



54-2 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-t 



Ihe only safety was in many teamsters going to- 
gether in large trains, and that in which our sub- 
ject went consisted of twentj'-five wagons, with six 
pairs of'oxen to each wagon, which was laden with 
supplies for the Government posts in New Mexico. 
The train started from Kansas City in May, and 
ninety days were consumed in making the round 
trip. Our subject immediately started with an- 
other train, and on the return trip was attacked by 
Indians, but fortunately none of the party were 
killed. Mr. Campbell followed the same business 
over the same route in 1859, and in 1860 he started 
from Nebraska City with a train, and went as far 
west as the North Platte. Later in 1860, he com- 
menced to ride a ponj' express from Cottonwood 
Springs, subsequently called Ft. McPherson, to Low- 
ell, seven miles below Ft. Kearney. On one or two 
occasions he rode as high as 140 miles in fifteen hours, 
being nearly the rate of ten miles an hour. At each 
fifteen miles he changed horses at the stations. lie 
was thus engaged until the winter of 1861-62, when 
the first telegrai)h line was built in Nebraska. In 
1862 Mr. Campbell took care of the stage stock at 
Gilman's ranch, and in 1863 he and his brother 
bought teams and engaged in freighting from Ne- 
braska Cit}^ to Denver. They had six wagons with 
five pairs of oxen to a wagon, and made two trips 
to the Queen City of the plains that year. The 
next year they increased the number of their teams, 
and carried freight to Montana, receiving sixteen 
cents a pound for all that they carried. In the fall 
of 1 864 they sold their teams in Montana and re- 
turned to Nebraska City on horseback. In the 
spring of 1865 our subject bought mules at a Gov- 
ernment sale, and again went into the freighting 
business, carrying freight to Salt Lake City, receiv- 
ing twenty-five cents a pound for it. He carried on 
that lucrative business until 1868, when he and his 
brother, John Campbell, took a contract on the 
Union Pacific Railroad to build a part of it in 
Eastern Nevada and Western Utah. In 1869, after 
having seen the Union Pacific and Central Railroads 
unite, and the silver spike driven in, the brothers 
sold their stock and returned to Nebraska City, 
and bought 320 acres of land each on the wild prai- 
ries, and at once commenced to improve a farm. 
Our subject h.as since placed all of his land under a 
-^•^ 



fine state of cultivation, and has erected substantial, 
conveniently arranged buildings, has planted three 
and one-half miles of hedge, and five acres of or- 
chard, and in fact has one of the most valuable es- 
tates in Otoe County. He has made a business of 
buying and feeding stock, and raising fine horses, 
both for driving and draft purposes, the Hamble- 
tonian being his favorite horses for speed, and the 
English shire horse his preference for draft. He is 
accounted one of the most highly successful horse- 
breeders in the State. 

Mr. Campbell was married, Aug. 12, 1869, to 
Miss Jennie L. Fitchie, a native of Pennsylvania, 
and a daughter of the well-knowfi Hon. James 
Fitchie, of whom see sketch. Thej' have a very 
attractive home, rendered pleasant alike to friend 
or stranger by the charming hospitality of the gra- 
cious hostess and the genial host. Their pleasant 
wedded life has been blessed b\' the birth of eight 
children, as follows: Grace, the first-born, died at 
the age of twelve; the others arc J03', Margaret, 
Tcsora, James, John, Bess and Helen. 

Mr. Campbell is a man of fine business talents, 
prompt and systematic in his habits. He is influen- 
tial in public affairs, and Otoe County has found in 
him one of her best civic officers, as he is honest 
and incorruptible, possessing ready wit and tact, 
and discharges his duties without regard to fear or 
favor. He is at present Chairman of the Board of 
County Commissioners. He was at one time State 
Senator, having been elected to fill the unexpired 
term of the Hon. C. H. VanWycke, when the latter 
was elected to the United States Senate in 1881. 



^YOSEPH A. WORRALL, founder, proprietor 
and editor of the Syracuse Herald, and in 
that connection widely and favorablj^ known 
throughout the county, was born in the city 
of Indianapolis, on the 28th of June, 1853. He is 
the son of Josephus C. and Maria R. (Phillips) 
AVorrall, who were natives respectivelj' of Penns3'l- 
vania and New Jersey. The family is of French 
extraction, the name originally being prefixed by 
the syllable " De." The parents of our subject 
were married in Pennsylvania, and settled in Indi- 






-^lU^. 



* ► II <•• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•«»> 



■)43 



anapolis about the year 1834, and in that city the 
father of our subject was engaged in mercantile 
pursuits until the year 1857. At that time he made 
up his mind to go West, and started for Nebraska. 
He first located on the Nemaha River, near the 
present town of Talmage, whicli at first was called 
Worrallton. The first bridge across the river was 
built at his place, and largely at his expense. The 
last few j'ears of his life were spent in Nebraska 
City, but his death occurred in Pennsylvania, in 
the year 1867, while lie was on a visit to his old 
home. 

The mother of our subject is still living, and 
makes her home in Syracuse. There are but two 
children who call her mother, her son Joseph and 
a daughter, Louisa, now the wife of Jerome Dauchj'. 
Quite earh^ in life our subject began to work in the 
office of the Nebraska City Netvs, and rose step by 
step from the humblest position, gradually becoming 
more and more intimate with the various intric- 
acies of the trade, until he was fitted for his pres- 
ent position. In 1872 he went to Tecumseh and 
purchased an interest in the J^efiraska Gazette, which 
was the first paper published at that place. He soon 
sold out. returned to Nebraska City, and established 
the Hebron Journal, in the town of that name. 
Here his practical knowledge, fertile brain and 
ready pen soon brought him into prominence, and 
established his paper upon a firm and paying basis. 

Until the year 1885 Mr. Worrall continued his 
connection with the above paper, residing in Ne- 
braska City, but early in that year he same to 
Syi'acuse and founded the Herald. Although of 
so recent establishment, his long experience has en- 
abled him to make his paper a perfect success from 
the very start. It always appears with an air of 
freshness prevading it. Its editorial work is bright, 
clear, logical, .and always courteous in manner, while 
in regard to the matter of workmanship and style 
it is second to none. It is just such a paper as is 
always welcomed by the busy man in the full whirl 
and rush of commercial life, a welcome friend to 
the advertiser, and always bearing something in- 
teresting for those who have more leisure to devote 
to its pages. Like its owner and editor, the Herald 
is a stanch friend and doughty defender of the 
Democratic party and principles. 



Our subject is a member of the Central Demo- 
cratic Committee, and is not without considerable 
influence among his fellows, who recognize in him 
a man of careful, intellectual thought, unquestioned 
loyalty and manly character. In the Masonic fra- 
ternity, of which our subject is a member, he is re- 
garded as a true and faithful frater. Both in the 
lodge room and in society generally he is highly 
esteemed as a much valued citizen. 



\f„,^ENRY EIBEN. The subject of this biog- 
llfjii raphy is numbered among the prominent 
%^ farmers of Rock Creek Precinct, and owns 
(^) a good property on section 7, comprising 
160 acres of thoroughly cultivated land, which is 
well stocked with cattle and swine, and supplied 
with good buildings. He settled here in the fall of 
1880, although having lived in the precinct and 
county since October, 1868. 

Our subject is of German biith and parenUige, 
having been born in Hanover, March 20, 1836, and 
left the Fatherland in the fall of 1868. He had 
been given the education common to the youth of 
Germany, and his father being-tt farmer. Henry was 
early in life made acquainted with agricultural pur- 
suits. His parents, Kiben and Anna (Magrelha) 
Eliben, also natives of Hanover, spent their entire 
lives in their own country, the father living to the 
advanced age of eighty years. The mother pre- 
ceded her husband to the silent land, she too hav- 
ing attained a ripe old age. They were most worthy 
and excellent people, greatly res|)ected bj' their 
neighbors, and members in good standing of the 
German Lutheran Church. 

The home circle includcil six children, five sons 
and one daughter, of whom our subject was the 
fourth in order of birth. He was the onl}' one of 
his family coming to the United States. He was 
married in his native Hanover, in 18P6, to Miss Etta 
M. Kruse, whose childhood home was not far from 
that of her husband, and who, like him, received a 
tliorough education in her native tongue. She 
proved a true wife and helpmate to him, sharing all 
his toils and sacrifices, until he was called to mourn 

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•^f*^ 



544 



OTOE COUNTY. 






her death, Nov. 17, 1887. To our subject :incl his 
estimable wife there was born one child only, a son, 
Herman, who is now at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
E. early in life identified themselves with the Ger- 
man Lutheran Church. After becoming a natural- 
ized citizen of the United States Mr. Elben allied 
himself with the Republican part}*, of which he is 
a warm supporter. For a period of eleven j^ears he 
was a regular soldier in the German Army. 



(^^'HOM AS E. THOMPSON. The founder of the 
(f^^\ Thompson family in America was John 
^^^y Thompson, a native of the North of Wales. 
He came to America with his parents in the third 
embarkation from England, landing at Plymouth 
early in May, 1622. He was a carpentei' by trade, 
and built the first frame church in Plymouth. As 
a compensation for this the town deeded him a piece 
of land on what is now called Spring Hill. In 1067 
he built a frame house in Plymouth, which stood 
until the year 1838. His demise occurred June 
16, 1696, he being at that time at the advanced age 
of eighty j'ears. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Rum- 
ford, Oxford Co., Me., April 1, 1833. His father, 
John Thompson, was born in Middleboro, Ply- 
mouth Co., Mass., on the 26th of March, 1775, where 
was also born Isaac Thompson, the grandfather of 
our subject. John Thompson grew to manhood in 
his native countj', and as a young man with two 
brothers went to New York State, but not liking it 
so well as the old home he went to Massachusetts, 
and afterward went to the State of Maine, where 
he settled in the town of Rumford, near which he 
subsequently held a farm, where he resided until his 
death. His wife, the mother of our subject, Jane 
(Richardson) Thomi)Son, was born in Scotland, and 
came to America with her parents when she was 
about five years of age. She died at the homestead 
in the year 1843. She was the mother of six 
children. 

The education of our subject was obtained in the 
district schools of his native count}-, and afterward 
he gave his attention to farming, being instructed 



therein by his father, with whom he remained until 
he was eighteen years of age, when, starting in life 
for himself, he went to Goshen, Elkhart Co., Ind., 
where he clerked in a general store, continuing until 
1854, when he came West. His intention was to 
go to St. Paul, but he met a companion in travel, 
and by him was induced to go to Council Bluffs, 
which he did. He arrived in Nebraska City on 
the 16th of April, 1854. There was then but 
one family, that of H. P. Downs, living in the 
district. He staid with this gentleman for part of 
one day looking over the country, and then pro- 
ceeded on his way to Council Bluffs, but not liking 
it returned almost at once to Nebraska City. With 
the exception of a few who were holding claims 
there were no settlers for a large distance around. 
The Indians had possession, and were inclined to dis- 
pute the coming of any but their own people. In 
order to secure their good-will and protection he 
gave them $10, which perfected the arrangement. 

Our subject had been but a few days in his new 
location when he was taken sick, and for two j-ears 
was unable to do a day's work. During that time 
settlers had been coming in rapidl}', and quite a vil- 
lage had been started. In company with several 
others he started the town of Cleveland, in Cass 
County, which turned out to be a most unhappy 
venture, for he lost all his money that had taken so 
long to accumulate. 

In 1859 our subject recommenced working at 
the carpenter trade in Nebraska City, continuing 
for two seasons; then he went into the real-estate 
business, in which he continued until 1877. Then 
he sold out his interest and went East, spending a 
few months farming in Delaware Precinct, continu- 
ing until 1882. In 1884 he sold his farm, which he 
had left two j'ears previously, in order to make his 
home in the city to engage in the real-estate and 
insurance business. He represents the Royal In- 
surance Companj', of Liverpool, England, the Tra- 
ders', of Chicago, 111., and others. 

At Nebraska Citj', in 1861, was celebrated the 
union of our subject with Ladasca Francena Dim- 
mick. This ladj' was born in St. Lawrence Count}', 
N. Y., and is the daughter of Samuel and 3Iary 
Dimmick. They have become the parents of nine 
children, whose names are recorded as follows: Har 



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t 



t 



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•►^1 



OTOE COUNTY. 



545 



J; 



riet M., the wife of Taylor Hail, of Nebraska City; 
Edwin 1).. Mary, Ester, Grace, Florence and Ruth; 
and two, Maude and Charles, deceased. 

Mrs. riiomiisou is a devout member of the Pres- 
byterian Church, and attends the First Presby- 
terian Church. The political position of our sub- 
ject leads him to affiliate with the Democratic party. 
He is also a member of tlie Masonic fraternity, and 
attached to the Western Star Lodge No. 2, in this 
city. Our subject and his family fully sustain the 
family prestige, and are much esteemed by all who 
know them. 



ARSHALL SILLIMAN CAMPBELL, the 
Clerk of the Circuit Court, was a veteran of 
the Mexican War and was one of the 
earliest pioneers of Nebraska City, where 
he now resides. His first appearance here was 
on the 13th daj' of October, in the j'ear 1855, 
the town at that time, being nothing but a small 
hamlet, and the land on which it now stands was 
owned by the Government, and not then surveyed, 
and the settlements were confined to the river. 
Maj. Downs' claim two miles west of the town was 
the farthest western habitation in this region. All 
the surrounding country was in an exceedingly 
wild and uncultivated condition; deer, antelopes 
and elks were plentiful, and at the Blue River buf- 
faloes were to be found; Indians abounded, and were 
alwaj's ready to beg and steal, to say nothing of the 
risk of losing one's scalp when they were on the war 
path. Our subject was then employed by the Gov- 
ernment as a surveyor, and in that capacity he 
gained a thorough knowledge of the topography of 
the countr}', and he has been a witness of the won- 
derful development of those wild prairies that once 
constituted the Territory- of Nebraska into a pow- 
erful and wealthy State, and it may well be his 
pride that he has assisted in its growth. 

Mr. Campbell was born in Cornish, N. H., July 
27, 1820. being of Scottish descent, his grandfather, 
Dan Campbell, being a native of Scotland, where he 
was reared. Th.at gentleman learned the trade of 
edge tool maker in Inverness, and afterward became 
a soldier in the British service. He came to this coun- 



try with a Highland regiment during the Revolu- 
tionary War, and with the greater part of his regi- 
ment he deserted, and joining the Colonists, fought 
with them until the close of the war. After peace 
was declared he sent for his wife and child, and 
located in Litchfield, Conn., whence he afterward 
removed to Sussex County, N. J. He lived there 
a few years, and then returned to Litchfield, Conn., 
where he rounded out a useful life, always proving 
a loyal and devoted citizen to his adopted country. 

It is not positively known whether the father of 
our subject, Peter Proctor Campbell, was born in 
Scotland or Connecticut, but it is thought that he 
first drew the breath of life in the New England 
State mentioned. AVhen quiteyounghe was bound 
out to Deacon Richardson, of Cornish, N. II., and 
lived with him until he was twenty-one, receiving 
a good education in the New Hampshire schools. 
After leaving the home of the good old Deacon 
he went to New York and taught school for two 
years. At the expiration of that time he returned 
to Cornish, to claim as his bride Miss Nancy Jack- 
son, a native of that town, and a daughter of Elea- 
zer Jackson, a native of Connecticut, and a pio- 
neer of Cornish. After marriage Mr. Campbell 
went to LaFayette, Sussex Co., N. J., accompanied 
by his bride, and lived there a short time. He 
subsequently bought the Serepta works, including 
the foundry, machine-shop, distillery, flouring and 
sawmill, and operated them all very successfully 
until about 1843. He sold out his business in that 
year and moved to Belvidere, where he bought 
a foundry and machine-shoi), and managed them 
until his death in 1858, when a valuable citizen was 
lost to that community, as he was a man of sterling 
common sense, of much abilitj', and one who was 
in every respect worthy of the trust and respect of 
his fellowmen. His estimable wife survived him 
but a few years, dying in the same town in 1863. 
They were the parents of six children, all of whom 
grew to maturity, as follows: Harrison, Eleazer J.. 
Marshall S., Lydia A. (wife of John Randolph), 
Mary Emmeline and Edward L. They are all 
living with the exception of Harrison, who died in 
the spring of 1888, aged seventy -two years. 

The subject of our sketch was an infant when his 
parents removed to New Jersey. He attended the 



546 



OTOE COUNTY. 



public schools in that State, and as soon as large 
enough commenced to learn the machinist's trade in 
his father's shop. Wlien he was eighteen years old 
he was seized with the desire to be a sailor, and em- 
barking on a whaling- vessel, was absent on a long 
voyage that lasted tliree years and three months. 
On his return he desired to finish his education, and 
after attending school at Meriden, N. H., he entered 
a militar}- academy at Norwich. He was a student 
in tliat institution at the breaking out of the Mexi- 
can War, and eagerly and enthusiastically dropped 
his studies of the science of war to gain a practical 
knowledge of its grim realities on the bloody battle- 
fields of Mexico, he with many of his comrades 
volunteering, and entering the service under Gen. 
Scott. They fought bravely in the battle of Vera 
Cruz, and in every other battle from there to the 
City of Mexico. At the capture of the latter city, 
our subject was detailed as bodyguard to .accom- 
pany the remains of the gallant Col. Ransom, who 
was killed at the battle of Tehuantepec, to his 
home. Peace having been shortly afterward de- 
clared. Mr. Campbell was never called upon to 
enter service again, but was mustered out at Ft. 
Phillip, La., in the fall of 1847. He returned 
home, engaged as a civil engineer, and was em- 
ployed in the survey of different railways in Penn- 
sylvania, New York and New Jersey until 1855. In 
that year he went to the Territory of Kansas, and 
from there to Nebraska in the fall, coming here to 
assist in the survey of the land, and immediately 
commenced upon his work. In 1866 he returned 
to Leavenworth, Kan., and assisted in the survey of 
the Sac and Fox reservations. In the fall of that 
year he returned to Nebraska City, passing by the 
present site of Lincoln, where a house was not then 
standing. On the first daj- of December was the 
big snowstorm, which will ever be held in remem- 
brance by the early pioneers of Nebraska. It con- 
tinued so long, and was of such unprecedented 
violence, that our subject and his party spent nine 
days in the timber unable to get out and make 
their way to this city. In the spring Mr. Campbell 
returned to Lincoln to complete the survey begun 
the year before, and he was employed in surveying 
for the Government at times until 1859. He then 
took up his resilience in town and did odd jobs of 



surveying for individuals, and looked up claims 
until 1861. He then moved to a farm nine miles 
west of the city, and was engaged in agricultural 
pursuits until 1871. He wsis then elected to the 
office of County Surveyor for Otoe Count}', and 
moved back to Nebraska City, where he has re-, 
sided continuously ever since. 

In 1850 Mr. Campbell took unto himself a wife 
in the person of Miss Eliza Bond, and she has since 
been to him a devoted helpmate. To them five 
children have been born, namely: Fennimore C, 
Mervy N.. George, Mary E. and Edward L. 

Our subject has always been a true Democrat in 
his politics, and he has taken an active part in pub- 
lic affairs. He has served seven j'ears as Justice of 
the Peace since coming to this city, and held that 
office for five years while a resident of Delaware 
Precinct. He was Deputj" Clerk of the District 
Court for three years, and was elected to the 
position of Clerk In the fall of 1887 for a term of 
four years, and Is serving with much honor and 
credit to himself. Socially, he is a member of 
Eureka Lodge No. 7, K. of P. 



—J- 



#-#• 



-{— 



jERI P. DAKAN, a prominent farmer and 
stock-dealer of Hendricks Piecinct, has a 
fine tract of land on section 2, where he 
located in the spring of 1884. He is the offspring 
of a good family, being the son of William and 
Jane (Ross) Dakan, the father a native of New 
York State, and the mother of Pennsylvania. The 
parents were married in the latter State, whence 
they removed to Ohio, where the father, who had 
learned the miller's trade, carried on milling and 
farming, and accumulated a fine property. In 1853 
he left Ohio, moving to DeKalb County-, Mo., where 
he retired from active labor a few years later, and 
departed this life in 1865, at the age of seventy- 
four years. The mother also died at the homestead 
In Missouri In 1853, at the age of fifty-two. The 
paternal grandfather of our subject, also William 
Dakan by name, did good service as a soldier, first 
In the Revolutionary War under Washington, and 
later In the War of 1S12. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 



f 



•►Hf^^<i^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



547 



•► 



nine oliildren, six of whom are still living, namely: 
Melinda, Suzella, Lucinda, Higbram, Neri P. (^our 
subject) and Caroline. The deceased are John, 
Elizabeth and Catherine. Neri P. was born in Bel- 
mont Count}-, Ohio, Dec. 11, 1829, and spent his 
early life in the Buckeye State near the city of 
Columbus. He acquired a practical education in 
the common school, and remained with his parents 
until after attaining his majority. In 1854 he 
began farming on his own account in DeKalb 
County, Mo.; operating on 200 acres of land a 
period of throe years. Later he engaged in general 
merchandising in DeKalb Count}' six years. Thence 
he went to Somerset, 111., where he carried on mer- 
chandising very successfully, and continued for a 
period of three years. 

During the summer of 1867 our subject came 
with his family overland to Nemaha County, this 
Stale, and there spent the winter. The spring of 
1860 found him looking around for a location in 
this county, and he first settled on a tract of land 
about three miles south of the present site of Ne- 
braska Cit}'. He there purchased seventy acres of 
land, upon which he lived and labored until 1883. 
He built up a good farm from the uncultivated 
soil, and gave considerable attention to stock-rais- 
ing, in which he met with success. 

In the spring of 1883 Mr. Dakan changed his 
residence from the eastern to the western part of 
this county, having purchased his present farm of 
320 acres on section 2. Here he has verj' fine im- 
provements. Comprising a fine dwelling with a good 
barn and the other necessary out-buildings, an 
orchard of five acres, and a grove of cottonwood, 
maple, ash and elm trees. There is also a fine tract 
of natural timber, and a never-failing stream of 
water running through the farm. He has fully 
twenty acres in timber. 

The marriage of our subject took place in De- 
Kalb County, Mo., Jan. 21, 1858, his bride being 
Miss Lydia, daughter of F. B. and Mary (Farrer) 
Titcomb. Mr. Titcorab was born in Portland, Me., 
and his wife, Mary, near the city of Cleveland, 
Ohio. They were married in the latter State. The 
father was an educated man, and a professor in the 
city schools of Cleveland, Ohio. The family moved 
^ ' to Cook County, 111., where the father abandoned 



teaching for the pursuits of agriculture, and from 
there went to Clinton County, Iowa. In 1854 the}'' 
moved across the Mississippi into DeKalb County, 
Mo., where Mr. Titcomb departed this life in the 
spring of 1872, at the age of fifty-five years. The 
mother is still living, at the age of eighty-two years, 
on the old homestead in Missouri. Their children 
were Edward, Elvina, Lydia (Mrs. Dakan), Stephania 
and Amria. Mrs. Dakan was born in Lake County, 
111., Jan. 26, 1840. Of her union with our subject 
there are five children — Thomas J., Alice, Edwin, 
Lulu and Archie. They are all at home with their 
parents. 

Mr. D. was the nominee at last election for County 
Commissioner on the Democratic ticket, which fact 
sufficiently indicates his politics. He has served as 
Moderator in his school district, and is the en- 
courager of those enterprises calculated to advance 
the people in morality and inteHigence. Both he 
and his estimable wife are members in good stand- 
ing of the Baptist Church at Nebraska City. Mrs. 
Dakan is a lady of great intelligence and refine- 
ment, amply fitted to be the companion of such a 
man as her husband. The stock operations of Mr. 
Dakan are quite extensive, as he feeds sometimes as 
many as 500 head of cattle in one year. He 
became identified with the I. O. O. F. while a resi- 
dent of Missouri. 



IT/, ENRY BORD, Postmaster at Talmage, was 
Ifjj] early on the ground at the time of the or- 
!4W^ ganization of this village, being its pioneer 
((£); druggist, and his wife at the same time es- 
tablishing a millinery store. To their energy and 
enterprise is due in a great measure the encourage- 
ment which resulted in the building up of the town 
and the bringing within its borders a thrifty and 
business-like class of people. Mr. and Mrs. Bord 
prevailed against the many discouragements which 
naturally beset the pioneer in whatever enterprise 
lie engages, and may be pardoned if they look upon 
the result of their labors to-day with pride. 

Mr. Bord was given the office of Postmaster in 
March, 1885, from which fact his politics may be 
clearly indicated. lie is especially adapted to deal 



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548 



OTOE COUNTY. 



with the public, being sociable and genial in dis- 
position, a fluent conversationalist, and a man with 
whom anyone can pass an hour both pleasurably 
and profitably. He migrated to this point from 
Crawford County, Kan., where he had been engaged 
in farming sucessfully for a number of years. 

To the State of Kansas Mr. Bord had migrated 
from Illinois in the fall of 1866. at a time when 
Crawford Count3^ where he settled was an unbroken 
tract of prairie land. He located with his little 
family upon a portion of this when there was not a 
neighbor within seven miles. Later, however, the 
tracks of the Indian gave place to those of the white 
man, and in due time the settlers began to gather 
around him. About 1868 Mr. Bord was called up- 
on to assist in the organization of the first school 
district in his part of the county. This, as may be 
imagined, was a great event for the pioneers, one to 
which they look back even at the present time with 
a high degree of satisfaction. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bord have a full knowledge of the 
difficulties and dangers of life on the frontier, al- 
thoulig their experience was not unmixed with 
pleasure. Wild game was plentiful, and whatever 
else the household larder may have lacked, it was 
generously supplied with choice wild meats. IMr. 
Bord secured a farm from Uncle Sam, where he 
constructed a good homestead, and which he sold 
in 1882 at a sum sufficient to repay him for his 
toil and sacrifices. 

The childhood home of our subject was on the 
other side of the Atlantic, in Somersetshire, En- 
gland, where his birth took place near the city of 
Bruton, Nov. 17, 1822. His parents were of pure 
English ancestr}', his father, William Bord, having 
been born in Bruton, and his mother in the well- 
known city of Bath. The latter in her girlhood 
was Miss Mary Penols. The parents were married 
in Somersetshire, where the father operated a brew- 
ery until emigrating to the United States in 1830. 
They tarried for a time in New York City, and 
later sojourned in Troj% where the death of the 
father took place .at the advanced age of eighty- 
seven years. 

The mother survived her husband several years, 
and died at the home of her daughter, in 1886, 
at the age of eighty-five. Both were members of 



t- 



the Church of England, honest and conscientious 
people, strict and careful in their methods of family 
government, aiming to make of their offspring good 
and worthy citizens, who should hand down their 
name in honor to posterity. 

The subject of this sketch was the second son 
and child in a family of twelve, six sons and six 
daughters. He attained his majority in the city 
of Tro3', N. Y., where he learned the business of 
druggist and its various branches, aud was thus 
occupied for a number of years. In Troj', also, 
occurred the important event of his marriage with 
Miss Sarah E. Ives, which took place at her home 
Sept 30, 1859. 

Mrs. Bord was born in the romantic region of 
country along the Mohawk River, and at the point 
known as Rockwell Falls, on the 1st of December, 
1831. There she remained and began her early 
education, completing lier studies, however, in the 
city of Troy, to which her parents removed dnriug 
her childhood. These latter were Abraham and 
Lucinda (Smith) Ives, who were natives of New 
York, and came to the West several years ago. 
They are now sojourning for their health in Kansas. 

Mrs. Bord is a very intelligent and capable lady, 
and h.as been a most worthy and efficient helpmate 
to her hiisband during his struggle with the ele- 
ments of pioneer life, standing by his side, and 
encouraging him not only by her councils, but being 
of substantial assistance in business matters. They 
are the parents of one child, a son, Lawrence A., 
now a promising boy fourteen years of age, who is 
serving an apprenticeship as printer in the office of 
the Talmiige Tribune. ■ 

' Mr. Bord left his native State and migrated to 
DeKalb County, 111., in the fall of 1849. Thence 
he removed to Bureau County, of which he was a 
resident until 1865, and from there across the 
Mississippi, soon after which began his pioneer 
experience on the Kansas frontier. He cast his 
first Presidential vote for Martin V.an Buren, and 
is a pronounced Jacksonian Democrat, defending 
his principles with all the fearlessness and strength 
of his character. He has served as Justice of the 
Peace at Talmage a number of years, and is also a 
Notary Public. His name is a household word 
among the people of his own town, where both he 

9^ 



f 



»► II <• 



-•► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



549 1^1 



and his excellent wife are favorites in "the social 
circles, and welcome under their hospitable roof 
scores of friends who have learned to esteem them 
for their sterling worth, and as valuable members 
of the community. 



'S»S^»«-i»!a?« 



>tf5^»>^fe-» 



Ihi.M ICHAEL D. CAMPBELL, owner of one of 
the most valuable farms in Syracuse Pre- 
cinct, and which lies just without the limits 
of the thriving and pleasantly located vil- 
lage, has of late years devoted his attention mainly 
to stock-raising, an industry which has netted him 
a generous Income. Although settling here as late 
as 1883, he has during the brief period of his resi- 
dence among the people of this region surrounded 
himself with many warm friends. He was at once 
recognized as a valued addition to the community, 
is a gentleman of taste and culture, prompt in his 
business transactions, and in all respects a model 
citizen. 

A native of Indiana, our subject was born in 
Jefferson Township. Boone County, March 25, 1835. 
He claims descent from a liberty loving ancestry, 
who were always ready to shoulder arms in defense 
of home and country. Allen Campbell, his paternal 
grandfather, was born in Virginia, and when a lad 
of fifteen years migrated to the unsettled territory 
now comprised in the State of Kentucky. There he 
became the friend and compeer of Daniel Boone, 
and participated with that illustrious old hero in 
many of his conflicts with the savage foe. Enlist- 
ing in the regular service he was given the commis- 
sion of First Lieutenant under Gen. AVayne, and 
was present at the battle of Maumee, where he com- 
manded his compan}', and is recorded in history as 
Capt. Campbell. He did not see his father from 
the time he left home until he was a man of thirty 
years, being absent a period of fifteen years. 

Grandfather Campbell married a Kentucky lady, 
and from the Blue Grass regions they emigrated to 
Jennings County, Ind., locating among its early 
settlers. There they reared a family of sons and 
daughters, and passed the remainder of their days. 
Michael D., Sr., was born in Kentucky, and like his 
y ' father before him, left his native State when a lad 



of fifteen years, going with the family to Jennings 
Count}', Ind., where he grew to manhood and chose 
his life companion. 

The parents of our subject soon after their mar- 
riage settled in Jefferson Township, Boone Co., 
Ind., where the father erected the second log cabin 
built In the township, and there passed the remain- 
ing fifty-three years of his life. He departed hence 
In July, 1883, at the advanced age of seventj'-nlne 
years. His aged and excellent partner survived 
him only four weeks, her death taking place In 
August following, and her years being seventy-six. 
The household circle of this excellent pair Included 
eleven children, of whom the following are living: 
Joseph A., John F., Michael D. (our subject), Nottly 
S., David W., and R. Angellne, the wife of Alex 
A. Young, of Montgomery County, Ind. 

Michael D. Campbell pursued his early studies in 
the primitive log school-house of Jefferson Town- 
ship, Ind., and later added to his knowledge by an 
extended course of reading. This, however, suf- 
ficed to make him a well-informed man, and one of 
more than ordinary Intelligence. He, in common 
with his brothers, during his boyhood and youth, 
assisted in the development of the new farm in In- 
diana, and they together cleared up a tract of land 
600 acres in extent. On the 21st of March, 1860, 
occurred one of the most interesting and important 
events in the life of our subject, his marriage, after 
which he settled near his parents, and followed 
agricultural pursuits in the Huosler State until the 
winter of 1882. 

Mr. Campbell now began to cast longing eyes to- 
ward the farther West, and coming to this State, 
was for a year a resident of Nebraska City. At 
the expiration of this time he settled on the farm 
which he now owns and occupies, and which is such 
a credit to his good management. Like his father 
before and like his brothers, he is an ardent sup- 
porter of Democratic principles. While in Indiana 
he was for a period of twelve years Director of the 
Agricultural Society of Boone, Clinton and Mont- 
gomery Counties. He has carefully refrained from 
political office, preferring to leave such spoils to 
those whose time could not be better employed. 

The wife of our subject was in her girlhood Miss 
Martha A. Harris, and was born in Boone County, 



H^l- 



•4^ 



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550 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Ind., Jan. 12, 1841. Her parents, Matthew F. and 
Martha (Ferguson) Harris, were natives of Tennes- 
see and Indiana respective)}'. The father has long 
since passed to his rest; the mother is still living in 
Boone County, Ind. Her paternal grandfather, 
William Harris, served as a soldier under Gen. 
Andrew Jackson, in the war with the Crete Indians. 
Her parents, like those of our subject, were pioneer 
settlers of Indiana. Of her union with our subject 
there have been born seven children, namely: Ros- 
sie, the wife of Dr. Charles Sutton, of Syracuse; 
Allen T., who married Miss Mj-rtle Young, and 
lives in Hildreth, Neb. ; Alonzo D., Olney L., 
Charles F., Mintie R. and Orval Ray. 

The mother of Mr. Campbell was a daughter of 
Joseph Betts, an early settler of Scott Count3',Ky., 
and a participant in the Indian wars of 1803, 1805 
and 1812, being under the command of Gen. Wayne 
at Maumee, with the title of Sergeant. He was 
in the same company with Allen Campbell, and 
later carried a musket in the War of 1812, under 
the command of Gen. Harrison, and vvas at the 
battle of Tippecanoe when Tecumseh was killed. 



"ifj POLK HILL. In the present sketch arc 
presented to the reader the more salient 

t features of the life of the popular Postmaster 
')/ of Palmyra. His parents, William H. and 
Sarah A. (Tutt) Hill, were born i-espectively in 
Madison and Culpeper Counties, Va., and his fam- 
ily has its representatives among the verj' early 
colonists of Virginia. Col. Robert Hill, the grand- 
father of our subject, was in command of militia 
in the War of 1812, and is reputed to have been 
one of the most intrepid and gallant of his compeers 
The parents of our subject settled in Virginia, 
and his father followed the usual rural occupations. 
In 1836 he removed with his family to Missouri, 
where they lived for about ten years, hut, owing to 
the prevalence of ague and his continued suscepti- 
bility to its influence, and his consequently debili- 
tated health, he was compelled to return to his native 
State, but in 1868 he came to the State of Nebraska, 
and for three years lived south of Nebraska Citj'. 
In the spring of 1871 they removed to Palmyra. 



■► I I 4« 



They were' the parents of eleven children, four of 
whom were boys. The mother was the first of 
the parents to depart this life ; her death occurred in 
1879, when she was seventj'-one j'ears of age. The 
father died in 1880, aged seventy-seven years. 

Of the above-mentioned family the subject of our 
sketch was the ninth born. This interesting event oc- 
curred upon the I'Jth of January, 1845, in Callaway 
County, Mo., and when his parents removed to Vir- 
ginia he was eighteen months old. There he grew up 
upon the farm, and made earlj' acquaintance with 
farm life, responsibility and work. He received a fair 
education, his parents giving him every possible 
advantage. At the time of the secession he was of 
course too young to vote or have ar.j personal in- 
fluence, but at an early age gave promise of the 
powers that have since been developed. As soon 
as he became old enough to bear arras he enlisted 
in Company C, 4th Virginia Cavahy. He was in the 
battles of Gettysburg, Williamsport, Shepherdstown, 
and through the campaign of the Wilderness, in 
1 864, but he received his " baptism of fire" at Boones- 
ville, where he also was slightly wounded in the 
side, and was ouly saved by his pocket Bible, which 
received the force of the otherwise fatal blow. He 
was wounded a second time at Nance's Shop, Va. ; 
here a rifle ball struck his left arm, shattering the 
bone and rendering amputation imperative; this 
was performed on the 24th of June, 1864. The bul- 
let that did this destructive work is in the posses- 
sion of our subject until this day. After this event 
be went back home, being incapacitated for further 
service, and having fully proved the intense loy- 
alty and patriotism that were within his breast. 
Coming to Nebraska in 1868, he was for one year 
a teacher in this county. 

His parents were directl}' dependent upon our 
subject for support, at that time having lost their 
property, and being old and infirm. Their in- 
firmities were the result of age, their poverty, war. 
It was the ambition of Mr. Hill to become a man of 
letters, but, recognizing the position of his parents, 
he without further debate gave up the project and 
went to work in other directions, making the first 
duty of his life his devotion to his parents. 

The subject of our sketch first began by renting 
a farm, and continued prosperously engaged thereon 

" ■► 



i- 



>► 1 1 < • 



OTOE COUNTY. 



5.51 



i 



until 1873, when, in the month of December, he 
returnert to Virginia in order that he might claim 
his bride, Mary Ella Jeffries, who now becomes the 
companion of his maturer da3^s. Their home has 
been brightened by the birth of fi%e children, to 
whom they gave the names appended: William H., 
Thomas Temple; Edgar T., who died when about 
one year old ; Mary E. and Dudley J. 

Mrs. Hill was born in Culpeper County, Va., on 
the 7th of March, 18.50. The birthdays of her 
mother, herself and daughter May, are all on tlie 
same day of the month. Her parents were quite 
well-to-do, her father being a planter and at the 
same time a slave-holder. He operated a steam 
sawmill, and was largely interested in the lumber 
trade. She was one of eleven children born to her 
parents, and with the exception of herself and two 
sisters they were all boys. She is a lady of edu- 
cation and culture, and was graduated from the 
Culpeper Female Institute in the year 1870. 

Mr. Hill intended to return to Nebraska im- 
mediately after his marriage, but was detained in 
Virginia, and finally went into business with his 
brother-in-law, Mr. J. E. Jeffries. Business pros- 
pered exceedingly until 1876, when the high water 
broke the mill dam, greatly damaged the propert}-, 
and a heavy loss was sustained. They repaired the 
injurj', however, and all went well for a time. In 
187y he returned to Nebraska, bringing with him 
his wife and three children; he then settled in Pal- 
myra Precinct, purchasing fifteen and a half acres, 
upon which he erected a thoroughly substantial and 
commodious dwelling, which represents in its ar- 
rangement, furnishing, etc., the very harmony of 
homelike restfulness and domestic comfort. Such 
is the spirit that seems to pervade and render the 
more material things capable of leaving the im- 
pression that it is indeed a home, which is un- 
doubtedly due to his most excellent wife. 

For one year Mr. Hill served in the ofBce of 
Constable, resigning the position in 1882. Upon the 
occasion of T. W. Foster severing his official connec- 
tion with the Postal Department, Mr. Hill was ap- 
pointed and accepted the position, and has given 
every satisfaction to the people ever since that 
time, rendering the most efficient service in each 
i r and every dei)artment. Politically, he is a member 



of the Democratic party, and is aetivel3' engaged in 
its interests. Both he and Mrs. Hill are members 
in good standing of the Baptist Church, and are 
respected very highl3' in that direction, and in the 
communit}' at large there are few families that are 
more thoroughly esteemed. 



/^EORGE W. WELLS, a native of England, 
11 ,=n and a farmer in good circumstances, pro- 
'^^4! prietor of 160 acres of land on section 18, 
in Russell Precinct, fulfills the idea of the well-bred 
English gentleman. Over his domestic affairs pre- 
sides a lady in every way his equal, refined and 
well educated, and their hospitable doors are ever 
open both to friends and strangers, who, if of ordi- 
nary intelligence, are not slow in discerning that 
the}' are under the roof of those who have made 
politeness a study, and who were born and reared 
in an atmosphere of culture and refinement. Their 
home, pleasant within and without, forms an at- 
tractive picture of rural life, where peace and con- 
tentment abide. 

Thomas Wells, the father of our subject, was a 
native of Buckinghamshire, England, and a shoe- 
maker b}' trade. In early manhood he married 
Miss Anna Green, and those of her family who sur- 
vive are residents of England. The father departed 
this life in 1856, at the age of sixty-four years. 
The mother passed away after the decease of her 
husband, about 1865. 

The subject of this sketch was born March 27, 
1837, in Buckinghamshire, and learned the shoe- 
making trade under the instruction of bis excellent 
father. He received the education common to the 
boys of his time and neighborhood, and was trained 
in those principles of honesty and sentiments of 
honor which have left their indelible impress upon 
his subsequent life. In Jul}', 1866, having become 
dissatisfied with his condition and his prospects, he 
determined to seek his fortune on the other side of 
the Atlantic. Accordingly, bidding adieu to the 
friends of his childhood and youth, he set sail on 
the steamer "Hibernian," and ten days afterward 
landed in the city of Quebec, Canada. Later he 

•►■ 



* ► I I < - 



OTOE COUNTY. 



proceeried to Toronto, and worked at his trade 
until the spring of 1869. Coining over into the 
"States" in the month of April, he made his way 
westward across the Missi.-^sippi, and upon reaching 
this county homesteaded eight}' acres of land, which 
tract is included in his present farm. 

Our subject had not only corae to a new section 
of country with limited means, hut was beset by 
the difficulties attendant upon imperfect transport- 
ation and distant markets. He was obliged to 
haul lumber from Nebraska City before he could 
put up his house, and the labor required in the 
transformation of the raw prairie to a cultivated 
farm may be better imagined th.an described. He 
set out groves, hedges and an orchard, and in the 
course of years began to realize the result of his 
labors. Of late he has given considerable attention 
to stock-raising, feeding numbers of cattle and hogs 
each year, from the proceeds of which lie realizes a 
handsome income. He votes the straight Repub- 
lican ticket, and has been a member of the School 
Board in his district for a period of nine years. He 
has been a useful man in his community. 

Mr. Wells was married in his native shire June 
1, 1864, to Miss Mary G., daughter of James and 
Anna (Gregory) Bird, whose birthplace was not far 
from that of her iiusband. Her father was a baker 
by occupation, and died in the spring of 1883. at 
the age of seventy-four years. The mother is still 
living in England, being in the year 1888 of the 
same age as her husband when he died. Of the 
eleven children born to them seven are living and 
mostly residents of England. Mrs. Wells was born 
Nov. 27, 1839, and of her union with our subject 
there are two children only, both daughters, Edith 
A. and Clara J. B. The former is twenty -years of 
age and the latter thirteen, and both are at home 
with their parents. 



R. ALEXANDER M. COWDEN, physi- 
cian and surgeon at Dunbar, although only 
a resident of this place since May of the 
past year (1888) is already building up 
a large praeiice. His prompt attention to the calls 
of duty, and his conscientious methods of practice, 
are meeting with their legitimate reward, and he 



has about all the business he can conveniently at- 
tend to. As a citizen, he is enterprising and public- 
spirited, willing to contribute his full share toward 
the best interests of his community. 

Dr. Cowden was born in Crawfordsville, Iowa, 
March 31, 1855, and is the son of Alexander Cow- 
den, who was born in Mercer County, Pa., and re- 
moved from the Keystone State to Mahoning 
County, Ohio, and from there to Mercer County, 
111., in the year 1840, or about that date. He de- 
parted this life at his home in Washington County, 
Iowa, April 30, 1855. The mother, Mrs. Margaret 
M. Cowden, is a native of Pennsylvania, and is 
now in Crawfordsville, Iowa. The parental family 
consisted of five children, who are now mostly in 
Iowa. 

The subject of this sketch pursued liis early 
studies in the common school, and during his 
younger 3'ears lived upon a farm. Upon leaving 
the home roof he engaged as clerk in a drug-store 
two years, then took up the study of medicine, and 
later, in 1880. was graduated from the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons in Keokuk. Iowa. He 
began the practice of his profession in the village 
of Ellison. Warren Co., Ill, in the winter of 1881, 
whence he removed, in 1883, to Elvira, Iowa, and 
followed his profession there until Ma}', 1888, when 
he changed his residence to this county. He is now 
but thirty-four years of age, and has already en- 
tered upon a career which gives promise of great 
prosperity in the future. 

Miss Mary A. Crawford, of Crawfordsville, Iowa, 
became the wife of our subject Sept. 21, 1881. 
Mrs. Cowden was born Dec. 2, 1862, in Crawfords- 
ville, and is the daughter of John W. and A. J. 
(Crawford) Crawford, who were natives of Ohio, 
and are now in Iowa. Their family included seven 
children, who are now mostlj' in Iowa. 

To the Doctor and his estimable wife there 
have been born three children, one daughter and 
two sons, namely : Maggie L., Bruce C. and Rus- 
sell G. Dr. Cowden supports the principles of 
the Republican party, and, with his estimable wife, 
is a member in good standing of the United Pres- 
byterian Church. They occup}' a snug home in the 
northwestern part of town, and are making hosts of 
friends amid a community of intelligent people. 



*^t 




'n ^U^-7- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^ii^K 



555 



, OBERT CURKY. A. M., Pli. 1)., second son 
of Roliert and Kezia Curry, was born near 
Murrysville, Westmoreland Co., Pa., on the 
*g;8th of June, 1821. In his ninth year liis 
parents removed to AYashington County of tlie 
same State, where lie was raised, and trained to 
habits of industry. 

His opportunities for obtaining an early school 
education were very meager, as his parents, although 
honest, industrious and intelligent, were in limited 
circumstances. This want of opportunity, how- 
ever, was offset to a certain extent by his early 
home education, as under the guidance of his par- 
ents, who were Presbyterians of Scotch extraction, 
he had learned to read and write, and treasured up 
in memory the Westminster Assembly's shorter 
catechism, and many psalms and hymns, and other 
choice selections of prose and poetry, further bade 
than at his majority he could remember. His in- 
structions in the Sunday-school, and from the pul- 
pit also, formed an important part of his early 
education, and doubtless had much to do in shaping 
his character and forming his purposes for life. 

He early manifested an ardent desire to obtain a 
liberal education, and in the meantime, liy his own 
unaided home efforts, supplemented by a few 
months' instruction in the public schools of his 
neighborhood, gained such a Itnowledge of tlie 
common branches of an English education as en- 
abled him to pass a satisfactory examination before 
an intelligent school committee, from which he 
received such certificates and recommendations as 
justified him in applj'ing for a position as teacher 
in the public schools, and hencefoi-ward relied en- 
tirely on his own efforts for support and success in 
securing an education. 

After teaching a few terms m the public schools, 
he became a student in the academy at Frankfort 
Springs, Beaver Co., Pa., where he made consider- 
able progress in the study of mathematics and the 
classics. Su})sequently he attended an academy in 
Cross Creek Village, Washington Co., Pa., devoting 
his time while there exclusively to the study of the 
Latin and Greek languages. In the summer of 1845 
he entered the Freshman class of Jefferson College, 
where he graduated in 1848, having taught more 
or less in the meantime. 



After gr.aduation lie taught one year in the Hays 
& McNary school, and on Dec. 26, 1849, he and 
Miss Mary McCloy, youngest daughter of Dr. Al- 
exander McCloy, of Cannonsburg, Pa., were united 
in marriage. 

He subsequently held successively the principal- 
ship of the West Newton Academy, the Cannons- 
burg graded schools, and that of a private seminary 
in West Manchester. In the spring of 1855 he or- 
ganized, at Mansfield, Pa., the first Normal School 
west of the Alleghany Mountains. In the fall of 
the same year he became Principal of the New 
Brighton Female Seminaiy, in which position he 
remained until his wife died, in the fall of 1859, 
when he, with his little daughter, an only child, 
returned to Pittsburgh, where for a time he edited 
and published an educational journal, known as the 
National Educator. 

In 1860 he founded the celebrated Curry Insti- 
tute, of Pittsburgh, Pa., an institution which still 
bears his name, and which, while comprising three 
courses — Normal, Classical and Commercial — was 
nevertheless designed for the special education and 
training of teachers. It was a private enterprise, 
which, wliile demanding high prices for tuition, 
had to compete with the Pittsburgh Central High 
School, which comprised a Normal Department free 
to all its pupils. Currj^ Institute opened with only 
four students, but grew so rapidly that by the end 
of the first year it numbered over 200 students. 
Its popularity increased from year to year, until 
before long there was a constant demand for all its 
graduates as teachers, and indeed all its other stu- 
dents who could obtain certificates of any grade. 
During his thirteen years' connection with the in- 
stitution as Principal, its average annual attend.ance 
was over 317 students, while toward the last of that 
period, some of its catalogues show an annual en- 
rollment of over 500 students. 

In the spring of 1873 he was appointed Deputy 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Penn- 
sylvania, and as his thirteen years of unceasing 
labor in building up and carrying on his school 
had somewhat imp.aired his health, and as in the 
meantime his little daughter had died, thus leaving 
him alone, he disposed of liis interest in the school, 
accepted the proffered office, and entered upon its du- 



t* 



•^^f^^ 



556 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•»> 



I 



ties on the 1st of June, 1873. His estimated fitness for 
the position, the nature of his work, and the ability 
with which he discharged the duties of his ofHce, are 
aptly and briefly expressed in the following ab- 
stracts taken from leading educational journals and 
elsewhere. Thus, Dr. J. P. Wickersham, in the 
Pennsylvania School Journal for June. 1873, in 
speaking of the suitableness of his appointment, 
saj's: '"Prof. Robert Curry has all liis life been en- 
gaged in the work of education. In 1855 he estab- 
lished the first Normal Scliool west of the mountains, 
and since that time has lieen constantly engaged 
in the work of training teachers. His appointment 
was asked for by an immense number of superin- 
tendents, teachers, school directors, public men and 
leading private citizens. He seems to come into 
office by the universal good-will of his section of 
the State, and the cause of education is expected to 
profit much by his appointment." The following 
resolution, which is taken from the published min- 
utes of the Teachers' Association, held in tlie city 
of Pittsburgh April 5, 1873, and which was unani- 
mouslj^ adopted by tliat body, is a type of the 
numerous requests above alluded to, and, at the 
same time, indicates the estimation in which he was 
held at liome. 

'■'■Resolved^ That this convention nominate Prof. 
Robert Curry, and earnestly urge his appointment 
to the position of Deputy State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, believing that his natural abil- 
ity, educational qualifications, extensive experience 
as an educator, popularity as an institute lecturer 
and instructor, and his high moral character, are 
such as to eminently fit him for this important po- 
sition." The Warren Institute Gem for September, 
1873, saj's: "Prof Robert Curry entered upon tlie 
duties of his office last June. The degree of Ph. 
D. was conferred upon him by Washington and 
Jefferson College last July. He is now in the prime 
of life, and endowed with ripe scholarship and rich 
experience, and his services as State Instructor 
cannot fail to be of incalculable value to the cause 
of education throughout the State." The National 
Journal of Education tor June, 1880, speaking of 
Dr. Curry's official work in Pennsylvania, saj^s: 
"As Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, he spent nearly four years as State Instructor 



in the city and county institutes of the common- 
wealth, attending the city and county superintend- 
ents' conventions, and in visiting the State Normal 
Schools and examining their graduating classes. 
His public addresses were very highly and widely- 
appreciated, having been quoted largely by the 
National Bureau of J^ducation in its annual reports, 
the French Centennial Commission, in its report on 
the state of education in this country, and by the 
press in Canada, Germany, and other foreign coun- 
tries, as well as at home." 

During the summer of 1876 he made his head- 
quarters in Philadelphia, where, having charge of 
Pennsylvania's Centennial Educational exhibit, he 
had rai-e opportunities for becoming acquainted 
with the leading educators and educational systems 
of the world. In the meantime, he and Miss Jennie 
B. Boggs, of Allegheny City, were married, and 
began housekeeping in Philadelphia, exi)ecting to 
make that place their future home. In December 
of that year, however, he was unanimouslj^ elected 
Principal of the Nebraska State Normal School, and 
although it was not to his pecuniary interest to 
make the change, he had a desire to see the West, 
and as the worli was congenial, and would allow 
him to enjoy more of home life, he at once re- 
signed his office and repaired to Nebraska. In 
aclcnowledging the receipt of Dr. Curry's resigna- 
tion. Dr. Wickersham, in the Pennsylvania School 
Journal, says: "In parting with Prof. Curiy in 
Pennsylvania, it is only just to say that the cause 
of public education loses a warm friend, and the 
Department of Public Instruction an able and faitli- 
ful officer." 

In January, 1877, he entered upon the duties of 
his new position as Principal of the Nebraska 
State Normal School. Under his management the 
history of the institution was one of uninterrupted 
prosperity. The thoroughness and efficienc}' of its 
work during his administration is fullj' attested bj^ 
Hon. S. R. Thompson, for several years State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction in Nebraska, who, 
in his annual report for 1880, says: "Nebraska is 
fortunate in having one of the best Normal Schools 
in the United States. This statement is made delib- 
erately, and after a careful study of the scliools of 
other States. The firm, consistent management, 



:,U 



>► II 4»' 



^^K 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the liberal course of sUidj% extending through five 
years, the zeal and abilitj' of the teachers, and the 
industry and enthusiasm of the pupils, render our 
Normal School an institution of which every intelli- 
gent friend of education in the State may well feel 
proud." 

Dr. Curry has delivered many lectures, and done 
much institute work in the State. He was Presi- 
dent of the State Teachers' Association in 1880. 
He has always been an earnest student, and is a deep 
thinker and able worker. 

He is the author of the following pamphlets, viz: 
••Education — What It is not, and What It is;" "Spe- 
cial Education," "Prerequisites to Success," '-The 
Formation of Human Character," "The Relative 
Importance of the Teacher's Vocation," •'The Phi- 
losophy of Revelation," "Geometry — Its Nature, 
Elements, Use, and How to Teach It," "The Earth 
as a Model School," '"The Earth as a Cosmical Sys- 
tem," "Man and His Environments," and various 
other addresses and reports. Several years ago he 
had partially prepared a series of arithmetics, which, 
while in manuscript form, were destroyed by fire. 
He now has several other works in a state of partial 
preparation. 

In 1883 Dr. Curry resigned his position as Prin- 
cipal of the Nebraska State Normal School, and re- 
moved to Palmyra, Neb., where he has since devoted 
most of his time to phdosophj^ literature and writ- 
ing, and his leisure hours to the management of his 
large landed estate in that viciuitj*. 

Although an educator by profession. Dr. Curry 
has never restricted his reading and study to any 
single line of investigation, but has rather endeav- 
ored to widen and enrich his views on all subjects, 
b}- widening his course of reading and study. After 
leaving college he read full courses in law, medi- 
cine and theology, respectively; not with a view 
to practicing any of them as a profession, but rather 
for his own improvement in thus extending his 
range of thought, and rounding out his own edu- 
cation, believing that an educator should keep 
abreast of the times in all departments of human 
progress. And no doubt his great success as an 
educator, as well as his achievements in other fields 
of labor, is largely due to his high culture, rich ex- 
perience, and liberal views thus acquired. 



We have already seen that his experience as an 
educator has been much and varied, having served 
as Principal of all grades of schools, from the jniblic, 
district, primary and graded schools, up through 
the academy, the female seminary, and the private 
and St.ate Normal schools, and that he has filled all 
these positions with marked ability and success. 
But his experience outside of his profession, and for 
the most part simultaneous with the performance 
of its duties, has been scarcely less extensive. He 
was for many years an active worker in the Sunday- 
school, part of the time as vSuperintendent, and all 
the time as teacher of Bible classes. He was for a 
time editor and proprietor of the National Educator. 
While carrying on his professional work in Pitts- 
burgh, he also served a term as Bank Director, and 
was subsequently Deputy State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction in Pennsylvania, all of whicii 
positions he filled with credit to himself, and fidel- 
ity to the interests of all concerned. His integrity 
and business tact have been clearly shown in his 
prudent management of the pecuniary interests of 
all the institutions, both private and public, com- 
mitted to his care, as well as by his judicious 
investments made on his own account. 

This brief sketch atfords an apt illustration of 
what can be accomplished in this country by talent, 
pluck and high purpose. The subject of this biog- 
raphy was l>orn and raised in the country, where, 
without money, books or influential frieads, he be- 
gan his public career during his minority, and by 
his own unaided efforts rose step by step, until he 
reached the highest plane of scholarship, and now 
stands in the very front rank of educators. 

Dr. Curr}^ has all his life taken an active part in 
everything relating to the public good, and the 
amelioration of mankind. His sympathies have 
always been with the downtrodden and the poor, 
both at home and abroad. He has often lent a 
helping hand to worthy students seeking to better 
their condition by means of a good education, b^' 
furnishing them free instruction, and, in some cases, 
while conducting his own private schools, free 
boarding. Without being a bigot in religion, a 
partisan in iX)litics, or an ultra sensationalist on re- 
forms, he is a Presbyterian in church polity, a 
Republican in politics, and a teetotaler as regards 
the use of tobacco and intoxicating drinks. 



558 



OTOE COUNTY. 



RS. JENNIE B. CURRY, daughter of James 
and Lueinda Boggs, was born in Allegheny 
City, Pa., Oct. 26, 1845. Her parents be- 
ing Covenanters, she was not only trained 
to habits of industry and economy, but thoroughly 
instructed in all the doctrines, catechisms and cus- 
toms of the Covenanter Church, of which she early 
became an active member. Her systematic, con- 
scientious home training during her infancy and 
childhood, conditioned on her part such discipline 
and habits of promptness and self-denial as rendered 
her performance of duty ever after comparatively 
easy. 

Miss Boggs received her early school education 
in the Third Ward public schools of Allegheny 
City, and her professional education and training 
in Curry Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., where she 
graduated in the Normal course of that institution 
in the fall of 1864. 

After completing the Normal course, she was, on 
account of her superior qualifications and high 
character, chosen an assistant teacher in the insti- 
tution, where, with marked ability and success, she 
taught nine consecutive years, during which time 
she, in addition to her duties as teacher, completed 
a full college course of studj- in the academic de- 
partment of that institution. In the meantime she 
received, on examination by the proper authorities, 
all the different kinds of legal certificates and di- 
plomas granted to teachers in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, including the Provisional, the Professional, 
and the Permanent State Certificates and the Slate 
Normal School Diploma. 

When Currj- Institute passed from under the 
management of its founder. Miss Boggs took a rest 
of one j'ear, during which time she was elected 
Assistant Principal of the Morehead Public Schools 
of Pittsburgh, Pa., and took charge as teacher of 
the High School of that institution. After holding 
this position two years, she resigned at the close of 
the school J'ear, in June, 1876. 

On July 19, 1876, she was married to Dr. Robert 
Curry, then Deputy State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction in Pennsylvania, and spent the remain- 
der of the summer with him in Philacrelphia, where 
at the great Centennial, with its immense educational 
exhibits, she made many acquaintances, and greatly 



^ 



extended her observations on school appliances, 
school workers and school systems. 

In December, 1876, she removed with her hus- 
band to Nebraska. In the summer of 1877 she 
was elected to the Chair of Language and Methods, 
in the Nebrjiska State Normal School, which position 
she filled two years, .at the expiration of which time 
she was transferred to the Chair of ]\Iethods and 
Training, which position she continued to fill until 
the summer of 1883, when, with her husband, she 
resigned, and removed to Pahnyra, Neb., where she 
now resides. When she was chosen a member of 
the State Normal School faculty she was also given 
charge of the State Normal School Library, which 
was under her special care and direction during her 
six j'ears' connection with the insMtution. 

Mrs. Curry was a member of the Allegheny' 
Count}' Teachers' Association from 1863 until she 
left the State, in 1876. She was Vice President of 
the Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association in 
1868. She has prepared and read papers before a 
number of Teachers' Associations, and done much 
Institute work in both Pennsylvania and Nebraska. 

She united with the Covenanter Church in her 
childhood, but has been a member of the Presby- 
terian Church for nearly twenty years. She was 
an active and successful worker in the Sunday- 
school from the time she was fifteen j-ears of age 
until she came to Nebraska. 

Mrs. Curry has for man}* j-ears been a great 
reader, not only of the current literature furnished 
by the leading magazines and reviews, but also of 
the most prominent books published in the interest 
of literature, science and religion. Since removing 
to Palmyra she has made philosophy a S]3ecial 
study, and in the meantime h:is read, with her hus- 
band, the ''History of Philosophj'," as given by 
Cousin, Schwegler and Ueberweg, respectively; 
and made a critical study of Kant's "Critique of 
Pure Reason." and the Philosophies of Schelling, 
Fichte and Hegel. 

But her accomplishments and efficiency as a 
scholar and educator are not her only qualifications, 
nor, perhaps, her most important ones. She is 
equally at home in the domestic circle. Having 
been lirought up to habits of industry and neatness, 
she in childhood learned how to do all kinds of 



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TyrT^o-i^cC 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



561 



^t*: 



housework aud needlework in the most approved 
iiiauiier, and now well knows how to make her 
happy home attractive and pleasant. 

^^ PENCKR h. GANT, M. D., has for several 
^^^ years, when the state of his health permitted, 
lll/\3) practiced medicine in Nebraska City, and 

— his learning, ability and skill jnstly entitle 
him to a high place among his professional brethren 
in the West. He is a native of North Carolina, his 
birthplace being in Orange County, twelve miles 
south of Hillsboro. and three miles southeast of 
Chapel Hill, and the date of his birth was April 17, 
1817. His father, James H. Gant. was born in the 
same county, but his grandfather, William Gant, 
was a native of Scotland. He came to America 
during tlie Revolution, with three brothers and the 
famous McDonald. After peace was declared he 
settled in Orange County, where he engaged in 
farming and made his residence until death. 

The father of our subject was reared on his 
father's homestead, and until 1838 engaged in farm- 
ing in Orange Count}'. He served in the AVar of 
1812, and was Captain of his company under Gen. 
Jackson at the l^attle of New Orleans. He married 
in his native State Mary Stewart, likewise a native 
of North Carolina, born in Wake County, and of 
English ancestry. In 1838 Mr. Gant moved with 
his family to Missouri, going with teams across 
Tennessee and Kentuckj', and cooking and camifing 
by the way. They started in August, and arrived 
in Richmond, Ray Co., Mo., October 10. Mr. Gant 
invested his money in a tract of COO acres of unim- 
prove<l land, ten miles north of Richmond, and was 
one of the earlj' settlers of the countj'. He built a 
hewed log house to shelter his famil}', and then 
commenced to improve a farm. He became a 
prominent factor in promoting the educational 
and religious inierests of the countrj'. He built of 
hewed logs on his land the first school-house ever 
erected in that section, and he assisted in the organi- 
zation of a church, the meetings being held in the 
school-house. The mother of our subject, who was 
a very capable housewife, had no stove, and did all 
her cooking by the open fireplace, and she used to 



spin, weave and make all the clothing of the family. 
The father of our subject improved a farm, upon 
which he resided some years, and he then sold it 
and bought a home in Liberty, where the remaining 
j-ears of his life were passed, he dying in 1868, at 
the advanced age of eighty-six. The- mother of 
our subject died in the same year, at the age of 
seventy-six. She and her husband were well en- 
dowed mentally and |)hysically, and their length of 
life was productive of much good to others, so that 
they have left behind them a blessed memory that 
will be fondly cherished by those who knew and 
loved them. They were the parents of twelve chil- 
dren, eight sons and four daughters. 

The subject of this sketch was the second child 
born to his parents, and he was reared in his native 
Stale. He accompanied the family to Missouri, and 
having made the best of his opportunities to get an 
education, at the age of nineteen he commenced to 
teach school in Saline County, Mo. He was thus 
engaged for some years, and in 1843 commenced 
the study of medicine. In 1847 he was graduated 
from the St. Louis Medical College, and immediately 
entered upon the practice of his profession in Clay 
County, Mo. In 1852 he went from there to Sa- 
vannah, in Andrew County, and was the leading 
physician there until 1863, when he crossed the 
plains to Denver, and resided there until the close 
of the war. He then came to Nebraska Citj', and 
at once opened an office here, and has been in act- 
ive practice ever since, when his health would per- 
mit. He has won a fine reputation, and stands 
second to none in the city as regards a sound, prac- 
tical knowledge of his profession, and as the pos- 
sessor of all the requisites that go to make up a 
good physician. 

Dr. Gant was married, in Ai)ril, 1848, to Frances 
A. Yance}'. Her father. Col. John F. Yancey, was 
a native of Virginia, and a cousin of William L. 
Y'"ancey, of Virginia. He was a Colonel in the War 
of 1812, and moved from Virginia to Missouri, 
where he bought a large tract of land in Saline 
Count}', and was a respected resident there until his 
death. The pleasant married life of our subject 
and his amiable wife has been blessed to them by 
the birth of three children, as follows: John Yancej-, 
the eldest, is a prosperous farmer in LaFa^-ette 
■► 



f 



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t 



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562 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



County, Mo.; Eugenia K. is tlie wife of W. F. N. 
Houser, cashier of the Farmers' Bank, Nebraska City ; 
Thomas S. is a successful physician of Auburn, 
Nemaha Co., Neb. 

Our subject is a man of true nobility of charac- 
ter, earnest, digniflefl, and simple in his bearing, 
and his professional and private life is irreproach- 
able. His influence for good is strongly felt in the 
social and religious circles of this community, as he 
is one of the leading members of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, and is prominently identified 
with the State Medical Society. 

^^A YRUS BAS8ETT. Neliraska remained a 
'11^-^ Territory for a period of nine years after 
^^^J the subject of this sketch settled upon the 
land which he now owns and occupies in South 
Branch Precinct. He was thus one of the earliest 
pioneers of this count3',and, considering the record 
which he has made for himself, has proved one of 
its most enterprising and useful men. Upon cross- 
ing the Mississippi it had been his intention to visit 
Pike's Peak, which was then the object of great 
excitement, and to which hundreds were hastening 
in the hopes of accumulating a fortune without the 
necessity of labor. 

Our subject, in pursuance of this idea, started 
out from Lockport, 111., overland with a team and 
accompanied by A. J. Reynolds. When one week's 
drive west of the Missouri Kiver his brother-in-law 
was taken quite ill, and they were obliged to turn 
about in order to obtain medical aid from Ne- 
braska City. In the meantime Mr. Bassett, becom- 
ing further discouraged over his expedition to 
Pike's Peak, decided to locate nearer the bounds 
of civilizati(jn, and accordingly laid claim to 160 
acres of land in this county, upon a warrant which 
his father had received for services in the War of 
1812. He considers that this was a most fortunate 
move for him, when he looks around upon his com- 
fortable homestead, his well-tilled acres, the modern 
improvements and all the appliances of rural life, 
with plenty for the present and a prospect of a com- 
petenc}' for his old age. He took up his residence 
here in the spring of 1859, and during his thirty 

-4» 



years' residence in Southern Nebraska has witnessed 
many more changes than can be mentioned in the 
course of a brief biography. 

The important events in the life of our subject 
are mainly as follows: He was born in Allegany- 
County, N. Y., Feb. 5, 1832, and is the son of 
David and Lucinda (Coggswell) Bassett, the for- 
mer a native of Massachusetts and the latter of 
Connecticut. In early life they became residents 
of New York State, where their marriage took 
place. Of the paternal grandfather little is known 
beyond the fact that he was a native of England, 
and emigrated to the United States, settling in 
Massachusetts. He died when his son David was 
but a boy, and the latter was thrown among stran- 
gers. Probably about the time of reaching his 
majority he left New England for the Empire State, 
and located among the early pioneers of Livingston 
County. Here he engaged in farming very suc- 
cessfully, but finally lost his property. His death 
took place in Portage, on the Genesee River, when 
he was sixty -seven years of age. 

After the death of her husband the mother of our 
subject moved to Illinois with her children, and 
died in Will County in 1861, at the age of fifty- 
eight years. David Bassett had served as a private 
in the War of 1812. The parental household in- 
cluded the following children : Sabina, the wife of 
Lodelia Speer, of Michigan; Elvira R., Mrs. Ree- 
ver; Joseph W.; Helena M., Mrs. Reynolds, and 
Cyrus of our sketch. All of these are j'et liv- 
ing. Cyrus, in common with his brothers and sis- 
ters, received a common-school education, and was 
taught those habits of industry which have been 
the basis of his success in life. He was fifteen 
years of age at the time of his father's death, and 
remained with his mother until twenty-four, work- 
ing on the home farm. Then starting out for him- 
self he farmed on rented land one year, and at the 
expiration of this time left the Empire State and 
took up his residence in Will County, 111. Two 
and one-half years later we find him journeying 
toward Pike's Peak. 

When Mr. Bassett came to Nebraska, it is hardly 
necessary to say Nebraska City was a hamlet of 
but a few houses. He worked his land until the out- 
break of the Civil War, and then in the summer of 



•►Hl^ 



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•<• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ftfiS 



1862 responrled to a call for troops from the Gov- 
ernor of Nebraska, reporting for enrollment at 
Sj-racuse. Later, finding the need of men at home, 
the Governor's call was rescinded, and Mr. Bassett 
remained at home with others in case of being called 
upon to protect their own State against the rav- 
ages of the Indians. These in the fall of 1864 came 
with threatening aspect, having on their war paint, 
as far as Little Blue, causing the people to leave 
their homes and hasten to a jdace of refuge. They 
finally went back across the Missouri River, but_in 
the meantime the settlers in that region, one Sun- 
day at church, appointed a committee to send out 
scouts and investigate as to the truth of the reports 
of danger which were coming to their ears day b}' 
day. Mr. Bassett was one of three men appointed 
to reconnoiter, and with the two others started out 
one Sunday night on horseback, reaching Beatrice 
the night following. They found the people of 
Little Blue suffering from the various outrages 
committed b}' the redskins, who had stolen tlieir 
stock and committed various other depredations. 
They had, however, apparently done all they had 
dared to do and were now on the retreat, so the 
scouting partj' returned home. 

Mr. Bassett now began farming in earnest upon 
his land, tilling the soil, setting out fruit and shade 
trees, putting up buildings, and effecting the other 
improvements naturally suggested to tiie enterpris- 
ing and progressive agriculturist. He has now a fine 
orchard of 200 bearing apple trees, a commodious 
farmhouse, with barns, sheds and maciiiner^', live 
stock, and all the other appliances of the complete 
rural home. His land is finely watered by running- 
streams, and he has plenty of timber. A stone 
quarry furnishes all this material desired for use 
on the farm, and many loads annually are supplied 
to tlie people generally of this locality. 

IMr. Bassett was married first in Danville, N. Y., 
in 1856, to Miss Elizabeth Phelps, who was born in 
Allegany County, that State, and is the daughter 
of Thomas Phelps. His present wife was Miss 
INIargai-etta L. Kerr, to whom he was married Dec. 
31, 1872, in Johnson County, Neb. This lady was 
born in ISS-'J, in Richland Count}-, Ohio, and is the 
ilaughter of David and Elizabeth Snyder. Her 
parents wexe natives respectively of Beaver and 
< • 



Carlisle Counties, Pa., and the father a farmer by 
occupation. Miss Snyder was first married to Clark 
Howland. in Ohio. Mr. H. was born in New York 
State in 1837, and died iti Sterling. Joiinson Co., 
Neb., in the winter of 1870. Mrs. Bassett received 
a good education and taught school several terms 
when a young woman. Of her union with our sub- 
ject there are two children, Lois and Cyrus Rolla, 
who continue at home with their parents. Mr. and 
Mrs. B. are members in good standing of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church at Rockford, in which 
our subject has officiated as Cl.ass-Le.ader and .Su- 
perintendent of the Sunday-school. Politically', he 
is a Republican with prohibition tendencies. He 
was at one time a member of Rockford Grange, P. 
of H. He has served as Justice of the Peace in 
South Branch Precinct for a period of ten or twelve 
years, and has almost continuously been a member 
of the .School Board. 

■viJOriN p. BROWN, contractor and builder, 
and doing a good business in Nebr.aska City 
^_^ and vicinity, is a man of much intelligence 
l^^// and general information, and one who has 
seen considerable of life in the Great West. An 
ardent lover of nature, he, during his younger years, 
traveled over a considerable portion of the Western 
country, meeting with many adventures among In- 
dians and the pioneer white element, and learning 
largely of life and its various phases, being a keen 
observer, and keeping his ej-es open to what was 
going on around him. 

Mr. Brown struck the eastern line of this count}- 
as early as 1857, coming to Nebraska Citj'- from 
Davenport, Iowa. A native of Pennsj'lvania, he 
was born in the town of Carlisle, Cumberland 
County, Feb. 14, 1829, and is the son of Thomas 
and jMargaret (Phillips) Brown, who were natives 
of. the same countj^ as their son, where also the pa- 
ternal grandfather, Thomas Bi-own, was born. The 
father was a shoemaker b}- trade, which he followed 
in his native State during the early part of his life, 
but migrated West in May, 1857, and spent his last 
days in Nebraska City, dying at the age of sixty- 
three years. The familj' firet settled in Nemaha 



•►Hl^ 



564 



OTOE COUNTY. 



County, where the father took up a tract of land, 
upon which he livetl and labored until about 1866. 
The mother died there at tlie age of sixty years. 
The household circle included nine children, five 
of whom grew to mature years, and four of whom 
are still living. Of these, John P., our subject, is 
the eldest; Eliza J., Mrs. Cleveland, resides in the 
vicinity of Rock Island, 111.; of George W. a 
sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume; 
Mary, Mrs. Smith, is a resident of Dorchester 
County, Md. 

Our subject was the eldest child of his parents, 
and at a verj^ early age developed a peculiar dis- 
position, being remarkablj' self-reliant and ambi- 
tious of acquirmg information of all kinds, and at 
the early age of eight years started out for himself. 
As soon as old enough to think, he began to wonder 
if all the world was like the scenes and surround- 
ings amid which he was born, and where he spent 
the first years of his life. He had an intense longing 
to look beyond the mountains which shut in his 
early home, and determined to go thither and see 
for himself. His grandfather, John Phillips, held 
a Government position in the city of Washington, 
and needing a messenger boy, John P. at once 
availed himself of this opportunity, and repairing 
to the capital, assumed the jjosition, while at the 
same time he attended tlie common schools, and 
lost no opportunity to inform himself in regard to 
tlie various strange things he met with in and 
around the seat of Government, and thus spent the 
years until a youth of seventeen. It was then nec- 
essary for him to take up something practicable, 
and he began an apprenticeship at the carpenter's 
trade, serving four years. At the same time his 
spirit of adventure never deserted him, and he 
started down along the Atlantic Coast, visiting 
Charleston, ]V. C, and Riciimond, Va., and keeping 
himself supplied with pocket money by working at 
his trade. While on his journey he was stricken 
down with malarial fever, but was able to get to 
his old home in Pennsylvania, where he was dis- 
abled for weeks, and at the end of which time 
there seemed to be no abatement of the disease. 

Young Brown now determined upon a change of 
climate, and started for the West. He put up for 
a few months in Wellsville, Ohio, thence made his 



way to Chicago, 111., and from there by the new 
Rock Island Railroad to the Mississippi River. 
This he crossed, and landing in D.avenport, Iowa, 
took up his residence there, and remained two 
or three years, during which time his health be- 
came greatly improved. 

Our subject from the city of Washington had 
been accompanied by his young wife, to whom he 
had been married in the capital, in September, 
1851. This lady. Miss Mary McYain, was then 
but seventeen j-ears old, an orphan, and supporting 
herself by dressmaking. She was ver}' intelligent, 
of a most lovable disposition, and her tastes were 
greatly similar to those of Mr. Brown. Under these 
circumstances it was very natural that there should 
spring vip between them the attachment which re- 
sulted in their early marriage. Their first child 
was born in Washington City, and upon coming to 
Nebrasjja Mr. Brown, in looking about for a home 
for his little family, decided to to take up a tract 
of land in Nemaha County. The Indians were 
prevalent in that section of the country, but Mr. 
Brown, instead of sharing the popular prejudice 
against the red roan, made friends of them, and 
was always well treated by them. He lived with 
his family seven j-ears on the Nemaha County farm, 
during wliich time they endured mam- hardships 
and privations in common with the pioneers around 
them. 

In August, 1868, our subject decided to abandon 
farming and resume carpentering, and for this pur- 
pose changed his residence from Nemaha Countj' 
to Nebraska City. The move proved a fortunate 
one, and many of the older buildings in the city 
stand as monuments of his skill and industrj^ He 
put up manj- store buildings and residences during 
the early years of building up the city, and was ever 
found a man prompt and reliable, making friends 
among its best people. 

In the spring of 1877 Mr. Brown made an ex- 
tensive tour around and among the Black Hills, 
and among other sights came across an encamp- 
ment of 7,000 Sioux Indians. Their tents, horses, 
wives and children, and all the appurtenances of 
their wild, nomadic life, presented a picture which 
has often been described by the traveler to the 
West, and ever possesses an interest to the intelli- 



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^ 





^ 



^ 
^ 



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i 



OTOE COUNTY. 



567 



•► 



gent mind. Mr. Brown spent eighteen raontlis on 
this tour, which practicalh^ wound up his wander- 
ings. He is now quite well advanced in years, but 
is briglit and active as ever, and a man with whom 
it is very pleasurable and profitable to converse. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Brown there have been born 
eight children, only four of whom are living. 
Thomas died in Nebraska City, Oct. 20, 1885, aged 
thirty years; Otis, Ida, Harvey and Arlington are 
married. Ida is the wife of Frank McCartney, 
County Clerk of Otoe County; Harvey is working 
as a carpenter, and makes his home with his par- 
ents; Arlington married Miss Atwood, of Nebraska 
City, where he lives. Mr. Brown is a member of 
the Republican party, although meddling very 
little with politics. He has probably taken a greater 
interest in the success and extension of the I. O. 
O. F., with which he has been connected for the 
past thirty-five years, and oX which he is Past 
Grand. 

!f^ ARTIN PARENT, one of the largest land- 
owners of Rock Greek Precinct, is propri- 
etor of 320 acres on sections 24 and 26, 
where he has made his home since April, 
1868. He came to this count}' in 1856, and pre- 
empted land in Otoe Precinct the year following. 
He had made his way across the Mississippi from 
Douglas County, 111., of which he had been a resi- 
dent eight years. He is a native of Parke County, 
Ind., and was born Aug. 26, 1833. 

William Parent, the father of our subject, was 
born in Tennessee and reared in Kentuckj' ; in the 
latter .State he married Miss Priscilla Martin, who 
was born there, in Hardin County. They contin- 
ued residents of the Blue Grass regions until after 
the birth of five children, then emigrated to Parke 
County, Ind.. where five more little ones were 
added to the household circle. They were among 
the pioneers of that county, and endured in com- 
mon with the people about them the vicissitudes 
of life in a new settlement. The country around 
them abounded in wild animals, and it is liardly nec- 
essary lo say their neighbors were few and far be- 
tween. The labors of the faiher as a tiller of the 
soil met with their legitimate reward, and he built 



up a comfortable home, where he spent the remain- 
der of his da3's, his death taking place about 1843, 
when he was sixtj'-five j'ears old. The mother after 
the death of her husband went to live with her 
son Martin, in Coles County, III., where she passed 
away when about fifty-four years of age. 

Our subject was educated in the schools of Indi- 
ana and Illinois, his home being in that part of 
Coles which is now Douglas County. He was married 
during his early manhood to Miss Mary Ann Moore, 
who was born there Jan. 7, 1837. She became the 
mother of three children, and accompanied her 
family to this county. Her death took place at the 
homestead in Rock Creek Precinct, Nov. 12, 1880, 
and her remains were laid to rest four days later in 
the cemetery on a part of the land owned by her 
husband. Mrs. Parent was a lady of many estima- 
ble qualities, greatly beloved by her husband and 
friends, and her death was mourned by a large cir- 
cle of acquaintances. Two of the children of this 
marriage, William and Joseph, died young. The 
surviving child, a daughter, Mary R., still remains 
at home with her father, whom she cares for with 
filial affection, anticipating his wants and striving 
as far as possible to supply the place of tlie wife 
and mother, who was for so many years his solace 
and comfort. 

Mrs. Mar}' Ann P.arent was the daughter of Jo- 
seph and Amelia (Whitaker) Moore, who were old 
residents of Coles County, 111. Mr. Moore en- 
tered a claim and improved a farm, where he and 
his excellent wife spent the remainder of their 
da^s. Both Mr. and Mrs. Parent identified them- 
selves with the Methodist Church many years ago. 
AVhen the new school-house was built in District No. 
2, Mr. Parent, being a great admirer of the mar- 
t3'red President, Abraham Lincoln, insisted that the 
property should be named Lincoln Grove, which 
name it now bears. He believed that it would be 
a fitting and proper reminder to the children in fu- 
ture years of the career of the great Emancipator, 
one of the noblest of his kind, who was closely 
connected with the pioneer history of Illinois, and 
later arose to the highest position in the gift of the 
American people. 

Mr. Parent is a quiet and unobtrusive citizen, 
meddling ver}- little with public affairs, but keeps 



T 



t 668 



OTOE COUNTY. 



himself well posted upon current events, and uni- 
formly gives his support to Republican principles. 
He was one of the moving spirits in securing the 
passage of the Nebraska Herd Law, for which he 
received the thanks of the right-thinking people of 
the State. In the fall of 1869, he, with others, 
went down into Kansas on a buffalo hunt. Several 
of these animals were killed by the party, and Mr. 
Parent himself laid low one of the monsters of the 
plains. 

Martin Parent has been abundantly prospered in 
his labors as an agriculturist, and has a compe- 
tency for declining years. He has brought his 
farm to a good state of cultivation and keeps about 
enough stock to consume his corn. With the ex- 
ception of the land immediately about the home 
place, he rents his farm, receiving therefor a liv- 
ing income. We take pleasure in presenting to our 
numerous readers the portrait of this honored pio- 
neer, together with that of his deceased wife. 



aALYIN CHAPMAN is one of the most active 
and enterprising citizens of Nebraska City, 
' with whose business interests he is identified 
as a prominent stock dealer, and also as a dealer in 
coal, wood and hay. He is one of the self-made 
men of whom this country is so justly' proud, as he 
came to Nebraska without a dollar, and by a quiet 
but persistent determination to succeed, through 
resolution and unceasing industry, has acquired a 
handsome competence and a large amount of valu- 
able propert3'. 

Mr. Chapman was born in Winchester, Madison 
Co., Ohio, May IC, 1843. His father, Thomas 
Chapman, w.as born in Virginia, and was reared and 
married in his native State. He then moved from 
there to Ohio, the removal being m.ade with wagons, 
as it was before the time of railw.ays.. Mr. Chap- 
man bought a tract of timber land in Madison 
County, built a log house, the one in which our 
subject was born, and resided there until 1845. 
when he again started westward, removing his fam- 
ily and household goods with teams to Iowa, and 
there became one of the early settlers of Louisa 
^ ' Countj'. He took up a tract of Government land, 



one and one-half miles northeast of Wapello, the 
county seat. There were no railways west of Chi- 
cago at that time, and Muscatine, twenty-five miles 
distant, was the nearest market and trading point. 
Indians were plentiful, and deer, wild turkeys, 
wolves and wildcats were abundant. Mr. Chapman 
improved the land that he had entered from the 
Government, and rasided on it about twenty years. 
He then bought another tract of land, a part of 
which is now occupied by the village of Harrison, 
and he has resided there continuously ever since. 
Mr. Chapman has lived to see that part of Iowa de- 
veloped from the wild prairie to a well-settled, 
wealthy country, and by his enterprise and industr3' 
has done his share in bringing about this prosper- 
ous condition. He has reached the advanced age 
of eighty-six years, but still retains his mental 
faculties to a great degree, and enjoys remarkably 
good health. In political events Mr. Chapman 
takes a marked interest, and is a firm believer in 
the principles expounded by the Republican party. 
Before the formation of that party he was a Whig. 
He has been twice married ; his first wife, the 
mother of our subject, was Mary Binizer, a native 
of Virginia, and she died in 1845. His second 
marriage was to Grace Greenwood, a native of En- 
gland, and she still lives to comfort him in his old 
age. 

The subject of this sketch was two and a half 
years old when his father with his family crossed 
the prairies of the Central Western States to make 
his home in Iowa, and he has a vivid remembrance 
of the incidents of the pioneer life, amid whose 
scenes he was reared to mauhood. He attended the 
early schools of th.at State, assisted on the farm, and 
lived with his father until he was sixteen years old, 
when he started out to seek his own fortune further 
west, and consequently came to Nebraska, landing 
in Nebraska City in September, 1860. Here he 
commenced to learn the cooper's trade, receiving 
twenty-five cents a day and board for his work. 
He was industrious, of good habits, attended steail- 
lly to his work, and even from that meager pay he 
contrived to save money, as he was very ambitious 
to make something of himself, to become, per- 
haps, a rich and influential man of business. 

Our subject worked as a cooper for two years, 



-^^ 



•►HI^^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



569 



«4> 



when liis enterprising and adventurous spirit made 
him seize joyfully a chance to cross the plains with 
teams, as assistant wagonraaster for Majs. Russell 
and Wardell, Government freighters. He returned 
the same season, and, although a youth of but nine- 
teen years, patriotically offered his services to the 
country, to help suppress the Civil War that was 
then raging, enlisting in October, 1862, in Companj' 
F, •2d Nebraska Cavalry, and being commissioned 
as Second Lieutenant, gallantly served for one year, 
and was then honorably discharged on account of 
the expiration of his term of enlistment. He found 
that his services were required nearer iiome, and a 
few daj's later re-enlisted as a member of Company 
A, Independent Scouts, organized for the purpose 
of suppressing Indian warfare that had sprung up in 
Nebraska and adjoining Territories. Company A 
was composed of men who had explored that sec- 
tion of tlie country and were perfectly familiar 
with its topography, and it was joined to Gen. 
Sully's force, and acted as guides to him in the 
Northwest. Our subject did efficient service for 
nine months, and then his regiment was discharged 
and he returned to Nebraska City. 

Our subject, with the money that he had saved up, 
formed a drug company, and was also engaged in 
teaming, and Anally was enabled to buy a liver}' 
stable and bus line. He continued to carry on that 
and the drug business very successfully until 1880, 
when he sold out and engaged in the sale of coal, 
wood and hay, and has built up an extensive and 
profitable business, besides mnking considerable 
money in dealing in horses, cattle and mules, which 
he has always dealt in more or less. Mr. Chapman 
occupies an important place in tlie business circles 
of Nebraska City, and is a stockholder and Di- 
rector in the Farmers' Bank. He owns the place that 
he now occupies on First Corso street, besides five 
lots on First Corso street, between Fourth and 
Fifth streets; a lot on the corner of Seventh and 
First Corso streets, one lot, with two buildings, on 
the corner of Third and Corso streets ; one house 
and lot on Fifth street; three lots in Anderson's 
Addition, and 320 .acres of farm land near Nebraska 
City. 

]\Ir. Chapman was marrierl, in 1863, to Miss Har- 
riet .Shallenbarger, a native of Penns3'lvania, and 



"♦- 



three children have been born of their happy mar- 
ried life — Edna, Harriet and Bota. Mrs. Chapman 
is a superior woman in many ways, and is greatly 
esteemed far bej'ond her home circle, as she has 
endeared herself to many by numerous acts of 
kindness and friendship. To her devotion to his 
interests, and to her steady encouragement and 
cheerful help, her husband gratefully acknowledges 
himself to be greatly indebted for his present pros- 
perity. Mr. Chapman is a frank, generous-hearted 
man, pushing and energetic in his character, and 
possessing a decided talent for business. Politically, 
be is a Republican, and socially, is a member of 
Council of Frontier Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F. Mr. 
and Mrs. Chapman are valued members of the 

Baptist Church. 

■ <xr>o . 
' oC>o ' 

'LEXANDER REEVES. The subject of 
this notice deserves more than passing men- 
tion, having been the first man to homestead 
land in Otoe County, if not in the State 
of Nebraska, settling then in South Branch Pre- 
cinct. His career has been one reflecting very 
great credit upon his industry and enterprise, and 
one in which he has experienced many hardships 
and difficulties, but fortunately was enabled to sur- 
mount them, and transform a portion of the wild 
prairie into a fertile tract, yielding in abundance 
the rich crops of Southern Nebraska. He has now 
retired from active labor, having deeded the greater 
portion of his land to his children, reserving eight}- 
acres with its comfortable buildings, occupying one 
of the prettiest locations on the Nemaha River. 
He and his estimable wife, both well advanced in 
_years, are spending the evening of their lives quietly 
and peacefullj^, comfortable in the reflection that 
they have done what they could as citizens, neigh- 
bors and parents. iMany are the friends they have 
gathered around them during their long sojourn in 
this count}', and many are the scenes which they 
have witnessed while Nebraska was being trans- 
formed from a Territory into a wealthy and pros- 
perous State. 

Mr. Reeves as a Justice of the Peace conducted 
the first Lawsuit in his precinct, which was a case 
of assault and liattery — .Tames Knox vs. Augustus 



570 



OTOE COUNTY. 



J. 



Greenwood, in which the latter was fined. lie was 
early appointed a member of the district School 
Board, which office he held for years, was Post- 
master a period of nine years, Assessor one term, 
and Road Supervisor three terms. He was ap- 
pointed by Gov. Butler Register of Elections, but 
resigned the office. He has been foremost in those 
enterprises having for tlieir object tlie moral and 
social welfare of tlie people, was one of the early 
members of the Baptist Church, and since its or- 
ganization has been an earnest adherent of the Re- 
publican partj'. In his native State of New Yorli 
he served as Postmaster in the town of Broolvs 
Grove, in Livingston County. 

Our subject was born Aug. 2.5, 1818, in Wayne 
County, N. Y., and lived there with his parents 
until a lad twelve years of age. He then went 
with his father to Warren County, Pa., and six 
years later occurred the death of his father, when 
the famil}' was broken up, and Alexander, returning 
to his native State,worked by the month in Chautau- 
qua County. In 1843 he returned to Livingston 
County, where he was variously employed until 
the fall of 1856. Then resolving to seek his fort- 
iine in the West, he migrated to Will County, 111., 
where he was employed at various jobs until 1862. 

Our subject now crossed the Mississippi and 
homesteaded tlie first land in this county, while 
Nebraska was a Territor^N and before the organiza- 
tion of South Branch Precinct. He laid claim to 
it about sunrise on the 1st of January, 1863, when 
it was designated as claim No. 2. The party tak- 
ing No. 1 never proved up, so Mr. Reeves was the 
first bona fide settler. The riglit to the first settle- 
ment is disputed hy jNIr. Freeman, of Beatrice, who 
claims he took his immediatel.y after 12 o'clock, 
January 1. 

The manner in which Mr. Reeves labored from 
this time on can perhaps better be imagined than 
described. His first rude plow was drawn by a 
team of horses in breaking sod, and the pioneer 
himself and his little family were first sheltered in a 
log dwelling. There was little of elegance or con- 
venience in those days, but jNIr. Reeves had abundant 
faith that his labors would meet with their legiti- 
mate reward, and battled manfullj' with the diffi- 
culties which beset his waj-, until after a few sea- 

•4* ^— - 



sons had passed he found himself on the road to 
prosperity. He enclosed his fields with neat and 
substantial fences, planted groves and an orchard, 
in due time put up a stone dwelling (the first in 
this part of the county) and a barn, and added the 
conveniences and improvements which have so 
mucli to do with the comforts of a home. He was 
particularly fortunate in his choice of a location, 
his land being well watered and easily brought to 
a productive condition. 

To the lady who has stood by the side of our 
subject while he bore the heat and burden of the 
day, and who in her girlhood was Miss Alvira R. 
Bassett, he was married in Livingston County, 
N. Y., Oct. 27, 1846. Mrs. Reeves was born in 
Allegany Coimty, that State, Feb. 13, 1828, and is 
the daughter of David and Lucinda (Coggswell) 
Bassett. David Bassett was born in jNIassachusetts 
in 1779, and his wife, Lucinda, in Otsego County, 
N. Y., in 1796. They were married in the Em- 
pire State, and resided there until the death of the 
father, which occurred in 1848. He was a farmer 
by occupation, and during his early manhood 
served as a soldier in the War of 1812. The mother 
after the death of her husband went to the home of 
her children in Will County, 111., where her death 
took place in 1859. Six children of tlie parental 
family are living, namely: Sabrina, Lavina L., 
Joseph W., Elvira, Helena and Cyrus N. Those 
besides Mrs. Reeves are residents mostly of Michi- 
gan and Nebraska. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born two children, both sons, Eugene and 
Marion Cyrus. Eugene married Miss Eliza J. 
Chamberlain, and is farming in South Branch Pre- 
cinct; he is the father of four children — Nellie 
]M., Ina Elvira, Frederick and Vernon. Marion 
married Miss Sarah Whitaker, and is farming in 
Frontier County. Mr. Reeves cast his first Presi- 
dential vote for Martin Van Buren, and since its 
organization has been a stanch supporter of the Re- 
publican party. Mrs. Reeves is a member in good 
standing of tlie jNlethodist Rpiscopal Church at 
Rockford. 

Stacj' Reeves, the father of our subject, a na- 
tive of New Jersey, was born in 1785, and mar- 
ried, in New York State, Miss Phebe Clark, who 
■» 



f 




Residence OF George Adams, SEc.>i6.RocK Creek Preciinct. 



gs^s^ewHs^ftpasss?^ 




Residence of J. M. Jarrett .5ec. 32. Belmont Precinct. 



•►Hf^ 



-■► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



573 



was born in 1801. He was a farmer by occupation, 
and carried a musket during the War of 1812. 
Grandfather Aaron Reeves was born in New Jer- 
sey, and served in the Revolutionary War as a pri- 
vate under tlie command of AVasliington. He spent 
liis last days in Warren County, Pa. The paternal 
great-grandfather emigrated from Holland and set- 
tled in New Jersey, where it is supposed his de- 
cease occurred. Stacy Reeves left New York in 
1832, and settled in Warren County, Pa., where he 
engaged in farming, but only lived six years there- 
after. The mother shortly after the death of the 
father married James Sears, and became the mother 
of two children, both deceased. Shortly after the 
death of Mr. Sears she became the wife of Mr. 
Opdyke, who died, leaving her a widow. Quite 
late^in life she came to Nebraska, and died at the 
home of her son, our subject, in 1883. There were 
only three children in the parental family, two 
sons and a daughter,of whom Alexander, our subject, 
was the eldest. Amos I. and Hannah are in Ne- 
raska and California. 

^^^EOUGF. ADAMS, of Rock Creek Precinct, 
is spoken of by his neighbors as one of the 
most successful farmers and stock-raisers 
within its limits. Certain it is that he has one of 
its most attractive homes, the residence being a sub- 
stantial frame building, tasteful and well furnished, 
situated in the midst of pleasant grounds with shade 
trees and shrubbery, and supplied with everything 
conducive to the comfort of its inmates. Upon the 
farm is a fine grove of walnut, cottonwood and 
elm trees, and an orchard which can scarcely be 
matched in the county, planted with 600 trees of the 
choicest fruit. The farm, 200 acres in extent, has 
been brought to a state of thorough cultivation. It 
was but a tract of raw prairie when Mr. Adams 
settled upon it in March, 1870, and its present con- 
dition is sufficiently indicative of the manner in 
which the proprietor has employed his time. 

Orleans County, N. Y., was the childhood home 
of our subject, where his birth took place on the 
22d of July, 1843. He is of an excellent New En- 
gland ancestry, his father, Henry Adams, the son 



%a': 



of William and R3b3C3a (Hyda) Adam*, having 
been a native of Connecticut and of genuine Yankee 
stock. Henry Adams was reared and educated in his 
native State, and when a lad of about fourteen 
years removed with his father, William Adams, to 
New York State, locating near the city of Roches- 
ter. He was twice married. To his first wife, 
Sophia Warren, he was wedded in Monroe County, 
and to them were born two children, only one of 
whom is living, Nathaniel, residing in Nebraska 
Cit}-, this county. Mrs. Adams died about 1838, 
in Orleans County, N. Y., where she and her hus- 
band had settled after their marriage. 

About 1840 Henrj' Adams was married the sec- 
ond time, to Mrs. Mary (Smith) McCrillis, who had 
by her first husband two children, who are both 
living, the son a resident of Orleans County, N. Y., 
and the daughter of Boston, Mass. This lady was 
born in Peterboro, N. H., and it was there that her 
marriage with Mr. George AlcCrillis took place. 
Subsequently they removed to Orleans County, N. 
Y. She was of Scotch-Irish descent and the daugh- 
ter of William Smith. The family was noted as 
possessing all the admirable qualities of that ad- 
mixture of nationalities. The first representatives 
crossed the Atlantic, it is supposed, in the Colonial 
days, settling in New England. Of this union 
were born two children: George, our subject, and 
his sister Sophia, who is now the wife of William 
Kennicutt, of Otoe Precinct, this count3'. A sketch 
of Mr. K. is given elsewhere in this work. 

After the death of his last wife Henry Adams, 
with his two cliildren, started in October, 1858, for 
the farther West. Coming into the Territory of Ne- 
braska, he purchased land in Otoe Precinct, this 
county, seven miles southeast of the present site of 
Nebraska City, where he spent the remainder of his 
days. These, however, were destined to be but 
brief, as he lived only about two years, his death 
taking place in October, 1860. 

Our subject after the death of his father went to 
Hillsdale, Mich., where he completed his educa- 
tion by an attendance of three years in the col- 
lege there. He then came back to Nebraska, and 
was united in marriage with Miss Emma Horrum, 
May 5, 1872, the wedding taking place at the 
home of the bride in Rock Creek Precinct. Mrs. 



»► I I <• 



^1^ 



-' 574 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Emma Adams was the daughter of Sherburn and 
Eliza (Brunsoii) Horrum, and was born in Dear- 
born County, Ind., where she was reared and edu- 
cated. She came to Nebraska with her parents 
when about eighteen years of age. Three years 
later she was married, and eight years later, Nov. 
3, 1880, passed to her long home, leaving two sons, 
Nat and Edwin, who are now at home. 

Mr. Adams, on the 11th of April, 1883, con- 
tracted a second marriage, with Miss Mary Horrum, 
a sister of his first wife, and also a native of Dear- 
born County, Ind., born Oct. 3, 1848. Of this mar- 
riage there are no children. Mr. Adams, politi- 
cally, is an uncompromising Democrat. Both he 
and his excellent wife are greatly esteemed by their 
neighbors and fellow-citizens. Their home is a very 
pleasant resort, they extending that cordial and 
well-bred hos])itality both to friends and strangers, 
which at once distinguishes them as people of cult- 
ure and innate politeness. 

In 1869 Mr. Adams identified himself with the 
Western Star Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M., of Ne- 
braska City. He subsequently became a Royal 
Arch Mason, and now belongs to Keystone Chap- 
ter No. 2. In 1885 he assisted in the organization 
of the Masonic Lodge at Talmage. and for the last 
two years has offlciated as Worshipful Master. He 
is also a charter member of Alpha Consistory No. 
50, A. & A. S. R. The view of the Adams home- 
stead, which will be observed on another page, 
illustrates more forcibly than words can do the 
hand of industry and the eye of taste which have 
contributed to its embellishment and its value. We 
gladly give it a place among the pictured homes of 
other men to whose labors Nebraska owes her pres- 
ent condition of wealth and prosperity. 



^/ AMES M. JARRETT, whose farm is situated 
on section 32 of Belmont Township, may 
be justly proud of the success that has at- 
tended him as an agriculturist; he began 
without those opportunities and advantages that are 
usually provided by parental care. He was born 
in JNIonroe County, Va., on the 4th of December, 
1838, and is a son of Andrew and Susan .Tarrett, 



natives of Virginia. His parents migrated in 1842 
to Davis County, Mo., where our subject was reared 
upon the home farm, and in the schools of that 
county was educated. 

Seeing' that his life has been practically spent amid 
the surroundings of an agricultural district and in 
the midst of farm home life, Mr. Jarrett has had 
every opportunity of learning all the details of 
practical husbandry. He came to this county in 
1865 and settled where he now lives, and at the time 
of his settlement there were eighty acres broken and 
a two-board fence around that portion, but tliis w.<is 
destroyed by a prairie fire shortly afterward. 

There are now 420 acres of good land property 
belonging to our subject. It is all well improved 
and yields him abundant harvests, while that por- 
tion wiiich is devoted to his stock gives him a rich 
supply of food for their use. A view of the 
homestead is given in this connection. 

Upon the 29th of January, 1863, Mr. Jarrett 
was united in wedlock with the lady of his choice, 
Miss Susan P. Meadows, the daughter of John and 
Nancy Meadows, natives of Virginia. Mrs. Jarrett 
was born in Davis County, Mo. There have come 
to our subject and wife six children, four of 
whom are living, who bear the following names: 
Holly M., Stewart G., William W. and Samuel W. 
Holly is in the State Normal School, at Peru, in 
this State, and Stewart is attending the classes in 
Stanberry College, at Stanberry, Mo. 

Mr. Jarrett, his wife and two younger children 
are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and both in religious circles and the com- 
munity at large they are held in much esteem. The 
political opinions and sympathies of our subject are 
with the Democratic party, and he is an acknowl- 
edged friend of free trade. 



'tejzfi'©-^^ 



Mi4— >-^'5W^2r2™»- 



^ IRlLLIAM H. SNYDER. The farm owned 
\/sJ// '*"'' operated by the subject of this sketch 
CtW lies on section 31 in Palmyra Precinct, and 
embraces 160 acres of land, with convenient build- 
ings well adapted to the various puri)Oses of coun- 
try life. The chief characteristics of the proprietor 



*► II 4« 



^^1 



••► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



575 i ' 



are sturrly industry and integrity, lie being a man 
who, during his younger j'ears, earned his bread by 
the sweat of his brow, and formed the habits which 
later in life have resulted in surrounding him with 
everything needful for his comfort and maintenance. 
These principles conscientiously carried out have 
also given him a good position among his fellow- 
citizens, whose confidence and esteem he enjoys in 
a large measure. 

Mr. Snyder by his own industry has brought 
about the improvements upon his farm, these includ- 
ing a commodious and substantial dwelling, good 
barns, sheds and other outhouses, the machinery 
necessary for the successful prosecution of agricult- 
ure, and all the other appliances required by the 
progressive farmer of to-day. His domestic affairs 
are presided over l)y a very intelligent and capa- 
ble lady, who possesses all the womanly virtues, be- 
ing domestic in her tastes, and esteeming her home 
the most attractive place in all the world, which has 
been rendered thus by her labors and refined tastes. 
Under this pleasant roof-tree are three children, who 
are being reared and educated in a manner corre- 
sponding to the means and station of their parents. 

The subject of this sketch was born April 22, 
1850, in Lancaster Township, .Stephenson Co., 111., 
and spent his boyhood and youth after the manner 
of most farmers' sons, receiving a district-school 
education, and becoming familiar with the various 
employments of country life. He was first married. 
Feb. 12, 1874, to Miss Emma E. Kenyon, a native 
of Canada, and they became the parents of two 
children: Harry Charles (deceased), and Perry B., 
who is attending school. 

Mr. Snyder was a resident of his native county 
until 1874, in the spring of which year he moved 
across the Mississippi, and has since been a resident 
of Nebraska. His parents. Benjamin and Mary 
(Styres) Snyder, were natives of Pennsylvania, 
whence they emigrated after their marriage to 
Stephenson County, III, where the mother died in 
1855, when only thirty years of age. Benjamin 
Snyder w.as subsequently married, and his household 
was completed by the birth of twelve children in 
all— three sons and four daughters by the first wife 
and two sous and three daughters by the second. 
He accumulated a good property, and died in the 



eightieth 3'ear of his age, at his home in Stephenson, 
in September, 1886. 

The present wife of our subject, to whom he was 
married Sept. 27, 1881, was in her girlhood Miss 
Augusta Grossman. She was born in Germanj-, 
Jan. 20, 1863, and when a child two years of age 
was brought by her parents to America, they set- 
tling in Woodford County, 111. Her parents are 
of pure German aucestrj% and are now residents of 
Lancaster County, Neb. Their family consisted of 
eight children, who are now in Nebraska. 

Mrs. Snyder speaks the English language per- 
fectly, and is a very intelligent lady, well informed 
and thoroughly identified with the interests of her 
adopted country. Of her union with our subject 
there have been born two children, a daughter and 
a son, Laura B. and Frank E., who are six years and 
four years of age respectively. Mr. Snyder cast 
his first Presidential vote for U. S. Grant, and is the 
uniform supporter of Republican principles. 

ERMANN TETEN, of Rock Creek Precinct 
is the owner of 240 acres of finely improved 
land lying on section 19, and supplied with 
good buildings. He came to Nebraska in 
the spring of 1859, during its Territorial days, ac- 
companied bj' others of his countrymen, and first 
pre-empted eighty acres. After making a few im- 
provements he returned east as far as Illinois, where 
he staid two years, then recrossed the Mississippi, 
and here has since been contented to remain. He 
possesses all the best characteristics of his nation- 
ality, being industrious and persevering, and a man 
who attends strictly to his own concerns. 

A native of the then Kingdom of Hanover, our 
subject was born Maj^ 28, 1834, and is the youngest 
but one of a family of ten children. His parents, 
Henry and Heska (Tiland) Teten, were natives of 
the same Province, where they lived until well ad- 
vanced in life, and until the death of the mother, 
which took place when she was sixty years of age. 
After the death of his wife the father of our sub- 
ject joined his children in the United States, and 
died at the home of one of his sons in Rock Creek 
Precinct, this count}', in the fall of 1871, when 



•►Hl^ 



-•► 



576 



OTOE COUNTY. 



about sever.ty-four or seventy-five years old. Both 
parents were devoted Christian people, and mem- 
bers in good standing of llie German Lutlioran 
Church. 

Our subject received a thorough education in his 
native tongue, and was a youth of nineteen years 
when he crossed the Atlantic. He attained his ma- 
jority in Madison County, 111., and was tliere mar- 
ried in the fall of 1«61, to Miss Anna Frerichs, a 
native of the same Province as her husband in Ger- 
many, and born Sept. 20, 1844. Mrs. Teten was a 
most excellent Christian lady, greatly beloved by 
her family and friends, from whom she was taken 
by death in June of 1885, when but forty-four 
years of age. She had been tlie truest and wisest 
helpmate of her husband, encouraging him in all 
his worthy efforts, and standing by his side during 
the labors and difficulties incident to the building 
up of a home in a new country. They were pos- 
sessed of but limited means when coming to Ne- 
braska, and on account of this walked from Ne- 
braska City to their present home, a distance of 
twent}' miles. They were also obliged to carr^- 
their little child, and a few of the goods which they 
had found it necessary to bring with them. In 
addition to the weariness of travel they had scarcely 
anything to eat during the whole journey, and but 
a little milk and impure water to drink. They 
made this memorable journey in one day, and when 
arriving at their destination took shelter in a small 
shanty. 

At this time the people around were as poor 
as Mr. Teten himself, and could render them but 
little assistance. They experienced very many hard- 
ships during the first year, and the second winter 
was unusually cold. On account of exposure Mr. 
Teten was taken ill, and suffered from the effects 
many years afterward. The first summer he worked 
all through the harvest time for fifty cents per 
day, and with the money thus earned purchased 
a cow, which was the first stock he ever owned. 
Time, however, which always brings changes in 
the journey of life, began to deal more gently 
with our subject, and after a series of years spent 
in reducing his land to a state of cultivation and 
putting up buildings as necessity called for, he 
found himself surrounded b}' many comforts, not- 



withstanding he and his family have always suffered 
greatly from sickness. In 1882 he had a stroke of 
paralysis, and was for several months disabled both 
physically and mentally. From this, however, he 
has now recovered. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Teten there were born ten eliil- 
dren, one of whom. John H., died when a little lad 
nearly two years old. '1 he survivors are Abraham 
George, who married Miss Anna Ekhoff, and lives 
on a farm in Rock Creek Precinct; John H., Jacob 
M., Mary R., Herman J., Maggie M., Frederick and 
Anna, at home, and Herman, deceased. They are 
all connected with the Lutheran Church, and Mr. 
Teten, politically, votes the straight Republican 
ticket. He has held some of the minor offices 
of his precinct, and is considered one of its most 
worthy and reliable citizens. 

Mr. Teten has a comfortable and substantial 
dwelling, good barns and outhouses, fruit and shade 
trees, a stream of running water through his land, 
and his home is withal very pleasant and desirable. 
A view of the place is shown on another page. 

^ #3.^ 



^ AMES N. ANDERSON, well known through- 
out Wyoming Precinct and vicinitj', occu- 
pies a quarter of section 23, where he has a 
well-developed farm with comfortable build- 
ings. He settled here a pioneer, coming in the 
spring of 1856, and here has since lived. He makes 
a specialty of stock-raising, and in his general farm- 
ing operations is meeting with fair success. Our 
subject first came to Nebraska with his father, D. 
M. Anderson, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere 
in this volume. They made the journej' from 
Orange County, N. Y., where were spent the boy- 
hood and youth of our subject, and where he was 
born Aug. 26, 1839. His father is a farmer by 
occupation, and the parental homestead in the Em- 
pire State was located in Mamakating Township, 
Sullivan County. There James N. was reared and 
educated, and lived with his father until their re- 
moval to Nebraska in 1856. His mother, Mrs. 
Mary Anderson, had died when he was a little lad 
three years of age; he was an only child. 

Our subject was united in marriage with Miss 



•► I I 4» 



iss y 




G^^/t?..^^^ 



cc^^a/w 



>► i r^ 



otop: county. 



-•» 



579 



f 



Nancv L. Hale, who was born in AncJrew County, 
Mo.. Oct. 19, 1849, and is tiie daughter of William 
and .lane (Neiley) Hale. Her parents were natives 
of Kentucky, and the father a farmer by occupa- 
tion. They moved to Missouri in its pioneer days, 
making the journey from Kentucky overland with 
teams. The father was successful in his labors of 
transforming a tract of wild land into a modern 
farm, and the parents, both living, still make their 
home in Missouri. Their famil}' consisted of ten 
children, two sons and eight daughters, of whom 
Mrs. Anderson was the youngest born. Only three 
of the daughters of that large family are now 
living. 

Mrs. Anderson was educated in her native county, 
and came with friends to Nebraska when a maiden 
of sixteen years. She has since that time been a 
resident of this county. Of her union with our 
subject there have been born nine children, two of 
whom, William N. and an infant unnamed, are 
deceased. The survivors, Mary A.. Isabelle, Maria, 
George M., Katie M., Nellie C. and Hugh, are all 
at home with their parents, and comprise a remark- 
ably intelligent and interesting group. 

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson began their wedded life 
on the land which they still occupj', and which our 
subject has improved from a wild and uncultivated 
tract into a highlj' productive farm. They endured 
in common with the jjeople about them the trials 
and hardships incident to pioneer life, and live to 
rejoice in the prosperitj' of one of the most impor- 
tant commonwealths in the Union. Mr. Anderson 
has been a lifelong Democrat, and has held the 
minor offices of his precinct, while giving his aid 
and encouragement to the enterprises calculated to 
benefit the people around him. He is fully worthy 
of representation in a work of this kind. 

j^^ RS. MARGARETHA ROTTMANN. In Ne- 
braska City few names are better known in 
business and religious circles or more es- 
teemed than the name Rottmann, which 
most excellent reputation has been built up and 
the respect challenged and won by the late husband 
of the lady whose name is placed at the head of this 



•►Htr^*- 



sketch. Mr. Rottman, whose portrait graces the 
opposite page, was born in Westphalia, Germanj-, 
on the 13th of June, 1834. At the age of twenty- 
one, full of manly ambition, enterprise andenerg}', 
balanced and directed by no mean intellectual 
power, he determined to try his fortunes in the New 
World, and accordingly came to this county. Until 
that time his life had been spent almost entirely in 
the rural district in which stood the old home. 

Entirely unendowed or favored by fortune, Mr. 
Rottmann found that quite a struggle lay before 
him. He made his way to St. Louis, but after a 
few months went to Nebraska City, working his 
way to that place on a boat, serving as cook. Al- 
most immediately he found emploj'ment on a farm, 
and continued for several months. Then he en- 
gaged as clerk with Mr. Kalkiman, who was engaged 
in business as a general merchant, and speedil}', by 
his unwearied application and earnest efifort, forged 
his way to the front as a most efficient help. 

During the four years he remained with Mr. 
Kalkiman Mr. Rottmann made the acquaintance of 
the lady who subsequently became his wife, and 
who now mourns the loss and bereavement of an 
ever faithful companion and affectionate husband. 
This lady, Miss Margaretha Arends, was born in 
Hanover, Germany, Oct. 2, 1844, and is the daugh- 
ter of Richard and Mary (Teten) Arends, both of 
whom were natives of the Fatherland. With them 
she came to America when a little girl. Their home 
was made in the State of Hlinois, and they lived 
there for five years. Then, migrating westward, 
they came to Nebraska, and a settlement was effected 
in this county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Arends, in making anew their 
home, settled upon a farm, which the father of our 
subject conducted in the line of general agriculture, 
continuing the same until his death in the year 
1874. His widow is still living, and makes her 
home with her son Herman in Rock Creek Precinct, 
She is the mother of six children; of these four 
were girls, and Mrs. Rottmann was the third child. 
Our subject was eight years of age when with her 
parents she came to Illinois. Her education was 
received principally in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. 
Rottmann commenced housekeeping in Nebraska 
City, at the corner of Laramie and Twelfth streets, 

i» 



r 



t. 



580 



t 



»► II < • 



•► 



1 ' 

t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and he engaged in business in the city, beginning 
almost at the lowest round of the ladder. Nothing 
daunted him, nothing rebuffed him; his business 
life from the first was marked with an inflexibility 
of purpose and unremitting, diligent perseverance. 
It is within the bounds of trutli to say that there is 
probabl}' no other man who has done so much for 
Nebraska City as he. lie was by no means a selish 
man, and always consulted the interests of those 
with whom he was associated equally with his own. 
He built all the business houses on the north side 
of Central avenue, from the Grand Pacific Hotel to 
Northrup's hardware establishment, and was subse- 
quentlj- President of the Nebraska City Canning 
Company. It is somewhat remarkable, but never- 
theless a fact, that in tlie days when the future of 
Nebraska City looked most dark, and when those 
chiefly interested were well-nigh in despair on 
that account, he entertained the brightest hopes, 
and emphatically prophesied a turn in fortune's 
wheel, .and that in the near future. Events have 
proved him correct in his judgment and fully jus- 
tified therein. Religiously, he was associated with 
the German Lutheran C'hurch, and was for many 
years a member of its diaconate. Politically, he 
was a Republican, but by all, however they might 
differ from him in these matters, wherever he was 
known it was but to be respected and esteemed as a 
man and citizen. 

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Rottmann included 
six children, but one of whom only is now living, 
viz: Frederick William, who was born in Nebraska 
City, Dec. 3, 1872, and is now attending school, 
and lives with his mother. Lela died in 1887, 
when sixteen months old. The other children died 
when infants unnamed. 

Mrs. Rottmann and her son are members of the 
Lutheran Church, and are accounted among the 
most consistent and devout in the communitj-. 
They hold positions among the first circles of 
Nebraska society, and are everywhere received with 
true respect and esteem, although both from nat- 
ural proclivity and by reason of her bereavement 
Mrs. R. lives a very quiet and retired life. Her 
Iiusband departed this life on the 3d of February 
of tlie past year (1888), after a brief illness of 
brain fever. In his death not simply his family 

<^ 



but the community recognized that they had lost a 
true friend, and cherished the desire to emulate the 
virtues continually exemplified in his daily life. 



J'OHN C. WALKER. The reader in this 
sketch is introduced to one of the old settlers 
of South Branch Precinct, a practical and 
prosperous farmer and stock-raiser, whoSe 
home is on section 19. This home is also worthy of 
special note because it is of recent erection so far 
as the building is concerned, and at the same time 
one of the best in structure, decoration and finish. It 
is furthermore the abode of true domesticity, com- 
fort and hospitality. 

Mr. Walker is the son of -lames and Almira (Car- 
penter) Walker. The family is of .Southern extrac- 
tion, the father having been born in Greenbrier 
County, Kj\, in 1796, the mother in Smith County, 
Tenn., in 1808. They were married, however. In 
Chambersburg, 111., where the husband and father 
followed blacksmithing. and bj' industry and skilled 
workmanship had an extensive trade and was pros- 
perous. While in Kentucky he had served as Cap- 
tain of the militia of that State, a position he held 
until his removal. He at one time was also Sheriff 
of Pike County, III., and was one who helped in the 
decision to locate the capital of that county. 
Politically, he was a Whig. He departed this life 
Sept. 4, 1859, in Scotland County, Mo. His wife 
died in 1871, in Hancock County, III. They were 
the parents of four children — Martha A., Ellen F., 
our subject, and Harriet S. (deceased). The founder 
of this familj' in America was the great-grandfather 
of our subject, who came from Scotland and settled 
in Jamestown, Va., one of the early colonists. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 26th 
of Februarj', 1 843, in Pike County, 111. The years 
of his boyhood and youth passed swiftly, and were 
filled with the duties assigned him upon the farm 
and attendance at the graded school. When seven 
years of age he moved with his father to Missouri, 
where the latter died, shortly after which his mother 
with her children removed back to Chambersburg, 
111., and our subject began to work for himself. He 
obtained work at milling. In Keokuk, Iowa, he also 



He I 

ilso X 



■► ir^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



581 



served at tlie undertaker's trade. In 1865 he came 
to this State, and for two summers was engaged 
in freighting on the plains. At the end of that pe- 
riod, in the year 1867, lie entered a homestead claim 
to his present property, upon which he has bestowed 
miifli labor and wrought many valuable improve- 
ments. 

At Palmj'ra, on the 30th of vSeptember, 1 866, there 
occurred a very noteworthy event in the history of 
that place and of our subject, for then was cele- 
brated his union with Miss Sarah E. Ellis, the es- 
timable daughter of Franklin and Mary (Brown) 
Ellis. This was the first wedding in Palmyra Pre- 
cinct. The ceremony was performed by John 
Roberts, Justice of the Peace. The parents of Mrs. 
Walker were born in Virginia and Missouri respect- 
ively, and were married in the latter State. Her 
mother died in 1868, aged forty years; her father 
is successfully operating a ranch in Oregon. He is 
the father of ten children, Mrs. Walker being the 
eldest. Their names are recorded as follows : Sarah, 
James B., George W., Emily E., Minerva, Owen, 
Frank F., Marj', Carrie E. and Archie L. 

The wife of our subject was born in Davis 
County, Mo., on the •22d of September, 1850. 
When she was three years of age her parents re- 
moved to California, and settled at Petaluma, So- 
noma County, where the father kept a dairy and was 
ver3' prosperous. After about six years he returned 
to Scotland County, Mo., removing thence to this 
State in 1 862, and settled on the Big Blue River, 
near Milford. Subsequently they went to Colorado 
and made their home near Denver; after the3' had 
been there about twelve months Indian hostilities 
commenced, when they returned to Palmyra. Mr. 
and Mrs. Walker had met in Missouri, and the friend- 
ship was renewed at Palmyra with the above-men- 
tioned result. There have been born to them two 
children: John T., who was born on the 4th of 
December, 1869, and Oda V., on the ISth of 
November, 1879. Both are now attending the 
Peru Normal School, and doing good work. 

Mr. Walker deals largely in farming lands, and is 
also a member of the School Board. He is a mem- 
ber of the Grange, and in that fraternity held 
the offices of Master and County Deputy. He was 
nominated to the position of Representative to the 



Legislature on the Republican ticket, and received 
ninety-one of ninety-eight votes cast in the year 
1884, but resigned. His popularity, sustained char- 
acter and manly parts are testified to and respected 
in the community, as shown by the above demon- 
stration in his favQr. Although not a third party 
man he is a strong Prohibitionist. Mrs. Walker is 
a very active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Rockford, and is one of its charter mem- 
bers. She was largely interested in its organization, 
and has been one of the inspiring spirits of its on- 
ward progress and present existence. She is a very 
competent lady, one eminently respected and es- 
teemed. Although not a member with her in that 
society our subject is very liberal, and bore his full 
share in defraying the cost of the erecting and fur- 
nishing of the Methodist Church. 



'ft; AMES H. GREGG, deceased. Among the 
1 I esteemed citizens of Wyoming Precinct, who 
I played well their part while upon the stage 
^&)j of life, was the subject of this sketch, who has 
left a record behind him of character and ability 
that is every way worthy. His birth took place on 
the 20th of April, 1820, near Wheeling, W. Va. 
His parents were both natives of the same State. 
When nine years of age he was left fatherless, and 
his j'outhful training and care were left to the mother, 
who strove as well as she was able to fill the place 
of both father and mother to her children. 

The first seventeen years of his life our subject 
spent in the old home, and then started for Iowa 
with the thought of beginning life for himself_ 
There he joined his brother, who had been located 
about twelve miles from Burlington for many years. 
There he continued to make his home until he came 
of age, being engaged in farming, and making con- 
siderable headway in a financial regard. 

June 10, 1856, six miles west of Burlington, 
Iowa, our subject was joined in marriage with Miss 
Elizabeth Bloss, who was born in Preble County, 
Ohio, on the 18th of November, 1830. Her father, 
Conrad Bloss, was a native of Virginia, as was also 
her mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Rine- 
hart; both were of German extraction. Mr. and 



nd A 



•►Hl^ 



1 



582 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Mrs. BIoss, shortly after their marriage settled in 
Preble County, Ohio, where were born to them 
eleven children, viz., three sons and eight daugh- 
ters, all of whom are yet living except the young- 
est son. The father died in F'airfleld, Jefferson 
Co., Ohio, in 1878, being seventy-six years old, 
and the mother, who is now eighty-six years old, 
still resides in that county. 

Mrs. Gregg was educated in the schools of Ohio, 
and removed to Iowa with her parents when a 
young woman, and came to Nebraska some two 
years later with her husband, with whom she came 
with the firm resolve to make for themselves a 
home in the inviting, promising, although still un- 
developed West. There were born to them five 
children, viz: Charles W., William Y., Edwin S., 
Mary E. and Ida. Charles is the husband of Cather- 
ine Sale; their home is in St. Joseph, Mo., where he 
is in business as a grain dealer. William, whose home 
is in the same city, is traveling salesman for a dry- 
goods house there, and was niarried, in 1888, to 
Miss Emma Ord ; Edwin is at home and manages 
the farm ; Mary is the wife of E. A. McCartney, 
one of the prosperous farmers of Wyoming Pre- 
cinct; Ida is at home. 

The subject of our sketch crossed the Missouri 
River with his wife and children at Nebraska City 
in the spring of 1858, and located at what is now 
known as Greggsport, the northern part of Ne- 
braska Citj', but then uncultivated prairie. The 
tract of land taken bj' him at that time he com- 
menced to cultivate, but later he largely built up 
that section of the city, and he held the office for 
some time of Mayor of Greggsport, but since that 
time it has become incorporated with Nebraska 
City, although still retaining its original name. He 
started the first nursery in the district, and was very 
successful in its operation for several years. Finally, 
in October, 1868, he sold out his interest in Greggs- 
port and the nursery, and removed to his pre-emp- 
tion tract on section 10, being the same he had 
taken up in 1856, two years before he brought his 
family West. He began life on his new farm in 
1868 without the slightest improvement thereon, 
but it was not long before he had thoroughly trans- 
formed it and made it one of the best farms in the 
^ ' uountj'. The original claim cabin gave place to an 



•► 



^M-. 



elegant farm dwelling, around which are clus- 
tered substantial buildings, required for farm pur- 
poses. The house is finely located, and commands 
an extensive and pleasing view of the surrounding 
country. He produced largely of grain, many va- 
rieties of fruits and of fine graded stock, although 
his specialty was fruit-growing. 

Mr. and Mrs. Gregg were devout and consistent 
members \)f the Methodist p]piscopal Church, and 
our subject was one of its honored officials for sev- 
eral years. His political sympathies were with the 
Republican party. He w.as reputed a most honor- 
able man and worthy citizen, and was everywhere 
greatly' respected. His death occurred at his home 
in Wyoming Precinct, on the 22d of October, 1888. 
His widow, who through all her trials has exhibited 
a most Christian spirit, has received the unfeigned 
sj'mpathy and esteem of the community, which she 
will always retain. 



|F_^^ERBERT E. STEDMAN, one of the most 
lITj! enterprising young men of Russell Precinct, 
/^^^ during his younger years lived mostly upon 
(^P the farm, and until lately has been operating 
eighty acres of land on section 32. He has, how- 
ever, disposed of this propertj', and in partnership 
with his brother Charles R.. has invested a part of 
his capital in a stock of groceries, locating at Una- 
dilla, under the firm name of Stedraan Bros. There 
is every reason to believe that from their known 
good standing in the community they will from the 
start command a good patronage. 

Our subject was born in Whiteside County. III., 
Aug. 23, 1860, and spent his boyhood and youth 
sporting along the Rock River, and inattendance at 
the district school. When a lad of fourteen years 
his father left the Prairie State, and coming to this 
county located, on the 4th of March, 1875, in Rus- 
sell Precinct, of which our suDJect has since been a 
resident. 

Enos C. Stedman, the father of our subject, and 
now deceased, was born in New York, and married 
Miss Malvina Wall, who was born in Tioga County, 
that State. A further history of the family will be 
found in the sketch of C. R. Stedman elsewhere in 



•.^^M^ 




/ 









I— 



11-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•► 



585 



bis 

4^ 



this volume. The father departed this life July 31, 
1885. Herbert E. continued to reside with his 
mother one year, then removed to his little farm, 
upon which he built a house, barn and stables, 
planting hedge fence, and effecting various other 
improvements, so that he was enabled to dispose of 
it to good advantage. 

Mr. Stedman was married, Nov. 26, 1885, to Miss 
Lucy E. Wells, at the home of the bride in South 
Branch. Mrs. Stedman is the daughter of Gilbert 
and Mary (Kelley) Wells, further mention of whom 
is made in the sketch of M. G. Wells, to be found 
elsewhere in this volume. Her father is a promi- 
nent resident in this couuty, and a man of good 
standing. 

Mrs. Stedman was born in Wisconsin, July 20, 
1863, and received a good education, employing 
herself as a teacher before her marriage. The 
family occupy a very attractive home in Russell 
Precinct, within which is displayed the cultivated 
tastes of the presiding genius, Mrs. Stedman. They 
have one little daughter, Etta, who was horn Oct. 
15, 1886. Mr. Stedman votes independently, but 
meddles verj' little with political affairs, preferring 
to give his attention to his business and home 
Interests. 



|F_^ ENRY PENDLETON was among the ear- 
ifjli best pioneers of Otoe County, and at the 
li)^ same time is one of the most wealthy citi- 
(^) zens, although his life has been checkered 
with many difficulties and losses. He now owns 160 
acres on section 32, 320 on section 4, and twenty 
on section 36, Otoe Precinct; also 600 acres in 
Hendricks Precinct. He is the son of Isaac and 
Bridget (Stanton) Pendleton, and is a descendant 
of the families of that name not unknown to read- 
ers of the early history of the Eastern States. 

The grandfather of our subject was one of the 
heroes of the Revolution, and served throughout 
the war as Captain. The father of our subject was 
born near Pendleton Hill, Conn., was from his 
youth a seafaring man, and for many years com- 
manded an ocean sailing-vessel. He retired from 
his profession when about forty-five years of age. 
His religious convictions were those of the Quaker 



eommunit}', and he was more often known by the 
name of Friend or Uncle Isaac than any other. 
The mother of our subject died aged forty-five 
years, when Henry was but two years of age. The 
father died in the year 1843, after a life of sixtj'- 
three years. They were the parents of ten children, 
viz: Amelia, deceased, was the wife of Henry Hull; 
Lydia became the wife of Daniel Richmond ; Rhoda 
was the wife of Ormand Richmond, and at his death 
married Benjamin Hewitt; they are now residents 
of M3stic Bridge, Conn. Nathan; Jane is the wife 
of Albert Aj'er. and they are residents of New Lon- 
don Count3-, Conn. ; Sarah is the wife of Charles 
Breed, and they live in Chenango County, N. Y. ; 
Stanton and Henry ; two infants, Isaac and Mary, 
who died in infancy. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 27th 
of May, 1830, in Oxford, Chenango Co., N. Y. He 
was brought up on a farm, but was very weakh' as 
a child, and even on through the earlier years of 
his boyhood. He had no schooling after he was 
fifteen, owing to an attack of St. Vitus' dance, which, 
however, he outgrew as he came to years of man- 
hood. He was brought up under the care of his 
stepmother, who, after the father's death, married 
Judge Reynolds, of Cortland, N. Y. Until 1852 
he remained working by the month near the old 
home, but at that time went to Pennsylvania, where 
he taught school and worked upon a farm. In be- 
ginning as a j'outh he received but $3.50 per 
month; when he finished working by the month he 
received $26. In 1855 he went to Chemung County, 
N. Y., and also to Corning, that State. 

Mr. Pendleton left Corning on the 21st of March, 
1856, and started West, but under more embarrass- 
ing circumstances than he had reckoned upon, for 
he had saved some $/i,000, l)ut had loaned it to his 
employer in Tioga County, Pa. This gentleman 
becoming financially embarrassed, our subject lost 
all his savings, so that he had nothing but a clear 
head, good health, and ready hands to give him a 
fresh start. He passed on through the beautiful 
prairies of Illinois, and went by river from St. Louis 
to Omaha. From Omaha he went to Elkhorn City, 
a place much talked of as a verj' ElDorado, but 
which was practically non-existent. On arrival he 
found nothing but a single squatter cabin, and life 



•►Hl^ 



■•►Hl- 



586 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



was of the roughest and hardest known to the pio- 
neers. He and another person agreed to take ad- 
joining claims, but the companion did not so much 
as make a settlement. The utter loneliness was too 
much for one of asocial nature like our subject, and 
he therefore threw up his claim and returned to 
Omaha, where he found those who had known him 
preparing to organize a search party, believing him 
to have met with more or less serious trouble. 

Recovering from the effects of his previous ex- 
pedition, Mr. Pendleton started for the home of the 
"Otoes," who had been removed to the reservation 
in the spring of 18oC. About the same time he 
took up the claim which has become the home farm. 
A squatter had plowed thirt^'-six acres the year 
before, but when the land was surveyed it was dis- 
covered that the line practically divided this thirty- 
six in two equal parts, so that really only eighteen 
acres of plowed land were on his claim, for which 
he paid the sum of $225. He planted his fiistcrop 
on the 27tb of May, 1856, and put in potatoes, 
which yielded him ultimately a good return. His 
first cabin had a roof over but one-third of it. and. 
as he describes it, he had the "soft side of a cotton- 
wood plank" for a bed, and his boots for a pillow. 
His first crop of corn, although eaten off by cattle 
when about a foot high, yielded about forty bushels 
to the acre, and he realized enough to pay for his 
claim. 

During the summer our subject never went from 
his claim, excepting when it was necessary to have 
his plow sharpened, and having developed into a 
stout-framed, vigorous, strong man, and being ac- 
customed to handle wild cattle from his youth, he 
got along with his breaking in splendid style, and 
was the champion breaker both for style and speed 
for many miles around. But this was not to last 
always, for in 1859, while threshing, his right arm 
was caught in the machine, with the result that he 
lost that most necessary member. His brother 
Stanton, accompanied hy his brother-in-law, Charles 
Breed, hearing of this accident came to see him, and 
he took the opportunity to return with them to the 
old home. 

While making this visit our subject formed the 
acquaintance of Miss Helen M. Cary, who was born 
near Richfield, Otsego Co., N. Y., Jan. 24, 1831, 

^ 



to Ezra and Freelove (Peck) Cary. Their union 
was celebrated on the 16th of January, 1860, and 
shortly after he started back to Nebraska accom- 
panied by his bride. Taking the railroad to St. 
Joseph, he proceeded by stage, despite the cruel 
cold, and the depth of the snow of that winter. In 
crossing the Missouri River at Peru, it became evi- 
dent that it would be dangerous to cross other than 
on foot; this they accomplished in safety, but by no 
means pleasantly, the water on the surface of the 
ice being more than ankle deep. They then pro- 
ceeded on their way, and arrived without further 
accident or special incident at the little 12x14 
bachelor shanty, which, however, did not from that 
time appear so gruesome and lonely as before. 

In the years following, until 1863, everything 
seemed to go against them. Loss followed loss, 
until he was well-nigh in despair, and but for the 
companionship of Mrs. Pendleton, would doubtless 
have succom bed to the depressing effects ; but in that 
year, aided by his faithful and devoted wife, he put 
in twenty-three acres of wheat, seven of oats, and 
thirty-five of corn, at a cost of only $10.50 at har- 
vest. The good prices of 1864 put him on his 
feet, and this was the turning point in his life finan- 
cially. He liegan buying and raising stock, while 
his wife undertook her share by running the dairy 
and cheese department. Mr. Pendleton thought it 
nothing to ride long and hard in the buying of cat- 
tle, sometimes taking 100 miles in a single day, 
besides feeding sometimes as high as 500 head of 
cattle per annum, generally though about 100 to 
250 head; he also raised quite a large number, and 
hogs in proportion. Thousands of dollars worth of 
stock he has shipped to Chicago with gratifying re- 
sults. 

About the year 1875 the wheel of fortune turn- 
ing brought him heavy losses, but not such as to 
injure him, as it would have done in other years. 
He was in the midst of putting up his splendid 
brick house, at a cost of several thousand dollars, 
when the grasshoppers came, and with them a loss 
in material and labor of $1,200. Not having suffi- 
cient feed for his cattle, he was compelled to sell at 
a sacrifice, and ship the remainder to Iowa, where 
he fed about 250 steers and 600 hogs. Then came 
the lessened market value in stock, and at the same 



t- 



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^t^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



587 



^tS 



time the ravages of hog cholera, resulting in a loss 
of another $2,000. However, he made a good 
profit on the cattle fed in Iowa. 

The home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Ptndlet<.n in- 
cluded six children, whose names aie recorded as 
follows: May; Freelove H., who died when two 
and a half years old; Grace, Fannie; Minnie E., 
who died when five and a half years old, and 
Carrie, who died when eighteen months old. May is 
now Mrs. J. T. McKinnon, of Franklin, Neb., and 
is the mother of two little ones, viz: Anna Clare and 
Alice Eowena; Grace is the wife of George Over- 
ton, of this precinct, and they have one child, Mabel 
A.; Fannie is still at home. 

Mr. Pendleton was a delegate for the first Demo- 
cratic Countj- Convention of this county, and was 
introduced as a kind of black horse to harmonize 
three factions of the party, although really not 
Democratic. His subsequent action was such that 
it was his to be called by the ajjpellation Black Re- 
publican, and to be the first to receive the same in 
any publication in the county. He was at one time 
a candidate for the Legislature, but was defeated bj' 
two votes. He has stood foremost wherever there 
has been any enterprise for the good of the county 
or State, and ever been most loyal thereto. He is 
a stanch Republican, .ind takes the deepest interest 
in political affairs. His religious principles he sums 
up in the following words: "Love the Lord thy 
God with all thy might and thy strength, and thy 
neighbor as thj'self." 

Among the nu onerous portraits presented in this 
Album may be found those of Mr. aud Mrs. Pen- 
dleton, which are given on an accompanying page. 



^P HARLES E. COTTON. Among the young 
(l\ ff ™^° ^^ Syracuse who have made their mark 
^^/ in the business world must be mentioned 
the subject of the present sketch, who holds the 
position of cashier in the First National Bank. Our 
subject was born in Columbia County, Wis., to 
Henry D. and Christina H. (Huyck) Cotton, on the 
17th of February, 1858. His parents were natives 
of the Mohawk Valley, N. Y. By occupation Mr. 
Cotton, Sr., was a miller, and continued his resi- 



dence in the East, where he was fairly successful in 
business, until 1851 ; then he moved to Wisconsin, 
and became the owner of mills in Wyocena and 
Fall River. 

The grandfather of our subject, Owen Cotton, 
was a native of Vermont, but removed to New 
York State, where he passed the last years of his 
life, living for the greater part of the time in the 
city of Utica. He was married several times and 
reared a large family, and in the early days of settle- 
ment in Wisconsin sent some of his sons to that 
Territory. They erected mills near Milwaukee, and 
put up the first gristmill in the State. The father 
of our subject continued to follow his trade in Wis- 
consin until 1868, then went to Mitchell County, 
Iowa; in June of 1873 he removed to Vinton in 
the same State, where he died in January, 187G. 
His wife, the mother of our subject, still continues 
to reside at that place. She is the mother of seven 
children, our subject being the third born. 

The subject of our sketch completed his educa- 
tion at the High School, and a select school at 
Vinton, and later turned his attention to teaching. 
In 1878 he came to Nebraska City, and in August 
of the same year became bookkeeper for Tomlin, 
Duff & Co. He remained with that firm until it 
was changed to that of Cotton, Duff & Co., his 
uncle, W. A. Cotton, becoming the senior partner. 
In August of 1882 he came to Syracuse, where the 
firm had just established the Farmers' Bank, and 
entered upon his duties as cashier. When, in 
November, 1883, the institution was reorganized, 
and became a National Bank, he still continued his 
responsible position, which he holds to-day. He 
has also become a stockholder in this, and also in 
the bank at Unadilla. 

Upon the 2d of February, 1881, our subject was 
united in marriage with Miss Ella, daughter of 
John and Lucy C. Ballantine. This most estimalile 
lady was born in Brunswick, Mo., and received her 
education at Lexington and Shelby ville, Ky. Of 
this marriage there have been born three chiUb'en, 
who bear the names Earle, Charles E. and Lucj'. 
The home of the Cottons is situated in the north- 
west part of the city, in one of the most pleasant 
districts, and internallj' bears indications of the 
education, refinement and esthetic tastes of the 



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=4 



588 



OTOE COUNTY. 



family. Mr. Cotton is the owner of sixty-eight 
acres of land in the vicinity, and tifty acres moreon 
tiie same section. All the property he has accu- 
mulated is the natural result of intelligently di- 
rected efforts and laudable ambition, in which he 
has always been uniformly encouraged by the lady 
whom it was his good fortune to make the com- 
panion of his life. 

The bank with which our subject is connected is 
on a firm basis, its deposits ranging from $60,000 
to $80,000, and transacting a large business in the 
citj' and surrounding countr3^ Mr. Cotton is Sec- 
retary and Treasurer of the Otoe County Fair and 
Driving Park Association, and is otherwise inter- 
ested therein. In politics he is a Democrat, but is 
not ambitious for prominence in pglitical circles. 
He is loyal to ever}^ known duty as a citizen, and it 
is hardly necessary to remark is, with his pleasant 
and intelligent wife, held in very high regard. They 
move in the best circles, and are always sure of re- 
ceiving a cordial welcome. 



^-J^ 



•^t 



I ICHARD WEST. The farming community 
of Rock Creek Precinct numbers among its 
members no man who is held in higher re- 
) spect than the subject of this notice. He 
owns and occupies eighty acres of the first pre- 
emption claim which was made in this precinct, 
having purchased it from its original possessor, 
AVilliam Knott. He has resided here for a period 
of twenty years, filthough only assuming the pro- 
prietorship of his present land in the fall of 1885, 
upon the death of Mr. Knott. 

Our subject came to Nebraska in May, 1865, and 
has since been a resident of this county. Three 
years later he took up his abode upon the land 
which he now occupies, and where he hiis since 
lived. Prior to this, for a period of nine years, he 
had been a resident of Pike County, 111., to which 
place he had emigrated from Yorkshire, England, 
where his birth took place on the 14th of May, 
1845. 

Our subject is one of a family' of seven sons and 
five daughters, the offspring of Robert and Harriet 
(Coleman) West, who were natives of Yorkshire, 



England, where thej' were reared and married. The 
father in early manhood learned the trade of a 
tailor, which he followed in his native England 
until after the birth of ten children. The family 
then, in 1855, set out for America, landing at 
Quebec, Canada, and shortly afterward proceeded 
to a point about seven miles south of Pittsfield, 
Pike Co., 111., where the father purchased a tract of 
land and built up a homestead, upon which he and 
his excellent wife lived the remainder of their days. 
Robert West departed this life jn October, 1879, 
aged about sixty years. The mother passed away 
after the decease of her husband, in January, 1883. 
Thej' were most excellent and worthy people, widely 
and favorably known throughout their township, 
and members in good standing of the Methodist 
Church. Twelve of their children were reared to 
mature years, and seven are still living. 

Our subject continued a member of the parental 
household until a youth of nineteen years, then, 
anxious to commence for himself, made his way 
across the Mississippi into this county. For two 
years thereafter he operated as a freighter between 
Nebraska City and Denver, Col. Many were the 
trips which he took over the plains, encountering 
all sorts of men, and becoming intimately acquainted 
with the vicissitudes and dangers of life on the 
frontier. 

Mr. West made the acquaintance of Miss Eliza- 
beth Knott in Rock Creek Precinct, this county, 
and they were married at the home of the bride, on 
the 29th of May, 1870. Mrs. West was born in 
Worcestershire, p:ngland, Oct. 1, 1847, and is the 
daughter of William and Ann (^Gardner) Knott, 
natives of the same county as their daughter, 
whence they emigrated to the United States after 
the birth of a part of their family. About 1851 they 
settled in the vicinity of Green Bay, Wis., and six 
years later came to Nebraska, the father pre-empt- 
ing a homestead on section 8, in Rock Creek Pre- 
cinct. Here the jiarents lived and labored, enduring 
in common with the people around them the toils 
and vicissitudes of pioneer life, and here spent 
their last da3's, the mother dying about 1881, when 
a little past middle age, and the father in 1885, 
when ripe in j-ears. 

Mrs. West was the mainstay of her parents dur- 



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•►Hf-^*- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



591 



ing their later years until her marriage, caring for 
them with filial affection. Her union with our sub- 
ject resulted in the birtli ,of four sons and one 
daughter, of whom Charles died when two years 
old. The survivors, Annie. William, John and 
Walter, are at home. Mr. West, politically, sup- 
ports the principles of the Democratic party, and 
his estimable wife is a member of the Baptist 
Church, attending religious services at Delta. 



THOMAS P. MORGAN, of Palmyra, Otoe 
Co., Neb., was born in Usk, Monmouthshire, 
Wales, Nov. 1, 1832. In 1H54 he became a 
citizen of the United States, in 186s came to Ne- 
braska. To the best of his knowledge he never did 
anything worthy of remembrance except the ex- 
traordin.ary folly of trying to run a newspaper, a 
weekly known as the Palmyra Items, founded in 
April, 1887, the only merit of which is that it is 
Republican. 



•► 



•jl/ UZERNE WELLS has been a resident of 
I (?§■ Otoe County since the days of 1857, when 
/IL^ ^ he identified himself with its early pioneers. 
While doing his share toward developing its agri- 
cultural resources and promoting its material wel- 
fare, he has accumulated a comfortable property, and 
is now the owner of a valuable farm on the rich 
bottom lands of the Missouri River in Otoe Pre- 
cinct, and he has a herd of well-graded Short-horn 
cattle that compare favorably with any others in 
the country. Mr. Wells was born in Hartford 
County, Conn., five miles from the State capital. 
May 4. 1 823. His father. Rufus Wells, was born 
in the same county, and it is also supposed th.at his 
grandf.ather was a native of the same county, and 
there he spent his last years. The father of our 
subject was reared in his n.ative county to the life 
of a farmer, and he has always lived there. The 
maiden name of his wife was Thirza Wheeler, and 
she was also a lifelong resident of Hartford County. 
She was the mother of eleven children, ten sons and 
one daughter, ten of whom grew to maturity. 
-«• 



The subject of our sketch w.as reared in the home 
of his birth in that New England town, and re- 
ceived his education in the district schools. He 
was trained to habits of industry, and inherited a 
fair share of the thrift and energy that character- 
ized his ancestry. At the age of eighteen he com- 
menced to work on the farm b}' the month, and was 
thus employed for four years by one man. Then 
becoming desirous to learn a trade, he engaged in a 
shop where planes and saw handles were made, and 
the succeeding eight years worked there. After 
that he resumed the calling to which he had been 
reared, that of a farmer, and bought a small farm in 
Litchfield County. But he was not contented with 
that, and thought that he would seek a home in the 
West, where land was cheap and he could afford 
more of it. Accordingly he started in 1857 for 
Nebraska, then a Territory, coming by rail to Jef- 
ferson Citv, Mo., then the western terminus of the 
railway, and from there on the Missouri to Otoe 
City, near Minersville. He started from there with 
a horse and buggy to seek a suitable location. He 
drove to Cass County with a Mr. Steele, and after 
traversing the wild prairies for several days re- 
turned, and bought a half-interest in a claim on 
section 13, Otoe Precinct, and the following year 
pre-em[)ted the land now included in his present 
farm. He continued to live on section 13 until 
1865, when he settled on this place. Besides the 
125 acres of his land on the river bottom he has 
160 acres on section 25, all improved and under 
fine cultivation. He is very successfully engaged 
in general farming, paying much attcTition to stock- 
raising. Short-horn cattle being his favorite breed. 

Mr. Wells was married, Aug. 15, 1848, to Miss 
Sarah J. Strong. She is likewise of New England 
birth and antecedents, New Hartford, Litchfield Co., 
Conn., being the place of her birth, and her p.arents 
were Edward W. and Sally (Shepard) Strong. For 
history of the Strong family see sketch of G. F. Lee. 
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Wells, as follows: Mary Eugenia, wife of James 
Kowan; Wallace and Edward \\. 

Jlrs. Wells is a resi)ected member of the Congre- 
gational Church, and she is zealous and helpful in 
all good works. Mr. Wells is a capable, practical 
farmer, possessing a good fund of sound common 



^1 



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4^ 



592 



OTOE COUNTY. 



sense, and man}' other qualifications that go to make 
a man a good and useful citizen. In his political 
views he is strongly Republican, and heartily sup- 
ports the policy of his party at the polls. 

The portrait of this pioneer is presented on an 
accompanying page. 



^I' OHN C. RODDY. One of the most beauti- 
I ful homesteads on the Missouri River is the 
property of the subject of this sketch, and is 
familiarl}' known to the residents of this 
section as '-Walnut Hill Farm." It is situated in 
what is now Nebraska City Precinct, and comprises 
463 acres of finely cultivated land, with handsome 
modern buildings, and well stocked with good grades 
of cattle, horses and swine. The estate of our sub- 
ject includes in all TbO acres, as he owns over .320 
acres elsewhere. The dwelling is finely situated, 
commanding a view of the river and surrounding 
country for several miles along its banks. 

Mr. Roddy has been a resident of this county 
since June, 1862, at which time he secured 133 
acres of land included in his present homestead. He 
was then unmarried and poor in purse, and by his 
own unaided efforts has built up one of the finest 
estates in the county. Prior to taking up his resi- 
dence in Nebraska he lived in Dane County, Wis., 
having settled in the vicinity of Blue Mound in 
1856. He had removed to the Badger State from 
London, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, where 
he landed in 1851, after having made the voyage 
across the Atlantic from his native county of Wcst- 
meath, Ireland, where he was born in February, 
1831, and where he lived until a young man of 
twenty years. 

Our subject was the eldest of eight children, four 
sons and four daughters, the offspring of Michael 
and Ann (Cormac) Roddy, who were natives of 
the same county as their son. In the days of his 
ancestors, on account of religious persecution, the 
latter were forced to flee fr.mi their native soil and 
their property was confiscated. They, however, 
never lost their high character, nor the influence of 
their early training, and were recognized for gener- 



ations as among the better classes of the Irish 
gentry. The father of our subject was a farmer 
by occupation, and the mother died two j'ears after 
her son John C. came to America, when a little past 
middle life. Michael Roddy was a second lime 
married, to Miss Ellen Coffee, a lady of Irish birth 
and parentage. To them were born five children, 
two sons and three daughters, and they came to the 
United States in May, 1864, making their way 
westward to Nebraska and settling in this county. 
The father secured 160 acres of land in Wyoming 
Precinct, from which he improved a good farm, and 
where he spent his last days in ease and comfort, 
passing away at the ripe age of seventy-four years, 
on the 3d of April, 1878. Mrs. Ellen Roddy is 
still living, having a snug homestead of fortj- 
acres in W3'oming Precinct, with her j^oungest 
daughter, Helen A., an interesting young lacly of 
eighteen years. Mrs. Roddy is now fifty-three 
years old. 

Our subject, four j'ears after coming to Nebraska 
Territor}'. was married, Aug. 15, 18C6, in Ne- 
braska Citj', to Miss Rose O'Donnell, who was born 
in County Leitrim. Ireland, in the year 1840, and 
lived there with her parents until reaching woman- 
hood. Then, accompanied by an elder brother, she 
emigrated to the United States, and from New 
York proceeded directly westward to Nebraska City 
in the year 18G6, where she lived until her mar- 
riage. Her parents died in Ireland, her father, Abel 
O'Donnell, April 5, 1878, and the mother, Ann 
(Bohan) O'Donnell, in 1860. The O'Donnells were 
among the nobility in the early days in Ireland, as 
is well known bj' students of Irish history. Their 
family consisted of six children, five of whom are 
now living, three residents of Nebraska and two of 
Ireland. Three of the nine children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Roddy died in infancy. The eldest 
daughter, Anna, completed an excellent education 
in the convent at Nebraska Citj-, together with her 
sister Mary. James C. and the younger children, 
John B., Rose and Michael A., are all at home with 
their parents. 

Our subject and his estimable wife were reared 
in the doctrines of the Catholic Church, to which 
they still loyally adhei-e, and in which they are 
likewise training their children. Mr. Roddy, after 



■•► 




OTOE COUNTY. 



593 



becoming a naturalized citizen, identified himself 
with the Republican party, and is one of its warmest 
supporters. From 186'2 to 1865 he followed the 
river, being on the steamer "West Wind." which, 
in the fall of 1864, transported troops to Jefferson 
City. He fought the I'ebels along the river and at 
various places. Oct. 16, 1864, the boat was de- 
stroyed by the troops of the rebel Generals, Shelby 
and Clark. The prisoners, however, were not con- 
fined, and later were abandoned by their captors, 
who were attacked and dispersed b^' Union troops. 
Among the portraits given in this volume may be 
found that of Mr. Roddy. 



--i-^ 



1-1- 



•»• 






[|J_^OWELL F. ST. JOHN. The man who has 
ff)ji been content to labor j'ear after year, perhaps 
i^^^ at first with scarcely perceptible results, but 
(^) still uiidiscouraged and at last successful, de- 
serves more than a passing mention. These few 
words give some idea of the career of the subject 
of this biography, a farmer and skilled mechanic 
combined, who has now arrived at the point where 
he can rest upon his oars, and may be pardoned if 
he looks around him with pride and satisfaction. 
In looking thus he has before him one of the finest 
homesteads in Otoe County, an area of land 240 
acres in extent, and a set of handsome and substan- 
tial farm buildings. The fat cattle and horses graz- 
ing in the rich pastures add to the attractions of the 
scene, while the grain fields yield abundantly the 
richest products of Southern Nebraska. Adjacent 
to the building is a fine orchard, with trees of the 
smaller fruits, and, in fact, our subject and his 
family are surrounded by all of the comforts and 
many of the luxuries of life. 

Mr. St. John took possession of the land n hich 
he now occupies when it was in a wild and un- 
broken condition, and its present state is due 
entirely to his industry and jierseverance. He is an 
Ohio man by birth, having first opened his eyes to 
the light in Westfield Township, Medina County, 
that State, Feb. 14, 1836. Myron aad Philena 
(Alton) St. John, his worthy parents, were of old 
New England stock, and traced their ancestors back 
to the Pilgrims and the Colonial times. They re- i 

<■ 



moved with their parents from New England to 
New York State, and were reared and married in 
Onondaga County, N. Y. After marriage the 
father secured a tract of land in that county, where 
he lived with his excellent wife until after the birth 
of a part of tlieir familj'. 

The father of our subject not making the head- 
way he desired decided to push still further west- 
ward, and accordingly about 1830 moved from the 
Empire State, and took up his abode among the 
pioneers of Medina Countj% Ohio. The regiou 
thereabouts was then an unbroken wilderness, and 
the family established themselves in a little cabin 
in the woods, while the father proceeded to fell 
the timber around, and bring the soil to a state of 
cultivation. He thus labored until advancing years 
compelled him to be less industrious, and died at 
the age of seventy -six years. He was a kind and 
indulgent father, a good neighbor, and in religious 
matters a member of the Baptist Church. During 
his early manhood he was attached to the old Whig 
party, but upon its abandonment identified himself 
with the Republicans. 

The mother of our subject survived her husband 
a number of years, and passed away at the ripe old 
age of eighty, in June of 1884, spending her last 
days in Ohio with her family. She was in all re- 
spects the suitable helpmate of her husband, and 
with him was a lifelong member of the Baptist 
Church. They were the parents of nine children, 
five sons and four daughters, all of whom lived to 
mature years and were married. All the daughters 
and four of the sons are still living, being residents 
mostly of Ohio and Nebraska. 

Our subject was the sixth child of his parents, 
with whom he remained until reaching manhood, 
acquiring a common-school education, and becom- 
ing familiar with farming as carried on in the pio- 
neer times. At quite an early age he developed 
unusual mechanical genius, and, although never 
serving at a regular trade, could fashion almost 
anything with a saw or a jack-knife. These quali- 
ties developed to his advantage later, and after 
coming to this county he became interested in 
hydraulic jetting well machiner3'. 

Mr. St. John in about 1862 changed his residence 
from Medina to Sanduskv County, Ohio, of which 



•*^Im* 



T 594 



OTOE COUNTY. 



he was a resident fourteen j'ears, engaged mostly 
in farming. He was married in liis native township 
to Miss Jane Munji, who was born in Wayne 
County, Ohio, Dec. 10, 1840, and is the daughter 
of Bethuel and Arvilla (Jones) Munn, who are both 
now deceased, and who spent their last j^ears in 
Ohio. They were natives of New York and New 
Jerse}^ and the father was a farmer by occupation 
for a number of 3-ears, although having a good 
knowledge of millwrighting, which he followed 
considerably in connection with farming. 

Mrs. St. John was reared and educated in her 
native township, completing her studies at Saville 
Academy. She has been a true helpmate to her 
husband, contributing her full share in the accumu- 
lation of the proi^erty. and exerting herself for the 
comfort of those dependent upon her. Of the five 
children born of this union, Arvilla, when thirteen 
months old, was taken from the household circle in 
18G3, and in February, 1888, a son, Mortimer, died 
at the age of twenty-seven years. Both were very 
promising, and their death was a sore affliction to 
the devoted parents. The son fell a victim of rheu- 
matism of the heart and pneumonia, from which he 
suffered some time before his death, which took 
place at the home of his parents. The eldest liv- 
ing child, Clarence, chiefly assists his father on the 
farm, and the 3-ounger son, Charles, gives his at- 
tention to the machinery in which his father is 
interested. Genie D. is attending college at Ne- 
braska City. Mr. St. John, politically, is a sound 
Republican, and a man whose opinions are gener- 
ally respected. 



'ji^GBP:RT L. ELLIS, wLv.^e ,.,.,p^rty and resi- 
fe) dence is on section 1 of Syracuse Precinct, 
!*} —^1 where he settled in May of 1885, is one of 
the capable and much valued citizens of the dis- 
trict. He was born in Cayuga County, N. Y^., on 
the "iSth of February, 1834, and is the son of 
Harvey and Sarah (Woodworth) Ellis, who were 
natives of New Y'ork. 

The educational advantages of our subject were 
those of the coinuion school of his native place, 
which were supplemented by the initiation into' the 



practical duties of farming. He remained upon 
the home farm until he attained his majority, and 
then emigrated to Michigan, and located in Eaton 
County, in the neighborhood of Charlotte. Tliere 
he associated with his brother Edgar, and they 
worked together as carpenters and joiners, con- 
tracting for and putting up many of the best build- 
ings of Charlotte, and others of minor mention. In 
the same neighborhood also he purchased, cleared 
and cultivated about seventy acres of land, put 
upon it an excellent set of buildings and a farm- 
house of considerable pretensions, admirably de- 
signed and constructed, and for some time after 
bringing it to this desirable condition he continued 
to follow agricultural pursuits. 

Mr. Ellis sold the above property in 1885 and 
came to this State, taking up a farm of 12y acres, 
which he has well improved, and provided with a 
good house and buildings, giving much more care 
than he had done upon his previous property. He 
has since that time been very successful in the rais- 
ing of cattle and hogs, and usually has about fifty 
head of each U|ion the farm at one time. 

Our subject was united in marriage with Mary S. 
Conn., at Charlotte, Mich., Sept. 15, 18G9. This 
lady is the daughter of Samuel and Orrisa villa 
(Fowler) Conn. .She was born at North Cohocton, 
Steuben Co., N. Y., upon the 2d of February, 
1838. Her father, who was one of the prosperous 
and enterprising merchants of that place, was born 
on the 10th of September, 180U, at Bath, N. Y. In 
1843 he migrated from the Empire State to Michi- 
gan. The first Ave years in the West were spent at 
Saline, then he engaged in mercantile pursuits at 
Lockport, St. Joseph County, where, in February, 
1851. he was bereaved by the death of his wife. 
Subsequent!}' he returned to Saline, where he died 
on the 23d of July, 1869. In politics he was an 
old-line Whig, and later became a member of the 
Republican party. He was one of the leading citi- 
zens wherever he might make his home, and was 
frequently called upon to fill local offices. 

The paternal grandmother of Mrs. Ellis was the 
daughter of Abijah Guile, who was born in West 
Winfield, N. Y., on the 17th of March, 1772. He 
built the first gristmill ever put up- in North Co- 
hocton, and was one of the prominent and public 



••-11^ 



•►Hl^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



595 a 



•^ 
i 



spirited citizens of tliat place in its early days. He 
was a lineal descendant of Jolin Guile, who came 
from England in the j-ear 1736, and settled in 
Dedham, Mass. 

The subject of our sketch is a stanch adherent 
and firm supporter of the Republican party. While 
living in Michigan he was called uj^on to fill various 
offices, which he always did in a most admirable 
and tiiorough manner. Although a Arm believer in 
the Christian religion, he is not attached to any de- 
nominational system, but is somewhat inclined to 
favor Congregationalism. He has been a resident 
of this State for but a short time, yet he has made 
many friends, and has secured the hearty respect of 
the people; this is also true of Mrs. Ellis and their 
two chiltlren, Henr3- C. and Cora M. It is not im- 
probable that in future 3'ears our subject may have 
an important place to fill in the historj' of the county 
should he be spared, as there is apparently every 
reason to hope he may be. 

JOHN T. P:LLI0T. Among the practical 
and prosperous general farmers of McWill- 
iams Precinct the gentleman whose life story 
is here presented must certainly be named. 
His farm and home are on section 28, McWilliaras 
Precinct, and his property is some eighty acres in ex- 
tent, all of which is under the plow. He has onlj' 
owned the farm for about four years. Before that 
he had for twelve years resided in Rock Creek, and 
came first to Nebraska in 1 870. He has an exten- 
sive knowledge of the Western country, having spent 
two years traveling here, there and elsewhere in the 
Great West. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Connecti- 
cut, near the city of Hartford, on the 6th of Janu- 
ary, 1856. He was taken by his parents to Cass 
County, 111., when about three years of age. There 
he was brought up and educated, and continued to 
make his iiome until he came to this State, where 
as a young man he has made a good reputation, 
both in regard to character and ability. 

Robert Elliot, his father, was by trade a farmer 
and miller, and learned both occupations before 
leaving Scotland, his native country. He was born 



and grew up in the vicinity of tiie city of Glasgow. 
Thei'e he married Jane Miller,, a native of the Isle 
McGee. Shortly after the birth of their son James 
D., now a resident of Cass County, 111., they came 
to this countr}' and took up their abode in Con- 
necticut, where the father applied himself to his 
trade, continuing until after the birth of their six 
children, of whom our subject was the j'oungest. 
Then, as mentioned above, a move was made to 
Cass Countj\ where, in the year 1866, while yet in 
the prime of life, the wife and mother was removed 
b3' death. 

Mr. Elliot, .Sr., was married a second time, the 
lady of his choice being Miss Nancy Davidson, of 
Cass County, III. Soon after the birth of their first 
child, and in the year 1870. thej' removed to Ne- 
braska, and here Mr. Elliot began farming, but 
about five years later sold out and went to Kansas, 
locating near Superior, in that State. 

The subject of our sketch was educated in the 
schools of Illinois and this State, and from his youth 
has been more or less in daily contact with various 
farm employments. He was married in Tecum- 
seh, Sept. 5, 1888, to Miss Jennie McClung, who 
was born in Fremont Count}', Iowa, in the j'ear 
1867. She is the daughter of Edward and Nellie 
(Young) McClung, who are now living at Talmage. 
Mrs. Elliot is a lady of education and careful home 
training, an ardent member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, where she is much esteemed. Our 
subject, who is yet a young man, has not taken a 
prominent part in political matters, but will doubt- 
less figure in future 3'ears. He is a member of the 
Democratic party, and takes considerable interest in 
questions of political import. 



m 



%j 



HRISTIAN HUSTED, bookkeeper for J. H. 
Arends, in the city of Syracuse, and well 
_ known among the business men of his com- 
munity, was born near the city of Yeile, Denmark, 
on the 19th of July, 1844. His parents were Eric 
C. and Anna (Christensen) Husted, whose family 
consisted of two children only, our subject and his 
brother Hans, who still resides in his native countrj'. 
Young Husted was educated in the schools of 



^K 



t 



•►-11^ 



-•► 



596 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Copenhagen, nnd liverl near tlie place of his l)iith 
until a man twenty-eight years of age, being 
mostly engaged in teaching. In the spring of 1872 
he emigrated to the United States, and after land- 
ing upon American soil, proceeded directly west- 
ward to Polk County, Wis., where he engaged in 
farming. In the fall of 1873 he left the Badger 
State, and, changing his occupation somewhat, en- 
gaged in newspaper work, and was for a period of 
ten years thereafter editor of the Danish Pioneer, 
the largest Scandinavian journal in the United 
States. In 1883, coming to Syracuse, he assumed 
the duties of his present position, and has now be- 
come one of the indispensable features of the house. 
Mr. Husted while a resident of Omaha was united 
in marriage with Miss Louise Jessen, the wedding 
taking place in the spring of 1877. Mrs. Husted 
is a native of the same country as her husband, and 
came to the United States with her parents. Dr. H. 
C. and Kirstine Jessen, when about sixteen years 
old. Her father is a well-educated man. a phy- 
sician by profession, and is now practicing in Sac- 
ramento, Cal. To Mr. and Mrs. Husted there 
have been born three children — Anna, Harriet and 
Ella, who are all at home with their parents. Mr. 
Husted in religion is a Lutheran, and politically, 
votes the Democratic ticket. 



^^^^=m. 



PRANK J. CONKEL. There probably is in 
Rock Creek Precinct no farm under bet- 
ter cultivation than the land belonging 
to the subject of this sketch, and which is pleasantly 
located on section 25, embracing its southeastern 
quarter. The buildings are neat and substantial, 
there are shade and fruit trees, the land is well 
watered, and produces in abundance the rich crops 
of Southern Nebraska. The present proprietor 
came to Nebraska Territory in the fall of 1866, 
purchased his present land two years later, and in 
the same year put up his present dwelling. The 
premises wear that air of thrift and prosperity which 
it is delightful to contemplate. 

Our subject is an Ohio man by birth, having first 
opened his eyes to the light in Crawford County, 
that State, Dec. 9, 1843. His parents, George and 



Beulah A. (Vale) Conkel, were also natives of the 
Buckeye State, and the father all his life followed 
the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. The house- 
hold circle included four sons and four daughters, 
of whom our subject was the eldest son and third 
child. Of his brothers and sisters five are living, 
mostlj' engaged in farming pursuits, and residents of 
Nebraska and Iowa. Our subject before reaching his 
majority removed with his parents from the Buck- 
eye State to Logan County. 111., about 1856, wliere 
he attained his majority. They finally left Illiin>is, 
and pushed farther westward to "Fremont County, 
Iowa, where the father carried on farming success- 
fully until his death, which occurred in the winter 
of 1 879, when he was sixty-eight years old. He was a 
well-read man, of decided views, and a Democrat in 
polities. The mother is still living, and makes her 
home with her younger son, William, in Fremont 
County, Iowa. 

Upon reaching his majority our subject started 
out on his own account, and soon thereafter oc- 
curred one of the most interesting and important 
events in his life, namely, his marriage, Aug. 11, 
1806. His chosen bride. Miss Elizabeth Duncan, 
was born in Gibson, Ind., in 1841, and is the daugh- 
ter of Lloj'd and Rosina (Lucas) Duncan, the for- 
mer of whom died in Logan County, 111., in 1862. 
He was a well-to-do farmer during his later )'ears, 
although spending his early life in mercantile pur- 
suits. The mother after the death of her husband 
joined her daughter, Mrs. Conkel, In this county, 
and subsequently took up her abode with her son 
Thomas in Delaware Precinct, where her death took 
place about 1884. Both Mr. and Mrs. Duncan 
were members in good standing of the Baptist 
Church. 

Mrs. Conkel was reared and educated chiefly in 
Southern Illinois, but before her marriage removed 
with her parents to Logan County. She is a lady 
of many estimable qualities, and has been the true 
helpmate of her husband in all his worthy efforts. 
Their union has been blessed by the birth of seven 
children, who yet form an unbroken family circle, 
all at home with their parents. They were named 
respectively : Rosa, Grayson, Edgar, Willard, Addie, 
Frederick and Ettie. 

Mr. and Mrs. Conkel after their marriage took pos- 



•► II ^" 



^* 



•^f^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 

597 \ ' 



^ 



session of a raoilest dwelling in this township, and in 
all the relations of life have signalized themselves as 
useful and worthy members of the community. 
Mr. Conkel's interest in the temperance movement 
led him, in 1886, to ally himself with the Prohibi- 
tionists. He came to this county with limited 
capital, which he was fortunate in investing very 
judiciously, and has left no stone unturned to sur- 
round himself and his family with all the comforts 
of life, and build up a homestead which should 
compare favorably with that of the enterprising 
men around him. 

'^AMES LEWIS, who is one of the successful 
and enterprising agriculturists and stock- 
feeders of Palmyra Precinct, and operates 
1 20 acres on section 26, was born in Wilt- 
shire. England, near the town of Swindon, upon 
the Great Western Railway, on the 21st of July, 
1848. He is the son of John and Sarah Lewis, and 
is the youngest of four children born to them, to 
whom were given the names subjoined, viz: John, 
Elizabeth. Joseph and James. His mother died 
when he was but a small child, and he has no rec- 
ollection of her. He received his education in the 
parish schools, attending them until he was thirteen 
years of age, when he began to serve an apprentice- 
ship as a carpenter and joiner. 

When nineteen our subject made up his mind to 
come to the Western World, but being apprenticed 
until he was twenty-one years of age he had to pay 
his time from nineteen to twenty-one in order to be 
released from the articles of indenture. This ar- 
ranged, he sailed from Liverpool on the 1st of 
April, 1 868, on board the good ship " France," whose 
powerful engines carried him swiftly over the At- 
1,'intic rollers, landing him at New York on the 
11th of the same month. He came straight through 
to this State to his uncle, Joseph Green. At first 
he engaged to work at his trade in Nebraska City. 
In the fall of 1868 he went to Lincoln and began 
work on the State House, and afterward on the In- 
sane Asylum, and the residences of Gov. Butler and 
Secretary Kennedy. He remained working for two 
seasons in and around Lincoln. The summer of 



1871 he wont to Syracuse, where he remained until 
after the Chicago fire. That, however, offered an 
unusual chance for employment, and he repaired to 
th.at city, remaining there about two years. He then 
returned to Syracuse, and was there through the 
winter of 1873-74. He then bsgan contracting 
building upon his own account, and siw no little 
prosperity. 

At Palmyra, on the 9th of August, 187.i, Mr. Lewis 
was united in marri.age with Mary E. McAleer, 
the daughter of James and Catherine McAleer, who 
were both born in Ireland. Mr. McAleer was by 
trade a marble cutter, and was living in Rhode 
Island, where his marriage was celebrated, and had 
continued so to do for many years. His daughter 
Mary was the eldest of seven children, whose 
names are here recorded, viz. : Mary, James, Miles, 
John, Thomas F., Frances and Bernard. Mrs. 
Lewis was born on the 17th of June, 1854, and was 
eleven years of age when, with her parents, she 
came to Princeton, 111., and was nineteen at the 
time the removal was made to this State. Her 
father settled on a farm in Russell Precinct in the 
fall of 1873. He died Sept. 16, 1888, at the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-eight years. Her mother, 
who is sixty-three years old, still lives upon the 
farm. 

For some j-ears after his marriage our subject 
combined husbandry with carpentry, but since the 
year 1880 he has given his attention to stock farm- 
ing. He is feeding from thirty to thirty-six cattle, 
and has on hand at least two carloads of hogs. In 
1885 for one year he had an interest in a grocery 
business in Palmyra, and was successful while re- 
maining in it, but his cattle business prevented his 
seeing his way so to do. There have come to the 
home of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis four children, who 
bear the following names : Helen, James A., Mary 
M. and Eugene J. 

As Mr. Lewis at an early date conceived the idea 
of coming to America, he also realized his duty and 
privilege of becoming an American citizen, and 
he took occasion shortly after his arrival to de- 
clare his intention to enter into that relation with 
the people of this Republic, and he is to-day one 
of the most loyal and patriotic. He made good use 
of his homestead right, and entered eighty acres, 



i^ 



•»-#^ 



- k r>9s. 



OTOK COUNTY. 



but iifter improvingr this somewlmt solfl it and piir- 
ehased his present property, which was but then 
verj' sliglitli' improved. To-day it is one of the 
most valii.al)le farms in Palmyra Preuinct, and his 
beautiful residence, which occupies an elevated site, 
overlooks the country for sonic distance. His pas- 
tures and cattle sheds show that he is thorough, 
practical and prosi)erous. His property is supplied 
with all the modern necessaries in the line of im- 
plements, machines and conveniences. 

Mrs. Lewis is a ladj^ of education and refinement, 
and is a graduate of the Princeton High School of 
Illinois. Her home reveals the fact that she is in 
every way a lady of refinement. With her husband 
she is a member of the Catholic Church, and one of 
the earnest supporters of the same. Our subject is 
a Democrat in his political proclivities, and although 
not an office-holder takes the greatest interest in 
matters connected therewith. He sustains in the 
comrannity at large a most euviable reputation as a 
man and citizen. 



EDWIN ANDREWS. Prominent among the 
citizens of Otoe County, where he resides 
on section 34 of North Branch Precinct, 
and in every way worthy of such a position, is the 
gentleman of whose life the more salient features 
are here presented. He is a representative of a very 
old Eastern family that has occupied a similar high 
station in other States. He is the son of Bartholo- 
mew and Amelia (Meriam) Andrews, both natives 
of Connecticut. The grandfather of our subject 
was by occupation a farmer. He removed from his 
home in that State to Onondaga County, N. Y., 
where he died. The parents of our subject were 
brought up in their native State and there married. 
Afterward they removed to the Empire State, and 
took up land and carried on farming for the re- 
mainder of their days. They were the parents of 
twelve children, all of whom grew to mature years. 
Their names are recorded as follows: Anna, Caro- 
line, Lavina, Clarrissa, Alemenia and Curtis, all of 
whom are now deceased. Six are now living, viz.: 
Thomas, of Otoe County; Guernsey and Noah, 
both of Onondaga; Edwin, our subject; Titus, of 



Onondaga County, and Solomon, of Keokuk, Iowa. 

The early days of our subject were spent upon 
the home farm and in attendance at the common 
schools. From that time until he attained his 
twenty-first year he continued to assist his father 
upon the farm. Beginning life for himself, he com- 
menced work as a carpenter in his native county, 
and was accounted a skilled workman. In 1852 he 
was united in marriage with Diana C. Weller. To 
them there have come nine children: Marsha, and 
Amelia, who married L. E. Sinsebaugh, are deceased; 
the surviving members of the family are Charles 
C, George, Warren, Albert; Eugenie, who is the 
wife of Clarence Francis; Genevieve and Hannah. 

Our subject purchased fifty acres of land from 
his father, which he later traded for another farm, 
and then gave his attention to the work connected 
therewith. He continued to make his home in his 
native county until he came to Nebraska. Here he 
purchased 200 acres of land, which is the property 
upon which he now lives. At that time it was 
nothing but raw prairie, entirely unimproved, and 
so far as the raising of crops was concerned, that 
was an impossibility. By careful, continued earn- 
est labor he has made such a success of his work as 
to be able to purchase from time to time additional 
property, and now owns about 1,000 acres, all of 
which is thoroughly improved. 

Mr. Andrews devotes himself to stock-raising, 
and his reputation as a raiser of thoroughbred cat- 
tle and hogs is established, while as a breeder of fine 
horses there are few who surpass him. During 
the year 1887 he fed over 16,000 bushels of 
corn. His ranch has two sets of buildings and 
sheds, which are as good as any in the county, 
well built, conveniently arranged, and supplied with 
every modern convenient arrangement. His resi- 
dence, which is in keeping with his position in the 
county and the financial world, was built in 1869, 
and is one of the finest in the county, and it was 
at that time by far superior to anything in the 
county. 

When Mr. Andrews came to Nebraska he pur- 
chased his land at the rate of 19 i)er acre, becoming 
the owner of 200 acres, and had to go in debt before 
he had completed his house, but as the years have 
passed he has been increasingly successful, and is ^ , 



•► 1 1^ 



-t 




Residence of C. H. Sharp, 5ec. 3S.(J(3^r//.; Palmyra Precinct. 




RtsiDENCE OF J. H. Davidson ,5ec.1. Hendrics Precinct. 



•►-11^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



601 



now one of the most substantial citizens of Otoe 
County, and one of the original stockholders of the 
First National Bank of Syracuse. 

jNIr. Andrews has received repeated assurance of 
the confidence and esteem in which he is held by 
his fellow-citizens, and has frequently been called 
upon to accept some public office, but has always 
declined to do so. He has, however, filled the 
chair of Justice of the Peace, and while thus en- 
gaged evinced his fitness for the office whenever 
called upon to hear a case and render a decision. 
He is a stanch friend and supporter of the Repub- 
lican party and has so continued throughout his 
life. Our subject is one who justly takes the great- 
est delight and pride in his family, and is especialh' 
proud of his sons, his faithful assistants on the 
farm. 

^ #-# ^ 

■AMES H. DAVID.SON. a very intelligent 
and jirosperous farmer, is numbered among 
the leading men of Hendricks Precinct, 
(^^y where he has a fine lionaestead on section 1. 
The fact that he is a correspondent of six weekly 
newspapers indicates abilities of more than ordinary 
capacit}', and few men in this section of country 
possess a greater fund of general infornnation. He 
was graduated from Central College in Morrow 
Count}', Ohio, and takes a warm interest in the 
maintenance and establishment of educational in- 
stitutions. His home, presided over by a most 
amiable and excellent lady, a model wife and 
mother, is one of the most pleasant and attractive to 
be met with. 

In reciting the history of any individual it is but 
natural to revert to those from whom he drew his 
origin. The parents of our subject were George 
and Rachel (Brownlee) Davidson, the former a 
native of Washington County, Pa. George Davidson 
was born in 1803, and was the son of James David- 
son, a native of Ireland, and of Scotch-Irish descent. 
The latter married Miss Jane Holmes, and emigrated 
to America during his early manhood, settling in 
Washington County, Pa. They became the parents 
of three sons, who were all graduated from the 
Medical College at Philadelphia. George began 
the practice of medicine, and was married in his 



native State. Thence a few years later he removed 
to Belleville, Oliio, but throe 3'ears later, the wife 
becoming homesick they returned to Pennsylvania, 
settling in Taylorstown, where the father died. In 
1833 a contagious fever raged in the city of Phila- 
delphia, and'wasof such a terrible nature that finally 
the stricken ones were almost deserted both liy 
friends and physicians. Dr. George Davidson, 
however, refused to desert his post, was stricken 
down with the fever and died. His course as a 
physician had been a remarkably conscientious one, 
as he was a man of more than ordinary luimane in- 
stincts. 

After the death of her husband Mrs. Davidson 
was married in 1838 to Allen McNeal. a farmer by 
occupation, and Ruling Elder of the United Pres- 
byterian Church at Iberia, Ohio. She had in early 
life made a profession of religion, and became a 
member of the South Buffalo Association Church, 
in the faith of which she passed away after a life 
warmly devoted to the Master's work. Of the first 
marriage there were born two children onl}': James 
H., our subject, and his sister Georgiana, now Mrs. 
Francis, and the wife of a well-to-do farmer in 
Union County, Iowa'. Of her second marriage there 
were born four children: Lizzie B., a teacher at 
Medicine Lodge, Kan. ; Joseph, President of the Citi- 
zens' Natioiuil Bank of the same place; Thomas, a 
lawj'er, a graduate of Hillsdale College, and editor 
of the Medicine Lodge Crescent, also an ex-member 
of the Kansas Legislature; Mary died at the age of 
sixteen years. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Taylors- 
town, Pa., and was but three years of age at the 
time of his father's death. He remained with his 
mother until reaching his majority, and com- 
pleted his education in Ohio Central College, be- 
ing graduated from the scientific department at 
the age of nineteen years. He was for two years 
afterward engaged in teaching, then established him. 
self on a farm in Page Count}', Iowa, and in 1865 
purchased 160 acres of land in that county, and 
after making some improvements returned to Ohio, 
and was married to Miss Margaret Dickson, the 
wedding taking place at the home of the bride in 
the town of Tully. May 26, 1861. 

Mrs. Davidson was born in Washington Count}', 



«► I L 4>- 



t¥^l-M» 



■•►HI- 



602 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Ohio, March 26, 1839, and was the second daughter 
of Isaac and Mary (Hannali) Dickson, the latter a 
full cousin of T. S. Arthur, the late well-known 
author, and founder of "Arthur's Magazine." Mr. 
Dickson was born in Washington Hounty, Pa., and 
was a farmer and miller by occupation. He secured 
a competency, and is still living, being, with hisex- 
(^ellent wife, eighty-eight years of age. They are at 
present residents of Marion County, Ohio, where 
Mr. Dicivson owns a large extent of land. The 
mother was born in County Down, Ireland, and 
came with her p.arents to America in her youth. 

During the progress of the Rebellion Mr. David- 
son enlisted as a Union soldier in the 23d Ohio In- 
fantry, State Militia, serving as Lieutenant, but the 
regiment was one year later disbanded by a proclama- 
tion of tlie Governor, their services not being fur- 
ther required. Our subject then returning to Iowa 
labored on his farm a period of five years, but met 
with great reverses, his buildings being once de- 
stroyed by prairie fires. In the spring of 1871 he 
changed his residence to Hendricks Precinct, this 
county, making the journey overland with two 
teams, and settled upon the place wliich he now 
owns. Here be has 160 acres, and by tlie exercise 
of perseverance and energy soon found liimself upon 
his feet and on the road to prosperity. At the 
time of his leaving Iowa tiie following appeared in 
the Page County Heraldin February, 1871: Sold 
ODT — Mr. J. H. Davidson, our excellent friend of 
Lincoln Township, h.as sold his farin and will emi- 
grate to Nebraska this month. He does not move 
from Page County because he thinks Nebraska is a 
better State, on the contrary he regards the glorious 
kingdom of Page County as standing head and 
shoulders.above all competitors, but he goes thither 
on account of the inducements of his uncle, hoping 
to better his condition. May good fortune attend 
him." 

Upjn coming to this county- Mr. Davidson im- 
mediately began the improvement of his land, set- 
ting out trees and erecting buildings and fences. 
The following appeared in the Nebraska City News 
a short time later: "Mr. J. H. Davidson, of Page 
County, Iowa, moved to his new place eleven miles 
south of Syracuse in this county on the 3d of last 
month, bringing his family and stock. B3' the 25th 



he had sowed twenty-five acres of wheat, and in the 
meantime hauled the lumber for his house thirty 
miles from Nebraska City, and Messrs. J. Lewis & 
Bailey, his carpenters, erected and enclosed a four- 
room cottage for him in nine days, with cellar under 
it. On his second trip he came in and subscribed 
for the Neivs, tlie crowning glory of his emigration; 
Thus in twenty-five days he moved seventy miles, 
did nearly all the work with one hand, and has be- 
fore him the prospect of ease, comfort and a com- 
petence. Why will men grub among the rocks and 
stumps of old States when there is a garden State 
so near.''" Mr. Davidson has groves of maple, Cot- 
tonwood and elm, an orchard of 200 apple trees, 
and a spring of living water which could scarcely 
be purchased at any price. He has added to his 
real estate to the extent of 160 .acres in Palmyra 
Precinct. 

Mrs. Davidson is a well-educated lady and taught 
school before her marriage. Of her union with our 
subject there have been born seven children, the 
eldest of whom, George A., was born in Oliio, Aug. 
2, 1862; he completed his education in Peru, Neb. 
where he attended the Normal School three years, 
and is at present engaged in teaching. Mary E. was 
born Feb. 19, 1869, also attended the Normal 
School at Peru, and is following the same profession 
as her brother; Isaac, who was born in Boone 
County, in Iowa, is now pursuing his studie in 
the Normal School at the same place ; Lizzie M. 
was born in Amity, Iowa, April 26, 1868, has taught 
school, but is now a pupil at Peru; Robert F. was 
born July 23, 1870, and died Aug. 12, 1871 ; Jen- 
nie was born Feb. 1, 1873, and is attending school 
at Peru; Jay was born Feb. 15, 1880. 

Ml'. Davidson, politically, is a stanch Republican. 
He served as Justice of the Peace for a period of 
six j'ears. In January, 1882, he was appointed 
Notary Public by Gov. Nance for six j'ears, then 
re-appointed by Gov. Thayer, May 14, 1888, for a 
like term. Socially, he belongs to Palmyra Lodge 
No. 30, L O. O. F., in which he has held all the 
offices. Both he and his excellent wife are members 
in good standing of the Presbyterian Church, at- 
tending services at Hopewell. In this Mr. David- 
son has been Trustee and Elder six years. He takes 
a lively interest in church work, and formerly offiei- 



^x^ 



••►HI- 



»► II ^»- 



^il^l--* 



OTOE COUNTY. 



603 



T 



ated as Superintendent of tlie Slin<lay-seh"ool. His 
career has been tiiat of a useful and iionored citizen, 
and one wlio will be long remembered after he has 
passed away. 

A view of the Davi<lson homestead is presented 
in this connection. 

f^ HRISTIAN H. SHARP, of Palmyra Pre- 
ll( cinct. came to this county in the spring of 

"^^^J 1882, and purcha.sed a school lease, intend- 
ing to perfect his title to the property a.s soon as 
it was possible for him to do so. His land is finely 
located, and well adajjted by nature to the purposes 
of agriculture. The improvements upon it have 
been brought about by Mr. Sharp, who has erected 
good buildings, planted shade trees, an orchard of 
100 apple trees, besitles the smaller fruits, plums, 
cherries, peaches, apricots and grapes. As a mem- 
ber of the community he has made fully as good a 
record as in his farming operations, being public- 
spirited and interested in those projects tending to 
the general welfare of the people. A view of Mr. 
Sharp's residence is presented in this Album, among 
those given of representative places in Otoe County. 
Our subject is of Swiss ancestry. The first rep- 
resentatives of his family in the United States 
crossed the Atlantic during the Colonial days. His 
parents, Schem and INIartha (Hostetter) Sharp, 
were natives of Pennsylvania, the father born in 
IMifHin County and the mother in L,ancaster County. 
The paternal grandfather, Peter Sharp, was born 
in Switzerland, whence he emigrated directl3' to 
Pennsylvania, and from him descended the fami- 
lies of that name in the United States. The Hos- 
tetters have also an ancestry equally old and hon- 
orable. The great-grandfather of our subject, 
Michael Hostetter, was a little boy at the time of 
the Revolutionary War, and when seven years of 
age was captured by the Indians and held by them 
a period of ^even years. Among the other terri- 
ble atrocities which the savages committed, he was 
obliged to witness the death by burning of his par- 
ents, one brother and two sisters in a pit. It is there- 
fore not to be wondered at that to this day the 
Hostetters regard the Indian tribes with both fear 

■^« 



and hatred. From Michael Hostetter sprang the 
family of his name in America. They, as well as 
the Sharps, were residents of Eastern Pennsylvania 
for more than a century. 

The parents of our subject in the spring of 1832 
removed from Pennsylvania to Logan County, 
Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their 
lives, the father dying in 1863. at the age of sev- 
enty-seven years, and the mother two weeks later, 
aged sixty-one. Their six children were named 
respectively: Susanna, Lydia; Christian H., our 
subject, and Annie, who were twins; Joseph and 
Jacob. 

Our subject was liorn in Mifflin County, Pa., 
March 1.5, 1826, and when we consider the time and 
locality, it is not to be wondered at that his educa- 
tional advantages were somewhiit limited. By his 
own love of learning, and his natural abilities, 
however, young Sharp acquired more practical in- 
form.<itiou than is often possessed by those who 
have spent a term of years in college halls. By a 
most fortunate marriage his love of learning was 
encouraged, and he has become possessed of a good 
fund of general information. He still keeps up the 
course of retiding which he began years ago, and is 
a man with whom it is both pleasurable and profita- 
ble to converse. 

Mr. Sharp accompanied his parents to Logan 
County, Ohio, where he worked out by the month 
until the summer of 1853, when he went into 
Waj'ne County, and changed his occupation from 
that of farmer to carpenter. Here he met his future 
wife. Miss Elizabeth A. Plank, to whom he was 
married Aug. 22, 1853. This lady was born in 
thcit county, Jan. 4, 1831, and is the seventh in a 
family of nine children, the offspring of .John and 
Elizabeth (Schrock) Plank, the father a native of 
Lancaster County, Pa., and the mother of France. 
Mrs. Plank came to America with her parents when 
a small girl, they settling in Pennsjdvania, and she 
was married in Mifflin County. Soon afterward 
Mr. and Mrs. P. removed to Waj^ne County, Ohio, 
where they lived until 1859. Mrs. Sharp's father 
is still living in Davis County, Iowa, at the age of 
ninety-six. The mother died there in September, 
1866. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sharp after their marriage contin- 



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604 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ued residents of the Buckeye State for a period of 
six years, our subject first working as a carpenter, 
and then renting a farm. The failing health of 
Mrs. Sharp induced them to try a change of cli- 
mate, and they removed to Davis County, Iowa, 
where they lived for a period of thirteen years, and 
during which time the health of Mrs. Sharp per- 
ceptibly improved. Thence in 1872 they changed 
their residence to Fremont County, where Mr. 
Sharp purchased eighty acres of land, and there- 
after employed his time considerably in fighting 
grasshoppers, drouth, floods, hail and other storms. 
The delicate health of his wife still continued, and 
he thus had many difficulties to contend with. In 
the spring of 1882 he came to this county, and is 
now beginning to realize the reward of his labors 
and his patience. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born nine children, three in Wayne County, 
Ohio, four in Davis County, Iowa, one in Fremont 
County. They were named respectively : John K., 
Jeptha J., Susanna, Lincoln L., Charles William, 
Jacob C, Mary E., Matilda and Fanny S. 

Mr. Sharp laid the foundation of his present 
property in Fremont County, Iowa, where, notwith- 
standing the various misfortunes we have men- 
tioned, he made money. During his younger 
years he was a member of the Mennonite Church, 
and for six years officiated as a minister, pursuing 
his studies at night, after the arduous labors of the 
day were over. lie labored zealoiish' in the Mas- 
ter's cause, and in Davis County, Iowa, was Super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school. About 1861 he 
identified himself with the German Baptist Church, 
and is now ])eacon, and politically, he votes with 
the Republican party. He cares very little about 
politics, however, and aside from officiating as 
Moderator in his school district, has carefully 
avoided the responsibilities of office. 



ARVIN J. COVELL is an able and enter- 
prising citizen of Nebraska City, where 
he is prosperously engaged in the livery 
business. He w.-us born Sept. 14, 1839, in 
Batavia, Genesee Co., N. Y., a son of Richard 



and Sylvia C. (Eldred) Covell, likewise natives of 
that State, born in Rensselaer Comity. Richard 
Covell, the grandfather of our subject, was a na- 
tive of Rensselaer County, of Scotch ancestr}', and 
was a pioneer of Genesee County, where he located 
in 1830. He bought of the Holland Purchase Com- 
pany a tract of land five miles west of Batavia, and 
engaged in agricultural pursuits thereon until his 
death. The father of our subject was reared in his 
native county, and there married the daughter of 
James I^ldred, who was, it is thought, a native of 
Vermont, and was a farmer and merchant, spending 
his last years in Iloosic, Rensselaer County. Mr. 
Covell moved from liis old home to Genesee County, 
and bought a farm three miles from Batavia, and 
was successfully engaged in agriculture in New 
York until 1855. In that year he disposed of his 
farm and other property, and moved to Kalamazoo 
County, Mich., where he purchased a good farm 
near Galesburg. In 1872 he sold his property in 
that State, and went to Iowa to live in Cedar Falls. 
At the expiration of two years he went from there 
to Minneapolis, Minn., and staid two years. He then 
settled in Las Vegas, N. M., with his children, but 
his death finally occurred in the home of our subject 
in this city in August, 1879, while here on a vi.sit. 
He was a man of probity, and was much respected 
by all who knew him, as was also his worthy wife, 
who departed this life in 1867, in Kalamazoo 
County, Mich. Nine children were born of their 
marriage, six of whom grew to maturity. 

Marvin Covell, of this sketch, passed his boy- 
hood in his native town, receiving the education 
and training usually accorded to farmers' lads, and 
he thus grew to a strong and vigorous manhood. 
He was sixteen years of age when his parents 
moved to Michigan, and he continued to make his 
home with them for several years, managing the 
farm for his father during the last years of his stay 
under the parental roof in Michigan. In 1869 he 
left home, and the three succeeding years was es- 
tablished as a grain dealer in Cedar Falls, Iowa. 
F'rom there he went to Minneapolis, Minn., and en- 
gaged in the same business in that city until 1873, 
when he moved to Indiana, and there dealt in gr.ain 
extensively, with headquarters at Valparaiso, until 
1877, when he disposed of his Imsiness interests in 



•► 



Ah^- 



■•►Hl- 



•►-lt-^«- 



^i^H* 



OTOE COUNTY. 



607 



that State. He then proceerled to Chicago, and 
spent nearly two }'ears on the Board of Trade. In 
1879 our subject took a new departure, coming; to 
Otoe County to engage in fai-ming, and was thus 
very profitably employed until 1884, when became 
to Nebraska City, and bought a livery stock and 
hack line, and he is still conducting the business 
with gratifying success. 

Mr. Covell has not lacked the assistance of a 
good wife to help him in the upbuilding of a home, 
which she makes cheery and cozy, as he was united 
in marriage, in March, 1876, to Miss Nannie R., 
daughter of William and Sarah McCoy, and a na- 
tive of Illinois. Their union has been blessed by 
the birth of four children, namely: Fannie E., 
Phillip, Mattie and Clara. 

Mr, and Mrs. Covell are valued members of the 
Baptist Church, and they contribute liberally to 
its support. Mr. Covell belongs to Nuckolls Lodge 
No. 13, A. O. U. AV., and was a charter member of 
Rampkin Encampment No. 331, M. W. 

J' AMES D. CARMICHAEL, a pioneer of Otoe 
County, has by his zeal, enterprise and busi- 
ness ability, contributed greatly to its 
growth and development. His home until 
recently was very pleasantly located in the town of 
Minersville, which he himself platted and named in 
1874. The present site of the town was formerly 
owned by a company who purchased it of the 
Government, and then started a paper in its interests, 
which was printed in New York, and by that 
means they advertised it extensively, and sold lots, 
giving bonds for deeds. Finally all but tliree of 
the old company' left, a new company was formed, 
and one v^f the three signed all his rights and title 
to the larid in favor of i\Ir. Carmiehael, who bought 
the land at public auction when it was sold by the 
Government at the land-offlee. The city was 
once quite flourishing, having 200 inhabitants. 
There is a store here with a small stock of goods, 
and a few dwelling-houses. The tbwn has a very 
fine location on a bluff overlooking the Missouri 
River, commanding an extensive and beautiful pros- 
pect for a long distance both up and down the 

^ ^' 



stream. Mr. Carmiehael has upward of 400 acres 
of land here; the greater part of it is timlier, and he 
carries on a large business in clearing it and selling 
the wood and lumber. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Wayne 
Township, Mifflin Co., Pa., Aug. 7, 1812. He is de- 
rived from a sturdy, vigorous Scotch ancestry, being 
a descendant of one of three brothers who emi- 
grated from Scotland to America in Colonial times. 
His father, Duncan Carmiehael, and his grandfather- 
were born in Bordentown, N. J., and the latter, so 
far as known, spent his entire life there. The father 
of our subject was married in Pennsylvania, and 
moved from there to Tennessee about the year 
1800, becoming an early settler of Grainger County. 
He first went to that State to seek a location, going 
to Ft. Pitt Cnow Pittsburgh), Pa., and from there 
down the Ohio River to Limestone Landing, near 
Maysville, Ky., and thence overland to Tennessee. 
He was accompanied by a brother, and they selected 
a location and then went back to Pennsylvania for 
their families. They started on their return to the 
new homes that they had selected in the wilderness 
with teams, taking their household goods along, and 
going through Maryland and Virginia to Tennessee. 
The land that Mr. Carmiehael had bought was 
heavily timbered, and after building a log house to 
shelter his family, he vigorously commenced the 
pioneer task of cutting down the tall old forest 
trees and jireparing his land for cultivation. He re- 
sided there ten years, and then returned to Pennsyl- 
vania to settle on his father-in-law's farm, and 
there died Feb. 24, 1812. The maiden name of 
his wife, the mother of our subject, was Elizabeth 
Cunningham, and she was born in Wayne Town- 
ship, Mifflin Co., Pa. Iler^ father, John Cunning- 
ham, was born in Ireland, and came to America in 
his youth. He was a poor boy, and worked about 
until he could earn enough money to buy a small 
tract of land in Wayne Township, of which he was 
an early settler. Soon after that he entered tiie Con- 
tinental Armj' during the Revolutionary War, and 
for three years served his adopted country faith- 
full3^ W^hile he was away his wife and two small 
children occupied the cabin that he had erected on 
his land. The Indians were at that time trouble- 
some, and .Mrs. Cunningham used to walk to the 



i 



=t*-* 



-4*- 



608 



^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



fort, four miles distant, every night, carrying one 
eliild in her arms. She would return in the morn- 
ing to her home, and busy herself all daj' about the 
farm work, which she did all alone, and through 
her diligence all of the grain was saved, reaped 
and threshed. She was indeed a true helpmate, and 
to her courage and able assistance her husband was 
greatly beholden for the prosperity that came to 
him in after years. After his return from the war 
IMr. Cunningham engaged in farming and stock- 
raising, and became well off. He planted two good 
orchards and erected a large stone house on the 
home farm, in which he and his wife passed their 
last years. 

In this pleasant home our subject grew to man- 
hood, and there his mother passed away in May, 
1848. Of her marriage three children had been 
born: Abbie, who married William Dysart, is now 
deceased; John C, who died at the age of twenty, 
and our subject. He attended the district schools 
and assisted on the farm until he was nineteen, 
when the management of the farm fell to him. He 
resided on the old homestead until 1845, when he 
went to LaFayette, Ind., where he engaged in bu}^- 
ing and shipping grain. He had previonsh' visited 
that place in 1840, and bought a section of im- 
proved land eight miles from the town, which he 
rented until 1847, when he sold it. In 1850 he 
moved to St. Louis, but after four months' resi- 
dence there he moved to Rock Island, 111., on ac- 
count of ill-health. He engaged in the latter city 
as a pilot over the rapids to the river steamers. 
He became prominently identified with the best in- 
terests of Rock Island, and at the end of four years 
gave up his position as pilot to accept the office of 
Superintendent of Public Works. He built the 
first levee at Rock Island, and the first macada- 
mized streets in the citj', and various other improve- 
ments were the results of his energy and efficiency. 
In 1857 he started for the Territory' of Nebraska, 
having sold a small steamer to the Union Colony 
that was coming here to locate. He delivered the 
steamer at the point in Otoe County known then as 
Otoe City, now Minersville, In July of that year 
Mr. Carraichael bought a steam sawmill in Fremont 
County, Iowa, on the e.ast bank of the Missouri 
River. He operated that a year, then sold it, and 



in 1859 started a lumber-yard at the point now 
known as Minersville, and he ran flatboats from here 
to Line Island, and did a large business, people 
coming even from as far west as Beatrice to buy 
lumber of him. He was actively engaged in the 
lumber business ten years, and at the same time had a 
steamboat wood yard to supply the many boats that 
were constantly plying up and down the river. In 
1863 Mr. Carmichael became interested in farming, 
buying a farm on the southwest quarter of section 
2, Otoe Precinct, and in 1868 he removed there and 
devoted his time almost exclusively to agricultural 
pursuits until 1881. In that ypar he sold his farm 
and returned to Minersville. 

Mr. Carmichael was married, March 27, 1838, to 
Miss Julia Leyman, and on the 27th of INIarch, 
1888, they celebrated their golden wedding. This 
was an occasion of solemn and heartfelt joy to 
their many warm friends for what the 3'ears had 
brought them, and that they were still in the enjoy- 
ment of vigorous bodily and mental health. In 
the fifty years that they have walked the path of 
life together, they have not only mutually encour- 
aged and strengthened each other in the trials that 
come to all, but their friendly hands have often 
been extended to help others, and many were the 
grateful hearts that overflowed with good-will and 
kind wishes toward them on that anniversary. 
Theirs has been a happy wedded life, affording to 
the world a spectacle of true marriage. They have 
one child, IMyra, who married George Brown, and 
lives in Otoe Precinct. They have nine grand- 
children living and two great-grandchildren. Mr. 
and Mrs. Carmichael reared their granddaughter, 
Abbie E. Brown, who lived with them from infancy 
until her marriage to S. J. Thomas. She now re- 
sides in Nebraska City, and has two children — Min- 
nie L. and Harry F. 

Mrs. Carmichael was born at Clark's Ferr}-. 
Dauphin Co., Pa., Aug. 9, 1815. Her father, Henry 
Le_yman, was born in Reading, Pa., and was reared 
and married in his native State. He learned 
the trj-.de of stone-cutter, and became an architect 
and stone builder. Later he entered the mercan- 
tile business at Millerstown, Perry Co., Pa., and 
there died. The maiden name of his wife, Mrs. 
Carmichael's mother, was Mary Rudy. She was 



■•►Hh 



I 



•►Hi^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 

609 < I 



^ 



born in Ilimtingdon County, Pa., and died in La- 
Fayette, Ind. 

Mr. Carniiehael is a man of more than average 
mental capacity and ability, well dowered with firm- 
ness and strength of character, and still retains much 
of the enterprise and energy that marked his earlier 
years. He was at one time one of the leading mem- 
bers of the Republican party in this vicinity. He 
cast his first vote for Jackson, and he afterward 
voted for Polk and Pierce, and when the Repub- 
lican party was formed he fell into the ranks and 
voted for Fremont, the first candidate of the party, 
and he voted for Lincoln and for Grant, and 
in 1872 voted for Greeley. He then became a 
Greenbacker, and was elected to meet at the State 
Constitutional Convention, which was voted down 
at the same election. He served as Justice of the 
Peace in Territorial days and married the first couple 
in Otoe Precinct. Mr. Carmichael at present re- 
sides in Nebraska City, where he has long been 
favorably known. His portrait and that of his 
estimable wife are presented in this connection. 

ON. WILLIAM BUCHANAN. No pioneer 
of Otoe County is more entitled to honor 
and respect than the subject of this bio- 
graphical sketch, who has borne an active 
part in the advancement not only of the material 
and iinblic interests of Otoe County, but has done 
much to promote the cause of education and relig- 
ion within her borders. AA'hen he came here thirty- 
three years ago last May (1888) to cast in his lot 
with the few brave, hardy, adventurous settlers who 
had preceded him, he found the broad, undulating 
prairies almost as wild and primeval as if fresh from 
the hands of Nature. There were but few habita- 
tions scattered along the water courses; Indians, 
who were always friendlv, still made their home 
here, and were frequent visitors at his iiouse. gladly 
partaking of his hospitality, as, Indian like, thej' 
were always hungry; deer, antelopes, wild turkeys 
and other wild game roamed across the plains, 
wliere now stand the most populous and thriving 
cities of Nebraska, and the first winter that he was 
here he shot a deer near his present home. Our 



subject, with courage and persistent endurance, met 
and surmounted the various sore trials and hard- 
ships that are peculiar to the life of a pioneer, and 
has accumulated a good property, improved a fine 
farm, and has built up one of the most comforta- 
ble homes in Nebraska City Precinct. 

Our subject was born April 28, 1826, in Monroe 
County, Ohio, five miles west of Woodsfield. His 
father, William Buchanan, was a native of Penn- 
sj'lvania, and his grandfather was born in Ireland, 
and was of Scotch ancestry. He came to America 
and settled in the western part of Pennsylvania, 
where he followed farming, and spent the remain- 
der of his life. The father of our subject was 
reared and married in his native State, and moved 
into Washington County, that State, about 1820, 
and then to Monroe County, Ohio, the removal be- 
ing made with teams, and became a pioneer. He 
bought a tract of timber land, erecting a log house 
on it, the same in which our subject was afterward 
born. The surrounding country presented the wild- 
est aspect, and deer, bears and wolves were plentiful 
there for some years after liis settlement. They 
were forced to live in the most primitive wav, and 
the mother of our subject cooked by the fireplace, 
and spun and wove the flax and wool out of which 
siie made all the clothing of tlie family, and the 
father at the same time made the shoes for the chil- 
dren. The nearest market and depot of supplies 
was at Bellaire. fifty miles distant, over rough roads 
through the primeval forest. Salt was scarce and 
verj' expensive, and 3Ir. Buchanan relates th.at his 
father used to go to Pennsylvania on horseb.ick and 
pack salt back for family use. Ilis father lived to 
clear a good farm and to see the country well de- 
veloped, dying in 1882, at the ripe old age of ninety 
}'ears. The maiden name of his wife was Jlary 
Stewart, and she was a native of Penusjdvania. Her 
father was a native of Ireland, and was of Scotcli 
antecedents. There were eight children born to the 
parents of our subject, all of whom grew to ma- 
turity. 

The subject of this sketch resided with his par- 
ents in his native county until he was twenty-two 
years old. He then married, and settled in Lewis- 
ville, Jlonroe Count}', where he was engaged in the 
mercantile business continuously from that time 
1» 



•>^f^ 



■•►-llr 



610 



OTOE COUNTY. 



until the spring of 1855. He tlien sold out and 
started for the Territory of Nebraska, having re- 
solved to make his home in the future under these 
sunny skies. He traveled on the Ohio, Mississippi 
and Missouri Rivers to Leavenworth, Kan., thence 
went to St. Joseph and from there to Savannah, Mo., 
where he made a short visit. He then resumed his 
journey and proceeded to Omaha and Council Bluffs, 
the latter being a small village, while Omaha was 
but a hamlet. There was no hotel there at that 
time, and the only place of entertainment for 
strangers was a small building where meals were 
served to order. Our subject spent two weeks at 
Council Bluffs, and then went on to Missouri by 
stage, and he crossed the stream at Brownville, 
Neb., where he met S. F. Nuckolls and J. S. Mor- 
ton, who invited him to ride to Nebraska City. He 
gladly accepted their kind invitation, and thus, 
early in the mouth of May, made his first entrance 
into the city with which his interests were to be 
so strongly identified in the future. The only hotel 
in the place was pointed out to him, and he saw 
that it consisted of a small, rude frame building, 
not completed, and not a room in the house was 
plastered. The Government buildings that had 
comprised Ft. Kearney were partlj^ standing then, 
and there were three stores witli a small supply of 
goods. 

Mr. Buchanan's object was to seek a location for 
farming. He had explored the country around 
Omaha for that purpose but did not like it there. 
He found these surroundings much more pleasing, 
and he bought lots in the city, and employed a 
man to build a house for him while he went back 
to Ohio for his family; he returned with them early 
in December. He had started to come by water, 
but the Missouri was so low that the boats could 
only go as far as St. Joseph, Mo., and from there 
they came with a team. Our subject found his 
house ready for occupancy, and during the winter 
he traded his home for his present farm, it then be- 
ing held as a squatter's claim. In the spring of 
1856 he moved his famil}"^ here, there being a log 
cabin and a stable on the place, and twenty-five 
acres of tiie land were broken. He at once set 
about making more improvements, and has been a 
continuous resident here since. He now has a valu- 



able, highly cultivated farm, has erected a good set 
of frame buildings, and has planted a fine orchard 
of fruit trees of various kinds. 

April 2, 1850, was the wedding day of our sub- 
ject, when he was united to Miss N. D. Oldham. 
Ten children have been born to them, six of whom 
are living, namely: Samuel Ross, John W., Charles 
Francis, Ella L., Sarah Anna and Nannie. James 
J., their second child, died at the age of twenty- 
three, being killed by lightning; the other three 
died in infancy. 

In nothing more strongly did the pioneers of 
Otoe County show their wisdom and foresight, and 
their desire to promote the highest and noblest in- 
terests of their new homes, than by the early intro- 
duction of the church and the school-house, so that 
the religious and educational institutions have kept 
pace with the material advancement of the county. 
Our subject has been an important factor in the estab- 
lishment of both, in which he is warmly interested. 
He served on the School Board for a number of 
years, and he and his estimable wife are devoted 
members of the Presbyterian Church, and they 
unite in doing good and in helping others. Mr. 
Buchanan has also served the public as a member 
of the Territorial Legislature, having been elected 
to represent his district in that bod}^ in 1861. His 
political principles are formulated in the platform 
of the Democratic party, of which he is a faithful 
adherent. 



JACOB HOPP. This gentleman is a member 
of the firm of Tangeman & Sons, of Mc- 
Wiiliains Precinct, engaged in the milling 
trade, and has been so connected since the fall 
of the year 1884. He has been directly and profita- 
bly engaged witii the firm, and is a practical miller, 
having learned the business in all its details in the 
mill he now operates. Our subject has been a resi- 
dent of the county for over ten years, living chiefly 
in Osage Precinct until he began to learn the mill- 
ing trade. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Lee 
County, Iowa, on tlie 29th of July. 1859. He is the 
fouj'tli child and second son of Plillip Hoi)i), now a 



■•►Hh 




^yi^yvkl!i&ij&k^sjyiii^.^ii^^ 3i 




■ M- J - fr>->=«.— . ■^ ^_ 



Residence or r J Stooker,Sec5 Belmont Preci nct 




lteTrt.-«.f ^^\kni^T,inf:^'ll-''!^'if'f'Sii'?^fi^'^''^'''i^^^ 






Residence of Henry Winkelhake,Sec.15.Rock Creek Precinct. 



•►Hf^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



613 



prominent citizen and successful and enterprising 
farmer in Osage Precinct, wiiere he has lived for 
over ten j'ears. He is a practical farmer, thrifty 
and careful. He had previously lived in Lee 
County, Iowa, where our subject was brought up 
and received his education in the district schools. 

Mr. Hopp was about nineteen years of age when 
he came to this State. He attained his majority 
while living in Osage Precinct, and continued to 
make his home with his parents until he came to the 
Tangeman Mills. He celebrated his marriage in 
McWilliams Precinct, when he was united with 
Miss Alvina Tangeman. This lady w.as born in 
Clayton Count}', Iowa, on the 14th of August, 
1863, and was but a child of six years when her 
father, John G. Tangeman, settled in this precinct. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Hopp has been born one child, 
who received the name Lillie. 

The religious home of our subject and his wife 
is within the German Evangelical Church, with 
which they have been connected many years. He 
is the School Treasurer of his precinct, an office he 
has held since 1886. He is also one of the stanch 
Democrats of the district, and takes much interest in 
political work. Although a young man he has made 
many friends and is highl}' esteemed, and without 
doubt there is before him a future tiiat will grow 
brighter as the years pass. 



•► 



"Ji-^ ENRY WINKELHAKE. The career of the 
jfjV prosperous German citizen is amplj' illus- 
'ii^^ trated in the subject of this biography, who 
{^) is proprietor of 440 acres of land in Rock 
Creek Precinct, and generally well-to-do. He has a 
substantial set of farm buildings, good stock and ma- 
chinery, groves, orchards, and all the other appur- 
tenances of the modern country estate. He came to 
Nebraska during its Territorial daj-s, and purchased 
a tract of prairie land, and it is hardly necessary to 
say that since then his time has not only been indus- 
triously but profitably occupied. 

The bo.yhood days of our subject were passed in 
the Prussian Province of Schambure, where bis 
birth took place April 24, 1843. His father, Gollip 
Winkelhake. is of pure German ancestry, and is still 



living upon the old homestead in Germany. The 
mother died when he was an infant. Their family 
consisted of six children, five of whom are now liv- 
ing. They all received a good education in their 
native tongue, and Henry, more ambitious perhaps 
than the others, when a youth of sixteen years 
determined to cross the Atlantic, and seek his fort- 
unes in America. Embarking on a sailing-vessel 
at the port of Bremen, he landed eighteen weeks 
later in the city of New York, and proceeding at 
once to Madison County, 111., soon secured employ- 
ment as a farm laborer. He remained a resident 
of the Prairie State for a period of five years, 
then came to Nebraska, locating in the spring of 

1865 on a part of the land which he now owns and 
occupies. Later he added to his landed area, and 
in the course of a few years, as the result of most 
persistent and industrious labor, found himself on 
the road to prosperity-, and in the enjoyment of a 
good income. A view of his place is shown in this 
connection. 

Our subject has around him a blooming family 
of seven children, the result of his marriage with 
Miss Sophie Blumberg, which took place March 10, 
1869, in Madison County, 111. Mrs. Winkelhake is 
a native of the same Province as her husband, and 
was born July 29, 1850. Her father, a bailift' of 
the court by occupation, and a native also of Ger- 
many, spent his entire life upon his native soil, 
dying there when middle-aged. The mother in 

1866 came to America with her children, and lo- 
cated on a farm in Madison County. 111., where she 
is still living among them, and is now quite well 
advanced in years. Her daughter Sophie came to 
Nebraska with her husband a short time after her 
marriage. The sons and daughters of her union 
with our subject are named respectively: Emma, 
AVilliam, Mary, Anna, Henry. Jr., Frederick and 
Edward. The eldest is eighteen j'ears of age, and 
the youngest six months. They are being carefully 
trained and educated, and there is reason to sup- 
pose will fill a position in society equal to that of 
their honored parents. Our subject and his wife 
are active members of the Lutheran Church, in 
which Mr. W. is one of the pillars, and to which he 
o-ives cheerful and liberal support. Politicallj-, he 
is a solid Republican. 



t 614 



^►^1--^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



among tlie agriculturists of Belmont Pre- 
cinct worthy of one who has from his j-outh- 
ful j-ears paid considerable attention to both the 
theory and practical working of that calling. His 
property is situated on section 5, Belmont Town- 
ship, and is 360 acres in extent. When he purchased 
it in 1867 its appearance was anything but promis- 
ing to one understanding the difficulties of bringing 
prairie land into such condition as the farmer re- 
quires before he can hope to utilize it and receive 
from it a ripe and due reward in time of harvest. 
His house and farm buildings are substantial, well 
built, and admirably suited to the different purposes 
for which they were designed. His fields are well 
cultivated, also his orchards and groves, which cover 
at least from twenty to thirty acres, showing that 
he has been careful both in the selection and train- 
ing of these most desirable adjuncts to farm life in 
Nebraska, or any other State where the summers 
suggest the necessity of shelter and shade. A view 
of the i)lace is shown on the accompanying page. 

Our subject is the son of Ambrose Sto<jker, of 
Stark County, Ohio, but a native of La Belle Fiance, 
and he was born on the 10th of December, 1835, in 
Stark County. Ohio. He was reared upon a farm, 
and received his education in the common schools 
of Stark and Wayne Counties. AVhen sixteen j-ears 
of age he began to learn the machinist's trade and 
followed the same until 1864, and from that year 
also di<l business in the lumber trade. He came to 
Nebraska City in June of 1858, when there was 
very little city and almost no improvement beyond 
its limits. In that place he established and ran a 
sawmill from 1865 to 1874. He then removed 
upon his present pr()i)erty, which he had purchased 
in 1867, and had improved gradually from that 
time. 

Mr. Stooker celebrated his marriage in Carroll 
County, Mo., Oct. 9, 1866, upon which occasion he 
received the hand of Nannie J. Jackson, the amia- 
ble daughter of Davie and Nellie Jackson. This 
union has been blessed bj' the birth of eleven chil- 
dren, six of whom survive, whose names we men- 
tion as follows: Nellie G.. Belle A., Frank A., 
Jlinnie II.. Lulu and Robert H., all of whom are still 
single and reside at home. 



With the fraternity of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Stooker 
has been connected since 1 864, and is much esteemed 
by his fellow members. He and his family are at- 
tached to the services of the Presbyterian Church, 
and although not a member of the communion, our 
subject is a firm believer in the truths taught, and 
is a liberal supporter of the organization. In po- 
litical affairs he is b}' no means prominent, and 
prefers not to hold office, though he has served as 
member of the Council in Nebraska City, and in that 
connection did good service. He is a Democrat. 

RANK McCartney by reason of his 
^"1 official connection with the affairs of this 
county needs no introduction to our read- 
ers, who at the same time, we are assured, will be 
appreciative of the endeavor here made to set be- 
fore them in 'succinct form a sketch of the history 
of this gentleman. He was born in Kent Townshij), 
Jefferson Co., Ind., on the 12th of December, 1832, 
where he was brought up, and which supplies the 
earliest pictures which his memory can recall. He 
came to Otoe County in 1857 with his father, who 
settled in Wyoming Precinct. 

The subject of our sketch is the second of five 
children born to his parents. Recognizing the 
many advantages derivable from a developed in- 
tellectual power, his parents provided him with 
the best education in their power, which was that 
supplied by the country schools. At the age of 
twenty-three years he entered the University of 
Nebraska in order to take the literary course, and 
studied for two years. 

Leaving the university, our subject engaged in 
teaching for two years in this county, and was then 
appointed Deputy County Clerk, serving in that 
capacity for five years. In 1885, after an excellent 
run for the office, he was elected to his present po- 
sition as County Clerk. This he continued to hold, 
being enthusiastically re-elected in 1887, giving 
every satisfaction to all concerned by the excellent 
manner in which he undertook and performed the 
various matters pertaining thereto. 

In 1884 Mr. McCartney was united in wedlock 
with Miss Ida P. Brown, daughter of John P. 

■► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



615 



Brown (see sketch). She made her home with her 
parents until her marriage. She is a graduate of 
the Nebraska City High Schools, and of the Scho- 
neuberger Hall, and is eminently fitted to occupy 
any position in either the social or domestic circles. 
The subject of our sketch has always taken a 
livel}' and active interest as a young man in ques- 
tions of political and governmental interest. He 
is a member of the Rejiublican party, and usually 
votes the ticket of the same. In the social societies 
also he is most favorablj^ known, and holds mem- 
bership in the I. O. O. F. and A. O. U. W.. He is 
a man generally respected and esteemed in the 
county, by his genial affability and uniform cour- 
tesy winning many friends to his side. 



-•ajzc--®^-- 



%|^4— ,*-^^}/OT-«u. 



-i. 



eHARLES H. KRESSEX is at the head of 
one of the most important enterprises of 
Nebraska City, viz, th.at of the manufactur- 
ing of plows and other agricultural necessaries. 
He was born in Prussia, on the 6th of February, 
184.5. His father, George Kressen, followed agri- 
culture as his chosen occupation, and never left his 
native countiy. Two brothers and a sister of our 
subject, viz, Martin, Mike and Susannah, came to 
America in the year 1881. 

Until he was about fourteen years of age the 
subject of this writing was allowed the privilege 
of attending school, after which he was his father's 
help upon the farm for about a year, and then 
commenced to learn the trade of a blacksmith, 
which, having learned, he continued to follow until 
1865, when he came to this country. He had 
saved enough of his earnings to bring him over, 
and also to assist his brother, but that left him 
without capital to start in the New World. 

In starting in this country our subject had a 
rugged frame, good health, and a thorough knowl- 
edge of a good trade, but no finances. Our subject 
started to work in Chicago, but not meeting with 
anything in his line, he engaged in a lumber-yard, 
working for a time until he found an opening in 
that with which he was more familiar. He worked 
for one 3-ear, and then came to Nebraska City, .and 



followed his trade, working first by the day until 
he was able to stai't in businfess for himself. He 
leased a lot, erected a frame building, and started 
as a general blacksmith, until his business w.as well 
established, and then he turned to the manufacture 
of plows. He was a splendid workman, and speed- 
ily built up a fine reputation. 

The business of Mr. Kressen constantly extended 
and grew more and more profitable to him, until it 
has taken the shape of the present large establish- 
ment, which is one of the institutions of the city, 
and is located on Fifteenth street and Central ave- 
nue, stands 24x80 feet, and is well supplied with all 
needed machinery for turning out the very best 
possible work. Adjoining this building is another 
of the same ground measurement, which is used for 
the manufacture of the plows used and sold by him. 
His plows are in large demand throughout Kansas, 
Nebraska, Dakota, Washington Territory and else- 
where; he also has a large trade in carriages and 
wagons. 

In 1872 our subject became the husband of 
Anna Schrittr, a lady of Australian bii'th, but of 
German parentage, who was most admirably fitted 
to fill any place in societ}% as well as the more im- 
portant though limited circle of home. She has 
presented her husband with seven children, who 
bear the following names: Emile, Katie, Frank, 
Emma, Annie, Ella and Stella. 

The subject of our sketch has become one of the 
wealthy citizens and much respected members of 
Nebraska City and society, and one cannot but ad- 
mire the push and enterprise as well as excellent 
judgment of this gentleman, who, while building 
for himself a profitable business, has also brought 
to the agriculturists of the West an almost perfect 
implement for their arduous lalior. 



p",:us! 



C 



HARLES B. CHAPMAN, who is so success- 
a general merchant in Nebraska Cit}', 
and ill that connection very favorably known 
throughout a large section of the county, was born 
in Backer-Box. Gloucestershire, England, Nov. 16, 
1834. His father, Joseph Chapman, was born in 
Devonshire, of the same country. When a young 



•^f 



•►Hl^ 



" ^ ► ~^ l < • 



616 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-t 



man he received the appointment of a revenue 
officer, and for several years was appointed to serv- 
ice in Gloucestershire, and filled the position until 
his death. His wife, whose maiden name was Fe- 
licia Ham, was a native of Fowey. Cornwall. She 
came to America in 1872, and spent her last years 
with her children, in Howard County, Iowa. Her 
father, the grandfather of our subject, was a ship's 
chandler, in which business he was obliged to keep 
in stock almost everything a vessel might need, 
from theoutfit of the cabin boy. the supplies for the 
men. Captain or passengers, to the most complete 
furnishing of everything throughout the vessel. He 
became largely interested in the shipping trade, and 
part owner of several vessels. He grew to be 
wealthy, and at the time of his death, in 1848, was 
one of the rich men of the community. 

The family of which our subject is a member 
included nine children, whom we mention as fol- 
lows: Elizabeth, who became the wife of Joseph 
Millvvard, now living at Minneapolis; Marj', who is 
the wife of Benjamin Millward, and who resides 
in Minneapolis: Jane, who was married to George 
Hayden, and died in England; Edward, one of the 
successful merchants of Halifax, N. F. ; John, who 
died in England; our subject; William, in Wash- 
ington Territory; Joseph, in Kansas, and James 
still in England. 

In the matter of education the subject of our 
sketch was favored in being privileged to attend 
school quite regularly until his father's death, in the 
year 1848. He was then apprenticed to the trade 
of auger-maker, and served the usual term of seven 
years, and being very steady and quite a lover of 
work, he made unusually satisfactory progress. He 
was required to work ten hours per day, and it was 
not unusual for him after he became better ac- 
quainted with his business to do considerable over- 
time work. 

In 1856, accompanied by his wife, Mr. Chapman 
made his way to this country. Landing at the city 
of New York by no means wealth}', but ready to 
do good work, he proceeded to Mauch Chunk, 
Pa., and there found employment in a mill, and 
there continued for about a year; then he and 
his brother received word that they would do bet- 
ter in the city of Philadelphia, and accordingly 



went there, opening a wire factory for a company, 
and remained there for a year. There he met with 
an accident and concluded to leave the mills, and 
again accompanied by his brother, he went to How- 
ard County, Iowa, and located at Cresco, the county 
seat, and then the western terminus of the Milwau- 
kee & St. Paul Railroad. Shortlj' afterward he 
purchased 160 acres of unimproved prairie, built a 
dwelling, and started to improve a farm; but one 
year of farming in what was then the Far West 
about satisfied his ambition in that direction, and 
he wrote to his former employer for his former po- 
sition, and almost immediately received an earnest 
request for his return. This he did as soon as he 
could settle up affairs, and was made foreman of the 
shops, a position he held for eight years, after which 
he returned to his farm, where he remained until 
1882. He then sold his property and came to Ne- 
braska City, and during two years engaged in farm- 
ing in the vicinit}'. when he embarked in general 
mercantile business, which he has continued pros- 
perously engaged in until the present. 

In 1856 Mr. Chapman was united in marriage 
with Miss Elizabeth Butler, who was born in the 
city of Birmingham, England, on the 24th of No- 
vember, 1834. After a verj' happy wedded life, 
which, however, was not without its trials and diffi- 
culties, she died on the 28th of August. 1886, leav- 
ing two children, who received the names Felicia 
Mary and George Edward. These were born in 
England, and are now living with their father. 

The subject of our sketch is an ardent member of 
the Baptist Church, and has been such since the 
year 1855. He is a strong temperance man, is 
identified with temperance work locallv, being quite 
enthusiastic and held in high esteem throughout 
the community. 



OLIE N. NELSON, senior partner of the firm 
of Nelson Bros., boot and shoe dealers of 
Nebraska City, stands at the head of one of 
the principal mercantile establishments in the place, 
and is numbered among its self-made men, who, 
beginning life dependent upon their own resources 
have attained to an enviable position sociall}' and 



«► I I <• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



617 i k 



financiallj'. He was thrown upon his own resources 
earl}- in life, with a limited education, but lias devel- 
oped remarkable business abilities, which, combined 
with his sound common sense and a fund of general 
infortnation. have placed him upon a substantial 
footing and given him a leading position among 
the representative men of Otoe County. 

Mr. Nelson is of Scandinavian birth and parent- 
age, his early home having been in the city of 
.Stockholm, Sweden, where his birth took place 
April 11, 1859. His jjarents, Nicholas P. and Mary 
(Kalson) Nelson, emigrated to America with their 
family in the spring of 1865, and coming directly 
to the West located in Nebraska City, but later 
removed to Eastport, Iowa, where Olie N. spent a 
part of his boyhood. His first business engage- 
ment, when a }'outh sixteen j'ears of age, was 
with Blum <fe Co., at Nebraska City, with whom he 
remained for one and one-half years. He has spent 
no idle days since that time, having been steadily 
engaged in business in Nebraska City. The stock 
and trade of Nelson Bros, is surpassed by no firm 
In the city, and they have received many com- 
mendations for their excellent management, their 
promptness in meeting their obligations, and the 
manner in which they have generally distinguished 
themselves as business men. In the sketch of the 
younger brother. J. W., found on another page in 
this volume, will be noted further mention of the 
parents, who are now residents of Nebraska City. 

Mr. Nelson identified himself with the Masonic 
fraternity in 1883, in the Western Star Lodge No. 
2, in Nebraska City. He takes a warm interest in 
the success of Masonry, with whose principles he is 
entirely in S3'mpatliy. Politically, he is a stanch 
Republican, but has no desire for office, preferring 
to give his attention to his business concerns. He 
makes his home with his parents in Nebraska City. 



JOHN T. BEETEM, proprietor of 210 acres 
of land on section 3 in Hendricks Precinct, 
the whole of which he operates, is recognized 
as one of the most enterprising farmers of 
this locality. This property lies one-quarter of a 
mile from the town of Hendricks, and is conse- 



quently quite valuable. The buildings are tasteful 
and substantial, and everything about the premises 
is indicative of thrift and prosperity. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Van Buren 
County, Iowa, Nov. 1, 1847. His parents. John 
D. and Mary (Burnum) Beetem. were natives of 
Kentuckj% the father born in 1809. His paternal 
grandfather served under Washington in the Revo- 
lutionarj' War, and his father later fought in the 
Black Hawk War. At the close of the latter the 
father removed across the Mississippi into Mis- 
souri, where he carried on farming several years, 
then moved to Van Buren County, Iowa. From 
the Hawkeye State he went to Wisconsin, locating 
near Shellsburg. where he was engaged in mining. 
This venture not proving successful he removed to 
Dubuque Count3% and carried on farming there five 
j'ears. 

The father of our subject now decided to try the 
soil of Allamakee County, Iowa, where he purchased 
600 acres of land, and there spent the remainder of 
his life, passing away in 1869, at the age of sixty- 
three years. The mother is still living, making her 
home with our subject, and is now sixtj'-nine years 
old. The household circle included eleven chil- 
dren, of whom the three elder. Seadford, Adam and 
Ed ward, are deceased. Those surviving are: John 
T. (our subject), Joseph, George, Frank, Louisa, 
Sarah and Rolf. 

Our subject continued at home with his parents 
until reaching his majority, acquiring a common- 
school education and becoming familiar with the 
various employments of farm life. Upon the out- 
break of the Civil War he enlisted in Company F, 
6th Iowa Cavalry, and was mustered into service 
at Davenport, going from there with his regiment 
to the frontier upon an expedition against the 
Indians; he participated in the battle of Bad Lands. 
He gave to his country a service of over three 
3'ears, being mustered out at Sioux City, Iowa, in 
1865. 

Upon retiring from the army Mr. Beetem began 
farming in Allamakee County, Iowa, where he con- 
tinued until the fall of 1870. Then, coming to this 
county he located upon the land which he now oc- 
cupies in Hendricks Precinct, and upon which he 
has made all the improvements which we now be- 



*► 11 ^•' 



61 S 



OTOE COUNTY. 



hold. He subsequently arlderl eighty acres to his 
first purchase. The fields are divided by a hand- 
some hedge fencing, and seven acres have been 
planted to trees, forming a fine grove. He has an 
orchard of 100 apple trees, and other choice fruits 
on the place. The farm is supplied with running 
water and native timber. 

Mr. Beetem while a resident of Iowa was mar- 
ried, in Delaware County, that State. May «, 1868, 
to Miss Catherine, daughter of John and Katie 
(Boyne) McFherson. The parents of Mrs. B. were 
natives of Scotland, whence they emigrated to 
America in 1849. The mother departed this life 
at her home in 186'.). The father is still living, and 
a resident of Hendricks Precinct, being now sev- 
enty-seven years of age. Their family consisted 
of six children — Jeanette, David, Jane, Robert, 
Margaret and Catherine. 

The wife of our subject was born in Scotland, in 
1846. and came to America with her parents. She 
was given a good education and developed into a 
schoolmistress, following the profession of a teacher 
before her marriage. Her union with our subject 
has resulted in the birth of seven children, who are 
all at home with their parents. Mr. Beetem, po- 
litically, is an uncompromising Democrat, and, with 
his estimable wife, a devoted member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church at Hendricks. He has been 
Moderator in his district four years, and as an ex- 
soldier belongs to the G. A. R., Post No. 54, at 
Palmyra. 



WILLIAM I. McKEE, a resident of tbirty 
years' standing in this county, came with 
his mother's family to Syracuse Precinct 
when a lad nine years of age, and retains owner- 
ship of the homestead which they then began build- 
ing up. This comprises 186 acres of good land on 
section 7, together with a comfortable farmhouse 
and the adjacent buildings necessary for the success- 
ful prosecution of agriculture. For the past few 
years Mr. McKee has given his attention principally 
to stock-raisnig, which has netted him handsome 
returns annually. He is ranked among the leading 
representatives of the farming district, a man in 
whom his neighbors have confidence, and whose 



career has been such as to gain him the esteem of 
all who know him. 

Morrow County, Ohio, was the early tramping 
ground of our subject, where his birth took place 
June 2, 1848. His parents, Henry and Elizabeth 
(Kelley) McKee, were natives of Delaware, and the 
father died in Ohio when his son, William I., was 
only four years old. The mother live years later 
came with her family to Nebraska, and passed to 
her rest at the homestead, in the fall of 1873. The 
parental household consisted of nine children, of 
whom five are living. 

Mr. McKee continued under the home roof dur- 
ing his childhood and youth, acquiring his educa- 
tion in the common schools. At the age of nineteen 
years he was united in marriage with Miss Esther 
E., daughter of Jacob and Mary (Dunlap) Sollen- 
berger. This lady is also a native of Ohio, and 
came with her parents to this county in 1858. The 
family at first located in Nebraska City, but later 
moved to a farm in Syracuse Precinct, where the 
father followed agricultural pursuits until 1883. 
The parents then retired from active labor and 
took up their residence in the town of York, where 
they now live. 

Mr. and Mrs. McKee after their marriage resided 
on the homestead until the spring of 1884. Our 
subject then going into Holt County, purchased 
480 acres of land, and engaged extensivelj' in stock 
raising, buying and shipping. In March, 1888, he 
returned to the old homestead, where he has since 
lived, although still retaining possession of his 
Holt Count}' farm. His home circle now includes 
six interesting children, one son and five daughters, 
namely : Delia, Mattie, Elizabeth, Mary, Frank and 
Edna. The eldest is twenty years of age and the 
youngest ten, and all continue at home with their 
parents. Mr. McKee votes the straight Republican 
ticket, and socially, is a Knight of Pythias. 
' Jacob SoUenberger, the father of Mrs. McKee, 
was born in Miami County, Ohio, in 1825, where he 
grew to manhood and learned the trade of a car- 
l)enter. He married Miss Mary Dunlap, a native 
of the same State, and soon afterward they settled 
in Shelby County. Thence, in 1856, they removed 
to Richland County, Wis., and fifteen months later 
came to Nebraska. Mr. S. subsequently home- 



» ► II ^' 



^^1 



«► a T M ^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•»> 



619 



steaded a farm near Si'racuse, where he resided until 
his removal to liis present home in the town of York, 
where he now follows his trade. The parental 
hoiiseiiold consisted of nine cliildren, seven of whom 
are living, namely: Esther E..the wife of our sub- 
ject; Ann Belle, Mrs. David Brakeman, of York, 
Neb. ; Ona, Lincoln, Etta, Grant and Maggie at 
liome with their parents. 



II^_^^ENRY HUCKINS, editor of the Unadilla 
[ifjy and Nebraska City Times, established the 
I^K^ Journal- Times, v/hioh he now conducts with 
(^ great ability, in the winter of 1884. In its 
first issue it appeared as a small daily, three-column 
folio, called the Daily Stock Journal Times, and its 
modest request for the encouragement of the public 
met with a most generous response. It is now 
recognized throughout the State as a fearless and 
outspoken paper, independent in politics, but lean- 
ing toward Rei)ubiican principles. Shortly after its 
first issue It dropped its first title and appeared, 
greatly enlarged and improved, as the Daily Evening 
Times. It was the first paper in town to use other 
than hand power in propelling its presses, and con- 
nected with It now is one of the most complete job 
departments in the county. It is always in the lead 
in any project to advance the interests of the city 
and county, and is enjoying a steadily increasing 
circulation. 

The main points in the famil^Miistory of our sub- 
ject are essentially as follows: He is the son of 
Daniel and Polly (Bangliart) Huckins, who were 
natives of the Dominion of Canada, both born in 
1820. There also they were reared, and were mar- 
ried in the city of Westminster. The paternal 
grandfather, a native of New Hampshire, served 
as a soldier In the War of 1812, and spent his last 
years in Lexington, Mich. 

The father of our subject, at the age of seventeen 
starting out for himself, made his way to Port 
Huron, Mich., in the vicinity of which he purchased 
eighty acres of laud, which he occupied and culti- 
vated for a period of thirteen years. His experi- 
ence as a pioneer was not unlike that of others who 
settled in a wild country and battled with the pri- 



vations and hardships Incident to that region. From 
1838 to 1869 the elder Huckins was employed at 
clearing land and shoemaking in and about Lexing- 
ton, Mich., then determined to cast his lot with the 
people of the j'oung and growing State of Nebraska. 
He made the journej' to this county overland with 
teams, and settled in tiie embryo town of Nebraska 
City, where he followed his old trade of shoemak- 
ing, and-in 1874 established m business for himself. 
In October, 1888, he took up his residence in Una- 
dilla, where, with his estimable wife, he is still living, 
and engaged in stock-raising on a small scale. 

The parental household included six children, 
namely: Sarah, who died when four years of age; 
Roy died at the age of four years; Pembroke also 
died at the age of four; A. B., M. S. and Henry 
are those who still survive, and all are residents 
of Otoe County. A. B. is renowned as a pro- 
hibition singer, and M. S. follows his trade of 
painter. Henry, our subject, the 3'oungest child, was 
born in St. Clair County, Mich., Dec. 2G, 1858, and 
was eleven 3'ears of age when his parents came to 
Nebraska City. He still recalls many of the Inci- 
dents preparatory to the removal, and the after ex- 
perience of pioneer life. He completed his edu- 
cation in the High School of Nebr.aska City, and 
began to learn the printer's trade when a boj' of 
fifteen years, four years later escaping from the 
confinement of the office, and engaged as agent 
for the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine Company. 
His forte, however, seemed to be the newspaper busi- 
ness, and he soon returned to his legitimate trade, 
establishing, as we have already indicated, the paper 
which he has since conducted with such success. In 
April, 1887, he enlarged it to a five-column folio, 
and in November following added still another 
column to its size. On the 14th of July, 1888, he 
removed to Unadilla. In the meantime, in the 
month of April, 1886, he had established a weekly 
in connection with the daily, conducting both for a 
time, then discontinued the daily and enlarged his 
weekly. The business office in Nebraska City is 
on Central avenue. 

Our subject was married, on the 1st of Februar3', 
1887, to Miss Lovlna Retherford, who was born in 
Licking County, Ohio, Jan. 29, 1858. Her parents 
are now deceased. Of this union there Is one cluld. 



-*^^M^ 



t 



•►Hl^ 



-•► 



620 



OTOE COUNTY. 



a son, Clarence Leon, who was liorn Oct. 5, 1884. 
In addition to his office and material, Mr. Huckins 
owns twenty-five acres of valuable land adjoining 
the town of Unadilla, besides a house and lot in 
Nebraska City. He reflects with pardonable pride 
upon the headway he has made in his publishing 
business during the last three years, and which has 
been the result of great industry and perseverance. 



lUGU.ST BESCH. The Large .and finely 
improved farm of the subject of this sketch 
li) forms one of the most attractive featui-es 
(^' in the landscape of Russell Precinct, being 

conspicuous for its improvements and its general 
air of thrift and prosperity. The proprietor, who 
is of German birth and ancestrj', is one of the best 
representatives in this part of the State of a nation- 
ality which has done so much toward the develop- 
ment of the Great West. 

Our subject was born in Prussia, Dec. 25, 1845, 
and is the sou of Henry and Olrika Besch, who were 
of pure German ancestry, and the latter of whom 
died when her son August was a child two years of 
age. The father was subsequently married to 
Caroline Schaeffer, a n.ative of his own country, and 
they are both still living. Of the first marriage 
there were two sons, our subject and his elder 
brother, Ferdinand, who is now a resident of East 
Troy, Wis. Of the second marriage there were also 
born two sons, Charles and John, who continue 
upon their native soil. 

Our subject, in common with the children of the 
Fatherland, was given an excellent education in 
the parish school, and when fourteen years old com- 
menced an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, 
at which he worked until the age of twenty-three. 
He had been a bright and ambitious lad, and now 
determined to seek his fortunes on the other side of 
the Atlantic. 

Young Besch embarked on board a sailing-vessel 
at the port of Bremen in 1868, and seven weeks 
later landed in the city of Baltimore. Thence he 
proceeded by rail directly to Jlilwaukee, Wis., and 
shortly afterward secured employment as a farm 
laborer in the vicinity of Racine, being engaged 



with one man a period of four years. Upon coming 
to Nebraska in 1872 he first took up his abode in 
the vicinity of Grand Island, but not being pleased 
with that section went into Muscatine County, 
Iowa. There he worked on a farm five years, then 
commenced farming on rented land for himself, 
being thus occupied until the spring of 1883. 

Our subject now returned to Nebraska, and set- 
tled upon 120 acres of land in Russell Precinct, this 
county, which he had previously purch.ased, and 
which he has since occupied. The improvements 
which the passing traveler views to-day with ad- 
miring interest are all the result of the industry 
and perseverance of the present proprietor. He has 
set out groves .and an orchard of 100 trees, planted 
hedge fencing, enclosed some of his fields with 
wire fencing, has put up a house and barn, and the 
other structures necessary for his convenience. He 
could now comfortably retire from active labor, 
and have sufficient to keep him in his old age. The 
long habit of industry, however, with which he has 
been imbued and which he has exercised so many 
years, will probably cling to him as long as he lives, 
and just so long will he be busily engaged with 
hands or mind. In the building up of one of the 
best homesteads in Russell Precinct he has added 
so much to its real-estate value, and especially to 
the value of the propert}' around him. 

Mr. Besch was married in Muscatine County, 
Iowa, March 14, 1878, to Miss Caroline, daughter 
of August and Fredricka (Herwig) Fricke. Mrs. 
Besch was born in Muscatine County, Oct. 2, 1856, 
and was the eldest of seven children comprising the 
parental household, which included six daughters 
and one son, of whom we name: Caroline, Lizzie, 
Annie, Henry, Mary and Emma. Those surviving 
are residents of low.a. 

The parents of Mrs. Besch were natives of Prus- 
sia, the father born in 1824, and the mother in 
1829. Mr. Fricke came to America when twenty- 
two years of age, in time to serve as a soldier in the 
Mexican War. He participated until the close of 
that conflict, and then settling in the city of St. 
Louis, Mo., engaged at his trade of carpenter. 
Later he recrossed the Atlantic, and spent one year 
among the friends and associates of his j'outh. 
Upon returning to the United States he lived for a 



" ► II <• 



*^^ 



^(^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



■•»• 



623 



^ 



few years in Oliio, tlien returned to St. Louis, where 
he was married, and shortly afterward homesteaded 
160 .Tcres of land in Muscatine County. Iowa. After 
farming several years in that county he sold out, 
and changed his residence to Madison County, but 
a year later moved back to Muscatine County. This 
time he purchased eightj' acres of land, where, with 
his excellent wife, he is still living, and carrying on 
farming successfully. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Besch there have been boin four 
children — Frank, Walter. Fredericka and Charles. 
Our subject votes the straight Repuljlican ticket, 
and in religious matters adheres to the doctrines of 
the German Lutheran Church, in which he was care- 
fully reared by his parents. He has frequently 
been called upon to serve in the various local offices, 
not onl}' nominated but elected, but declined to 
serve. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Besch 
served in the German Army against Napoleon, and 
was given a medal for l)rave and gallant services. 
He spent his last 3'ears in America. 



"jl? AWSON COOK. Among the intelligent 
I ((§) farmers of Otoe Couiity, who are important 
jJ'— ^Vi factors in developing and sustaining the 
extensive and varied agricultural interests of Ne- 
braska, no one is more worthj^ of consideration 
than the gentleman of whom we write, and we are 
glad to be able to present a brief sketch of his life 
to his fellow-citizens. He is the proprietor of one 
of the finest farms in the Missouri River Valley, it 
being pleasantly located in Otoe Precinct, and 
comprises 180 acres. 

Mr. Cook was born in Cumberland County-, En- 
gland, July 25, 1818. His father, likewise named 
Lawson, was born in the same county, but his 
father. John Cook, was a native of Belfast, Ireland, 
tradition says of Scotch ancestrj'. He moved to 
England after he had grown to manhood, and set- 
tled in Cumberland Count}-. He afterward en- 
listed in the navy, and fought on the side of the 
British Crown in the Revolutionary War. He 
spent his last years in the village of St. Bess, Cum- 
berland County, dying at the advanced age of 
eighty-five years, and he and his wife, whose 



maiden name was Ann Lawson, and who was a 
native of England, are both sleeping their last sleep 
in the ancient churchyard of St. Bess. The father 
of our subject spent his entire life in his native 
county, and he married Jane White, likewise a na- 
tive of Cumberland County. She was a daughter 
of James White, a native of Dumfries, Scotland, 
who, after marriage, settled in Cumberland County, 
England, and there spent the remainder of his life. 
Air. Cook was a shoemaker by trade, and pursued 
his calling until his death, in 18.36. To him and 
his good wife were born nine children, all of whom 
grew up. James, William, Richard, Alexander 
and our subject were the only ones who came to 
America. James now lives in Nemaha County; 
William, who settled in St. Louis, is dead, as is also 
Richard, who first settled in Cleveland, and later 
removed to Wyandotte County, Kan. Alexander 
lives in Chicago. 

Lawson Cook was reared in his native county, 
and as his father's family was large, he was early 
taught to make himself useful, and at the age of 
ten years, when most boys are in school, he began 
to be self-supporting by working in a spinning 
factory, whereby he earned six cents a day. He 
soon received injuries in one of his hands which 
nearly caused him the loss of that useful member. 
He then abandoned factor}- labor, and went to work 
on a farm, receiving in payment from eight to 
twelve or fifteen cents a daj', but as his usefulness 
increased his wages were raised to £16 a year, and 
that was the highest wages that he ever received 
in the old country. Mr. Cook married in his na- 
tive England, in 1842, Miss Jane Fellowfleld, who 
was born in the same county as himself. She died 
in Liverpool, in 1848, leaving two children: Mar- 
garet, who lives in London, and William, who 
lives in Hebron, Neb. In 1849, the year following 
the death of his wife, Mr. Cook decided to try his 
fortunes in America, hoping to get more money 
for his work, and thus be able to build up a much 
more comfortable home than he could hope to do 
in the old country, under the low wages that pre- 
vailed there. After an uneventful and tedious 
ocean voyage, he landed in Boston on the 4th of 
July, and found the patriotic citizens celebrating 
our National holiday. He did not. however, tarry 



=r 



t. 



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624 



OTOE COUNTY. 



40U 
: 



to assist them, proceeding directly to New York 
City, where he found employment in a machiue- 
shop. He had a quick, bright mind, and being a 
natural mechanic, it took him but a short time to 
learn the new trade, and as he became an expert 
he commanded good wages. In 1852 he went to 
St. Louis, and there put in the tubes into the first 
tubular boiler ever made west of the Mississippi 
River. He continued to work in that city through- 
out that season, and then returned to New York 
City, where, with another Englishman, he took a 
job to bore holes in the boilers of the steamer 
"Adriatic." Mr. Cook worked at his trade in New 
York City until 1856, and then came to the Terri- 
tory of Nebraska, coming by rail to Alton, 111., 
and thence by boat to St. Louis, and from there on 
a boat to Nebraska Cit3\ it taking fourteen days to 
perform the trip from St. Louis. He started at 
once to seek a location, and bought a claim of land 
on section 14, Otoe Precinct. After making his 
claim, before settling on it, he returned to New 
York City to ('ast his vote for Gen. Fremont, the 
first Presidential candidate of the Republican party. 
In the same fall he erected a frame house on his 
claim, and when the land came into the market he 
bought it of the Government. The next j^ear his 
family joined him, and he resided on that place 
until 1868, when he sold it and bought his present 
farm. He first purchased 200 acres, and later 
bought an additional tract of eighty acres, making 
280 acres in all. But a part of that the river 
freshets have taken, leaving him only 180 acres. 
This is good bottom land, of unsurpassed fertility 
and productiveness, and all well improved. 

Mr. Cook has been three times married. His 
second marriage, which took place in New York 
City, was to Mrs. Agnes Harrison, her maiden 
name being Jenkinson. She was born in England, 
and died on the 1st of March, 1866, leaving one 
child, Jane, who lives in Custer County, Neb. 
Mr. Cook's third wife was formerly Fanny Smart. 
She was born near Oxford, England, and died 
about 1878. There were three children born of this 
marriage — Eliza. Archibald and Harry. 

Mr. Cook is gifted with a thouglitful and vigor- 
ous mind. He is a great reader, a lover of good 
literature, and is well posted on all ]iublic questions. 



He is a strong Republican and is heartily in favor 
of protection. He has belonged to the party from 
its very beginning. He says that he heard Fred 
Douglas lecture in England in 1847. He has been 
a delegate to many of the County, Territorial and 
State Conventions of his party. 



'Ju ON. CHARLES H. COWLES. In the death 
Ifjj of this gentleman, which occurred at his 
!^^ home in Wyoming Precinct, April 14, 1888 
(l^ Otoe County lost one of its most honored 
pioneers, and one who bad distinguished himself as 
a citizen of more than ordinary worth. A native 
of Genesee County, N. Y., he was born May 20, 
1818, and was the son of Harry Cowles, a patriot 
and a soldier, who did valiant service in theWarof 
1812. The latter, a man of high character and fine 
capabilities, w.as also chief of navigation on the 
brig "Niagara." under command of Capt. Elliott in 
Perry's fleet of nine vessels which achieved the vic- 
tory on Lake Erie, which forms no unimportant 
event in American histor}'. 

The Cowles family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
being among those persecuted people who fled from 
Scotland into the North of Ireland on account of 
their religious belief. The family was first repre- 
sented in America during the Colonial times, and 
their history has been one of which their descend- 
ants may be proud, for among them have been the 
most eminent men of our times. 

Capt. Harry Cowles, the father of our subject, 
after leaving the army was made a Captain of the 
home guards in the State of Ohio, where he had 
emigr.ated, and met his death while discharging the 
duties of this position, being run down bj' a fright- 
ened horse and instantly killed. Nine children, 
eight sons and one daughter, were thus rendered 
fatherless. Of these three are living. The daugh- 
ter is the widow of Judge A. A. Bradford, of Pueblo, 
Col., and the two sons are residents of Colorado. 
The mother passed away a year after the decease of 
her husband, and tiie children were taken into the 
homes of relatives and friends. Charles H., with 
the others, was trained to habits of industry, and be- 
ing of a buoyant and persevering disposition, he 



:5^K 



•4^ 



OTOK COUNTY. 



^*^T^ 



625 



made friends, and w.is seldom at a loss for employ- 
ment. He was for a time engaged in a clock fac- 
tory in tlie AVeslern Reserve, Obio. and was a 
resident of Trumbull County, Ohio, until a youth 
of eighteen years. He then changed his resi<lence 
to Jefferson County. Ind., living there from 1841 
to 1848, and in the latter year, crossing the Missis- 
sippi, took up his residence on Platts' Purchase in 
Missouri, but soon afterward removed to Atchison 
County, and put up the first house at Linden, then 
the county seat. In the meantime he had been mar- 
ried in Indiana, Dec. 9, 1841, to Miss Mary Martin, 
who accompanied him on his journey westward. 

Mrs. Mary (Martin) Cowles was born in Venango 
County-, Pa., March 15, 1818, and is the daugh- 
ter of St>lomon and Jane (Thompson) Martin, the 
former of whom was also a native of Venango 
County, and likewise a hero in the War of 1812. 
After the close of that struggle he carried on farm- 
ing for a time in the Kej'stone State, and when quite 
well advanced in years crossed the Father of Wa- 
ters, and spent his last days in this county, dying 
at the advanced age of eighty-six years. He was a 
remarkahl}' intelligent and well-informed man, pos- 
sessing decided views, and one who commanded re- 
spect wherever known. His wife had died in 
Jefferson County, Ind., when fifty-three years of 
age. Both were active members of the First Pres- 
byterian Church, in which Mr. Martin was a Ruling 
Elder for a period of fifteen years. Politically, he 
was in earl}' manhood an old-line Whig, but upon 
the abandonment of that party identified himself 
witli the Reijublicans. The parental household in- 
cluded seven children, three of whom are living. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cowles began their wedded life at 
Decatur, Ind., where they lived until the spring of 
1842, then went to Pktte County, Mo. In the fall 
of 1853 Mr. Coxfles made his first trip to Nebraska 
Territory. During the summer of that year it was 
learned that the Kickapoo, Otoe and Omaha In- 
dians were not only willing but anxious to sell their 
lands to the Government in order to facilit.ate trade. 
Mr. Cowles, with others, determined to call a con- 
vention to meet at St. Joseph the following winter 
for the purpose of memorializing the President and 
Congress in regard to the necessity of taking early 
steps to treat with the Indians, organize a Terri- 



tory, and open it up for settlement. Mr. Cowles 
was chosen as one of the delegates to this conven- 
tion, upon which occasion it was ^'Resolved, That 
the emigrants to the Territory ought to receive the 
same protection to property that they enjoyed in 
the States whence they came." Considerable dis- 
cussion followed, and ujion motion of Mr. Cowles, 
it was agreed to report nothing on the subject. 
One gentleman. Judge Bradford, was deputized to 
effect a treaty with the Indians, and another, H. P. 
Downs, appointed to escort the chiefs to Washing- 
ton, wliere, however, the excitement in Congress 
over the slaverj' question prevented a treat}' being 
ratified. 

Notwithstanding this state of affairs, however, 
Mr. Cowles crossed the river and got out limber 
for his house, a little later bringing over a stock of 
goods, and commenced trading early in 1854, be- 
fore the Indian title was extinct. He next pur- 
chased what is now termed Greggsport. from a 
Frenchman, selling afterward to Mr. John Gregg, 
and in 1856 removed to Wyoming Precinct, where 
he resided for a period of thirty-two years, and un- 
til his death. 

Mr. Cowles vvas not only one of the first settlers 
of this county, but one of its most prominent men 
both in church and State. He was at once recog- 
nized as a man of more than ordinary ability, was 
elected to represent Otoe County in the first as- 
semblage of the Legislature, and subsequently made 
a Senator. The cares of otflee, however, had no 
charm for him, and as soon as possible he quietly 
withdrew, declining the further honors which his 
fellow-citizens were anxious to bestow upon him. 
He was an earnest advocate of Republican princi- 
ples, having been a member of the party since its 
organization. He cast his first Presidential vote for 
Gen. Harrison in 1840, a short time before reach- 
ing his majority, and while a resident of Indiana. 
Young as he w.is, he at that time developed admir- 
able qualities as a stump speaker, and labored in 
this manner for the General throughout Decatur 
County. 

While a member of the Nebraska Legislature 
Mr. Cowles introduced the bill changing the name 
of this county from Pierce to Otoe, and instituted 
many other projects both pleasing and beneficial to 



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626 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the people. He had from his boyhood been a lover 
of liooks and study, and to these devoted Jiis lei- 
sure hours, so that he became one of the best 
informed men of his time. Genial and compan- 
ionable by nature, he was a favorite both in social 
and business circles, and made friends wherever he 
went. An active member of the Presbj'terian 
Church, he officiated as Elder, and was one of its 
chief pillars. His estimable wife is still living at 
the old homestead. She was admirably (itted both 
by nature and training to occupj' a position by the 
side of such a man as her husband, looking well to 
the ways of her household, and stimulating both 
husband and childien to wurth3' efforts and gener- 
ous deeds. Amiable and kind in disposition, she 
was ever a most faithful and devoted wife and 
mother, and although now seventj' years old, is 
bright, cheerful and active, retaining in a remark- 
able degree her powers of mind and bodj'. She 
has been identified with the Presbyterian Church for 
a period of fifty-two years. The three living chil- 
dren of the household are: Lauriston M., who 
resides on a farm in Jefferson County*, and mar- 
ried Miss Mary Campbell; Charles Clayton, a sketch 
of whom will be found elsewhere in this work, and 
who lives on a part of the home farm, and Emma, 
the wife of W. H. Moore, who is also represented 
in this Album, lives in Nebraska Citv. 



^.( LBERT G. ATKINSON. We are often 
'@VLJi reminded that "what everybody says must 
be so," and if popularity be any key to 
character that of our subject is of a very 
high order. He is at the same time one of the sub- 
stantial citizens of Belmont Precinct, and is the 
owner of a splendid, fertile farm of 240 acres, 
which he operates chiefly as a stock farm. 

Our subject was born on the 1st of April, 1836, 
in Faj-ette County, Pa., to James and Elizabeth 
(Miller) Atkinson, both of whom were natives of 
Westmoreland Count}-, Pa. The mother of our 
subject departed this life at her home in Iowa, Oct. 
1, 1872. His father was also born on the 1st of 
April, but in the year 1811. and is the son of 
Thomas Atkinson, a native of Scotland. Since the 



•►Hh-^- 



death of his wife Mr. Atkinson, Sr., has been a resi- 
ident of Rock Creek Precinct, where he still re- 
sides. 

Our subject came to Belmont Precinct in 1846, 
but after two years removed to Atchison County,- 
Mo., and from there in the year 18.51 to Fremont 
County, Iowa, which is almost opposite to Ne- 
braska City, but then Nebraska City had no exis- 
tence and nothing marked the spot except old Ft. 
Carney and the Government barracks. Our sub- 
ject has frequently followed the plow and oxen 
over the place where now stand handsome business 
blocks, and where the busy, bustling crowds are 
hurrying to and fro in pursuit of their usual avo- 
cations or pleasure. 

Prior to the war our subject made several trips 
to the mountains with ox-tearas loaded with grain 
for the United States Government, and also for pri- 
vate parties. In 1861 he enlisted in the 2d Iowa 
Battery, that afterward gained a distinctive name 
for especially effective service in action. In this 
battery he served over three 3'ears. He was present 
in the foUovving battles: Shiloh, Vicksburg, New 
Madrid, Island No. 10, Jackson (Miss.), Champion 
Hills, Raymond, and all the engagements around 
Corinth. He was once slightlj' wounded, receiving 
an injury of superficial character from a gunshot, 
but still such as in nowise disabled him. Very few 
members of his battery were so fortunate as he, for 
the reason of the dangerous duty they were called 
upon to perform, and largely because of their repu- 
tation as accurate and rapid marksmen, most of his 
companions were either killed or severely wounded. 

In the year 1865 Mr. Atkinson settled in this 
county, and upon the 23d of February of the same 
year celebrated his marriage with Mary Thomp- 
son, the daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Ben- 
nett) Thompson, natives of Ohio. Her mother 
is now deceased, and her father a resident of Ore- 
gon. This union has been fruitful in the birth of 
four children, two of whom are living, and bear 
the names of William and Katie. John and Ed- 
gar died at the ages of fourteen and nine respect- 
ively. William was united in marriage with Minnie 
Shellhorn, of Pawnee County, and lives in DuBois, 
Pawnee Co.. Neb. 

Our subject and wife are members of the Meth- 



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>► ir^ r 



OTOE COUNTY. 



■»» ■ ^ 



629 



odist Episcopal Church, and aie highlj' esteemed 
raeuibeis of society. He is a member of the G. A. 
R., and is attached to the post at Nebraska City. 
Politically, he is affiliated with the Republican p.art}% 
and is a much valued and esteemed citizen. 

^JJRANKLIN BALL. The tall and command- 
ing figure of this gentleman has been famil- 
iar to the people of Palmyra Precinct for 
the past eighteen years. He is a carpenter, builder 
and farmer combined, and the evidences of his skill 
are discernible in a large number of business l)uild- 
ings and mills along the western line of this counlj'. 
He is a typical New Englander, and although past 
tiie meridian of life, retains an astonishing amount 
of strength and energy, the result of correct habits 
and a clear conscience. 

Mr. Ball traces his ancestry on his mother's side 
as far back as 1 1 20. She was a Lawrence, and the 
earliest records trace Archbishop Lawrence on his 
way from Italy to England. Later thej' speak of 
one of his descendants, Robert Lawrence, of Lanca- 
shire, who was the occupant of Ashton Hall in 1191. 
Later, and in the seventeenth generation, one of the 
first representatives in America settled on land near 
Dedham, Mass., dbout 1783. Farther on in the famil3- 
historj' iSamuel Ball, of Alstead, N. H., married and 
reared a family, and among his sons was Samuel, Jr., 
the father of our subject, who married Miss Amelia 
Lawrence, a lineal descendant of Archbishop Law- 
rence, and the mother of our subject. The Ball 
family was also of English ancestry, and its repre- 
sentatives on this side of the water settled in New 
England prior to the Revolutionary War. The 
great-grandfather of our subject in that conflict 
served as a Lieutenant Colonel in a New Hampshire 
regiment, and }"ielded up his life fighting for his 
adopted country on the battle-field of Saratoga 
Springs. His son Samuel later took up the cause 
in which his father laid down his life, was equally 
valiant with his honored sire, and was given the 
commission of First Lieutenant. He at one time, 
single handed and alone, captured five English 
soldiers, and marched them trumphantly into camp. 
ISIrs. Amelia (Lawrence) Ball, the mother of our 



subject, was the daughter of Joseph, who was the 
son of David Lawrence, Jr. The latter was the son 
of David- and Betsey Lawrence, who emigrated 
from England to Massachusetts after their marriage, 
and settled in what is now known as Norfolk Countj', 
Conn., in the seventeenth century. Thej' took up 
land about 1680 or 1690, and their descendants are 
now heirs to a Large property, which, through a quib- 
ble now of the law or some break in the direct line, 
is about to revert to the English Crown. One of the 
estates granted by the Crown comprised a large ex- 
tent of land upon wliich stood the famous Lawrence 
and Ashton Hall, from the sale of which was realized 
$500,000,000, which vast amount of capital lies in 
the vaults of the Bank of p]ngland, when it should 
be distributed to the Lawrence heirs in America. 

The parents of our subject were married in 
Alstead, N. H., where the father pursued his trades 
of mason and butcher, and also carried on farming. 
There also was spent the remainder of their lives, 
Samuel Ball resting from his earthly labors April 1, 
1862, when sixtj'-five years old. The mother sur- 
vived her husband a number of j'ears, and died at 
the age of sevent3-eight. Their nine children were 
named respectively: Hardin, Ransom L. and an 
infant who were twins, the latter d}-ing; Willard. 
Franklin, Levi, Alonzo, Amelia and Melissa. With 
the exception of a deceased infant all grew to 
mature 3'ears, were married, and settled in comfort- 
able homes of their own. Of these five are now 
living. 

Franklin Ball was born in Alstead. N. H., June 
14, 1824, and there his boyhood and youth were 
mostly spent. He was educated in the common 
sc-hools, and learned the trades of carpenter and 
millwright. At the age of twenty-two years he was 
married, in August, 1846. to Miss Susan Bullock, and 
they became the parents of five children, of whom 
Martha, Sarah and Joseph died when less than three 
years old. The survivors are: Nalhin S., who is in 
the employ of the Rock Island Railroad, and lives 
in St. Joseph, Mo., and Rosa A., the wife of Fred 
Eaglehoff, of Russell Township, Otoe County. The 
latter is the mother of two children. 

Mr. Ball in the fall of 1853 left New England 
and migrated across the Mississippi to Davenport, 
Iowa, was for a time employed in various sawmills 



•^i^r^ 



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630 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^t 



and gristmills, and finally entered the employ of 
the Rock Island Railroad Company in the con- 
struction of elevators. He put up one- of these 
structures at each of the three towns, Downer, 
Wilton and Fulton, and for a time was employed 
in the Eagle Works at Ottawa, 111., fulfilling the 
contract of putting in shafting and other machinery. 

Mr. Ball also assisted in putting in the machinery 
of the sawmill of Grinnell. Gillett & Co., of Daven- 
port, Iowa, acting as foreman. Before coming to 
the West he had put in two years on the machinery 
of the Lancaster Gingham Works at Clinton, Mass. 
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War be was living 
on a farm in Scott County, Iowa, and although pos- 
sessing sufficient patriotism he was not permitted to 
enter the ranks on account of impaired health. He 
was personally acquainted with Gov. Kirkwood and 
Adjt. Gen. Baker.who were anxious to have him go 
South as superintendent of a bridge gang, but on 
account of his health he was obliged to decline. 

Our subject has met with some severe losses since 
the commencement of his business career. He had 
taken up 240 acres of land in Scott County, Iowa, 
but on account of the imperfect title lost it, to- 
gether with the labor of years. Subsequently he 
lost $3,500 by the failure of the bank of Cook & 
Sargeant, at Davenport. He also lost heavily 
through the failure of a milling company of that 
same place, and after having been in receipt of a 
fine income for a number of years was now obliged 
to go back and commence over again as a journe}'- 
man carpenter. 

Air. Ball labored thus a period of three 3'ears in 
Iowa, and in September, 1868, came to this State, 
the year after its admission into the Union. He had 
already pre-empted 160 acres of land, and located 
his family upon it. He then repaired to the em- 
bryo city of Lincoln, assisted in the completion of 
the State House, fulfilled his contract for other 
buildings, and was foreman of the carpenter force 
employed in the erection of the Insane As3'lum. In 
1871 he put in the woodwork of the mill of George 
McKee, at Nursery Hill. Later he worked on the 
Hill Elevator in Nebraska Cit3', then returned to 
Lincoln, and was emplo\'ed in the erection of the 
Cropsey Mill. 

During the exciting period of the German whisky 



riot at Davenport, Iowa, in 1855, Mr. Ball did 
good service on the police force, having under his 
charge sixteen men, and through his courage and 
cool judgment was largely efficient in quelling the 
disturbance without the loss of blood. He cast his 
first Presidential vote for Pierce, and has been a 
stanch supporter of Democratic principles from his 
youth. Nineteen years of his life have been spent 
in public service, during which time he has filled the 
oflices of Deputy Sheriff, School Director, Road 
Supervisor and Justice of the Peace. In all of 
these he has acquitted himself in the most creditable 
manner, giving satisfaction to his constituents, and 
was re-elected to each office. 

Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss Sarah 
Young, Feb. 24, 1870. This ladj^ was born in Pike 
County, 111., in 1840. Her parents died when she 
was quite young and she was reared by strangers. 
Of her union with our subject there have been born 
six children, namely: Milly, Gilbert, Ellen, Frank, 
Ransom L., and an infant unnamed (deceased). 
The two latter were twins. 



eAPT. JOHN MARTINE. who has hosts of 
friends in Otoe Precinct, is 'the subject of a 
verj' interesting histor}', and a man who has 
fought his way through rnany difficulties to a 
good position among his fellow-citizens, socially and 
financially. He owns and operates a good farm of 
160 acres, comprising the southwest quarter of sec- 
tion 16. He has distinguished himself as a patriot 
and a soldier, having ample right to his title as 
Captain, which was obtained through his military 
service in the Union Army. 

The Martine (formerly La Martine) family is of 
French descent, and allied to the nobility of fair 
France. The father of our subject, Adam Martine, 
was of French birth and ancestry, a native of Alsace, 
which was then Lorraine; he married Miss Catherine 
Glodney, who was born in the same Province. Thej' 
were the parents of nine children, six of whom died 
in infancy ; the living are: Our subject, Michael and 
George. The parents, in the year 1835, emigrated 
to America, settling in Philadelphia, and later went 



-•►Hh 



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4 



OTOE COUNTY. 



631 



to Ohio; there the fatlier was prospered in his labors 
as an agriculturist, and accumulated a fine property. 
He rested from his earthly labors in the year 1868, 
at the age of seventy-six years and five months. 
The mother survived her husband a period of eight 
years, her death taking place in 1876, when she was 
eighty-one years old ; she, like her husband, was of 
noble birth. Our subject's brothers, Michael and 
George, are both residents of Coshocton County, 
Ohio, have large families, and are in good circum- 
stances. 

C.apt. Martine was born near the city of Stras- 
burg, in the Province of Alsace Lorraine, France, 
Nov. 30, 1830, but when brought to America 
was too young to have retained -an}- recollection of 
his native place. He grew up on the farm in Ohio, 
although he had begun his education in the city 
schools of Philadelphia. After the removal of the 
family to Ohio, where they were among the early 
pioneers, young Martine was obliged to travel three 
miles through the woods, climbing over logs three 
or four feet in diameter, through bush and bram- 
ble, to reach the temple of learning. Limited as his 
opportunities were, however, he appreciated them 
and kept his place at the head of his class. When 
not in school his services were utilized around the 
homestead, where he remained until his marriage, 
Aug. 30, 1852. The lady who at that time became 
the wife of our subject was Miss Marj^ Ann Borden- 
karker, who was also of French birth and parentage, 
and by whom he became the father of six children. 
They lived upon a farm in Lyndon Township, Co- 
shocton Co., Ohio, until the outbreak of the Civil 
War. Before his enlistment the Captain went to 
Corinth. Miss., to take care of a brother-in-law wlio 
was dangerously ill, but who died before lie could 
reach him. Immediately upon his return home, his 
sympathies being now doubly enlisted in the cause 
of the Union, he assisted in the organization of a 
company made up mostly from the young men and 
boj'S of his own neighborhood, with whom he had 
previously drilled. This was Company C, and was 
a part of the 80th Ohio Infantry. He went with 
them to the front, 1iut at Corinth was taken seri- 
ously ill, and obliged to accept his honorable dis- 
charge. He did not by any means, however, intend 
to give up the fight, and as soon as his health would 
-^•-. 



permit he left his sick bed and organized Company 
K of the 1st Ohio Militia, and of which he was 
elected Captain, receiving a five-years commission 
from Gov. Todd, then Governor of Ohio. He par- 
ticipated in the efforts made to capture IMorgan 
while on his raid through Ohio, after tliat did guard 
duty in different parts of the Stale, and the regi- 
ment was subsequently disbanded. 

After the close of the war Capt. Martine removed 
with bis family, in September, 1865, to Brown 
County, 111., but staid there only about two years, 
next crossing the Mississippi and settling in Ne- 
braska City. Here our subject was Superintendent 
of a section of the Council Bluffs <fe St. Joseph Rail- 
road, which was then in process of construction. 
Later he had the supervision of a company of men 
working in the Summit cut on theMidLand Pacific. 
In the year 1868 he purchased the land which he 
now owns and occupies, and thereafter gave his at- 
tention to it. Here the wife and mother died, at the 
age of forty years, March 8, 1875. The six chil- 
dren of this marriage were named respectively: 
John, Jr., George, Maria, Jacob, Maude Lena and 
Ella. John married Miss Rosa Morgan, is farm- 
ing in the vicinity of Syracuse, and is the father 
of two children ; George married Miss L. Ander- 
son, lives on a farm in Otoe Precinct, and has three 
children — George, Lena and Joseph; Maria is the 
wife of Benjamin Griffin, of Buffalo County, and 
the mother of three children; Maude Lena married 
James White, of this county, lives on a farm in 
Russell Precinct, and is the mother of three chil- 
dren; Ella married Otis Brown, is a resident of Otoe 
Precinct and the mother of three children — How- 
ard, Dessie and John; Jacob is married, and farm- 
ing in Custer County, this State. 

Capt. Martine, on the 12th of May, 1876, con- 
tracted a second marriage, with Miss Lucy Scherrer, 
a native of Baden, Germany, and who became the 
mother of three children, only one of whom is liv- 
ing, a daughter, Mary, who resides with her father 
at home. Mrs. Lucy Martine departed this life at 
her home in Otoe Prednct, Nov. 8, 1880, aged 
thirtj'-seveu years. Capt. Martine, Aug. 16, 1883, 
was married to Mrs. Elizabeth High, nee Schuster, 
who was born in Prussia, Sept. 17, 1836, and came 
to the United States in 1882. She is the mother of 



=t*-«« 



632 



OTOE COUNTY. 



one child, a daughter, Katie, who is now in school. 
The Captain also has an adopted son, Frank Fuller, 
now fourteen 3'ears of age, and living with them. 

The principles of the Democratic party have 
usually been the exponent of the political opinions 
of Capt. Martine, although he refuses to be con- 
trolled by party lines, and votes for the men whom 
he considers best qualified for office. lie has never 
desired official honors, and with the exception of 
serving as School Director one term, has steadily 
declined holding office in Nebraska. While a resi- 
dent of Coshocton County, Ohio, he served as Jus- 
tice of the Peace and Assessor, and was continu- 
ously in office of some kind until entering the army. 
He prefers now to relegate its duties and responsi- 
bilities to other men. Both he and his excellent 
wife are members in good standing of the Catholic 
Church at Nebraska City. 






\f/ OUIS DAMMA. The subject of this narra- 
tion became a resident of this county in 
December, 1864, and has signalized himself 
as a hard-working and enterprising citizen. This 
course has not been without its good results, for by 
it he has become the owner of one of the finest 
farms in MeWilliams Precinct. This property is 
pleasantly located on section 31, and comprises 273 
acres of improved land, with a set of good fa;-m 
buildings. Mr. Damma located upon his laud in 
the spring of 1868, with little means save his strong 
muscle and stout heart, and from that very modest 
beginning has arisen to an enviable position so- 
cially and financially. 

Our subject was born April 1, 1843, in Franklin 
County, Mo., and is of German parentage. His 
father, Henry Damma, was born in Germany, and 
married a lady of his own nationality. After the 
birth of four children they emigrated to the United 
States, and soon after setting foot upon American 
soil made their way southwest across the Missis- 
sippi into Franklin County, INIo. Here the father 
engaged in farming, and died of the cholera early 
in the fifties, when about fifty-five years old. The 
mother had preceded her husband to the silent land, 



•► 



r 



and thus Louis when a lad ten years of age was left 
an orphan. 

After the death of his parents our subject was 
taken into the home of his brother, William 
Damma, who lived in Franklin County, Mo., and 
with whom he remained until a youth of seventeen. 
After the outbreak of the late Civil War he enlisted 
in the 4th Missouri Infantry, Company E, under 
command of Capt. Montwiler. doing mostly guard 
duty, and serving a period of eighteen months. 
Upon leaving the army he returned to his native 
county, and soon afterward came to Nebraska. In 
Otoe County he was married, Feb. 17, 1870, to 
Miss Dora Reimers, a native of Germany, and who 
came to the United States with her parents when a 
young woman. They first settled in St. Louis, 
thence came to this county, and afterward removed 
to Kansas, settling on a farm in Barton County, 
where the father, Henry Reimers, is yet living. 
The mother, Mrs. Mary Reimers, died in the spring 
of 1888, aged about fifty-five years. 

To our subject and his excellent wife there have 
been born six children, namely: Anna, Alvina, 
Julius, Bertha, Amy and Louis. The eldest is sev- 
enteen years of age and the youngest seventeen 
months. They all continue under the home roof. 
Mr. D. votes the straight Republican ticket, and 
both he and his wife are members in good standing 
of the German Evangelical Church, of Osage Pre- 
cinct. He has never sought office, and takes very 
little interest in political matters. His chief pride 
is in being a first-class farmer, and in this respect 
his career has been one of which he may be proud. 



AUL MASON CAMPBELL, probably the 
youngest man represented in this work, is 
at present mail clerk on the main line of 
the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, 
being stationed between Pacific Junction and Mc- 
Cook, and having 'his home in Nebraska City. He 
was born Sept. 21, 1865, in Nebraska City, and is 
the youngest son of Hon. J. C. Campbell, M. D., a 
sketch of whom appears elseWhere in this volume. 
Our subject at an early age gave evidence of 
more than ordinary capabilities, being a lad fond of 



■•►Hh 



•►Hl^ 



^i^h 



OTOE COUNTY. 



635 



his books and ambitious to excel, lie was gradu- 
ated from Nebraska College in the class of '83, tak- 
ing special honors, and being the suliject of much 
favorable comment at the time. He served as 
Notar}' I'ublic in Nebraska Citj^ before reaching his 
majority. He intends in the near future taking up 
the stud}' of law, which he has chosen for his life 
profession. He has set out upon a most promising 
career, one which will be watched with interest by 
hosts of friends. He is the scion of an excellent 
family, the members of which have distinguished 
themselves in many of the public walks of life with 
credit and fidelity. In the sketch of his brotlier, 
Ezra T. Campbell, M. D., on another page in this 
volume, is given a more extended history of the 
family and its antecedents, which forms a most 
interesting record. 

kEWIS LEWIS, whose portrait is given on an 
adjoining page, is one of the earliest pioneers 
of Nebraska, is numbered among its most 
honored citizens, and has seen much of life in the 
Great West. He is a man very highly esteemed by 
the people around him, one who is a public-spirited 
citizen, alwa3S willing to lend a helping hand in 
the carrying out of every project tending to the 
good of the community. His excellent partner, 
one who has stood by him through the storms and 
sunshine of many years, is a lad}- who has proved 
herself in every way suitable to be the companion 
of a good man. They have a large family of hand- 
some and intelligent children, of whom they have 
reason to be proud. 

The property of Mr. Lewis embraces the soutli- 
west quarter of section 4, Otoe Precinct, where he 
has lived and labored since 1862; he first came to 
the precinct in April, 1855. He comes of excellent 
Pennsylvania stock, being the son of Enos and 
Elizabeth (Pinnell) Lewis, who were natives of 
Delaware County, that State, the father born on the 
very farm where the English Army was centered 
when Washington was at Tallej^ Forge. Grand- 
father Lewis had purchased this from William Penn 
during the first settlement of Pennsylvania. Thej^ 
were Quakers in religion, and Enos Lewis traced 



his ancestrj' back to the earlj^ Colonial days, when 
his ]irogenitors crossed the Atlantic from England 
and settled in Pennsylvania. 

The father of our subject was a farmer by occu- 
pation, spent his entire life in his native countj-, 
and died there in 1833. The mother of our sub- 
ject had been married first to a Mr. Burns, but of 
this union there were no children. Of her marriage 
with Enos Lewis there were born three sons ami three 
daughters, the eldest of whom, Wa3-ne, was killed b}' 
being thrown from a gig when one year old. The 
next son, Henry, is a resident of Cloud County, 
Kan, ; he married Miss Isabelle Frost, and is the 
father of seven children, namely: Henry D,, Ida M,, 
Ernest, Alfred B„ John W.. Edith and Wilbur. 
Mary, Mrs. Jackson LaTier, is a resident of Tiiylor 
County, Iowa; Esther, Mrs. John W. White, resides 
in West Chester, Chester Co., Pa.; Elizabetli, Mrs. 
Booze, a widow, is a resident of Philadelphia, Pa., 
and the mother of three children — Henry. Albert 
and Lilly. 

The subject of this sketch was the fifth child of 
his parents, and was born on the old homestead, 
the birthplace of his father, in Delaware County, Pa., 
Sept. 20, 1831. He was but two years of age at 
the time of his father's death, and resided with his 
mother two years, then went to live with his aunt, 
Mrs. Esther Garrett, of East Goshen Township, 
Chester Co., Pa. He continued with her until 
a lad of twelve years, but lived under the same roof 
until sixteen. His education during those j-ears 
was carried on principall}' three months during the 
winter season, but later he entered Greenwood Dell 
Academy, where he studied one year, and after- 
ward attended L'nionville Academy for eighteen 
months. In the meantime he worked two and a 
half years on a farm. 

In the spring of 1853 our subject set out for the 
West, and traveled extensivel}' through Illinois, 
Indiana and Ohio. Later he'returned to Philadel- 
phia, Pa., but could not content himself in that re- 
gion, and started once more for the West. In the 
fall of 1853 he went to Jackson County, Mo., and 
in May, 1854. started East, finally landing in Penn- 
S3'lvania, in August. Mr. Lewis, no more satisfied 
than he had been before, after returning home, 
finally made one desperate effort, starting out the 



■•►-Ih 



♦^K-^ 



636 



OTOE COUNTY. 



third time from liis native State, and determined 
now to sta3^ This time he toolv in Louisville, Kj'., 
St. Louis and Independence, Mo., and remained in 
this vicinitj- until the spring of 1854. Later, re- 
turning East, he visited Baltimore, New York Citj^, 
and in the latter visited the Crystal Palace. He 
next journeyed to Philadelphia, where he suffered 
an attack of cholera, but fortunately recovered, and 
then went to Zauesville. Ohio. From there, a month 
later, he pushed on westward to Iowa, this time ac- 
comjianied by his brother Henry. They stopped and 
worked in Kome, Henry Co., Iowa, mitil the spring 
of 1855, when our subject started on foot for this 
county, having for his companion Edward H. 
Bishop. They had intended to go to California, 
but changed their minds and stopped in Nebraska 
City. 

Our subject, who had been born witli the gift of 
prudence and econom}', occupied himself on the 
Otoe ferry boat, which made regular trips across the 
Missouri. On the 11th of July, 1855, accompanied 
by a party, he started off on the enterprise of re- 
moving the Otoe Indians to their Blue River Res- 
ervation, and this accomplished returned to this 
count}'. In the fall of 1856 he took up a home- 
stead claim, which he still owns, and has for a 
period of thirty-two years. 

The marriage of Lewis Lewis and Miss Susan 
Wright was celebrated at the home of the bride in 
Otoe Precinct, this county, in September, 1862. Mrs. 
Lewis was born in 1840, and is a daughter of Michael 
and Rosina (Atlor) Wright, who were natives of 
Germany, and came to the United States when their 
daughter Susan was a child four or five 3'ears of 
age. In the family there were onl}- besides herself 
her four older brothers — George and John, Jo- 
seph now deceased, and Michael, also dead. They 
lived subsequently at Nauvoo and Alton, 111., New 
Orleans, La., and St. Louis, Mo., and .«it Nauvoo 
Mrs. Lewis saw the destruction of the Mormon 
Temple by fire. Her two brothers came first to 
Nebraska, and she joined them in May, 1858. The 
mother died in Illinois; the father served as a sol- 
dier in the Mexican War, and subsequently visited 
California, and has never returned. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Lewis there have been born eleven children, 
eight of whom are living, viz: Mary E., Rosina, 



Anna, Ella, Lewis, Jr., John, Henry and George. 
Three children died in infancy. Mr. Lewis voted 
for the State Constitution in 1866, and in politics 
gives his support to the Democratic' party. 



•-^tf* 



->^B<- 



<tf«tf^ 



NDERSON L. DAVIS. The live-stock in- 
terests of Southern Nebraska constitute one 
of its richest sources of profit, and in this 
industry a large proportion of its enter- 
prising and intelligent men are eng.aged. The sub- 
ject of this sketch, whose portrait we give on a 
preceding page, for the last few years has made of 
this a specialty, feeding and shipping in large num- 
bers, and to this devotes one of the finest farms in 
Nebraska, com])rising 480 acres of valuable land, 
including 100 acres of timber. He usually keeps 
200 head of cattle and several hundred hogs. In 
the city of Syracuse he superintends a fine trade in 
farm implements, having directed a portion of his 
capital in this important channel. He has been a 
resident of Nebraska a period of thirty-two years, 
having arrived here in its Territorial days, on the 
3d of December. 1856. 

Our subject first crossed the Mississippi when a 
youth of a little over twenty years of age. He was 
born in Trumbull County, Ohio, Sept. 26, 1836, 
and is the son of L. A. and Mary L. Thon)pson 
{nee Charaberlin) Davis. His paternal grandfatlier, 
Jesse Davis, a native of New York State, was of 
Welsh ancestry, and a farmer by occupation. He 
served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and 
marched with his regiment to Buffalo during the 
destruction of that city by fire. L. A. Davis, also 
a native of the J^mpire State, joined his father in 
the ranks of the soldiery, being then but a youth, 
and also saw the burning of Buffalo. The mother 
of our subject was his second wife, he having mar- 
ried and become the father of five children before 
his union with Mrs. Thompson. After the death of 
his first wife and his marriage with the latter he left 
the Empire State with his little family, and settled 
in Trumbull County. Ohio, wliere his death took 
place about 1862. His wife, Mary L., had pre- 
ceded him to the silent land some years. 



Hl-^^ 



•>^lr 



OTOE COUNTY. 



637 



The subject of this sketch was the onl}' chikl of 
the second marriage of his father, and continued a 
I'esident of his native Stale until coming to Ne- 
brasiva. He had been reared upon the farm, and 
after crossing the Mississippi was employed at 
farming near Nebraska Citj', this county. He left 
the Bucke3'e State in 1850, and, accompanied by his 
half-brother, Morris T. Thompson, proceeded by 
rail to Iowa City, thence by stage to Council 
Bluffs and Sidney, and from there on foot to a 
])oint opposite Nebraska City. The time being in 
December, the river was filled with loose ice, and 
they were ferried across in a skiff, the trip being a 
perilous one. Upon arriving at his destination 
young Davis secured a job at cutting cord wood 
through the winter, and in the spring secured 
employment on a farm. Soon afterward he pre- 
empted a tract of land in this county'. This, how- 
ever, he did not improve, but worked with his 
brother five years. 

During this period occurred the panic of 1857. 
when a man could scarcely obtain fifteen cents for 
a day's work — in fact there was no money to be had 
at times — wheat was selling at thirtj' cents per 
bushel, and corn at eight cents. Mr. Davis, finally, 
in 1862, began freighting between Nebraska City 
and Denver, and in the fall of that j'ear located on 
a ranch fifteen miles west of Camden on the Blue 
River. Here he passed two winters, then sold out 
and resumed freighting, making four trips across 
the plains, each time being accompanied by his 
brother. They spent the following winter in Colo- 
rado on the Platte River, and in the S[)ring our sub- 
ject sold his cattle with the intention of returning to 
Oliio, but on account of the Indians deemed it the 
better part of prudence to remain where he was. 

In the spring of 1866 Mr. Davis set out with a 
train to Nebraska Cit3', and thence made the de- 
sired trip to his native Stale, where he arrived on 
the 1st of Julj', after an absence of ten 3"ears. A six- 
months visit among his old friends satisfied bimi 
and returning to Nebraska he commenced farming. 
His health, however, had become greatly impaired, 
so instead of following the plow he began dealing in 
live stock, which business he has since followed 
with the most satisfactory results. In 1870 he took 
up his residence in Syiacuse, .nnd since that time 



has given his principal attention to his slock opera- 
tions and the trade in farm implements. 

Mr. Davis was married quite late in life, in June, 
1880, to Miss Meda, daughter of Henrj' and Mary 
Phelps. Her parents were natives of Iowa, and are 
now living in this count}'. Mrs. Davis was born in 
Iowa, May 4, 1857, acquired a common-school edu- 
cation, and remained with her parents until her 
marriage, residing during that time mostly in her 
native State. The result of her union with our 
subject is three bright children — Mary L., Arthur 
and Luelia. The family residence is located in the 
nortiiern part of the city, and its furnishings and 
surroundings arc fully in keeping with the means 
and station of the proprietor. 

A Democrat in principle, Mr. Davis is a reliable 
supporter of his party, and has served three 3'ears 
as County Commissioner. He is not, hovvever. in 
the least ambitious for office, preferring to devote 
his time to his own concerns. Socially, he belongs 
to the Knights of Honor. He is a genuine, capable 
business man, prompt to meet his obligations, and 
straightforward in all his transactions. 



1^^ TARR COZIER GREGORY. Among the 
^^^^ worth}' and honored citizens of Talmage, 
(^/\3) one whose life is in many regards an ex- 
ample of good to j'ounger persons, is the 
gentleman whose life's history is here epitomized. 
He is one of the well-known and successful men of 
Talmage, and has been associated with its interests 
since the first business house was erected. There 
was at that time a demand for some competent per- 
son to make his headquarters at that place for the 
buj-ing and shipping of stock, there being large 
numbers in the vicinitj-. This place our subject 
was destined to fill. Being the first to occupy the 
Held he has made quite a reputation throughout 
the county and district, and is one of the most ex- 
tensively engaged in his line of business. The dis- 
tinction is his of having shipped the first carloads 
of cattle and hogs sent out from this place. 

Recently our subject has been buying and ship- 
ping for LaFayette Higgins, of Auburn, in this 
State, but not until after he had been in business 



•►Hl^ 



t 



■•►■ 



638 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



for himself for a period of about sixteen years. For 
the past four years he has been a resident of Tal- 
mage, and has won for himself many friends among 
his fellow-townsmen. As a business man his repu- 
tation is fully sustained without the tarnish result- 
ant from dealings of a questionable nature. 

Mr. Gregory is the owner of a fine property in 
Johnson County, and in this place has one of the 
pleasantest homes. It is a large, roomy house, 
planned and arranged with a view to comfort. He 
has also a large brick business house, the upper 
story of which is occupied by the G. A. R. hall and 
Roberts Lodge Ko. 104. After subscriptions for a 
large part of the expenses toward erecting a hall 
had been made to the order, IMr. Gregory imt up his 
building, and leased the hall to the order for ninety- 
nine years. 

Tlie connection of our subject with this State be- 
gan in the year 1867. His first property was 160 
acres of land in Spring Creek Precinct, which was 
at th'e time simply raw, uncultivated prairie, but 
under the skillful management and continued ef- 
forts of our subject became one of the best farms 
in the district. It is now valued at $40 per acre. 
He was in the beginning in a thorough pioneer 
country, for no railroads then had laid their steel 
bands across the prairie, and there were no markets 
as at present, nothing nearer than Nebraska City, 
which was twenty-two miles distant. He is much 
gratified to see the splendid progress that has been 
made within the last decade principally, and justly 
proud of the privilege of having a i art in helping 
to that end. 

In coming to Nebraska the subject of our sketch 
came a comparatively poor man from DeKalb 
County, 111. It was also the scene of his early life, 
he having been born in Genoa, of that county, on 
the 21st of August, 1842. His family were pio- 
neers in Illinois and enjoyed an enviable reputa- 
tion for those qualities that make a family respected 
and admired in the community. Previous to mak- 
ing their home in Illinois the parents of our sub- 
ject had lived in New York State. 

Mr. E. S. Gregory, father of Starr Cozier, was 
born about the year 1803, at Johnstown, in the Em- 
pire State, as were his parents before him. The 
family has a history' in connection with that State 



that reaches back almost to the early settlements. 
He was brought up on a farm and also learned the 
trade of shoemaker. While yet a young man, he 
went to Maine, where he met and married his wife, 
whose maiden name was Jane Brown. 

Mrs. Gregory, the mother of our suljject, was 
born and brought up in the Pine Tree State, in the 
vicinity of Scarboro. After her marriage with 
the father of our subject they began life together 
at the bottom of the ladder, the husband plying his 
trade for about ten jears, and then came AVest, set- 
tling in DeKalb County, as .above mentioned. There 
brighter days began to dawn upon them, and the 
farm proved a perfect success, and served for their 
homo during the remainder of life. Mr. Gregory died 
at a very advanced age, in Januarj', 1887, be- 
loved and i-espected by the community at large. He 
was one of the old-time Abolitionists, and was act- 
ive in behalf of the party, feeling and expressing 
himself strong!}- in behalf of the cause. From the 
history of DeKalb County, page 481, we take the 
following, which may be of interest in this connec- 
tion: "In 1840, his brother-in-law, Ezra Starr 
Gregory, cast the first, and that year, the only 
Abolition vote cast in the county, voting for 
James G. Birney, for President. Mr. Gregory was 
the pioneer of that grand political movement in 
DeKalb County, and his name should be honored 
as the first to come boldly to the front in an effort 
to remove the dreadful stain of slavery from our 
civilization. At the next election Mr. Gregory was 
joined by others of DeKalb County's worthy citi- 
zens, who wanted all men under our flag who 
should obey the laws of the countr3% to be as free 
as they were. These men were Jeremiah L. Brown, 
Abner Jackman, Jutus Preston, Gideon King, John 
Judd and Benjamin P. Brown, the brother of 
the subject of this sketch. At the next election 
these parties were joined by a host of others." (Bi- 
ography of Jeremiah Libbey Brown.) 

Mr. Gregory, our subject, is the first son and 
second child of three born to his parents, who lived 
to maturity. He had been very carefully brought 
up by his pai-ents, and from earliest childhood 
was taught to abhor everything that verged upon 
the dishonest and dishonorable. He early be- 
gan to store his mind with useful information, and 



h4^ 



otoh: county. 



f>39 4 



strove liarcl to obtain an education. He is a man 
of good taste and excellent judgment, the result of 
a well-balanced and cultivated mind. 

When about nineteen years of age, responding 
to the patriotic zeal within Inm, the subject of our 
sketch enlisted, becomiuga member of Company A, 
105th Illinois Infantry, under Capt. Henry Brown, 
This regiment formed part of the Army of the 
Cumberland, and for seven months Mr. Gregory 
served in the ranks and was found at the post of 
duty; but his health never had been rugged, and 
the exposure and hardships proved to be too much 
for him and lie was taken sick. This resulted in 
his being honorably discharged on account of disa- 
bility and iiis return home. 

Upon coming of age our subject started out in 
life upon his own resources. He was always a hard 
worker, almost nervously restless in his energies, 
but at the same time he is thorough in whatever he 
undertakes, and here must be assigned the cause of 
the success that has crowned his life. At Genoa, 
DeKalb County, he was married on the 12th of 
January, 1865, the lady of his choice being Miss 
Maria M. Tibbitts, a youug, educated and accom- 
plished lady of e.xcellent parentage. She was born 
in the Province of Quebec, Canada, on the 3d of 
February, 1846, and is the youngest daughter of 
William and Delila (Cunningham) Tibbitts, both of 
whom were natives of the United States. 

The parents of Mrs. Gregory were married in the 
Province of Ontario, and the father followed agri- 
cultural pursuits. There all the children were born 
with one exception, Ernest, who was born in Illi- 
nois. In 1854, recrossing the line they came to the 
United States, and located at Genoa, DeKalb Co., 
111. There Mr. Tibbitts took land and went to work 
to improve and cultivate the same. They were 
reckoned among the better class of citizens, and 
moved in the best local society of that State. His 
death occurred in September of 1869, closing a life 
of sixty -two years. He had been associated very 
closely with the Republican party for many years, 
and was active where the interests of the people 
were concerned. His wife still survives, and has 
reached the ripe age of seventy-four years, never- 
theless she retains the full possession of iier facul- 
ties and enjoys good health. She makes her home 



with her daughter, Mrs. Gregory. She is a lady of in- 
telligence and sterling religious character. Almost 
all her life she has been identified with and deeply 
interested in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Mrs Gregory was but a little girl when her par- 
ents removed to DeKalb County. Both her father 
and mother were of the now somewhat old-fashioned 
sturdy Christian and highly moral, upright life and 
character, and trained their daughter in accordance 
with these ideas and principles. So far from hav- 
ing made religion repellant to her as is sometimes 
alleged is the result of such training, it has given 
tone and beauty to her whole life, and made her 
what she is to husband, family and friends. She is 
highly esteemed in the community, and by her 
faithful, affectionate devotion to her family, holds 
an unassailable place in the hearts of the various 
members of the family. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Gregory have been born three 
bright and intelligent children: Grace E., who is 
now the wife of George W. Gillman, one of the 
promising young men of Otoe County, at present 
engaged in the drug business at Talmage, and en- 
joying an excellent reputation as a business man; 
the younger child, Roy Starr, is an active boy of 
six years, who is manifesting a disposition that 
promises under such care as his parents will doubt- 
less give him a very bright and prosperous future. 
Frank C. died when six months old. Mrs. Gregory 
and her daughter move in the elite circles of Talmage 
society, and are perhaps acknowledged leaders 
therein. Both are members of the W. C. T. U. and 
very active workers in the temperance cause, as is 
also our subject, who is a member of the Prohibi- 
tion party. He is a member of the Roberts Post 
No. 104, G. A. R., of Talmage. 



(Il_^ENRY DAM.VIA. One of the most exten- 
IfjJ) sive farms of MoWilliams Precinct, and 
(^^' which is 700 acres in extent, is owned and 
(^ operated by the subject of this sketch. It 
is largely devoted to stock-raising, and pleasantly 
located on section 16. It was but a raw prairie 
when taken in hand by its present proprietor, who 
settle! here in the spring of 1869, commenced the 



Ht^^ 



^ 



•^ 



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640 



OTOE COUNTY. 



t 



(Jevfl(j|)inent of a farm, and can now look witli sat- 
isfaction upon the result of iiis labors, which have 
been crowne<l with success. lie keeps good grades 
of cattle, horses and swine, and is numbered among 
the leading agriculturists of Otoe County. 

Mr. Damma came to Southern Nebraska from 
Franklin County. Mo., in 1861, and entered 200 
acres of land in Osage Precinct, the larger portion 
of which comprised all the elements of fertility. 
He made some imi)rovenients. but after a visit to 
the part of McWilliams Precinct where he now 
lives, concluded the latter to he more desirable, and 
accordingly to this transferred the scene of his 
operations. He has made all the improvements 
which have given to his homestead the reputation 
of being one of the most desirable in .Southern 
Nebraska. 

A native of Prussia, our subject was born Oct. 
4, 1833, and was the eldest but one of a large fam- 
ily of children, the offspring of Henry and Cather- 
ine Damma, a further account of whom will be 
found in the sketch of Louis Damma, found on an- 
other page of this volume. He was a little lad 
of seven years when he emigrated with his parents 
to the United States, and upon disembarking from 
their long voyage across the Atlantic, their journey 
was still further lengthened out by a tedious ride, 
partl3' by rail and partly by horse-teams to the 
southwest, and across the Mississippi into Franklin 
Count}', Mo. There the father engaged in farming, 
and both parents spent the remainder of their 
lives. 

Our subject developed into manhood in Mis- 
souri, and was married in Gasconade County, that 
State, to Miss Charlotte Pahde, who was of ances- 
try similiar to his own. Mrs. Damma was born in 
Franklin County, Mo.. Aug. 26, 1842, and is the 
daughter of Frederick and Henrietta Pahde, who 
were natives of Prussia and are now in Nebr.aska. 
Mrs. D. was but a small child when her father emi- 
grated from Prussia to Gasconade County, where 
she grew to womanhood, receiving careful home 
training and a common-school education. Of her 
union with our subject there have been born ten 
children, one of whom, Minnie, died when eighteen 
months old. The survivors are F. Louis, L. John, 
H. Moses, C. Henry, H. Mary, H. William, Anna 
4* 



C. Lena C. and August W. The parents are 
members in good standing of the German Evan- 
gelical Church, and Mr. Damma, politically, uni- 
formly votes the Republican ticket. 



■vflACOB W. NELSON, perhaps the youngest 
business man of note in Nebraska City, is 
j junior partner of the firm of Nelson Bros.. 
,^^J^ who carry on a thriving trade in boots and 
shoes. Tliey established in business in 1885, and 
have advanced with a success which has been phe- 
nomenal, and which could only be attained by the 
closest application to business and a straightforward 
manner of dealing with their fellow citizens. J. W. 
is especially noticeable as being a young man of 
excellent judgment and sound sense, with more 
than ordinary business cap.acities. Energetic and 
prompt to meet his obligations, he has already at- 
tained an enviable position in business circles, while 
he is also a favorite in society', and being of a fine 
personal appearance, is exceedingly popular among 
the young people of his circle. 

Our subject was born on the other side of the 
Atlantic, in the city of Stockholm. Sweden, May 
27. 1864, and when scarcely more than an infant 
was brought b}' his parents to the United Stiites. 
He is the son of Nicholas P. and Marj' (Kalson) 
Nelson, who were also natives of .Scandinavia, and 
of excellent families. The household circle con- 
sisted of four children, the eldest being Olie N., 
senior member of the firm; Jacob, our subject, and 
Emma and Eddie, who are now at home. T'he 
father is a shoemaker by occupation, and the par- 
ents are still living in this city. Mr. Nelson was 
reared to manhood in Nebraska Cit}', where his 
parents settled at once upon coming to America. 
He was given a practical education, and trained in 
those habits of industry and honesty which form 
the basis of a true and upright character. He 
makes his home with his parents, and besides his 
interest in the store is a member of the Building 
and Loan Association, which has now established a 
good foothold, and promises to be of great benefit 
to those associated with it. 

Nelson Bros, carry a large and finely assorted 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



1)41 



stock of goods, and number their patrons among 
the best people along tlie eastern line of the county. 
Mr. Nelson is a stanch supporter of Republican 
principles. Genial and companionable, he is a gen- 
tleman of excellent principles, and one with whom 
it is both pleasurable and profitable to converse. 
He keeps himself well informed, not only in regard 
to the details of his especial trade, but to all matters 
of general interest to the intelligent citizen. 



eUARLES W. PIERCE. The life record of 
this gentleman is indissolubly linked with 
the early history of Nebraska Citj', the first 
settlement in Otoe County, as it was he who sur- 
veyed and platted the city, and his name often 
occurs in its annals in after years. In this connec- 
tion a few items regarding its origin may not be 
out of place. Prior to 1854 Otoe County belonged 
exclusively to the Pawnee, Otoe and Omaha tribes 
of Indians, although occasional itinerant traders 
found their way to this point from .St. Louis, then 
the great trading-post of the Northwest. As e.arly 
as 1841, or some say not until 1844, Col. Stephen 
W. Kearney (afterward Major General) selected 
the present site of Nebraska City for a military 
station on account of its admirable strategical and 
commercial advantages, and in 1846, on the 22d of 
April, Company G, 22d United States Dragoons, 
under command of Capt. Allen, arrived here and 
proceeded to establish a post, to which they gave 
the name Ft. Kearney. A block house w.as at once 
erected between Main and Otoe streets, on Fifth 
street, and quarters for the officers, hospitals, etc., 
were built. In 1848 the fort was abandoned by 
the Government, and the property left in charge 
of Mr. Harden, and subsequently of Col. John 
Boulware, and in 1850, of Hiram P. Downs, who 
retained it until the Government withdrew all 
claims to the site upon which the fort was built in 
the spring of 1854. The American Fur Company 
made this one of its stations soon after the establish- 
ment of the military post, and continued to occupy 
it until the United States extinguished the Indian 
title to the land. The original settlers and claim- 
ants as squatters were Col. John Boulware, John 



B. Boulware and Col. Hiram P. Downs, the Boul- 
wares staking off a squatter's claim in the spring of 
1853 to what afterward became the Kearney divis- 
ion of Nebraska City, and Col. Downs claiming 
two quarter-sections of land, 160 acres of which is 
now included within the corporate limits of Ne- 
braska City, as soon .as the land was abandoned by 
the United States. 

When Mr. Pierce came here on the 3d of May, 
1854, he found these gentlemen and their families 
the only inhabitants of the future city. Mr. Downs 
was then living in a log building erected by the 
soldiers in the rear of the block house, where the 
Morton House now stands. Mr. Pierce surveyed 
the claims referred to, and, furthermore, we are 
told in a recent history of the county, that "in 
April, 1854, Stephen F. Nuckolls, and in May of 
the same year Allen A. Bradford, crossed the river 
and made arrangements with Hiram Downs whereby 
they became with him joint owners in the claim 
which he had taken, and they immediately employed 
Charles W. Pierce to survey and stake off a city, 
the work being commenced in 1854." The first 
permanent habitation in the city, however, and 
indeed in the county, antedated the platting of the 
city two years, John B. Boulware having built a 
ferry house in 1852, on the river bank at the foot 
of Commercial street. Charles H. Cowles erected 
the first frame house on the town site near the cor- 
ner of Fifth and Main streets, and the second one 
was built by our subject on Main street between 
Fourth and Fifth streets. The first hotel was built 
in the fall of 1854 by Mr. Downs. The first post- 
office, called Table Creek post-office, was established 
at Nebraska City as early as 1854, and Mr. Pierce 
was appointed Postmaster of Nebraska City. 

Mr. Pierce is still an honored resident of the city 
in whose foundation he played so important a part 
thirty-four years ago. He is widely known and is 
highl}' respected, not only as a pioneer but as a man 
and a citizen. He is a native of New York City, 
born in that great metropolis Feb. 21, 1828, com- 
ing of good old New England stock. His father, 
Wilder Pierce, was, it is thought, a native of Massa- 
chusetts, as his father, Araasa Pierce, was born, 
reared and married in that State. He, the grand- 
father of our subject, moved from his native State 



>► i r ^ 



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642 



OTOE COUNTY. 



to New York, and was one of the early pioneers of 
Cortland Country, where he cleared a farm from 
the wilderness and made his residence until a few 
months before his death. He then went to Niagara 
County, and died at the home of his son. The 
father of our subject learned the trade of ship 
carpenter, and in the War of \Sl'2 served in the 
United States Navy, and was with Coramotlore 
Lawrence when the latter was killed, and the vessel 
and crew were captured. In 1831 Mr. Pierce went 
on a cruise in the United States man-of-war -Hornet" 
in quest of piratical crafts, and was lost with the 
crew and vessel. The maiden name of his wife, the 
mother of our subject, was Catherine Ryder. She 
was born in the Mohawk Valley, N. Y., and spent 
her last years in New York City, dying in 1845. 

The subject of this sketch was for the most part 
reared and educated by his paternal grandparents. 
He attended the public schools, and at the age of 
fifteen commenced the study of civil engineering. In 
1849 he went to Dubuque, Iowa, and there engaged 
with a party of surveyors who were surveying Gov- 
ernment land in that State. In December of that 
year he gave up his profession there and went to 
Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, which was then a 
hamlet of a few log buildings, and the twosucceed- 
inc years he was engaged in superintending a ferry 
across the Missouri River at Belleville. In the 
spring of 1852 he went to Sidney. Iowa, but his 
health being poor he did but little while there. He 
remained there until May, 1854, and on the 3d of 
that month he came to the present site of Nebraska 
City. Charles W. Coles came with him to engage 
in mercantile business, and was the first merchant 
of the citj'. As before stated, Mr. Pierce had come 
here "for the purpose of surveying and laying out 
the cit3', and before cold weather set in he had a 
part of the city platted, and ten or twelve families 
were settled here by that time, and these early set- 
tlers and about 600 Indians spent the winter here. 
In July, 1854, the Nebraska City post-ofBce was 
established, and Mr. Pierce was made the first Post- 
master. But there was no regular mail carrier for 
nearl}^ a 3-ear, and the citizens used to employ some 
person to go to Sidnejs Iowa, fifteen miles distant, 
for the mail once a week. In 1855 a mail carrier 
was appointed, who brought the mail twice a week. 



and soon three times a week, until the railway was 
built on the opposite side of the river, and then 
daily. In 1855 Mr. Pierce resigned his office and 
was appointed inspector of survey by the Gov- 
ernment, which position he held until August, 1857. 
He then resumed surveying for the Government, 
anil was a United States surveyor in Nebraska for 
seven years. When Otoe County was organized 
he was made County Surveyor, and was re-elected 
to that office several times, until at the end of 
twelve years he utterly refused to serve any longer. 
In 1854 Mr. Pierce took the census in the northern 
half of the Territory, and during the second session 
of the Teriitorial Legislature he was Sergeant-at- 
Arms of the Territorial Council. In April, 1855, 
he was deputized bj' the Indian agent to remove 
the Otoe Indians to their reservation. He made 
the survej' in April, and during the summer re- 
moved his charges to their new home. 



lARNARD BRADY. Within the confines of 
Belmont Precinct, and in the southwestern 
part of section 24, is located the farm of 
this gentleman, which embraces 160 acres of 
land, and has been brought to a good state of cul- 
tivation. One of its most attractive features is the 
handsome and substantial residence, while a good 
barn and all the other necessary out-buildings, with 
fruit and shade trees, form a most attractive back- 
ground. Mr. Bradj' has been thorough and suc- 
cessful as an agriculturist, and is a man of good 
business capacities. As a citizen he is esteemed as 
one of the most valued members of his eommunit}'. 
Our subject was born at Port George in British 
America, Aug. 17, 1830, and is the son of Antwin 
and Mary (Riley) Brady, who were natives of Ire- 
land, and the former a British soldier in the War of 
1812. Later he went to Ireland, and there the sub- 
ject of this sketch spent a portion of his boyhood. 
His parents died in Ireland, and Barnard then re- 
turned to British America with relatives, and came 
to this count}' in August of 1854, while Nebraska 
was a Territory. He took up a claim that same 
3'ear opposite St. Joseph in Kansas, but the border 
war coming on he was forced to flee, and found 



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•^^ 



^^^ 



^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



645 



refujje in Rlacoii Countj', Mo., until the troubles 
were ovei\ 

Mr. Brady in the spring of 1863 returner! to tiiis 
county during the progress of the Civil War. but 
In the meantime had served as a Confederate sol- 
dier in Company' I. 4th Missouri Infantry. He 
located permanently on his present farm in Septem- 
ber, 1870. and is now tiie owner of one of the most 
desirable estates in this part of tiie county. 

Our subject was married, in May, 1870, to Mrs. 
Sarah Nestor, widow of George W. Nestor, and 
daughter of Dudley and Kerby Abbott. Mrs. 
Brady was born Oct. J), 1843, in Missouri. Her par- 
ents were natives of Ohio, and their household con- 
sisted of fourteen children. Of her union with our 
subject there have been horn five children, four of 
whom are living, namely: Thomas H.. John D., 
Edward W. and Andrew J. The eldest is sixteen 
years of age and the youngest nine. Of the first 
marriage of Mrs. Brady there had been born two 
children, both daughters, Caroline and Martha, 
who are living in Oregon and married. Mr. Brady, 
politically, is a Democrat, and socially, in 1883 
identified himself with the Masonic fraternity. 






If, ON. FLEMING W. ROBB, ex-member of 
i'|r)j] the Nebraska Legislature, and one of the 
J^^ earh' pioneers of this county, first crossed 
(^) the Missouri on the 23d of June, 1856, at 
the old town site of Wyoming, and at once pre- 
empted the quarter of section 3, where he has now 
a well-developed farm, which yields in abundance 
the products of Southern Nebraska. Subsequently 
he added 120 acres to his first purchase, eighty acres 
of which he has since presented to his son, Mont- 
gomerj' Robb. He came to Nebraska with moder- 
ate means, but has now a good property, and 
socially, occupies a high position among the leading 
men of his community and county. 

Prior to casting his lot with the pioneers of Ne- 
braska Territory our subject had spent his years in 
Lycoming County, Pa., having been born near the 
town of Muncie, that county, Aug. 31, 1815. His 
father, William F. Robb, was a native of Carlisle, 
that State, and of excellent Scotch-Irish stock. 
When two years of age he removed with his father, 

4« 



Robert Robb, to Lycoming County, when that sec- 
tion of country w.as peopled principally by Indians 
and wild animals. Robert Robb settled upon a tract 
of land where he made some impi'ovements, but 
was finally driven off by the Indians. He finally 
located in Muncie Township, where he spent the 
remainder of his life, and where his death took 
place at the home of his son William F. 

The father of our subject became intimately ac- 
quainted with the privations and hardships of life 
in a new country, such as was Pennsylvania during 
his boyhood and j'outh, and developed into man- 
hood in Lycoming County. He was there married 
in Muncie Township to Miss Marj' Shoemaker, a 
native of Lycoming County, and of Dutch ances- 
try. Her family had lived for a time in Berks 
County, and were people well-to-do and highly re- 
spected. After marriage the elder Robb and his 
young wife located on a farm in Muncie Township, 
where they spent the remainder of their lives, do- 
ing good to all around them and building up for 
themselves and their children a comfortable home- 
stead. Their sons and daughters were given a 
practical education and trained to habits of industry 
and principles of honor. The father in religious 
belief was a Presbyterian, while the mother held to 
the doctrines of the Lutheran Church. 

Our subject was the fourth son and fifth child of 
his parents. Of the parental family only he and 
his brother Charles W., a prominent attorney of 
Pittsburgh, Pa., are living. Fleming W. was reared 
to manhood in his native county, where he learned 
the trade of a tanner, which he followed a number 
of years in Pennsylvania. In common with the 
young men of his time, his chief ambition was to 
have a pleasant and comfortable home of his own, 
and with this end in view he was married, June 23, 
1846, to Miss Ellen W.Montgomery. This lady 
was born in Clinton Township, L3'coming Co., Pa., 
Feb. 28, 1826, and is the daughter of John and 
Mary (Hammond) Montgomery, who died in their 
native State, Pennsylvania, many years ago, the 
mother while a 3'oung woman and the father at the 
age of forty-eight years. Their family consisted 
of seven children, two of whom are living; the 
sister Elizabeth is the widow of Edward L. Lloyd, 
of Williamsport, Pa. 



'^^ 



t 



646 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Mrs. Robb was onl^' ten years of age at the time 
of her mother's death. She was carefully educated, 
first in the common sciiools, and then in the Fe- 
male Seminary at Muncie, Pa., remaining with her 
father until her marriage. Of her union with our 
subject there have been born five children, three of 
whom are deceased, namely: Mary H., who died 
when eigiiteen months old ; John, who died at the 
age of four years, and Lizzie L. The latter was 
reared to womanhood and became the wife of W. 
C. Carpenter, with whom she removed to the town 
<jf Ogden, in Utah Territory, and where she died 
Oct. 3. l!S88, leaving one child, a daugliter, Elea- 
nor. Two of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Robb 
are married and living: AVashington Hammond 
Montgomery Robb took to wife Miss Jessie Wal- 
bridge, and is farming in Wyoming Precinct on a 
part of the old homestead; Amelia B. married M. 
J. Fenn, and lives at Auburn, Xemaha Co., Neb. 
Mr. and Mrs. R. are members in good standing of 
the Episcopal Church; they were the first members 
here and established tiie church; Bishop Talbot 
preached the first sermon of the Episcopal Church 
in this township at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Robb. 
Our subject cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. 
Harrison in the year 1836, at Williamsport, Pa., 
also again in 1840, and since its organization has 
been a stanch supporter of the Republican party. 

Mr. Robb has been prominent in public aflfairs 
almost since the time of coming to this county, 
being a man of more than ordinary intelligence and 
well informed. In the fall of 1876 he was elected 
by the Republicans to represent his district in the 
Nebraska Legislature, and did good service, espe- 
cially as a member of the Committee of Education. 
He entertains a genuine interest in the welfare of 
his adopted county, and has built for himself a 
worthy record as an honest man and a good citi- 
zen. 

. , ^ , .^^^ 



ZRA S. HAAVLEY. a pioneer of Nebraska of 

El 859, is among the foremost of the wide- 
awake business men of Nebraska City, to 
whose zeal and enterprise she is so largely indebted 
for her position as the leading metropolis of Otoe 



County. He is a native of New York State, bom 
in the town of Deposit, Delaware County. His 
father. William Hawley, was born in Connecticut, 
April 26, 1 789. He was reared in his native State, 
and when a young man went to the State of New 
York and settled in Delaware County, of which he 
became a pioneer. He bought a tract of timber 
land, cleared a farm, and was a resident there some 
time, and then moved to the town of Deposit, and 
kept a hotel tliere for a number of years. A few 
j'^ears before his death, which occurred Aug. 29, 
1871, he moved to Elyria, Ohio, and there passed 
the remainder of his life. He was twice married. 
He was united to Esther Benedict June 12, 1812. 
She died Oct. 16. 1831. His second marriage was 
May 30, 1832, to Elizabeth (Broade) Childs. She 
was born in Pennsj'lvania, May 30, 1792. and died 
Dec. 22, 1862. There were four children by the 
first marriage. Our subject is the only child by 
the second marriage. 

Mr. Hawley was but six years old when his parents 
moved to the village of Deposit, and there he 
received his education in the public school, and at 
the academy in the same town. When he was 
eighteen years- old he entered upon his mercantile 
career as a clerk in a general store in Deposit. In 
1857 he started West to seek a home on the broad 
prairies bej'ond the IMississippi, intending to settle 
in Kansas, which was then the scene of the great 
emigration from tlie East and South, and the battle- 
ground of the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions. 
He traveled by rail to St Louis, and from there by 
boat to Sibley, a few miles below Kansas City, where 
he met an old townsman, Wheeler BrowTi. They 
bought some cattle together and a wagon, and 
drove to Kansas Citj^ to get a supply of provisions, 
and then proceeded on tlieir way to Kansas. In the 
afternoon of the third day of their journey it com- 
menced to snow and blow, and they thus had their 
first experience of a Kansas blizzard. At night 
they reached a vacant shanty that had been erected 
by Hackaday and Hull, mail-carriers. The sides 
and roof of the building were covered wdth shakes, 
rived by hand, and tliere being no chimney, they 
built a fire on the ground in the middle of the 
shanty. They then rolled themselves in their 
blankets on the floor, .and passed the night there. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



647 



The next morning, the 12th of April, they started 
again, and had 0UI3' proceeded a mile when thej- 
came to the locality known as Palmyra. There our 
subject made a claim, and was soon after appointed 
Postmaster of the town. In May be and Mr. Brown 
went to Linn County, and made a claim there on 
land known as the Indian trust land, and soon after, 
when it came into the market, bought it at Govern- 
ment price. Mr. Hawley soon sold his land, how- 
ever, and returned to Palmyra, only to find that in 
his absence someone had jumped his claim in that 
place. He then went to Kansas City, and was there 
appointed agent for the Missouri Express Company. 
Kansas City was then a small place of about 2,500 
inhabitants, a frontier town, without any railwaj' 
connection with the outside world, and with little 
promise of its present greatness. All the business 
at that time was done on the levee. The first brick 
building for business purposes that was built in the 
city away from the levee was erected in 18.57, by 
Col. Titus J. Nicaragua, for a billiard hall and 
saloon, in the fall of 1857 the Missouri Express 
Company sold to the United States Express Com- 
pany, .and our subject was employed as their ageui 
until June, 1858, when he was sent to St Joseph to 
establisli an express line from that town to Omaha 
for that company. He remained in charge in St. 
Joseph until March, 1859, when he came to Nebraska 
City to take charge of the company's office here. 
Soon after he was appointed agent for the St Joseph 
and Hannibal steam packet companj', and the Luck- 
baugh stage line. A short time after he formed a 
partnership with a Mr. Wooley, and engaged in the 
business of receiving and forwarding freight, Ne- 
braska City then being the headquarters of the 
freighters, who took supplies to the different mili- 
tary posts, mining camps and towns further west. 
Their business assumed enormous proportions, and 
in 1865 the (irm forwarded 250,000 bushels of corn 
and 13,000,000 pounds of merchandise and mining 
machinery. Corn at that time was worth $1.50 
a bushel in Nebraska City, and $8.50 in the mount- 
ains. In 1864 the firm, in addition to their other 
business, concluded to try freighting, and con- 
sequently bought a lot of cattle and started two 
trains loaded with corn for Denver; one train 
of twenty -four wagons, with six pairs of oxen to a 

4» 



wagon, and the other with twelve wagons, with four 
mules to each wagon. In 1865 potatoes were very 
scarce in Denver, selling at fifty cents a pound, 
and our subject and his partner, concluding that it 
would be a good speculation to send some to that 
point, early in the spring of 1866 started a train 
loaded with the tubers. Before their train arrived, 
however, potatoes had been carried into the city 
from other sources, and the prices had consequently 
been greatly reduced. But the trainmaster had 
been instructed by Mr. Hawley not to sell for less 
than fifteen cents a pound, but to leave them with 
a commission dealer, and the latter concluded to 
take them at the price asked. In 1867 the Union 
Pacific Railway had extended its lines to the North 
Platte, and the occupation of the freighter was 
gone from that time forth. Mr. Hawley and his 
partner then turned their attention to mercantile 
pursuits, and opened a general store, having com- 
menced the sale of farm implements in 1859, and 
they continued tiiat also. Our subject soon bought 
his partner's interest in the business, and soon after 
discontinued all but the sale of farm implements, 
in which branch of business he is still engaged, 
selling farm implements great and small, includ- 
ing wagons and carriages, and doing an exten- 
sive business. In 1859 he sold the first harvest- 
ing-machine ever sold in Nebraska south of the 
Platte River, and probably the first ever sold in the 
State. 

Mr. Hawley was married, in 1859, to Miss 
Henrietta Sheldon, and six children have been born 
to them, three of whom are living — Florence, Fanny 
and Henrietta. Jay Sheldon, their only son, died 
when thirteen years of age; Janie died in her eighth 
j'ear, and Lizzie died in infancj'. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hawley are members of the Pres- 
bj'terian Church, and are workers in the Sunday- 
school. In politics Mr. Hawley is one of the leading 
Democrats of the city, and he has always affiliated 
with that party. He has been prominently con- 
nected with various enterprises tending to develop 
the city and benefit tlie surrounding country. He 
was one of the incorporators of the Midland Rail- 
way Company, which was the nucleus of tha various 
railways that now enter the city. He is a member 
and director in the Building and Loan Association, 



♦:^i 



4 648 



■•►Hl- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



and is President of the Board of Trade; he is also 
President of the City Council. In 1872 he was 
elected County Commissioner, and served three 
years. AYhen the State was admitted to the Union 
in 1867, Mr. Hawlej- was much interested in the 
location of the capital, favoring and working for 
Lincoln. In the fall of 1867 he attended the sale 
of lots in that city, and in company witji his partner, 
J. M. Burke, erected the second business building 
ever built in Lincoln. 

Coming to this portion of the country at an early 
day, and seeing much of the aboriginal owners of 
the land, becoming conversant with their manners 
and customs, Mr. Uawley has gained a clear idea of 
the Indian question, and can tell many interesting 
things concerning the red man. He relates that in 
1860, the Indian agent, Maj. Dennison, lived in 
Nebraska City, and that the last boat that came up 
the river in the fall of 1859 had brought him 
$40,000 to pay to the Indians that were living on 
the reservation at Salt Creek. In March, 1860, 
five Indian chiefs, with about twenty-flve braves, 
appeared in the city and complained that the mone3^ 
had not been paid to them. The citizens called 
upon the INIajor for an explanation. He coolly re- 
marked that he made his report to the Government, 
and not to citizens. The following day the Indians 
captured Mr. Dennison, bound him with ropes, and 
took him to the court-house, where a council was 
held, consisting of five whites and five Indians. 
The Major finally consented to make a statement of 
what he had done with the money. It seems that 
he had made man^' charges against the Indians, of 
which the following is a sample: For a certain dep- 
redation of the Indians they were charged $1,500. 
One of the chiefs explained that the braves had 
been out hunting, and being unsuccessful, on their 
return had killed a cow belonging to a white settler, 
and that they expected and intended to pay for it 
whatever it might be worth, probably not more 
than $20. And there were man}' other such charges 
that took up the greater part of the money. The 
Indians, however, secured some, and returned to 
tlieir reservation. There was quite a feeling among 
the citizens regarding the capture of the agent by 
the Indians; some declaring whatever he might 
have done the Indians ought not to liave molested 

U-N ^ 



him, while others were moved to pity by the distress 
and sufferings endured by the Indians who had 
depended upon the money for support during the 
winter. 

Mr. Ilawley is a gentleman of pleasing address, of 
ripe culture, and of rare energy and stability of 
character, traits well fitting liim for the responsi- 
bilities of the important offices that he holds. In 
him we have the rare example, worthy of being 
widely followed, of a business man without stain, 
a wealthy man without selfishness, a charitable man 
without ostent.ation. 

iyl-^ ERMAX 11. TANGEMAN, member of the 
Ifjij firm of Tangeman & Sons, who operate the 
f^^ well-known flouring-mill on the Nemaha 
(^) River, in the northwest part of McWilliams 
Precinct, has reason to be proud of this enterprise, 
with which he became connected in the spring of 
1882. It is one of the leading institutions of its 
kind in the county, and is patronized by its best 
citizenfe far and near. The property is of more 
than ordinary interest and importance to our sub- 
ject, the mill having been established by his father , 
John G. Tangeman. 

The present building was erected in 1884. upon 
the site of the old mill which had been destroyed 
by fire. It has been fitted up with all the modern 
machinerj% including five double-run of rollers, 
and operating bj' the patent process so much in 
favor in this latter day. There is a 60-horse power 
engine, driven by water, transported from the 
wheel to the mill by a cable in an even, unobstructed 
stream over a groove wheel nine feet in diameter. 
The entire machiner}' moves easily and without 
friction, and in a year's time puts out probably 
15,000 barrels of flour, besides meal and other com- 
modities. The firm of Tangeman & Sons are able 
to compete with the best manufacturers of flour in 
Southwestern Nebraska, and supplj' a considerable 
foreign demand, their patronage extending through- 
out this and adjoining States. A view of the mill 
with its surroundings is sliown on the accompany- 
ing page. 

Our subject was the third child of his parents. 




Residence OF H enry Wieckhorst ,5ec.7. Wyoming Precinct. 





'^^^mBnJ.T:: 






"W//75: 



tflHaEMAN&.50Nj 





M.R. 



^»«H;;^C^^ ' ^ 







"^W^st: 




Central Roller Mills Tangeman&Sons. Sec. 21. m^Williams Precinct, Otoe Co. Neb. 



•4^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



651 



whose family comprised six children, and was born 
in Clayton County, Iowa, July 4, 1853. He was 
reared and educated in his native township, and 
was a youth of sixteen years wlien the family came 
to Nebraska. They settled in Osage Precinct, this 
county, and the father in 1881 established the 
present mill business, where Herman H. acquired 
the practical knowledge which is serving him so 
well at the present time. Since the retirement of 
his father he has managed the business in an ad- 
mirable manner, and without embarrassment. 

One of the most important events in the life of 
our subject was his marriage, which occurred Dec. 
11, 1881, the maiden of his choice being Miss 
]\Iary Hopp. Mrs. Tangeman is a native of Lee 
County, Iowa, and was born in Charleston Town- 
ship, Dec. 11, 1861. Her father, Phillip Hopp, a 
very successful farmer, is a resident of Osage Pre- 
cinct, where he has lived for many years. The 
parental family included nine children. Mrs. 
Tangeman received a fair education in the com- 
mon schools, and remained with her parents until 
her marriage. She is now the mother of one child, 
a daughter, Leonora L., who was born .4pril 6, 1 887. 
Our subject, politically, is a sound Republican, and, 
with his excellent wife, a member of the German 
Evangelical Church, of Osage Precinct. He has 
never sought ofiice, but at the solicitation of the 
people of his school district serves as Director. 



fU^ ENRY W'lECKHORST. The homestead of 
iTjl) the subject of this sketch, who is one of 
i^^ the most prominent and well-known far- 
1^/ mers and stock-raisers of Wyoming Pre- 
cinct, is finely located on section 7, and embraces 
160 acres of land, which has been brought to a 
highly productive condition. His entire landed es- 
tate embr.aces 480 acres, lying on three different 
sections, all in first-class condition and provided j 
with siiitable buildings. Mr. W. is a fine illustra- 
tion of the self-made man, beginning in life with- 
out other resources than his own industry. He 
came to the Territory of Nebraska in the spring of 
1857, and purchased 160 acres of land from the 
Government, where he took up his residence, and 



where he still lives. A view of the place is pre- 
sented in this connection. 

The neighbors of our subject were few and far 
between at the time of his settlement in this county, 
when there were little signs of life to be seen ex- 
cept Indians and wild animals. Not only did he 
come to a new portion of America, but America 
itself was new to him, as he had but recently crossed 
the Atlantic from Holstein, German^-, where he had 
spent his 3-outh and early manhood, and where 
he was born Feb. 24, 1828. Thus he had more 
difflcidties to contend with than the native-born 
American, having to learn a new language and 
become familiar with the habits of a strange people. 
Too much credit cannot be given him and others 
of his countrymen who crossed the Mississippi under 
like circumstances at that period. 

The father of our subject was H. Wieckliorst, a 
well-to-do farmer of pure German ancestry, who 
spent his entire life in his native Holstein. He, 
however, only lived to be middle-aged, dying at 
the early age of forty-two years. He was married 
in earl3^ manhood to Miss Eldora Harderes, who 
survived her husband many years, and lived to the 
age of seventy. The parental household consisted 
of seven children, four of whom are now living. 
Of these our subject was the third child and third 
son of the family, and, together with his brothers 
and sisters, received a thoroligh education in his 
native tongue. After leaving school he went into 
the regular army, where he spent tiie years from 
1849 to 1852, seeing very little of warfare. In the 
spring of 1857, after having employed himself at 
farming with indifferent results, and not being 
satisfied with his prospects in his native Germany, 
he resolved to emigrate to the United States. He 
embarked at Hamburg, and landed in New Or- 
leans, whence he proceeded directly westward to 
Nebraska Territory. 

Our subject came to this country a single man. 
Some years after liis arrival in Wyoming I'recinct 
he made the acquaintance of a most estimable lady, 
Mrs. Fredricka (Miller) Laas, to whom lie was 
married Aug. 17, 1877. Mrs. Wieckliorst is also 
of German birth and parentage, and was born in 
the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, in October, 
1845. Her parents were Christin and Dora Miller, 



•►Hl^ 



652 



OTOE COUNTY. 



•► 



who were also natives of German3', and are now 
deceased. Mrs. W., like her husband, received 
a good common-school education, and was first 
married in Nebraska to jMr. Fred Laas, with whom 
she came to America in the spring of 1871. Of 
that marriage there were no children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wieckhorst began their wedded life 
together on the farm which they now occupy, but 
which bears little resemblance to its original con- 
dition. It has taken years of time and thousands 
of dollars to develop the homestead and effect the 
improvements which are to-day observed with ad- 
miration by the passing traveler. Of their union 
there have been born three sons, the eldest of 
whom, Peter, died when four weeks old. Henry 
P. was born July 31, 1882, and Herman, Oct. 17, 
1886. These are bright and intelligent boys, and 
are being well educated and carefully trained. Mr. 
Wieckhorst, politically, is a stanch supporter of Re- 
publican principles. He and his estimable wife 
were reared in the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, 
to which they still loyally adhere. 

The Wieckhorst residence is one of the handsom- 
est in Wj'oming Precinct, and with its adjacent 
buildings occupies a gentle elevation, which com- 
mands a fine view of the surrounding country. In 
the rear is an apple orchard in bearing condition, 
and there is an abundance of the smaller fruits, 
which yield bounteously in their season. The 
dwelling, with its surroundings, completes the ideal 
1 icture of the country home of people blessed with 
cultivated tastes and abundant means. 

J^, NDREW J. REYNOLDS. This gentleman 
(@/4JI is one of the much valued citizens of South 
A Branch Precinct, where he owns a very fine 
farm comprising 200 acres on sections 29 
and 32. He is prominent as one of the progressive 
and successful men in his line, and also as a tem- 
perance worker and in religious circles. His father, 
Thomas Reynolds, was born in Orange County. N. 
Y.; his mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Bene- 
dict, was born near Obed, N. Y. After their mar- 
riage Mr. Reynolds, Sr., continued farming in his 
native State. He took much interest in political 



affairs, and was an active worker in that arena; he 
was numbered among the Democratic party, but 
later in life became one of the Free-Soil party. Al- 
though frequently called upon, he never aspired to 
or would hold office. His life closed in 1856, his 
death occurring in Yates County, N. Y., after a 
life of seventy-four years. He had survived his 
wife about two years, her demise occurring in 1854, 
she being at the time fifty-seven years of age. 

The grandfather of our subject was in the Revo- 
lutionary War, serving as a private under George 
Washington. He was wounded several times; one 
especially caused him considerable suffering; it was 
in the right side, and for some reason did not heal 
well and kept him in confinement longer than had 
been expected; but finally it healed, and he was en- 
abled to serve until nearly the close of the war, when 
he was taken prisoner by the British and placed in 
a church, and was not further noticed until almost 
dead from starvation. He is reputed to have been 
the largest and stoutest man in the regiment, and 
also the best wrestler. 

The family of which our subject is a member in- 
cluded twelve children, viz: Phoebe A., Ellen, Pat- 
tie J. (who died when twelve years of age), Joseph, 
William, Andrew J., Angeline (deceased), Sarah, 
Hannah, J. Brooks (who died when three years of 
age), Daniel and Thomas Benton. Daniel enlisted 
in the 19th New York Infantry, in 1861, and served 
for two years. In the battle of Antietam, under 
Gen. Banks, he was taken from the regiment and 
made foreman of bridge builders. While busily 
engaged they had all their clothing, tools and weap- 
ons taken from them, but managed to effect their 
escape; they were taken by surprise by a party of 
Confederates. Thomas B. volunteered at the same 
time as his brother, but being deaf was rejected. 
Later, when men were necessary and the need press- 
ing, he was drafted and served under Gen. Gilmore. 
He was taken prisoner and .sent to Andersonville, 
where he was confined seven months, and when re- 
leased was in a semi-starved condition. Upon re- 
turning home fever sought to effect what prison 
had left undone, but he recovered, although his 
constitutioti could never again be what it was prior 
to the imprisonment. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Yates 

4^ 



I 



lt-^«- 



OTOE COUNTY. 



653 4 



County, N. Y., near the town of Middlesex, on the 
30th of November, 1828. Until he was twent_y-one 
years of age he made his home with his parents, 
tjie years being filled with the engagements of 
school and home until lie came to years of discre- 
tion, when he became his father's assistant. In be- 
ginning life for himself he, in 1858, concluded to 
go West; he stopped about twelve months in Cook 
Count}^, 111., and then went to Pike's Peak. The gold 
fever was at its height, and he intended to get his 
share if possible; he had crossed Missouri and was in 
this Stale when there was a stampede from the gold 
district back home. The reports from those re- 
turning were such as to decide him to remain in 
Nebraska; he staid in this county for one j^ear, and 
then went on to the mountains, where he worked 
for about eighteen months. He was beaten out of 
his wages, and did not find life so agreeable as 
might have been expected, and therefore returned 
to South Branch, took up his present property of 
160 acres, and settled upon it. 

In the beginning of his new lK)nie Mr. Reynolds 
found everything to do. There was nothing here 
but the raw, uncultivated prairie, neither bouse, 
barn, fence nor field. Settlers were very few, his 
being the third homestead claim that was entered 
in the count}', but with strong courage and deter- 
mination to succeed he went to work ; speedily his 
house was set up, barns and other farm buildings 
erected, and one by one the various improvejnents 
were made. About that time he purchased an ad- 
ditional fort}' acres, and this has shared with the 
original 160 in being brought to a well-nigh per- 
fect condition for agricultural purposes. There are 
few if any farms in the county presenting a better- 
appearance, or actuallj' more productive than that 
of our subject. ^ 

On the 6th of April, 1853, in Yates County, N. 
Y., was celebrated the marriage of ]\Iiss Eleanor M. 
Bassett and Mr. Re}nolds. His wife is the daugh- 
ter of David Bassett, of New York, and the reader 
is referred to the sketch of that gentleman found in 
this volume for items of interest connected with her 
family. She was born in Allegany County, N. Y., 
on the 10th of April, 1830. She is a thoroughly 
educated and accomplished lady, and has taught 
^ r school for about seven terms. They have adopted 



M-^t^ 



two children: Leonora Hughes, who has made her 
home in Denver, Col., and Edna Re3nolds, who 
was born on the 7th of September, 1876. and still 
resides with our subject and his wife. 

Mr. Rej'nolds has I>een Assessor for one year; he 
has also been on the School Board thi'ee years. lie 
is, politically, a very strong Prohibitionist, and is 
very active in that cause. It is not, therefore, sur- 
prising to learn that he is an enthusiastic member 
of the I. O. G. T., and is affiliated with the lodge at 
Rockford. Both Mr. and Mrs. Re3'nolds are active 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
were, perhaps, the principal instigators of the en- 
terprise to build a church house. He deeded the 
land for the purpose, gave largelj- himself and so- 
licited the greater part of the mone}- required for 
the building, and helped in many other ways. For 
manj' years he has been one of the Class-Leaders, 
and also Superintendent of the Sunday-school; Mrs. 
Reynolds is a teacher in the Sundaj'-school. There 
are very few families more esteemed or highly re- 
spected than this, and the community is favored in 
having one so interested, earnest and active. 

EZRA T. CAMPBELL, M. D. The medical 
profession is most worthily represented in 
i the subject of this sketch, who has been lo- 
cated in Nebraska City since March of 1888. He 
is well educated and of a good family, being the 
son of Hon. J. C. Campbell, M. D.. a sketcli of 
whom appears elsewhere in this volume. Our sub- 
ject was born in the city where he now resides, 
June 24. 1864, and is consequently just entering 
upon a career which bids fair to bring him success 
and honor. He completed his regular course of 
study in the High School and the Nebraska College 
at the age of sixteen 3'ears, and soon afterward be- 
gan teaching, which he followed two years in Otoe 
County and one year in Nemaha County. 

At an early age Dr. Campbell had resolved to 
enter the medical profession, and after being grad- 
uated from the college in Nebraska City in 1883, 
in 1884 he entered the National Medical College, 
or Medical Department of Columbia University, 
at Washington, D. C, where he studied until 1888. 



:?^r¥-^ 



Hl^ 



654 



OTOE COUNTY. 



Prior to this, having had rearly access to his father's 
extensive library, he improved the opportunities to 
inform himself, and thus became well fitted for the 
duties which lay before him. He stood at the head 
of his class during the whole course, and after four 
j'ears spent in the college at Washington, was 
graduated in the class of '88. He carried off the 
onlj' prize in clinics. He had a fine opportunity of 
becoming acquainted with many of the eminent 
physicians of the day, and met many more in the 
National Medical Congress which was held at Wash- 
ington in June, 1887. In that city also he had 
the good fortune to meet many prominent political 
men, and lost no opportunity to inform himself 
both ill regard to his profession and the stirring 
National events which were then transpiring at the 
capital. 

While in Washington Dr. Campbell was one of 
the attending physicians of the Woman's Dispen- 
sary. He is a close student and extensive reader, 
and keeps himself well posted concerning the new 
theories which are constantly being advanced in 
connection with the profession. He cast his first 
Presidential vote for Cleveland, and vigorously 
upholds the principles of his party, working actively 
in Its support. In 1888 he was elected Vice Presi- 
dent of the Young Men's Democratic Club of Ne- 
braska Cit}% and did especially good service during 
the campaign. Religiously, he is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

The Campbells of Scotland have been celebrated 
in poetry and history, and the Campbells of Ne- 
braska trace their ancestry back to that liranch who, 
centuries ago, ranged themselves under the standard 
of McCallum More in the series of struggles which 
led to the expulsion of the Stuarts from the British 
throne. The precise date of the arrival of the first 
Campl)ell in America is not positively known, but 
it is believed a number of them came over in the 
three ships "George, Ann and John of Dublin," 
the vessels leaving Ireland May 20, 1729, and ar- 
riving on the American coast in August following. 

The Campbells then settled in Pennsylvania, and 
were the compeers of other noted Scotch and Irish 
families, with whom they intermarried, and per- 
petuated the vigorous race of people which, to this 
day, commands universal admiration on account of 



both its physical and mental qualities. The Camp- 
bells, after adopting America as their country, were 
as eager in its defense and perpetuity as had been 
their ancestors before them in protecting their own 
native laud from the ravages of the invador; and 
in the Revolutionary War they were numbered 
among those who fought most courageousl}' in the 
struggle for Colonial independence. After laying 
down the implements of warfare, they entered fully 
as vigorously into the pursuits of agriculture and 
the learned professions — became preachers, writers, 
doctors, lawj'ers, lecturers, statesmen, legislators, 
congressmen — in fact, have represented all the hon- 
orable employments for which this country has be- 
come famous. 

The history of this remarkable family it is hoped 
will still be preserved with that careful fidelitj' 
which has always made a record attracting the at- 
tention of the reflective mind, and has, at the same 
time, had associated with it the tinge of romance, 
making it deeply attractive to the story lover. 



LBERT L. YOUNG is the owner of a very 
valuable and highly productive farm of 
14' 200 acres on section 35, in North Branch 
Precinct, and is one of the capable citizens 
of the county. He was born in Onondaga County, 
N. Y., on the 7th of March, 1852, and is the son of 
Josiah H. and Mary (Cook) Young. The father of 
our subject resides at Berlin. When Albert was a 
little fellow six years of age his mother died, leav- 
ing a place in his life that could never be filled 
by another. 

With the exception of about eighteen months ia 
the years 1859-60, when our subject's fatlier was 
on the Pacific Slope, during which period Albert 
lived with his grandparents and an uncle, he had 
remained with the familj' at home, and when, in 
1872, his father came to Nebraska and settled on 
section 1, Syracuse Precinct, he accompanied him, 
and continued upon the farm as his father's helper 
for about four years. 

In 1876 Mr. Young was united in marriage with 
Lou E. Annabel, the amiable daughter of Isaac and 
Anna (Crichton) Annabel. This lady was born in 
•^ 



T 







Residence OF John Peterson, SEc.lS.fA/offfwjRussELLPREciNCT. 




J AH Luff, Sec 3 3 (^/v^/?;^/yy Russell Precinct 



•►Hf^^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



657 ik 



Winona County-, Minn., on the 16th of June, 1859. 
Her education was received in the district school. 
Mr. and Mrs. Young first settled upon the property 
where they now reside, the first purchase including 
160 acres. This was speedily brought into shape 
and prepared for his purpose, well improved and 
supplied with a good residence and the needed out- 
buildings for farming purposes and stock-raising. 
The latter has been the chief occupation of our sub- 
ject, and that which has enabled him to make the 
success in life that he has. 

Isaac Annabel, the father of Mrs. Young, was 
born in Saratoga, N. Y., on the 5th of November, 
1810, and was the son of Prince and Ruth (How- 
land) Annabel. The family is of French extrac- 
tion, but for several generations have been citizens 
of New England. Mr. and Mrs. Annabel have 
four chilcjren living, viz: Lucy Jane, Lorenzo, 
George, and Lou E., the wife of our subject. Mr. 
and Mrs. Young are the parents of three children — 
Nettie Bell, Gu^' Garfield and Ralph Annabel. 

Mr. and Mrs. Young have made many friends in 
this district, and are much esteemed for their per- 
sonal qualities and worth. The3' move in the best 
local society and are always accorded a cordial 
welcome. Our subject is thoroughlj' interested in 
all questions of political importance, and usually 
votes the Republican ticket, of which party he has 
always been a firm friend and ardent admirer. 



-»^\/\,«\taC£r©>}@» 



i^.SKZra?r»\~-i 



^h 



!? LLIAH LUFF. The reader is here intro- 
duced to a compendious biographical sketch 
of the largest land-owner and perhaps most 
prominent farmer of Russell Precinct. This gen- 
tleman operates 1 ,080 acres of land on sections 33, 
19 and 4, and is chiefly engaged in the buying, feed- 
ing and raising of thoroughbred and high-grade 
stock. He is at the same time one of the early set- 
tlers of Otoe County, and has been energetic in the 
various enterprises and undertakings that have ad- 
vanced its interests. 

Mr. Luff is the son of William and Ann (Wallen) 
Luff. His father was born in Somersetshire, En- 
gland, as was also his mother. Both come of good 
old English families, of what might perhaps there 

<« 



be called the upper middle classes, a distinction hap- 
pily unknown and largely not understood in our 
free land. His parents died respectively in the 
years 1878 and 1880, the father being seventy, and 
the mother seventy-two years of age. They were 
the parents of seven children, who received the fol- 
lowing names: Betsey, William, Joseph (deceased), 
George, Matilda, Elijah, and Sidney (deceased). 

The native place of the subject of our sketch is 
in Somersetshire. He was born on Good Frida}' of 
the year 1 834. Until he was twenty j-ears of age 
he continued at home. He received no schooling 
as a child, and has felt the jnjur3' resulting there- 
from .all his life, and has labored hard to overcome 
the same. 

In the year 1855 Mr. Luff sailed from Bristol on 
the good ship '-Trj'," and landed at New York City 
after a dull and wearying journey of six weeks, ex- 
periencing for the greater part of the time bad 
weather, which was by no means helpful to the com- 
fort or spirits of those who were invading Neptune's 
realms for the first time. 

In beginning life in the New World, our sub- 
ject went to Wayne County, Ohio, and worked for 
one summer at masonry; in the winter he found 
employment on the railroad. In the spring of 1856 
he went by rail to Leavenworth, Kan., thence by 
steamer to Weston. From there he footed it to 
St. Joseph, a distance of thirty miles, his entire 
earthly belongings and property packed in an old 
carpet bag that he carried upon his back in primi- 
tive style. From St. Joseph he came to Nebraska 
City, and spent two j'ears here, and in 1 859 he 
went to Russell Precinct, going from there to Pike's 
Peak, but being unsuccessful in mining gold, re- 
turned after four months, and took up the remuner- 
ative, though sometimes dangerous, employment of 
freighting from Nebraska City west to Denver. He 
continued thus engaged during the greater part of 
the war jieriod. 

On the 1st of January, 1863, our subject made a 
change; leaving his freighting he homesteaded the 
present farm whereon stands his residence. It was 
then in nowise different to the prairie surrounding 
it, and he had all the work he could do to bring it 
to an3'thing like a right condition. He had a fine 
l)ractical knowledge, and is naturallj' a fine business 

— •►- 



-11^ 



■•► 



658 



OTOE COUNTY. 



1 ' J 



manager. From time to time as he was able lie 
bought land, adding piece by piece until the pres- 
ent noble estate is the result. All is in Russell 
Precinct. He has a large herd of cattle and feeds 
perhaps fifty more, but his chief pleasure on the 
farm is his horses, of which he has some twenty- 
five or thirty head, all of standard^breed, and either 
pure blood or very high grade. He owns the well- 
known animals Compeer and Coleus. 

Mr. and Mrs. Luff celebrated their union in wed- 
lock in Russell, upon the 6th of November, 1863. 
The wife of our subject was prior to her marriage 
Miss Charlotte Mills. Her parents, William and 
Jane Mills, were born in -Somersetshire, England- 
Her father was a very prosperous farmer in his na- 
tive country, and died there in 1872, aged sixty- 
nine, having survived his wife almost twenty years, 
her demise occurring when she was forty-seven 
years of age. Mrs. Luff, who is also of English 
birth, came to this country from Bristol in the year 
1863, and came into this State with the above-men- 
tioned result. She is the eldest of three children; 
her brother George is now deceased, and her sister 
Harriet is now in Michigan. She is the mother of 
six children, viz: George, Albert, Annie, Thomas, 
Charles and Alice, all of whom are still with their 
parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Luff iiold a very high position in 
society, and are much esteemed, both on account of 
the sterling qualities of their character and their 
social position. Their family is among the best in 
the county, and in all that means true home life 
they are in the front rank. As a citizen, man and 
friend, Mr. Luff is universally regarded by those 
who know him worthy of everj' regard. His politi- 
cal sympathies are with the Republican party, and 
have been since he came to understand the [>olitical 
institutions and principles of his adopted country. 



eHRLSTIAN BISCHOFF', the champion stock- 
raiser of Otoe County, owns and operates 
400 acres of finely improved land, occupy- 
ing a portion of sections 28 and 29 in Rock Creek 
Precinct. As one of the self-made men of -Southern 
Nebraska he has built up for himself agood record, 



his career having been marked by great industry 
and perseverance, and the result of which he cannot 
fail to look upon with satisfaction. His homestead 
is noticeable for its handsome and substantial build- 
ings, the dwelling being roomy and convenient, and 
the barns and outhouses finel}' adapted to the shel- 
ter of stock and the storing of grain. His land is 
well watered by Sand Creek, and the soil has re- 
sponded bountifully to the labors of the agri- 
culturist. 

Mr. Bischoff ranks among the pioneer settlers of 
Nebraska Territory, coming within its limits as earlj' 
as the spring of 1858. He then pre-empted 160 
acres in Rock Creek Precinct, and began the labors 
which have been crowned with such flattering suc- 
cess. Prior to this he had been living in the vicin- 
ity of Mendola, 111., where he was employed as a 
farm laborer eighteen months. To this point he 
had migrated from Kenosha, Wis., where he settled 
in the fall of 1854, upon his emigration to the 
United -States. 

Our subject, a native of the Grand Duchy of. 
Baden, Germany, was born Sept. 9, 1834, and there 
he lived until a youth of nineteen years, receiving a 
thorough education, and upon leaving school was 
employed at farming. He was accompanied to the 
United States by his father. Christian Bischoff, Sr., 
the mother having died when our subject was a 
little lad four years of age. She in her girlhood 
was Miss Dorthia Detrich, and died at the birth of 
her ninth child, leaviug four sons and three daugh- 
ters. Two children had died before the decease of 
the mother. The survivors accompanied their 
father to America, and the latter located in Chicago, 
111., where his death took place three months later, 
when he was sixty-six years old. Both parents had 
been members of the Lutheran Church, and were 
people of honesty and integrity, and of good stand- 
ing in their community. 

After the death of their father the children 
worked out by the month. Christian came to Ne- 
braska a single man, but not long afterward met his 
fate in the person of Mrs. Elizabeth (Neolch) Fuchs, 
to whom he was married in the spring of 1860. 
Mrs. Bischoff. also a n.itiveof the German Empire, 
was born in the Kingdom of Wurtemherg, May 7, 
1832. She crossed the Atlantic with her brothers 





OTOE COUNTY. 



659 



•► 



and sisters earl}' in life, and was joined later by her 
father, John Neolch, wiio had been twice married 
in Germany, and where both wives died. The first 
was the mother of Mrs. B., and her maiden name 
was Godlieber Eslinger. The father was in good 
circumstances in Germany, and spent his last years 
with his daughter, Mrs. Bischoff, passing away at a 
ripe old age at the home of his daughter, Mrs. 
Seypher, in Holt County, Mo. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Bischoff there have been born 
eight children, three of whom, Lizzie, Christ and 
an infant unnamed, are deceased. The survivors 
are: Johanna, the wife of William Eden, a well-to- 
do farmer of Rock Creek Precinct; Christian, Jr., 
Caroline, Henr}' and Anna at home with their par- 
ents. Mrs. B. by her first marriage is the mother of 
two children, Joseph and John, who are now mar- 
ried, and reside in Otoe County. Her husband, 
Joseph Fuchs, was a native of Germany, and died 
in Cass County. 111. Mr. and Mrs. B. are active 
members of the Lutheran Church, and our subject, 
politically, is a warm adherent of the Republican 
party. 

ON. J. C. CAMPBELL, M. D., the oldest 
practicing phjsician not only of this county 
but the State at large, is the subject of a 
history more than ordinarily interesting. 
He has been identified with the interests of Ne- 
braska since its Territorial days, and figured promi- 
nently in governmental matters, and all the various 
enterprises tending to its development and pros- 
perit}-. Although having nearly attained his four- 
score years, he is remarkabl}' well preserved, mentally 
and physically, standing among his compeers like 
the sturdy oak, scarcely touched bj' the storms and 
changes of three-quarters of a century. He is a 
man of fine physique, of noble and commanding 
presence, and Nature formed within him a heart 
fully in keeping with his stature. He counts among 
the people of Otoe Count}' hosts of friends, who 
have watched a remarkable career with that admira- 
tion well worthy of its achievements. 

Dr. Campbell was born near the city of Lexing- 
ton, in Fayette County, Ky., Dec. '12, 1812, and is 
the only surviving member of his father's family. 

-«9^ 



The latter. Dr. John. P. Campbell, wasborn in Rock- 
bridge County, Va., and married Miss Isabella Mc- 
Dowell, a native of the same. He was finely 
educated, having been graduated from Hampden 
8iduej' College, and at an early period in his life 
entered upon a successful career as a medical 
practitioner, which, however, he abandoned later 
on to enter the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. 
Although a slave-holder by inheritance. Providence 
had created him with a hatred for the peculiar in- 
stitution, and for the purpose of freeing his slaves 
he changed his residence from Kentucky to Ohio. 
l\\ the former State a law required a man who freed 
his colored people to give security for their sup- 
port in j'ears to come, so that they should not be- 
come a burden to the State. 

The father of our subject upon his removal to 
Ohio located in Chillicothe. He had been born and 
reared as the son of a wealthy Kentuckian, butsuch 
were his conscientious scruples that in hislateryears 
he was willing to forego many of the luxuries by 
which he had been surrounded in order to labor 
in the Master's vineyard. tHis career, however, 
was cut short l)y his untimely death, when he was 
about forty- seven jears of age. 

Mrs. Campbell, the mother, after the death of her 
husband returned to Kentucky with her children, 
and there fell to her inheritance more slaves, but 
she, following in the footsteps of her lamented hus- 
band, returned with them to Ohio, setting them 
free also, and in Chillicothe lived with her children 
for several years. Finally she returned to her na- 
tive State, where she spent the remainder of her 
life, passing away at the age of sixty-five years. 
She was the motlier of six children, namely : James 
McD.. Margaret M!, Mary U., Jane I., John Calvin 
(our subject) and Edward H. All of these lived to 
mature years, but as we have said, all but our sub- 
ject are now deceased. 

The earliest recollections of our subject are 
mostly of Chillicothe. Ohio, to which he was taken 
by his parents first when scarcely more than an in- 
fant. He was quite young at the time of his father's 
death, and, much to his regret, has no recollection of 
one so closely allied to him, and who so nobly pei- 
formed his part in life. John C. was given a good 
education in his youth, attending both the common 



-^1-^ 



►►Hl^ 



660 



OTOE COUNTY. 



X 



and a private school, and at the age of seventeen 
entered the Miami State University of Ohio, where 
he took the classical course of four 3'ears, and from 
which institution he was graduated with honors 
about the time of reaching his majority'. 

The youngest brother of our subject had crossed 
the Mississippi, and was engaged in mercantile busi- 
ness at Burlington. Iowa, and thither John C. now 
repaired to join him, not even taking a vacation in 
which to revisit his home. He had always been 
bright and ambitious, and thoughtful beyond his 
years, and now began in earnest the more serious 
business of life. Soon after reaching the Hawkeye 
State he pre-empted a quarter-section of land in 
the vicinity of the embryo town of Burlington, and 
then made arrangements to pursue the study of 
medicine, under the instruction of Drs. Lowe and 
Hickock, in whose otBce he remained a number of 
years. He was thus prepared for entrance into the 
medical department of Kemper College at St Louis, 
and which is now the medical department of the 
State University. Two years later he was graduated 
from this institution, and returning to Iowa com- 
menced the practice of his profession, where he re- 
mained three or four years, and built up a good 
patronage. 

During his residence at this place Dr. Campbell 
was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Hender- 
son, a lady of excellent family, and own cousin to 
the late Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. 
This lady became the mother of one child, and died 
at Mt. Pleasant, in less than two years after her 
marriage. The child also soon followed its mother 
to the silent land. Upon his removal from this 
place Dr. Campbell established an office in New 
Purchase, now Agency City, six rgiles. from Ot- 
tumwa, and in the spring of 1845 contracted a sec- 
ond marriage, with Miss Martha Rogers. This lady 
was born in Missouri, and is the daughter of Dr. 
Rogers, who was a native of Virginia, and his wife 
of Tennessee ; they spent their lastyearsin Missouri. 
Of this union there were born three sons — John 
James, Edward Hugh and William H. The two 
elder are leading business men of Montana, engaged 
in the drug trade; William H. is a clerk ot the 
Morton House of Nebraska City. 

In the fall of 1854 Dr. Campbell once more 



changed his residence, this time choosing Nebraska 
Citj', and of this he has since been a resident. Thus 
a pioneer of three Territories, viz: Wisconsin. Iowa 
and Nebraska, he has had the privilege of witness- 
ing most remarkable changes, and during the vicis- 
situdes of a long and useful career has been no 
unimportant factor in their development, especially 
of the latter. 

From Agencj' City, Iowa, Dr. Campbell removed 
to Sidney, in Fremont County, Iowa, where he be- 
came especially interested in the establishment and 
maintenance of schools, and was elected and re- 
elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, dis- 
charging the duties of this responsible office in a 
most praiseworthy manner. As soon, however, as 
the purchase of lands from the Otoe Indians was 
consummated, he found his preferences greatly drawn 
toward this section of country, and resolved to iden- 
tify himself with the people of Nebraska Territory. 
He was one of the very first to make settlement, 
and as early as 1855 was elected to the Territorial 
Legislature. The year following he declined to be 
a candidate, desiring to give his attention more 
closely to his profession, but in 1857 he was again 
persuaded to take upon himself the responsibilities 
of a Legislator. He then was given a period of 
rest until 1861, when he was elected to the Terri- 
torial Council. His cool and temperate judgment 
and wise foresight were especially useful at that 
period in the history of Nebraska, and there were 
few enterprises in which his opinion was not sought 
and his influence solicited in furthering the interest 
0/ the Territory struggling to become a State. 

It is hardly necessary to state that Dr. Campbell 
was a leading meml)er of the convention called for 
the purpose of drawing up a constitution for the 
proposed State of Nebraska. Among his coadjutors 
at that time were Judges Mason, Lake, M.anderson, 
Wakeley, Woolworth; Butler, etc. The first docu- 
ment drawn up in this connection was rejected by 
the vote of the people, on account of the provision 
for the taxation of church property. 

Mrs. Martha Campbell departed this life at her 
home in Nebraska City, in 1861. Our subject con- 
tracted a third matrimonial alliance in Nebraska City 
in the springof 1 862, witli Miss Sarah P. Childs. who 
was born in the city of Philadelphia, P.a., in 1829. Her 



-•► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



661 \^ 



father, Capt. William Cliilfls, was commander of a 
merchant vessel, a man of high character, remark- 
able intelligence, of English birth and ancestry, and 
closely allied to the Rothscliilds of London. Dur- 
ing a mutiny on board his ship he was foully mur- 
dered, and his remains east into the sea. He had 
been married in Philadelphia, Pa., to Mrs. E. Brodt, 
and their home was in Philadelphia, Broome and 
Delaware Counties. Mrs. Campbell came to the 
West with her half-brother, E. S. Hawley. Of 
her marriage with our subject there were born one 
daughter and two sons — Henrietta E., Ezra T. 
and Paul M. Henrietta is the wife of Rev. G. 
Sumner Baskerville. a minister of the Preshj-terian 
Church, and at present stationed 'in Tower City, 
Dak. ; of Ezra T., a popular and prominent physi-" 
eian of Nebraska City, a sketch will be found else- 
where in this work; Paul M., who has a taste for 
the profession of law, of which he purposes soon to 
become a student, is at present in the United States 
Railroad Mail Service, from Piicific Junction, Iowa, 
to McCook, Neb. Mrs. Sarah P. Campbell died at 
the home of her daughter Henrietta E., in Dakota, 
Aug. 11, 1888, aged sixty-two years. 

The earlier years of Dr. Campbell were particu- 
larlj- signalized by his interest in education, and 
those acquainted with the early history of Nebraska 
Cii,\' will recollect that in the earl^' days its public 
school system was far ahead of any in this or adjoin- 
ing States. He had for his associate in this good work 
Dr. Parker, and once everj' week they visited every 
class of this city school, not excepting those of the 
colored pupils. Dr. Campbell for six years was a 
working member of the School Board, and even 
after his withdrawal did not lose the warm interest 
which he had always felt. As auxiliary to the school 
he has been the warm defender of religious institu- 
tions, and an almost lifelong member of the Pres- 
byterian Church in different places. He "assisted 
in the organization of the churches at Burling- 
ton, Mt. Pleasant and Sidney, Iowa, and later in 
that of Nebraska City. One remarkable f.act in 
connection with these was that the same minister. 
Rev. Cole, was at different times stationed at the 
four places. 

The career of a man who has lived so long and 
so well presents to the reflective mind a picture am- 



ply worthy- its attention, and one that it is most 
pleasant to dwell upon. Dr. Campbell has labored 
faithfully, and learned well all through his life, im- 
proving the opportunities for the acquirement of 
knowledge, and for doing good to his fellowmen. 
He has thus built up for himself a monument more 
enduring than marble, and one on which his de- 
scendants may look with pride in after years. 
The hosts of friends whom he has gathered around 
him form a source of comfort and of honor to him 
during the years of his green old age, and trust that 
he may for years yet be enabled to shed around 
him that bright and healthy influence which |^has 
been one of the m.arked features of a most remark- 
able character. 



C/i^^ HARLES BREHM occupies a position among 
the general farmers and stock-raisers of Mc . 
* Williams Precinct; his property and home 
are upon section 32, the farm comprising 160 acres 
in an excellent state of cultivation. His farm 
buildings are complete, substantially built, and of 
convenient arrangement. When he took up this 
property in 1874 there was nothing to distinguish 
this land from the virgin prairie around. 

Prior to coming to Nebraska in 1873 Mr. Brehra 
had resided in Lee County, Iowa, having from the 
year 1 869 successfullj' operated a farm in that county, 
settling there immediately upon coming from his 
n.ative land. He was born in Bavaria, on the 28th 
of July, 1804. He is the son of Carl Brehm, and 
grew to manhood in his native place, was educated 
in its schools, and afterward learned the trade of a 
carpenter. 

When twenty -one years of age the father of our 
subject enlisted in the German Army and went to 
fight under Napoleon in the French wars. He fought 
at the battle of Leipsic. and the night of the 1st, of 
January, 1813, while crossing the River Rhine he was 
thrown into the stream, but rescued later by his 
comrades. He was soon after taken sick but soon 
recovered; this was the only occasion he could re- 
member that he was ill. He died from old age, 
having attained seventy-five years. 

The subject of our sketch is the youngest but i f 



t^* 



^»-^^ 



662 



OTOE COUNTY. 



two of eight children who lived to attain their ma- 
jority. He served in the Bavarian regiment of the 
German Army for Ave years, was in the War of 
1866. and participated in some of the minor en- 
gagements. Shortly after receiving his discharge 
he came to the United States and located in Frank- 
lin Township. Lee Co., Iowa, entered land and 
began fanning. 

In 1871 Mr. Brehni was united in marriage with 
Jliss Christina Frank, in Lee County. This lady 
was born in Bavaria on the 2 1st of January, 1849. 
She came to America with her parents in 1855. and 
lixed with them upon the farm which they took in 
Lee County. Both are now quite aged, and are 
residing in Franklin County of the same State. 
Her parents were members of the German Evan- 
gelical Church, and the wife of our subject w.as 
brought up in that religious faith. She was edu- 
cated in tiie Iowa schools, and is thoroughly do- 
mesticated. She is the mother of eight children, 
whose names are as follows: Vred, Minnie, Charles, 
William, Phillip. Jr., Mary, Martha and Jacob. 

Our subject and wife are members of the Evan- 
gelical Church. In politics our subject is independ- 
ent. He has made the institutions of his adopted 
county a study, and has learned to understand and 
appreciate them full}'. 



C4l rrlLLIAM REDFIELD. The main points 
\/\ll/ '" ^^^ history of the subject of our sketch, 
\^^ who is now a resident of the city of Syra- 
cuse, are as follows: He was born in LaHarpe, 
Hancock Co., 111., Sept. 14, 1845, and is the son of 
William and Mary (Scott) Redfield. His parents 
were natives of Livingston County, N. Y., where 
they were reared and married. They moved to 
Kirtland, Ohio, where they lived until 1843, then 
moved to Illinois and settled among the pioneers 
of Hancock County. There the father improved a 
farm which now lies adjacent to the flourishing 
town of LaHarpe. Three years later, however, he 
pulled up stakes, and crossing the Mississippi lo- 
cated in Liberty, Mo. Not being pleased with this 
locality he, in the fall of that same year, went to 



Southwestern Iowa, settling on what is now known 
as the old Shesher farm. The country was wild 
and new, and Indians were plentiful. In 1848 the 
family moved to Silver Creek, Mills County, and 
the father improved three farms in that locality. 
In 1856 he changed his residence to Fremont 
County, Iowa, and opened three more farms. Then 
going into Page County he took up a tr.act of raw 
prairie, and there also opened up a farm, which be- 
came valuable, and of which he retained possession 
until his death, which occurred in 1878. while on a 
visit to the home of his nephew in Johnson County, 
Neb. The mother of our subject survived her lius- 
band only three years, her death taking place at 
Shenandoah, Iowa, in 1881. The household circle 
included seven children, of whom six are living. 
George Z. Redfield is a well-to-do farmer of Ne- 
, malia County, Neb. ; Hiram and Frank ai-e in busi- 
ness at Sheuandoah, Iowa; Tryphena is the wife 
of D. W. Hall, of Creston, and Rebecca married 
Sylvester Whiting, of Otter Tail County, Minn., 
where she now lives, but when married they were 
residents of Mills Count}', Iowa. 

William Redfield remained a member of the pa- 
rental household until Jul}', 1871. He had by the 
exercise of great perseverance acquired a common- 
school education, and developed into a youth of 
more than ordinary intelligence on the frontier. Now 
starting out for himself he made his way to Salt Lake 
City, Utah, and took charge of a store of general 
merchandise in the American Fork Mining District, 
forty miles from Salt Lake. He was thus occupied 
a period of five years, and until the camp was 
broken up. Then returning to Shenandoah, Iowa, 
he dealt in horses until 1876. He was variously 
occupied thereafter until 1885, when he took up his 
residence in Blue Springs, Gage Co.. Neb., from 
there removed to Nebraska City, and thence to 
Syracuse. He still owns property in Shenandoah. 

Our subject while a resident of Utah made the 
acquaintance of Miss Sarah E. Browning, and was 
m.arried to this lady in Shenandoah, Iowa, Dec. 1, 
1879. Mrs. Redfield was born and reared in Salt 
Lake City, and is the daughter of James A. and .Sarah 
(McGera) Browning, the former of whom is an ac- 
countant and bookkeeper in Salt Lake City, in the 
employ of one of its leading firms. The mother 



^^* 



•►Hf^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



663 



died about 1882. Of this union there have been 
born five children, namely: Kthel. Frederiei<, Carl, 
Cleveland and Clyde. Mr. Redfield is a stanch 
Democrat, politically, and socially, a member of 
the Masonic fraternit3'. He was Master of the lodge 
at Tabor, Iowa, while attending college there. 

— #>^ — 



W EONARDT. SPICKNALL. This gentleman, 
I ^ who represents the brickmaking industry in 
/J L^ Talmage, and is in fact an enterprising and 
prosperous manufacturer of that most necessary 
article of building material, has in his yards all the 
modern appliances for the turning out of an almost 
perfect article, and manufactures over 600,000 per 
annum. He has been connected with this branch 
of industry at this place since 1882, and has enjoyed 
an enviable reputation and a large and extensive 
patronage throughout the entire surrounding dis- 
trict, supplying the brick for all of the buildings 
since erected in the town and neighborhood. Linked 
with this business he has another, in every way di- 
verse if not diametrically opposite, but is no less 
successful on that account from a financial stand- 
point, viz: that of a restauranteur, carrying on the 
same in Talmage. 

Previous to coming to this county in April, 
1883, our subject had lived in Dearborn County, 
Ind., where he was born on the 17th of December, 
1829. His father, Leonard Spicknall, was a native 
of Virginia, and came of one of the old and worth}' 
Virginian families. He was a lifelong agriculturist. 
The father of our subject was first married to 
Amelia Roland, a Virginian lady, with whom he 
removed to Indiana after the birth of their first 
child. .She died at the age of twenty-nine years, 
leaving five children. Subsequently the bereaved 
husband, who every day felt the pressing need of 
his little ones for some care other than his own, was 
married to Emma Horrom, a lady who was born in 
Vermont, but who had lived in Indiana almost all 
her life. The family circle came to include ten 
children, five of whom were sons, and eight of 
whom attained to years of maturity and are yet 
living, the subject of this sketch being the eldest. 
The parents lived in Dearborn County until the 



end of their days, which were not reached, however, 
until the}' had both passed the allotted threescore 
years and ten. 

Our subject, on starting in life for himself, in 
1852 went to Illinois, and passed four years in 
Grundy County, near Morris. Returning at the 
end of that time to his native place, he was there 
married to Mary Whitaker, the daughter of Will- 
iam and Hannah (Vozy) Whitaker, l)oth of whom 
were natives of England. Their daughter Mary 
was born in Dearborn County, in the year 1841. 
She was reared and educated there upon her father's 
farm, which had been brought from an unimproved 
condition to one of the best and most fertile farms 
in the county. She has presented her husband with 
six children, all of whom are still at home. Their 
names are as follows: William B., Charles O., Jean- 
ette G., Clara L., Olive L. and Evert A. 

Mr. and Mrs. Spicknall and three of their children 
are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which our subject is a Steward and also 
Trustee, and has for many years held the office of 
Class-Leader. He is deeply interested in the tem- 
perance cause, and is a local Prohibitionist. In gen- 
eral governmental questions he is numbered with 
the Republican party. 



<^l IfelLLIAM RAY, senior member of the firm 
\^/' °^ ^^^ "^ Hicks, is engaged with his part- 
V7\y ner in general merchandising in Dunbar, 
and also has an interest in the City Hotel and livery 
stable at that point, besides owning a large mercan- 
tile house in Woodbine, Iowa. He was bom in 
Trumbull County, Ohio, Nov. 1, 1840, and is the 
son of George Ray, now deceased. 

The father of our subject emigrated from his 
native State of New York to Grant County in 1847, 
settling not far from the lead mines of Galena, 111. 
In that region William received a common-school 
education, and in the spring of 1863 migrated 
across the Mississippi into Fayette County, Iowa. 
During the progress of the late Civil War he en- 
listed in Company F, 49th Wisconsin Infantry, 
serving one year, and doing mostly post duty. 
Our subject upon being transformed from a sol- 



•►Hl^ 



66 + 



OTOE COUNTY. 



dier to a civilian returned to Fayette County, 
Iowa, where he lived until 1876. He then removed 
to the vicinity of Atlantic, and engaged in stock-rais- 
ing three years. In the fall of 1879 he came to Ne- 
braska, and locating in Holt County, carried on 
farming and stock-raising together with real-estate 
business until 1888. He still, has a ranch in the 
vicinity of Stuart. In September of the last-named 
year our subject came to Dunbar, and in addition 
to the business already noted, ships large quantities 
of produce from this county to Omaha. He repre- 
sents a large amount of real estate, owning besides 
the property already mentioned 1,920 acres of land 
in Holt and Brown Counties. His general merchan- 
dising transactions yield him a handsome income, 
as the firm enjoys an extensive patronage. They 
keep a full stock of everything in their line. 

Mr. Ray, on the 4th of July, 1867, was united in 
marriage with Miss Mary A. Bastedo, who was born 
in Wyoming County, Pa., Aug. 2. 1843. The 
■ parents of Mrs. Ray were George and Diadama 
Bastedo, the former of whom died in JNIissouri 
about 1867. To Mr. and Mrs. Ray there have been 
born four children — George E., Paul L., Mary E. 
and Beatrice. The eldest is twenty years of age 
and the youngest ten. Mr. and Mrs. R.ay are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church, and our subject is 
identified with the A. O. U. W. and the G. A. E. 
Politically, he votes the Democratic ticket, and 
entertains the interest felt by every intelligent citi- 
zen in the building up of its community, and its 
advancement socially, morally and financiall}'. The 
mother of our subject, Mrs. Lucinda Ray, was a 
native of Ohio and is now deceased. The parental 
family included nine children, five of whom are 
living and four deceased. 

« J~^^^^M.<!i«fH * 

APT. PATRICK RODDY, one of the most 
public-spirited men of Nebraska City Pre- 
cinct, and a leading land-owner, has a fine 
farm of 160 acres on section 31, 320 acres in North 
Branch Precinct, also 1 60 in Russell Precinct, west 
of Unadilla. a part of which he secured as early as 
1864. The homestead proper includes 160 acres, a 
very fine tract, under a high state of cultivation and 



■► 11^ 



supplied with good buildings. The balance is fairly 
productive, and is devoted to general farming and 
stock-raising. 

Our subject w.as born in Count}' AVostmeath, Ire- 
land, July 12, 1842, where he lived until a young 
man twent}' years of age, then resolved to seek his 
fortunes in America. He first settled in Ontario, 
Canada, where he occupied himself at farming until 
1803, then came to the States, and making his way 
westward engaged on a Missouri River boat. The sec- 
ond year he was promoted to a deck hand, and later 
became watchman ; the third year was promoted to 
the position of mate, and later became Captain of 
the "Kate C. Nutt," continuing on the river until 
1872. He was for a period of five years in the 
meantime connected with the Hannibal & St. Joseph 
Packet Company, and for a like period as Captain 
was connected with the Missouri River Transfer 
Company, of Omaha. 

While in the city above mentioned our subject 
made the acquaintance of Miss Mary Henzie, to 
whom he was married Jan. 9, 1870. Mrs. Roddy is 
a native of the same country as her husband, and 
was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, March 17, 
1848. She came alone to the United States when 
a young woman, and lived for a time in New York 
City. Later she migrated further west, taking up 
her residence in Omaha, where she met her future 
husband. Her p'irents were Daniel and Catherine 
(Delaney) Henzie; the former is deceased, and the 
latter resides in Queens County, Ireland. The Cap- 
tain and his family located on their present farm 
June 20, 1872. The household circle includes six 
children, three sons and three daughters, namely: 
Maggie A., John. Thomas, Mary, Kate and James 
P. The eldest is eighteen years of age, and the 
youngest three, and all are at home with their par- 
ents. Mrs. Roddy and her youngest child in 1887 
made a visit to the old home in Ireland. The Cap- 
tain is an active Republican, sound on the tariff 
question, and a fervent advocate of the principles 
of his part}'. He has never been an oflSce-seeker, 
although holding positions of trust and responsibil- 
ity in his school district for a number of 3'ears. He 
is a man held in high esteem among his neighbors, 
and during the Presidential campaigns has been of 
eminent service to his party in this district as a 



r 



'^■£&*.~x% 




Residence of Patric Roddy, Sec. 31. Nebraska City Precinct. 




isig^ 



Residence orW-. Kropp, Wyoming Station 



:ll^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



667 



stump speaker, of more than orrlinar^y force, logical 
in his nrgiiinents. and one holding the attention of 
his audience. He has uniformly given his encour- 
agement to the enterprises calculated to develop 
the county, and besides his connection with various 
other interests, is a stockholder and Director in the 
Nebraska City Street Railway Companj'. Capt. 
Roddy and familj' are members of the Catholic 
Church in Nebraska City. 

A fine lithographic view of the home and sur- 
roundings of Capt. Roddy appears on an accom- 
panying page. 



-«-t^<ijf:[:^>iJ(-HH" 



w »:;■ 






>,ILLIAIM KROPP. Among the men who 
assisted in the advancement of Wj'o- 
Precinct as a farming communitj', 
the subject of this sketch holds no unimportant posi- 
tion, being one of its most prominent farmers and 
stock-raisers. He owns a valuable tract of land 
embracing 1,14.5 acres. 520 of which are embraced 
in the homestead, and this latter has been brought to 
a high state of cultivation and is provided with a 
fine set of farm buildings, including a substintial 
dwelling, and the barns and other structures neces- 
sary for the proper shelter of stock and the storing 
of grain. A view of the farm is presented in this 
connection. 

Mr. Kropp came to this county and W3'oming 
Precinct in December of 1863, although as earlj^ 
as the year 1 857 he had taken a claim in Mt. Pleasant 
Precinct, Cass Countj', upon which he settled in the 
spring of 1858. This he sold five years later in 
order to change his residence to this county, and 
first purchased a quarter of section 23, in Wyoming 
Precinct. He was successful from the start, and 
added gradually to his possessions, being now num- 
bered among the most extensive land-owners of the 
countj'. 

A native of what was then the Kingdom of Han- 
over, Germany, our subject was born April 25, 
1 833, and is the descendant of an ancestrj- noted 
for health and strength both of body and mind. 
His father. Henry Kropp, also a native of Hanover, 
was one of its most prosi^erous farmers, to which 
occupation he was reared from his boyhood up. He 



married there Miss Lota Twick. who was also of a. 
good family, and a native likewise of Hanover. 
They settled upon a farm near their childhood 
home, and there were born to them four sons and 
four daughters, of whom our subject was the sec- 
ond son and third child. Four daughters and two 
sons are yet living, and all are ra.arried. William, 
however, is the only one who makes his home in 
this State, the rest of the children being residents 
of Lake County, 111. With the exception of one 
daughter, the wife of a minister of the Albright 
Church, they are engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
One son, Henry by name, was drowned while at- 
tempting to cross the Weeping Water, July 4, 
1864. 

In September of 1853 the parents of our sub- 
ject left their horn*-, in Germany, and crossing 
the Atlantic, with their children took up their resi- 
dence in Lake County, 111. They are both now de- 
ceased. William was twenty years old at the time 
of emigrating to America. He had received a 
good education in his native tongue, and now set 
out on his own account, employing himself at what- 
ever he could find to do, frequently working by the 
day. Upon the advice of Mr. E. Crover, one of 
the pioneers of Lake Count}', 111., he resolved to 
push further westward, and coming to this county 
located a piece of land and prepared to .settle. He 
only sojourned, however, for a brief time in this 
region, but returning to Lake County, 111., staid 
there during the winter, and in the spring of 1858 
secured to himself a wife and helpmate in the per- 
son of Miss Dorothea Stoll, who, like himself, was of 
German birth and ancestry, and born in the Grand 
Dueh\' of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany, Feb. 
2, 1834. The parents of Mrs. Kropp were Peter and 
Sophia (Huenemoeder) Stoll, also natives of Meck- 
lenburg-Schwerin, and the father a farmer by occup.a- 
tion. They also came of a hardj' race of people, 
and the father was a farmer by occupation. They 
were married in Germany, and after the birth of 
three sons and four daughters, of whom Mrs. 
Kropp was the third daughter and fourth child, the 
whole family emigrated to America in August of 
1854, and located at once in Lake County, 111.- A 
few j-ears later, in 1858, they moved to Nebraska, 
locating again upon a farm in Cass Count}', where 



f^*- 



•►-Jf^ 



-•► 



668 



OTOE COUNTY. 



the death of both parents oecurred some years ago. 

Mrs. Kropp was reared and educated in lier na- 
tive Province, and was twenty years old upon emi- 
grating to America. She continued a member of 
the parental household until her marriage, became 
tlioroughly versed in all home duties, and was 
trained to habits of industry and economy. After 
their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kropp started to Ne- 
braska on their wedding tour, and soon afterward 
took up their residence on the new farm in Cass 
County. When they first moved upon it they im- 
mediately built a small frame dwelling, and after 
built a small addition, and that remained their home 
while they lived in Cass County. They worked to- 
gether, hand in hand, with the mutual purpose of ac- 
quiring a competence and a home for themselves 
and their children. That thej' succeeded admirably 
is evident in noting their condition and surround- 
ings to-day. 

Of the family of nine children who were given 
our subject and his estimable wife, only four are 
living, namely: George W., who is operating the 
first store built at the station of Wyoming, and who 
is now Postmaster; John H., William F. and Louis, 
who are at home with their parents. The two 
youngest are students of the college in Nebraska 
City. One daughter, Minnie, died at the interest- 
ing age of twenty-seven years. Her death took 
place April 23, 1887. She was a sweet and intelli- 
gent young woman, and her death was a severe 
blow to the affectionate hearts of her parents. 
Bertie, a little daughter of nineteen months, died 
in Cass County, Neb., in the spring of 1862. Ed- 
ward died in October, 1876, when four years old, 
and Ernest died at the age of seven, in June, 1886. 
Mr. and Mrs. Kropp are consistent members of the 
German Methodist Church, and our subject, politi- 
cally, is a sound Republican. 



•► 



(^^HOM AS R. WHITTAKER. Along the lines 
((^^ of the great railroads which stretch out into 
*^^' every part of the fertile and growing West 
hamlets and villages have sprung up. Many of 
these have grown into prosperous and bus^' cities, 
while others are but quiet and ordinary' trading 

-«• 



places for the neighboring farmers. Among the lat- 
ter is Delta, a small place in McWilliams Precinct, 
and to this place our subject, who is now Post- 
master, came in 1882, and embarked in the mer- 
cantile business. At that time he opened a general 
store, and for a time conducted the only bu.siness 
house in the place. In connection with still hand- 
ling all the goods usually found in a country store, 
Mr. Whittaker also deals in lumber and coal, and 
in these lines is very extensive!}' engaged. He can 
be justi}' classed among the solid business rnen of 
the county, and although enjoying no schooling in 
any particular line of mercantile life, having been 
brought up on a farm, he has displayed no little 
business tact and genius, and although a young man, 
has assumed great responsibilities in the business 
world. 

The biographical writers of this volume met com- 
paratively few men actively engaged in business 
life who were natives of this county. Most of 
them (tame here after they had reaped the advan- 
tages of experience in the more serious duties of 
life, but we find in our subject a native of Otoe 
County, he having been born in Delaware Precinct, 
Sept. 4, 1859. He was educated in the public 
schools of that precinct and at the State Normal 
School, and such knowledge as he acquired in these 
excellent institutions was supplemented by a thor- 
ough course in Bryant's Commercial College at St. 
Joseph, Mo. In early life he had evinced a great 
liking for business transactions, and we see that he 
has enjoyed unusual success in this particular line. 
He is straightforward and upright in ail his deal- 
ings, enjoys in an unusual degree the confidence and 
respect of the people throughout the community, 
and we predict for him a bright future. 

The father of our subject, Reuben AVhittaker, is 
one of the extensive and well-to-do f.irmers of Dela- 
ware Precinct. He was a pioneer of this section 
of the State, having come to this region over thirty- 
three years ago. His wife was Miss Jane Wilson, 
to whom he was united in marriage here. She is 
one of the leading ladies of the precinct in which 
she i-esides, and the family are not only well known, 
but highly respected. 

Mr. Whittaker, our subject, was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Fannie Cooper, in Pottawatomie 



f 



•► i r^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



669 



i 



4* 



County. Kan. This lady was born in tiie latter- 
name(i county, in 1863. Tliere she was reared, and 
received an excellent education in the common 
schools and at the State Normal School. She is a 
refined and intelligent lady, and prominent in the 
enterprises carried on by the ladies of her neighbor- 
hood. Iler father is a well-to-do farmer of Potta- 
watomie County. She has become the mother of 
two children — Roy and Eugene. 

Mr. Whittaker has become a leading member of 
the communitj' where he resides, and has filled some 
of its most responsible official positions. He has 
served as Postmaster for four years, and is at pres- 
ent Postmaster of Delta, by recent appointment. 
He was also Justice of the Peace, and politicall}-, is 
a sound Republican. 



\f OHN WASHINGTON JAMES, one of the 
most successful general farmers of Wyoming 
Precinct, has been a resident here for a period 
fj of twenty-two years, occupying his present 
homestead, which is pleasantly located on sections 
1 6 and 9, and now embraces 240 acres of thoroughly 
cultivated land. The buildings and other improve- 
ments are creditable to the industry and enterprise 
of the proprietor, and the homestead with its sur- 
roundings forms the ideal country place, where are 
enjoyed all the comforts of life and many of its 
luxuries. 

Mr. James came to Nebraska in the spring of 
1867, soon after it had been transformed from a 
Territory into a State. He at once selected the 
land from which he intended building up a home- 
stead, and after providing a shelter for himself and 
family, proceeded with the cultivation of the soil, 
and endured in common with the people around 
him the difficulties and hardships of life in a new 
settlement. He had learned farming in all its de- 
tails in Mercer Count}', Pa., where he was reared 
from a boy to manhood. 

Our subject w.as cradled on the other side of the 
Atlantic, in County Donegal. Ireland, where his 
birth took place Nov. 1, 1847. He is of excellent 
Scotch-Irish ancestry, the latter being of those peo- 
ple who were driven from their native Scotland to 



the North of Ireland during the time of the religious 
persecution, when so many homes were made deso- 
late. His father, William James, was a farmer by 
occupation, and a native of County Donegal, where 
he died in middle life. The mother, Mrs. Margret 
(Buchanan) James, was a native of the same county 
ns her husband and son. After his death she and her 
children emigrated to America, locating in Butler 
County, and then a year later into Mercer County, 
Pa., where they lived for a number of years, then 
set out for the farther West. Some of the other 
members of the family had preceded them to this 
section, anil joining them here, the mother took up 
her abode with her two sons, and here her death 
took place Oct. 15, 1884, when she was seventy-two 
years old. 

Our subject was next to the 3'oungestchild of his 
parents, whose family consisted of seven sons and 
two daughters. He was not quite three years old 
when he went with his mother to Pennsylvania, and 
was reared to manhood in Mercer County, Pa. 
There also he made the acquaintance of his future 
wife, Miss Mary Luella Van Tine, to whom he was 
married Feb. 24, 1 881 . This lady was born in Wyo- 
ming Precinct, Dec. 22, 1862, and is the daughter 
of Abraham D. and Eliza J. (Snell) Van Tine, who 
were natives of Pennsylvania, and pioneers of Wyo- 
ming Precinct, to which they came as early as 1857, 
while Nebraska was a Territory, and where they 
still live. Mrs. .Tames was reared and educated in 
this county, and lived at home with her parents 
until her marriage. Our subject, politically, is a 
sound Republican, entertaining decided views, al- 
though having no desire to hold office. 

(| )|ILLIAM BISCHOF. Few sojourners in 
\jJlj Nebraska City, taking note of its business 
W^ interests, fail to observe the hardware es- 
tablishment which is the outgrowth of the enter- 
prise of the subject of this sketch. He came to this 
place in the fall of 1867, and in partnership with 
Anton Zimmerer purchased his stock, and they 
conducted the business together until the spring of 
1883. Mr. Bischof then purchased the interest of 
his paitner, and has since operated alone. He 



•►Htr^ 



670 



OTOE COUNTY. 



recognized as one of the leading men of the place, 
and has in the main been the architect of bis own 
fortune, building up a good business from a very 
modest beginning. 

The city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, was the native 
place of our subject, where his birth occurred March 
14. 1835. In common with the' children of Ger- 
many, he was placed in school at an early age, and 
prosecuted his studies until a youth of seventeen, 
completing them in the Polytechnic Institute at 
Nuremberg. He had been a lad bright and thought- 
ful beyond his years, and determined to become a 
man among men, and secure for himself and tliose 
who might be connected with him by the ties of 
nature a good home and a competence. Not being 
satisfied with his prospects upon his native soil, he 
determined»toseeiv his fortunes on the other side of 
the Atlantic. Accordingly, in the month of June, 
1852, he set sail from the city of Hamburg, and 
after a safe voyage of six weeks set foot upon 
American soil in the city of New York. Thence he 
proceeded southwestward to Atchison County, Mo., 
by rail to Cincinnati, and thence via the Ohio, 
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, which was at that 
time the most convenient route to that point. He 
left the steamer at what was then called Woerlens 
Landing, where a few settlers had collected together, 
and at a time when the country around bore little 
evidence of civilization. The now flourishing city 
of St. Joseph, seventy-five miles south, was then an 
unpretentious village, but the most important point 
in that region, and the nearest depot for supplies. 
Kansas and Nel)raska at that time were unorganized 
Territories, inhabited almost entirely by Indians. 
To this place our subject had been accompanied bj' 
his brother, and they, securing a tract of land, be- 
gan to till the soil. They were thus occupied a 
period of four years, but not being satisfied with 
the results, William laid down the implements of 
agriculture, and repairing to Sioux Citv, Iowa, en- 
gaged there as a clerk in an establishment of gen- 
eral merchandise. This place also was in its first 
stages of settlement, having only been laid out as 
a town the year before, but had already six or eight 
stores. 

After a residence of three years in Sioux City 
Mr. Bischof, in 1859, having with true German 



thrift and economy saved what he could of his 
earnings, concluded to become his own man and 
start in business for himself. Gathering together 
his personal effects he set out for the farther West, 
with the intention of starting a ranch and trading- 
post combined, which should furnish a place of en- 
tertainment for freighters who traveled with teams 
over the country, and to whom a resort of this 
description was indispensable. 

Mr. Bischof selected his location at Cottonwood 
Springs, near McPherson, in Western Nebraska, at a 
period when the nearest house was ninety miles 
east, and nothing l)ut wild Indians and buffaloes 
were to be seen perhaps for a period of days to- 
gether. Game of all kinds was abundant, and Mr. 
Bischof frequently stood in the door of his house, 
which was built of cedar logs, and brought down 
with his rifle a buffalo or deer. Elks and antelopes 
were plentiful, and troops of Indians frequently 
cast at the new settler and his establishment glances 
not altogether friendly. 

Mr. Bischof had transported a large stock of 
merchandise to this point, which he traded mostly 
to the Indians for buffalo skins and furs. A year 
later he moved to what was called Fremont's 
Slough, twenty-five miles further west, and remained 
there six 3'ears. At the expiration of this time, 
having a generous supply of solid capital, he decided 
to invest it within the bounds of civilization, and 
accordingly' changed his residence to Nebraska Citj', 
where he has since lived. Many a man having had 
his experience, cut off as he was from intercourse 
with the more cultivated part of his fellowmen, 
would have deteriorated mentally, but Mr. Bischof 
through it all maintained his love of reading, and by 
the best means at hand kept himself posted upon 
the current events. Mail facilities during his resi- 
dence on the frontier were necessarilj- uncertain, 
but occasionally he would secure a book, paper or 
periodical, and of these it is hardly necessary to say 
he made the best use. Upon coming to Nebraska 
City he had no difficult}' in being admitted to the 
intelligent circle of men here, where he has done 
good service in the encouragement of the institu- 
tions and enterprises calculated to build up the 
community socially and financiall}'. He has been 
President of the Board of Education, and a mem- 



•► 1 1 < ■■ 



r- 



*t 



t 



»► II <• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 

671 f 



<• 



ber of the Cit3' Council, was President of the Board 
of Trade two j'ears, and is now Vice President of 
the Merchants' National Bank. He cast his first 
Presidential vote for John C. Fremont, and has 
since continued an earnest supporter of Repub- 
lican principles. Socially, he belongs to the I. O. 
O. F., being a member of Frontier Lodge No. 3, in 
Nebraska City. 

Our subject while living on the ranch was mar- 
ried in Nebraska Citj', Dec. 28, 1865, to Miss Kiny 
Zimmcrer, a sister of his former partner, A. Zim- 
merer, and they became the parents of seven chil- 
dren, namely: AVilliam, Lulu, Otto, Eta, Arthur, 
Olga and Lillie. All of these are living and reside 
at Nebraska City, except William, who is at Seward, 
Nel). The mother of these children departed this 
life at her home in Nebraska City, in the summer 
of 1884. In the sketch of A. Zim merer, found on 
another page in this volume, will be noted further 
mention of this family. 

On the 7th of August, 1886, Mr. Bischof con- 
tracted a second marriage, with Miss Matilda Belha, 
a native of Bohemia, and who came to America 
alone when twenty-two 3'ears old. The parents of 
Mrs. Bischof are now residing in Bohemia. Of this 
union there is one child, a son, Frederick, born in 
May, 1887. The family residence is pleasantly 
situated in the northwestern part of the city, and 
opens its hospitable doors to manj' friends. It is 
tastefully finished and furnished, and forms an al)ode 
entirely suitable to the means and tastes of its pro- 
prietor. Mr. Bischof in 1870 invested a portion 
of his surplus capital in a fine brick block at the in- 
tersection of Seventh street and Center avenue, 
which is occupied mostly by his own business. 

^REDEKICK PAAP. The career of the self- 



Pi made man is finely illustrated in the subject 
. . of this sketch, who began life in America 

dependent upon his own resources, without means, 
a stranger in a strange land. He is now one of the 
leading farmers and laud-owners of Berlin Precinct, 
holding a clear title to 1,360 acres, which he has 
transformed from a tract of wild prairie to a highly 
productive condition. The homestead occupies the 



•► 



t* 



southwest corner of section 15, and presents one of 
the most attractive spots in the landscape of that 
region, being embellished with fine buildings, a 
commodious and convenient residence, a substan- 
tial barn, and the pens and sheds required for the 
shelter of stock, of which the proprietor makes a 
specialty. Within, the home is presided over by a 
lady well educated, refined and hospitable, who 
has done her share toward the building up of the 
reputation of the family, and assisted in drawing 
around them hosts of friends. 

Our subject was born in the Grand Duchj- of 
Mecklenburg, Aug. 31, 1839, and is the son of 
Frederick, Sr., and Mary (Scholtz) Paap, who were 
natives of the same place as their son. The pater- 
nal grandfather, Dedloff Paap, was a cooper by' 
trade, but served in the German Armj' during the 
war between France and Russia. On the mother's 
side. Grandfather John Scholtz inclined more to 
the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, being for a 
number of years overseer of a farm. Both spent 
their entire lives in their native German3^ 

The father of our subject occupied himself as a 
gardener near his native town until 1857, then re- 
solved to emigrate to America. He was accom- 
panied by his wife and children in the voyage 
across the Atlantic, and for two years thereafter 
lived in Cleveland, Ohio. In the spring of 1859, 
coming to this county, he purchased eighty acres 
of land on section 15, in Berlin Precinct, for which 
he paid the sum of $70, all the money he had in the 
world. He commenced in true pioneer fashion the 
development of the farm, and was prospered in his 
laliors, building up a good homestead, and sur- 
rounding himself with all the comforts of life. lie 
doubled his original purchase, and there spent his 
last days, passing away Aug. 4, 1879, when sixtj-- 
nine years old. The mother is still living, making 
her home with her son William, in Berlin Precinct, 
and is now seventy-eight years of age. Their three 
children were named respectively: Frederick, our 
subject; William and Louisa. The two latter are 
residents of this precinct. 

Mr. Paap attended the common schools of his 
native town until a lad of fourteen years, in the 
meantime learning the art of gardening of his 
father. After leaving the da}' school he pursued 



?^^V^ 



672 



OTOE COUNTY. 



his studies at an evening school four years longer. 
He came with his father to the United States when 
a youth of eighteen years, in 1857, making the voy- 
age on a sailing-vessel, the ''St. .John," embarking 
at Hamburg, and landing at New York six weeks 
and three daj-s later. In the meantime they en- 
countered several storms, and at one time the ship 
took fire, but fortunately this was arrested before 
verj' much damage was done. 

Young Paap lauded a stranger in a strange land, 
not being acquainted with a soul in America, and 
almost penniless. He made his way to Cleveland, 
Ohio, where for two years he employed himself at 
whatever he could find to do, sometimes by the 
month, and sometimes by the day. In 1859 he re- 
solved to cross the Mississippi, made his way by 
rail to St. Louis, and thence by steamboat to this 
county, landing in Nebraska City. He was fortu- 
nate in securing emplo3'meut on a farm, and >vorked 
the first 3'ear for Dave Martin, receiving at the 
close in payment for his services $150. This 
seemed quite a goodly sum, as he had landed in 
Nebraska with §5. 

Our subject the second j'ear of his residence in 
this county was employed at a hotel in Nebraska 
City. In 1862 he engaged in freighting to Denver, 
and later worked in John Bennett's mill near 
Nebraska City. The years 1863 and 1864 found him 
freighting again, and later he was employed in a 
wholesale establishment at Nebraska Cit^-. His 
journej'ings across the plains were invested with 
the usual dangers and hardships of those times, as 
the Indians looked upon the whites with very un- 
friendly eyes, and the traveler at no time felt se- 
cure either as regarded life or property. Mr. Paap, 
however, possessed a cool and temperate judgment, 
which enabled him to keep out of clifHcult}' both 
with the rough white element of that region and 
with the Indians. During the early part of 1865 
he was one of the companj- of home guards organ- 
ized for mutual protection. 

The eight}' acres of land which our subject oc- 
cupies as his homestead proper was purchased by 
him in the spring of 1860, but he did not make 
any attempt at improvement upon it until after his 
marriage. Then, fortified bj' the assistance and 
sympathy of a good wife, he put up a modest 

-^ 



dwelling, and in true pioneer style began the im- 
provement of his property. In breaking the soil 
the wife frequeuth'' drove the oxen while Mr. Paap 
held the plow. After he had put in his first crop 
he began setting out fruit and shade trees, and has 
now fine groves and eleven acres planted with apple 
trees and choice fruits of the smaller varieties. In 
adding to his landed area he has paid all the way 
from $7 to 125 jier acre, but for none of it would 
he to-day take less than $35 per acre. This he has 
divided into six farms, each being supplied with 
groves, orchards, houses and barns. For the build- 
ing of his present fine residence he was obliged to 
haul all the material from Nebraska City. It is 
handsomely finished and furnished, and supplied 
with all modern conveniences. 

Mr. Paap began at an early date his operations 
as a stock-raiser, and has been remarkably success- 
ful. He keeps none but good grades of animals, 
and his horses are especially fine, being draft ani- 
mals of the Clydesdale stock. Of these he has 
seventeen head, besides a span of valuable mules. 
In his stock operations he utilizes 320 acres of his 
land, over which he has personal supervision, and 
rents the balance. 

The marriage of Frederick Paap and Jliss Caro- 
line Sturm was celebrated at the home of the bride 
in Weeping Water, Feb. 2, 1864. Mrs. Paap was 
born in wliat was then the Province of Alsace, 
France. March 24, 1846, and received a careful 
education, becoming familiar with both the French 
and German languages. She came with her father's 
family to America when a young girl of thirteen 
years, in the spring of 1859. Her parents were 
Andrew and Madaline (Understock) Sturm, also 
natives of Alsace, and the father a prosperous far- 
mer. The mother died in Germany in 1853. 
The family crossed the Atlantic on the sailing- 
vessel '"Brogress." and not long after landing in 
New York proceeded directly westward to Ne- 
braska, locating in Cass County, where the father 
purchased 320 acres of land. Upon this he settled 
with his family, effected good improvements, and 
there spent tlie remainder of his life, his daath tak- 
ing place in April. 1874, at the age of seventy -throe 
years. The children of the paternal household, 
five in number, were named respectively: Magda- 
•^ 



r 



h 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•»> 



67a 



lene, Andrew. Sarah, Caroline and Mary. The 
brother and sister of Mrs. Paap are residents of 
Nebraska. Her maternal grandfather served in the 
French Armj' during the war between France and 
Germany, in 1812. Grandfather Sturm during his 
early manhood was the owner of a fine property, 
but for thirt^'-six years afterward was bedridden 
from an incui-able disease which consumed the 
most of it. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Paap there have been born 
five children, namel}': Omar, Alexander, Albert, 
Medora and Lj'dia, the latter twins. The eldest 
of these is twenty-four years of age, and the 
younger ones ten. They are being trained and 
educated in a manner befitting their station in life. 
Mr. and Mrs. P. are charter members of the Ger- 
man Methodist Episcopal Church at Berlin, and 
have always contributed liberally' and cheerfully to 
its support. Mr. P. gave valuable assistance in 
erecting the church edifice, has been a Trustee for 
many j'ears, and is Superintendent of the Sunday- 
school. Politically, he is a fervent supporter of 
Republican principles, and has done liis party good 
service in this count^', frequentl}- being sent as a 
delegate to the State and County Conventions. He 
has also served on the Grand and Petit Juries. 
He is a man who keeps himself posted upon cur- 
rent events, one with whom it is interesting and 
profitable to converse. 



OICHOLAS RUSH. Among the prominent 
citizens of South Branch, and one whose 
character is such as to commend itself to 
all, a successful farmer, and an army veteran, is 
the gentleman whose life story is herein presented 
in succinct form. He is the son of Antonius and 
Augusta Rush, and now makes his home on section 
28, where he operates successfully along the line 
of general farming and stock-raising, giving chief 
attention to the former, eighty acres of fine agri- 
cultural land. 

The father of our subject was born in Naples. 
Italy, and followed farming. His mother was born 
at Naples, and married under the sunny skies of that 
Southern European kingdom. They became the 



p.arents of six children, viz: Joseph, Pasco, Rosa. 
Caroline, Celestia and Nicholas. The latter was 
born in Naples on the 8th of May, 1837. His early 
life was spent in Italy. He continued upon the farm 
of his father until he was eighteen jenrs of age. 
Then, in 1855, he went to France, where he studied 
as a musician, and from there to England in the 
practice of his chosen profession. In 1861, again 
taking his journey, he came to "the land of the 
free," landing in New York City. He traveled at 
first chiefly through the Southern States, and then 
went to Illinois. 

Although but so recently come to the country and 
almost before he was fully able to grasp the mean- 
ing of the new institutions of the New World, or 
thoroughly to imbibe the principles of its inde- 
pendence, Mr. Rush saw that country in the throes 
of a civil war, and enlisted in the Union Corps, serv- 
ing in Company S, 2d Illinois Artillery. He was 
mustered in at Springfield in June, 1864. He <)id 
not come out of the struggles unscathed. Injuries 
were first received from being thrown off his horse, 
which stunned him and left some injury of the 
head that has rendere<l him permanently deaf. This 
the thundering cannon so affected as to almost en- 
tirely destroy the hearing, and he must ever remain 
in the stillness and comparative solitude that such a 
condition necessitates. He was mustered out at 
Chicago in August, 1865, and continued in Illii.ois 
until 18P6, when he came west to this countj^ 

Life in tlie West has brightened for our subject, 
both in his farm and hfime, for upon cominc he 
entered his present |)roperty of 160 acres, improved 
it, made it his own, and has taken good care of it 
from that time, until now it is one of the best cid- 
tivated farms in the district. His home has been 
ni.ade home to him in Nebraska, for here he was 
united in wedlock; first in Nebraska City, in the 
year 1873, to Miss Anna Wood, who died in 1875, 
aged twenty-five years. The second occasion oc- 
cured in Johnson County on the 17th of March. 
1878. The lady of his choice was Miss Jane Pow- 
ell, the daughter of Stephen and Isabella (Mapps) 
Powell, who were natives respectively' of New 
York and Pennsylvania. They came to Johnson 
County in 1857. Thej- were among the pioneers 
and founders of the county. Mr. Powell died in 



_;» > ^ ' 



•►Hl^ 



674 



OTOE COUNTY. 




4 



18G3, aged forty-seven years, and the mother is 
still living. They are the parents of seven chil- 
dren — William, Angeline, Jane, Thomas, John, Jo- 
seph and Elizabeth. 

The wife of our subject was born in Joliet, 111., 
Feb. 2, 1850. She was seven 3'ears of age when 
she came with her parents to this State, and has 
seen perhaps more than usually falls to the lot 
of man or woman in these days of advanced civili- 
zation in the West, of real frontier life. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Rush there have been given seven chil- 
dren, and their names are recorded as Mary M., 
Celestia E., Ida Sybel, Albert Wesley, Rosa A, 
Edith Pearl and Willis Logan. 

Mr. Nicholas Rush is one of the substantial sup- 
porters and consistent members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church at Rockford, and one of the 
prime movers in its organization. His wife also is 
with him in this relation. She is a lady of educa- 
tion and cultivation, and is one who has found the 
art of making home something more than a mere 
stopping-place; a place to be desired, looked for 
and prized. The political sentiments of our subject 
are strictlj' harmonious with those of the Repub- 
lican party, of which he has always been a firm 
friend. 

^ .^^ ^ 

•i^ CLARENCE REED, of Syracuse Precinct, 
|fe) stands prominent among its prosperous 
jVr^' farmers and stock-raisers, and operates one 
of the best farms in this section of country, pleas- 
antly located on section 25. He came to Nebraska 
in the spring of 1865, where he completed the rudi- 
ments of an excellent education, and later entered 
the State University at Lincoln. Completing his 
course in this institution he was employed two 
winters thereafter as a teacher, but aside from this 
has been most of his life engaged in farming pur- 
suits. In his labors as a tiller of the soil he has 
met with more than ordinary' success, having se- 
cured one of the most comfortable of modern homes, 
and a competency for his old age. 

The main points in the family histor}^ of our sub- 
jects are substantiall}^ as follows: His father, Cyrus 
Reed, was born in the State of Penns3'lvania, and 
was the son of an old Pennsylvania family, the par- 



ents of which spent their entire lives upon their na- 
tive soil. Cyrus Reed grew to m.inhood in his native 
county, where he became familiar with the various 
emploj^ments of the farm, and remained a member 
of the parental household until attaining his major- 
ity. His business career began as a live-stock 
dealer, buying cattle in Illinois, and driving them 
to the Eastern markets before the days of railroads. 
He was highly successful, and became the owner of 
several valuable farms in Pickaway County, Ohio, 
which were located near the now important town of 
Circleville. During the war he lost considerable 
property. 

In the spring of 1865 the father of our subject 
sold a portion of his Ohio property', and coming to 
Nebraska purchased 1,600 acres of land in Otoe 
County, nearly all of which was raw prairie. Upon 
this the family settled in a small house, and the 
father, imbibing a great admiration for the West, 
finally disposed of all his property in the Buckeye 
State, and turned his attention to stock-raising on 
his land in this county. He died at his home in 
McWilliams Precinct, Dec. 4, 1870, at the age of 
fifty-two years. He was a Republican in politics, 
and as a son of one of the earliest settlers in Picka- 
way County, Ohio, saw much of pioneer life, en- 
during many of its hardships and privations. He 
for a time engaged in general merchandising at 
Nebraska City, but his preferences wer^ for farming 
and stock-raising. 

Mrs. Anna (Lowe) Reed, the mother of our sub- 
ject, was born in Ulster County, N. Y., and is the 
daughter of Jacob and Susan Lowe, who migrated 
to Pickaway County, Ohio, during the period of its 
early settlement. There ]\Ir. Lowe carried on farm- 
ing until his death. Mrs. Reed afterward made the 
journey from Ohio to Nebraska in a buggy when 
she was over sixty j'ears old. She was married to 
Mr. Reed in 1855, and after coming to this county 
became the wife of Edwin Parsons, and is now liv- 
ing on a farm in Delaware Precinct. Of her first 
marriage there were born five children, namely: E. 
Clarence, our subject; Harry H., Josiah E., Cyrus 
A. and John W. All of these are living, and resi- 
dents of Nebraska and Colorado respectively. 

Our subject was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, 
July 29, 1857, and resided under the parental roof 
•►- 



t 




Y/r. 




t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



677 ,i 



until reaeliiug manhood. A few months after reach- 
ing his twenty-second year he was married, Dec. 25, 
1879, to Miss Leona Dunbar, the wedding taking 
place at the home of the bride in Dunbar. Mrs. 
Reed was born Nov. 7, 1860, in Dunbar, and is the 
daughter of John and Anna (Watson) Dunbar, who 
were natives of Canada, and are now in Nebraska. 
They came to this county about 1856, settling in 
Delaware Precinct. Here Mrs. Reed was reared and 
educated, taldng kindly to her books, and devel- 
oped into a teacher, which profession she followed 
some time before her marriage and one term after- 
ward. Mrs. Reed received her education at the 
Peru Normal School. Of her union with our sub- 
ject there have been born two children: Anna 
Lavina, May 19, 1883, and Clarence Herbert, Feb. 
17, 1887. 

Mrs. Reed is a very estiuLible lady, and a mem- 
ber of the Seventh-Day Advent Church. Mr. 
Reed, politicall}', supports the principles of the Re- 
publican partj', but is in favor of prohibition. He 
is well known throughout the county for his enter- 
prise, being one of its most extensive farmers and 
stock-raisers, handling large numbers of cattle and 
hogs, and keeping good horses, these latter mostly 
for his own use. 



ROF. CHARLE.S W. SHERFEY has been 
identified with the literary and industrial 
interests of Nebraska City from its infancj-. 
He is at present engaged in horticultural 
pursuits, raising flowers, small fruits, and vegeta- 
bles, and has the best appointed greenhouse in 
Otoe County. He is a native of Maryland, born 
July 6, 1829, a son of Solomon and Catherine (Mc- 
Neil) Sherfey, natives respectively of Gettj^sburg, 
Pa., and of Loudoun County, Va. Jacob Sherfey, 
the grandfather of our subject, lived near Gettys- 
burg, but it is not known on which side of the State 
line he was born. His father, Casper Sherfey, was 
born about the year 1735, in Saxe Coburg Gotha, 
Giermany, sixty miles northwest of the city of 
Hanover. At the age of sixteen years he came to 
America, and at the age of twenty-three years, 
1758, he married Magd.alena Deardorff. a German 



lad}^, who was born in 1738. They resided in Fred- 
erick County, Md. To them were bornflfteen chil- 
dren, six of whom died in childhood. The nine 
surviving children were five sons and four daugh- 
ters. Their sons were: John, who removed to 
Jonesboro, Washington Co., Tenn.; Abraham, re- 
moved to Virginia; Benjamin, removed to Augusta 
County, Va.; Jacob lived at Gettysburg, Pa.; 
Joshua lived in Frederick County, Md., died in 
Parke County, Ind. Their daughters were: Re- 
becca, who married Joseph Carey; Mary, who mar- 
ried Nicholas Oustatt; Catherine, who married John 
Schriver; Elizabeth, who married .Jacob Carroll. 
Casper's son, Jacob, married Catherine Bosserman, 
in 1794. He was born in Frederick County, Md., 
March 4, 1769, and died Aug. 5, 1842. His wife 
was born in York County, Pa., Aug. 12, 1773, and 
died Aug. 4, 1844. To them were born eleven chil- 
dren, two of whom died in childhood, namely, 
Maria, aged two years, and Daniel aged four. 
Eight sons and one daughter grew to mature years. 
David was born Jan. 13, 1797, died March 31, 1861 ; 
Solomon, born .Jan. 26, 1799, married Feb. 6, 1827, 
died May 5, 1876. Next was Jacob. John was 
born Jan. 23, 1805, married March 21, 1837, died 
Feb. 12, 1871; Abram, born Aug. 10, 1807; Samuel, 
.Jan. 17, 1810, married Dec. 29, 1836; Joseph, born 
June 30, 1812, married Feb. 6, 1840, died Oct. 4. 
1850. Simeon, born Feb. 7, 1814, married March 
3, 1836, died Oct. 3, 1850. Hannah Sherfey Farns- 
worth, born Dec. 2, 1817, married Sept. 29, 1848. 
The father of our subject was reared in Penn- 
sylvania, and in 1827 he went to Maryland and 
lived there until 1854. He married a Virginia 
lady, a daughter of .John McNeil, who was, it is 
thought, born in Maryland, of Scotch-Irish ances- 
try. His father, the great-grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was born in Ireland and came to America when 
a young man with an older brother. His brother 
soon started to return to his native land, and was 
never heard from afterward. Mr. McNeil settled 
in this country pernianentl3', married, and it is sup- 
posed, spent his last years in Perryville, Vermillion 
Co., Ind. The maternal grandfather of our sub- 
ject married in Virginia, moved from there to Mary- 
land, and thence to Vermillion County, Ind., in 
about 1835. He was numbered among the pioneers 

■» 



t_ 



» ^ l <• 



678 



OTOE COUNTY. 



f 



of that county, where he improved a farm and 
spent the remainder of his life. Mr. Sherfe}' re- 
moved from Marj'land to Tippecanoe Count}-. Ind., 
accompanied by his wife and four children, the re- 
moval being made with the old-fashioned covered 
wagon drawn by a pair of horses. They took with 
them their household goods, and as their route lay 
through a sparsely settled country, they often 
camped by the wayside. Mr. Sherfey became a 
pioneer of Tippecanoe County, engaging in the 
mercantile business there, and he also managed a 
flouring-mill. In the fall of 1837 he sold out 
there and moved to Burlington, Iowa. At that 
time Iowa formed a part of the Territory of Wis- 
consin, and during the winter of 1837-38 the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature met in Burlington. There were 
then but few white inhabitants in the Territory, and 
the greater part of the land was still owned by the 
Indians. He lived to see it one of the most popu- 
lous and wealth}' States in the Union, and as one 
of its pioneers he was instrumental in bringing 
about the great change. He established himself in 
the mercantile business, and he got his goods either 
from Cincinnati or St. Louis, Chicago then being a 
small, unimportant town, with no communication 
whatever with the West, except overland by teams. 
Mr. Sherfey resided in and near Burlington until 
his death- in 1876, when that town lost one of its 
most honored pioneers, one who had done much to 
build up its mercantile interests. He was a man of 
marked intelligence, strict integrity, and much capa- 
bility. His wife, a most estimable lady, died at the 
home of our subject in Nebraska City, Aug. 6, 
1887, at the age of eighty -one. There were four 
children born to this worthy couple, all of whom 
are living, namely: Caroline A., widow of E. D. 
Rand, lives in Burlington, Iowa; Charles W. ; John 
M., lives in Burlington; William E. lives in Coun- 
cil Grove, Kan. 

Charles W. Sherfey was in his fifth year when he 
accompanied his parents to Indiana, and he was 
eight years old when the family moved to Burling- 
ton, lowai. He there attended the early schools and 
gained the preliminaries of a liberal education. 
When he was twenty years old he went to Green 
Castle, Ind., to enroll his name among the students 
of Asbury University (now DePauw University), 



and was graduated from there with the first honors 
in the class of '54. He decided to fit himself for 
the legal profession, and with that end in view he 
entered tlie law department of Harvard College, 
Cambridge, Mass. After completing his course 
there in 1856, he returned to Burlington, and in 
1857 came to the Territory of Nebraska, bringing 
with him a printing-press, and locating in Platts- 
raouth, he established the Platte Valley Times, and 
published that paper quite successfully for one year. 
Then came the great financial crisis, which made it 
very liard to run a paper with any profit in that 
city, so he came to Nebraska City, where he soon 
began the publication of a paper called The Peo- 
ple's Press, the forerunner of the Wef})-aska Press 
of the present day. A short time before the oflice 
was burned in 1860, he had severed his connection 
with the paper, and abandoning the editorial pro- 
fession, had adopted that of teacher, for which ac- 
tion he may be considered a public benefactor, as 
in those early days of the settlement of the State 
it was very difficult to get instructors for the 
schools who were themselves well educated. He 
taught in Nebraska C'ity almost continuously until 
1879, thus incalculably raising the standard of edu- 
cation here, and giving this community the benefit 
of his superior literary attainments for nearly 
twenty years. In 1863 Mr. Sherfey bought six 
lots in the northern part of the city and built a 
small frame house, into which he removed with his 
wife. He has since bought other lots and now 
owns forty-four in various parts of the city, and 
in 1877 he erected his present residence, a commo- 
dious, comfortable frame house, very pleasantly 
located on a rise of ground commanding a view of 
the city. 

Prof. Sherfey was married iu 1862 to Miss Irene, 
daughter of Wesley and Mary A. (Booton) Spur- 
lock, of whom see sketch. Mrs. Sherfey was born 
in Iowa, in February, 1848. The pleasant wedded 
life of our subject and his amiable wife has been 
blessed by the birth of four children; the eld- 
est, Carrie A., died when seven and one-half 
years old; Charles E., Irene Belle, Eulalia. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sherfey are valued members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and whenever oppor 
tunity offers they are among the first to extend a 



^^ 



I a T 



■•► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



679 



helping hand to the needy or to sympathize with 
the sorrowing. Mr. Slierfey is an uncompromising 
Republican in his political views. 

The portrait of Prof. Sherfey appears in con- 
nection with this i)ersonal sketch. 



]r 0NA8 SUGDEN. Among the pioneers of 
j I 1866 who resolved upon the experiment of 
I invading the Territory of Nebraska, was the 
(^^ subject of this sketch, who landed in Nebraska 
C'it3' in the winter of that j-ear. The early years 
of his life were spent as a machinist, during which 
he became an expert as a blacksmith and general 
mechanic, but upon coming to the West he neces- 
sarily changed his occupation, taking up the pur- 
suits of agriculture. For a time, however, before 
securing a tract of land, he followed freighting 
across the plains, in the meantime iioiuesteading the 
northwest quarter of section 33, Syracuse Precinct, 
which is included in his present homestead. 

Our subject, when taking possession of his 
property, fashioned a dug-out in which to shelter 
himself and family, and gradually began making 
improvements about him. although he was obliged 
to employ himself elsewhere in order to obtain the 
wherewithal for the sustenance of himself and 
family. As time passed on he found himself mak- 
ing headway, and the dug-out soon gave i^lace to 
a comfortable frame residence, which later was 
flanked by a barn and the other out-buildings nec- 
essary to his comfort and convenience. He has 
steadil3' progressed since that time, and is now 
numbered among the well-to-do farmers of this 
region, who have been tlic architects of their own 
fortunes, and thus imbibed that spirit of self- 
reliance which enabled them to hew their pathway 
to success. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Yorkshire, 
England, March 7, 1834, and is the son of William 
and Elizabeth (Sugden) Sugden, who, however, 
bore no relationship to each other before their mar- 
riage. The father was a farmer all his life, and the 
parents are still living, continuing residents ui)on 
their native soil. They are naturally well advanced 
in years, and come of a long-lived race. All of 



their childreu, ten in number, are also living and 
all in England, with the exception of our subject 
and one brother, who is a resident of Chase County, 
this State. The others were named respectively: 
John, Elizabeth. Mary, Robert, William, Ann, 
Judith and Paul. 

Jonas Sugden, when a Lid of twelve years, com- 
menced his apprenticeship as a machinist in his na- 
tive town of Kiefley, at which he served nearly five 
years, when the firm by whom he was employed 
went out of business. He then commenced work- 
ing as a journej'man in Bradford and Birmingham, 
but about 1853 or 1854, when a young man grown, 
he sailed for America in company with his brother 
John. After landing in New Y'ork City they pro- 
ceeded northwestward to Minnesota, but later re- 
turned southeastward to Penns3'lvania, where our 
subject followed his trade for a time at Erie. Later 
he was employed at his trade in the city of Buffalo. 

During the progress of the late Civil War Mr. 
Sugden was in the employ of the Pittsburgh & Erie 
Railroad Company, and identified himself with the 
Machinist and Blacksmith Union Brotherhood. On 
coming to Nebraska, in 1866, he followed freight- 
ing, as we have alreadj' stated. He had been mar- 
ried while a resident of Canada, in 1862, to Miss 
Jessie Bulchart, who is a native of Dundee, Scot- 
land, and the daughter of Andrew and Jessie Bul- 
chart, who spent their lives in Canada. Mrs. Sugden 
came to America with her parents when eleven 
j-ears old, locating in Upper Canada, where she was 
married. Of this union there have been born ten 
children, who were named : Elizabeth, William, 
Jessie, Judith, Daisj', Rudolph, Thomas, Mary, 
John and Paul. Elizabeth became the wife of AVill- 
iam H. Hill, and died in Chase County, this State, 
in 1886; Jessie died when nineteen years old. 

Our subject and his wife have proprietorship in 
five farms in this county, comprising altogether 
720 acres of land, besides a tree claim in Colorado. 
Mr. S. for many years devoted Jiis attention chiefly 
to stock raising, buying, feeding and shipping. The 
farm residence is convenient and substantial, flanked 
by a good orchard covering an area of twenty 
acres, and including all the choice fruit trees which 
flourish upon the soil of Nebraska. In 1878 he 
established himself in the harness business at Sj'ra- 



•^^ 



t 680 



OTOE COUNTY. 



cuse, where he operated successfully for a period of 
fourteen years. He crossed the Mississippi poor in 
purse, even obliged to borrow money to get his 
family to their destination. His possessions to-day 
are the result of his own resolute industry. He has 
made it a point to live within his income, has been 
prompt in meeting his obligations, and thus gained 
for himself a solid foundation financially and in 
the opinion of his fellowmen. He was one of the 
pioneers of his neighborhood. His settlement here 
was rather the result of accident than intention, as 
he had started for California. In passing through 
Nebraska City he saw on exhibition specimens of 
potatoes, corn and other products grown in this 
State, and being informed that he could secure a 
homestead, and in due time produce the same, de- 
termined at once to make settlement. He has never 
repented of his decision, and declares that in all his 
travels he has found no section of country equal 
to Nebraska. A pleasant, genial and companiona- 
ble man, he has made hosts of friends wherever it 
has been his lot to dwell, and none have been 
warmer or more sincere than those west of the 
Mississippi. 

Mr. Sugden for a number of years was a sup- 
porter of Republican principles. During the cam- 
paign of 1884 he felt that he would be justified in 
changing his allegiance, and accordingly wheeled 
over into the ranks of the Democracy. He, how- 
ever, meddles with public affairs very little, prefer- 
ring to give his time and attention to his farming 
interests. 



J. SCHOMERUS is one of the leading 
boot and shoe dealers in Nebraska City. 
He has a commodious, well-appointed 
store in the Grand Pacific Block, carries a 
large and well-selected stock, and does an extensive 
business. He was born May 28, 1831, in Hanover, 
Germany, and is a son of Christian and Famkam 
Schomerus, both natives of Hanover. The father 
was a grocer, and spent his entire life in his native 
land, d3'ing when but fifty years of age. The 
mother is now spending her declining years with 
our suljject, and notwithstanding that she is in her 



ninety-seventh year, she is strong and vigorous, 
both physically and mentally. There were eight 
children born to her and her husband, seven of whom 
grew to maturity: John Herman, Henry M., John 
Conrad, Christian A., Johanna M., our subject and 
Fredericka. Henry died in Germany, but the re- 
maining members of the family came to America. 
Herman located in St. Louis and died there; the 
others settled in Nebraska City. Johanna was first 
married to George Strechan ; her second husband 
was Jacob Atkin, who is still living; she died in 
this city. Fredericka married Frederick Zuck, and 
lives in Otoe Count}'. 

The subject of this sketch obtained a good edu- 
cation in the schools of his native land, which he 
attended until he was sixteen years old. He then 
learned the trade of cotton weaver, and was en- 
gaged at that in the old country until 1858, when 
he came to America, where he hoped to be able to 
earn more money in pa3'ment for his labors, and so 
be able to establish a comfortable home. He landed 
at New Orleans, and thence proceeded by a 
steamer up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. He 
disembarked in that city a stranger in a strange 
land, without money and without friends, and labor- 
ing also under the further disadvantage of being 
unable to understand the language of the i)eople. 
But with .all these discouragements the heart of the 
sturdy young man beat high with hope and a firm 
resolve to make life a success in this to him un- 
known country. He was endowed with plenty 
of strength and muscle, and knew well how to use 
them, so that he did not have great difliculty in se- 
curing work, finding employment in Columbia, 111., 
with a farmer, receiving as payment the sum of $9 
a month and board. His next place of employment 
was at Alton, 111., for a few weeks. He then took a 
job uf splitting rails, and as this was entirely new 
work for him, he could onl}' earn his board that 
winter. In the spring of 1859 he came to Nebraska 
Citj', and shortly after hired out to a German 
farmer who lived twelve miles southwest of the 
city, and he worked for that man until the fall of 
the year, for $12.50 a month. Wishing to become 
more conversant with the English language, he en- 
gaged with an American that fall, for $9 a month, 
and worked with him that winter. In the spring of 



•^f^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•► 



681 



1860 he crosserl the plains to Pike's Peak with ox- 
teams, and there he securert work in a sawmill un- 
til fall, at S25 a month and hoard. In the fall he 
returned to Omaha, and then came to Nebraska 
Cit}^ to work on a farm in this vicinity. In the 
spring of 1861 he came tO Nebraska City, and was 
employed in a livery stable for a few months prior 
to his enlistment in the 2d Nebraska Cavalry, with 
which regiment he went to tlie frontier, and did 
gallant service in suppressing the Indian outbreak. 
He was present at the battle of Whitstone Hill, and 
continued in the army until the fall of 1863, when 
he was honorably discharged witli his regiment. He 
was then employed in a restaurant and confectionery 
store until the spring of 1864. He then went to 
St. Louis, where he hoped to obtain more profitable 
work, but being disappointed in that, he enlisted in 
Compau}' I, 41st Missouri Infantry, and from that 
time did garrison duty until the close of the war, 
when he was honorably discharged with his regiment, 
and once again came to Nebraska City. While he 
was in the army he had been prudent and economi- 
cal, and had wisely saved his earnings, so that on 
his return here he had enough to buy a good break- 
ing team, consisting of five yokes of oxen, and he 
then engaged in the profitable work of breaking 
prairie at $4 an acre. He followed that business 
two seasons, but in the fall of the year 1866 he' 
abandoned that to form a partnership with George 
Burtz, in opening a confectionery store. In 1867 
Mr. Schomerus left his partner in charge of their 
business, and went back to his old home in Germany, 
in very much more prosperous circumstances than 
when he left there ten years before. Having had 
a very pleasant visit among his old friends, he re- 
turned to his adopted country in the fall of that 
year, accompanied by his betrothed and a brother 
and his family. In the following year he bought 
his partner's interest in the business, which they had 
been conducting together, and carried it on alone 
for a few years. He then sold out and bought a 
farm nine miles northwest of the city. He did not 
move onto his farm, however, but continued his 
residence in the city, and in 1877 formed a part- 
nership with John H. Minke, to engage in the boot 
and shoe trade. They were associated together for 
about five years, and then divided the stock, our 



subject retaining the old stand, and he is still carry- 
ing on a flourishing business. 

Mr. Schomerus has been twice married. His first 
marriage, which took place in New .York City in 
1867, was to Miss M. E. Wilkan, also a native of 
Hanover. After a pleasant married life of ten years, 
she died Oct. 14, 1877. Mr. Schomerus was mar- 
ried to his present estimable wife, formerly Miss 
Anna Hobbe, of Oldenburg, Germany, Sept. 19, 
1878. They are respected members of the Lu- 
theran Church, and are foremost in its good works. 
They are kind and charitable toward the poor and 
unfortunate, who find in them true friends in the 
hour of need. Mr. Schomerus is a loyal citizen, as 
was proved by his course during the war and by 
his conduct since. He was a Republican until 1872, 
when he went with the liberal party, and he now 
affiliates with the Democrats. 

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'RANK C. RICHARDS, junior member of 
the firm of Dundas & Richards, publishers 
of the Talmage Tribune, conducts with his 
partner one of the best local papers in this county, 
and a journal which is dul^- valued by the people. 
It is a five-column folio, issued every Friday, and 
fulfills in a praiseworthy manner the object for 
which it is intended, as a dispenser of local news. 
It was established in March, 1882, under the edit- 
orial management of other parties, later became the 
property of the Talmage Publishing Company, and 
came under its present management in July, 1888. 
Mr. Richards has done his full share in placing it 
upon a sound basis, financiallj', and it is in the 
enjoj'ment of a healthy and steadily increasing 
circulation. 

Mr. Richards began life in Grant County, Wis., 
Nov. 13, 1861, the home of his parents at that time 
being in the vicinity of Georgetown. The latter 
were John S. and Louisa (Daigh) Richards, the 
father a native of Virginia and the mother of Illi- 
nois. They became residents of the Badger State 
at an early period in their lives, and there their 
marriage took place. The father engaged in farm- 
ing, and after the birth of a part of their family 
the parents removed to Christian County, 111., lo- 



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eating near Grove City, where the.y built up a good 
homcstearl and lived until coming- to Nebraslia in 
1861. 

The parents of our subject after crossing the 
Mississippi located first in Nemaha County, this 
State, and in the f.all removed to a farm in Doug- 
las Precinct, that county, where tliey still live. 
John Richards is a man of note in his community, 
a good citizen, and political!}', a solid Republican. 
He is about sixty-three years of age. The mother, a 
most estimable lady, is a devoted member of the 
Metliodist Episcopal Church. Their famil}' in- 
cludes eight children, all of whom are living, and 
are residents of Nebraeiva. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject, also 
John Richards by name, was a farmer in the Old 
Dominion. He became imbued with the spirit of 
emigration, and some time in the forties left Vir- 
ginia with his famih- and lived for a time in Ohio. 
Later he removed across the Mississippi to Iowa, 
and finally to Grant County, Wis., where he spent 
his last days, yielding up his life at a ripe old age. 
He had married in early manhood Miss Mary A. 
Cordell, who died in Greene County, Iowa, about 
1884, at the home of her daughter, when about 
eighty-four j'ears old. These excellent old people, 
who had been careful and conscientious in all their 
dealings with their fellowmen, were members for a 
long period of the Methodist Church. 

On his mother's side the grandfather of our sub- 
ject was John Daigh, a Virginian by birth and a 
farmer by occupation. He emigrated to Ohio dur- 
ing its pioneer days when a single man, and there 
married Miss Sarah Porter. Later they came west 
to Illinois, and settled among the earliest pioneers 
of Sangamon Countj', whence they removed to 
Christian County. There thej' resided until the 
discovery of the lead mines at Galena. Grandfather 
Daigh, however, with a desire to see something 
more of the world, again changed his residence, 
this time to Grant Count}', Wis., and located in the 
vicinity of Jamestown, about eighteen miles north 
of Galena, 111. In 1867, however, he moved back 
with his family to Christian County, and in 1882, 
when quite aged, he and his estimable wife crossed 
the Mississippi into Nemaha County, this State, 
locating in Douglas Precinct, where his death took 



place Jan. 27, 1886, at the age of seventy-eight 
years. As the result of a temperate life and good 
habits he continued hale and iiearty until the final 
summons came. Grandmother Daigh surviveil her 
husband but a few months, her death taking place 
in August following, when she was sixty-nine years 
old. She was a member of the Methodist Church. 
Frank C. Richards, our subject, continued a 
member of the parental household until appi'oach- 
ing manhood, pursuing his studies first in the com- 
mon schools of Grove City, 111. Later he became 
a student of the Normal School at Valparaiso, Ind. 
He came to Nebraska with his parents, and on the 
4th of August, 1887, was married, in Douglas Pre- 
cinct, Nemaha County, to Miss Harriet E. Bishop. 
This lady was born near Wyoming, this county, April 
12, 1864, and is the daughter of Rev. James and 
Mary A. Bishop, the former of whom was a native 
of Virginia, and died at liis home in Glen Rock 
in 1884, when past eighty years of age. Mrs. 
Bishop is still living, and makes her home on her 
farm at Glen Rock, being now about sixty years 
ohl. 

]\Irs. Richards removed with her parents from 
Otoe to Nemaha County when a little child, .and 
was educated in the public schools. She is a culti- 
vated and intelligent lady, and lakes great interest 
in State and National affairs, coinciding with her 
husband in his Republican principles. Mr. Rich- 
ards spent his boyhood and youth under the pa- 
rental roof, and soon after leaving school began 
teaching in Douglas Precinct, Nemaha County. 
Later he embarked in the grain trade at Glen Rock, 
Neb., where he was occupied successfully a period 
of three years in the interests of the firm of Spear 
& Hulburd. Later he resumed teaching, and finally 
became Principal of the Johnson schools, of which 
he had charge two 3-ears. He took a warm interest 
in the educational affairs of that locality', and by the 
exercise of great perseverance succeeded in estab- 
lishing the Teachers' Association and Institute. He 
was urged to accept the Presidency of this, but de- 
clined in favor of Prof. Charles Fordyce, an old and 
experienced teacher of many years' standing. 

Mr. Richards, in 1884, identified himself with the 
Masonic fraternity, and is a charter member of 
Blue Lodge No. 124, of Auburn, also a member of 



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683 4 



the I. O. O. F. of that place, beino; connected with 
]\[ayflower Lodge No. 76. He lias filled the various 
offices of the order and takes a warm interest in its 
success. He is rapidly becoming identified with 
the most important interests of Talmage, wiiere he 
is recognized as a capable and efficient j(jurnalist, as 
well as a valued member of society. 



^^ HARLES G. FISCHER is one of the worthy 
(if representatives of the G(irman-American 

^^J citizens of Nebraska City. He was born 
on the 21st of August, 1843, in Saxon j% Germany, 
which was the native place of his father, Frederick 
Fischer, and also indeed of his family so far as it 
can be traced. His grandfather, Nicholas Fischer, 
was a small but successful farmer there, while the 
father of our subject learned and followed the 
trade of slate-roofing, and later also learned the 
trade of a tailor. In 1856, accompanied by his 
wife and five children, he came to America, by way 
of Hamburg to Hull, England, across that country 
by rail to Liverpool, and thence by steamer to 
New York. Leaving that city the little family of 
Mr. Fischer went to Cincinnati, where he followed 
tailoring until his death from cholera in 1866. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Caroline Lehmann, 
who was, we need hardly add, a native of Saxony, 
bore bravely the trouble that fell upon her house- 
hold, and did her best to meet the case. She is still 
living in Cincinnati. Their family included eleven 
children, only five of whom, however, now survive. 
These are Mollie. Charles G., Mary, Clara and 
Otto. 

The subject of our sketch was thirteen years of 
age when he came with his parents to this country. 
He had attended the schools of the Fatherland, and 
also joined the classes of the public schools of 
Cincinnati, continuing for about two years, when 
he went to learn the trade of a machinist in the 
shops of the Hamilton <fe Dayton Railroad. He re- 
mained there for four years and then worked in 
various shops until 1861. 

On the 13th of June, 1861, the subject of our 
sketch enlisted in Company C, •28th Ohio Infantry, 
and continued in the service until 1863. Amona: 



the many engagements in which he took part were 
those of Fredericksburg, Harper's Ferry, on the 
Galler River, Ya., where he was wounded by a 
piece of a bursting shell, injuring him in the right 
arm, thus disabling him from further service. He 
was therefore honorabl^^ discharged in October, 
1863, and returned to Cincinnati. 

Our subject returned to his old trade and con- 
tinued to follow it in Ohio until 1869, when he came 
to Nebraska City and engaged in a furniture store, 
where he worked until the 27th of July, 1871, 
when he entered into business for himself, continu- 
ing until Jul}', 1875, when his business was de- 
stroyed by fire, then going to Colorado. After 
four months in the mountains he returned to Ne- 
braska City, where he was shortly afterward ap- 
pointed engineer of the City Fire Department, 
which he held for one year and a half. 

In 1880 our subject opened his meat-market on 
Central avenue, which is still his place of business 
and the center of quite an extensive trade. He is 
well respected in the community, both as a citizen 
and business man. He is a worthy member of the 
William Baumer Post No. 24, G. A. R., and also 
the Schiller Lodge No. 23. K. of P., and Frontier 
Lodge No. 3, I. O. O. F. 

On the 14th of April, 1864, Mr. Fischer was 
united in marriage with Barbara Swan, who was 
born in Bohemia, and came to America with her 
parents when about six months old. They have 
become the parents of five children, who bear the 
following names: Edward, Hart, Robert, Willie 
and Lulu. 

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^-REDERICK W. SCHROEDER, who has 
become widely known as the proprietor of 
the Short System Roller Mill of Syracuse, 
which he purchased in 1887, is a native of Ger- 
many, and was born on the 3d of September, 1835. 
It was his misfortune to be left an orphan quite 
early in life. When seventeen years of age he 
commenced working in a mill, at which occupation 
he continued, employed for various persons' until 
1869. acquiring in the meantime the trade of a 
millwright. 

Our subject emigrated to tlie I'nited States in 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



1869, landing at New York, and proceeded at onc-e 
to make his way as rapidl_y as possible toward the 
West, finally stopping in Nebraska Cit}'. He soon 
obtained work in a mill at Peru, and although, per- 
haps, in some few minor details the labor connected 
therewith was different from that to which he had 
been accustomed in his native country, he proved 
himself an able workman. The following j^ear he 
took a homestead in Buda Precinct, Lancaster 
County, this State, which he proved up, and later 
ran a mill in Nebraska City for two years. When 
the mill was burned, at the end of that period, our 
subject rebuilt and continued business as before. 
In 1878 he built a mill at Roca, in Lancaster 
County. This mill had a capacity of forty barrels 
per diem. It was destroyed by fire on the 6th of 
JuU', 1887. The companj' in which the property 
was insured failed, and Mr. Schroeder consequently 
did not obtain the 13.000 which his policy called 
for. 

The subject of our sketch finally came to Sj'ra- 
cuse and purchased his present property, which was 
then idle and out of repair. He built a dam and 
has put the whole equipment into splendid work- 
ing order, expending upon it 84,000. The mill 
manufactures some of the finest flour of the State, 
and has a capacitj- of thirty-five barrels daily. IVIr. 
Schroeder is building up a lucrative patronage, and 
his customers appi-eciate his high sense of honor 
and general business integritjr. 

The interesting event of the marriage of our 
subject was celebrated on the 31st of July, 1868, 
a short time before he came to this country. The 
maiden name of the lady who then linked her life 
and interests with his was Anna Dorethea Damka. 
They became the parents of three sons: Fred W. 
C, Gustave H. and Fred William, all of whom, by 
a kindly Providence, are still spared to the father. 
Mrs. Schroder departed this life on the 9th of Jan- 
uary, 1887, sincerel}^ mourned by her family and 
friends as one who had been in the highest degree 
faithful to the responsibilities and duties of life, a 
true wife and mother. 

The subject of our sketch is a devout member 
and able supporter of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and is deeply interested in every depart- 
ment of its work. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, 



and in all points connected with the various issues 
at stake endeavors to advance the interests of his 
party. 

The view of the homestead and mill pro()erty of 
Mr. Schroeder will be found on another page. The 
whole is very neat, pleasant and tasteful — a goodly 
sight to the e3-e. It not only adds beauty to the 
landscape, but value to that section of countr3^ 



■JYl OHN O. FARMER is one of the most promis- 
ing, enterprising and practical young farmers 
and stock-raisers of South Branch Precinct, 
(^// and operates 160 acres of splendidl}- im- 
proved land on section 24. He is the son of IClias 
and Mary N. (Wolf) Farmer, who were natives re- 
spectively of Pennsylvania and Ohio. They were 
married in the latter State, and there continued to 
make their home until the husband and father died 
in the year 1862, after a severe sickness, the cause 
of death being black erysipelas. After this event 
the mother of our subject was married to Mr. Will- 
iam DeVolt, a gentleman of French fam 113-, residing 
at present in South Branch. Of her union with Mr. 
Farmer two children were born, our subject and 
Nathan M. After her marriage with Mr. DeYolt 
she gave birth to two other children — Elmer E. and 
Eva E. 

The place of the nativity of our subject is Knox 
County. Ohio, the date of that interesting event 
Feb. 6, 1860. His father died when he was about 
two j'ears of age, and he continued to live with his 
mother until lie was ten years of age, and then 
started in life for himself. He began by working 
out upon a farm, by which he managed to support 
himself, and being allowed the privilege of attend- 
ing school during winter, which he did until he was 
sixteen years of age, he succeeded in obtaining that 
indispensability of a successful life, a good practi- 
cal education. 

Mr. Farmer came to Nebraska when eighteen 
years of age, settling first in Omaha in 1878, and 
later in Nebraska City, and thence coming out to 
his present place, which was purchased by the two 
brothers; later he bought out his brother, and since 
that time continued it alone. He has made all the 
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improvements on the place; the grove he set out 
carefully, the hedges and fences he has planted and 
trimmed, stretched and kept. The orchard he has 
been careful to select and put 'out and tend, the 
house and buildings are also largely his own work. 
These are substantial, commodious and convenient. 
The home is in point of fact a bright, cheery place, 
that can be appreciated no less by the visitor, to 
whom a cordial hospitality is always shown, than 
by the owner of the property. 

On the 16th of October, 1884, at Tecuraseh, Mr. 
Farmer and Emma A., daughter of Frederick and 
Caroline (Miers) Waternierer, were united in wed- 
lock with happiest results. They are the parents 
of two children: Lola M., born Aug. 13, 1885, and 
Rosa E., Nov. 10, 1887. The parents of Mrs. 
Farmer were born in Germany, and upon coming to 
the United States settled first in Wisconsin, and 
later in Illinois. Her father was a professor of 
German and English, and was teaching in Cairo, 
111., when he died in 1874; her mother, who is still 
living and has reached the advanced age of sixty- 
seven j'ears, makes her home with our subject. 
.She is the mother of two children: Emil T., and 
Emma A., the wife of our subject, who was born on 
the 10th of March, 1862, at the Wisconsin home. 

The subject of our sketch has served as Constable, 
and is also now the School Moderator of this dis- 
trict. Politically, he is Democratic, and lakes a 
lively interest in politics. With his wife, he attends 
the Baptist Church, and in that, as in ever}' other re- 
lation in life, both are held in much esteem. There 
is evidently a future before Mr. Farmer that will be 
worthy of his character, power and energy. 



\f^ETER SCHARP. Among the intelligent 
i Jjj and thrifty German farmers of Wyoming 
'^ f^ Precinct none held a higher position among 
]1\ their fellow-citizens than the subject of 
this sketch, who departed this life after a long and 
painful illness, on the 17th of March, 1888. A 
native of Holstein, Germany, he was born Jan. 24, 
1841, and emigrated to America with his parents 
in 1856. The latter were Timm and Mattie Scharp, 
who were also of German birth and parentage, and 



whose familj' consisted of six children. Soon after 
setting foot upon American soil thej' made their 
way directly to the West, settling in W3'oming Pre- 
cinct, this county, where their son Peter grew to 
manhood and received a common-school education. 
The death of the father occurred about 1883. He 
W.1S accidentally killed, having been thrown from a 
wagon which was struck by a runaway team. Mr. 
Scharp was hurled with much violence to the ground, 
and instantly expired. The mother is still living 
on the home farm with her son Timm. 

Upon reaching manhood our subject started out 
for himself, and managed to secure 160 acres of 
land on section 21, upon which there had been no 
attempt at improvement. He began in earnest the 
cultivation of the soil, but feeling the need of a 
wife and helpmate was in due time united in mar- 
riage with Miss Johanna Gueneel, the wedding tak- 
ing place at the home of the bride in Wyoming 
Precinct, Oct. 29, 1868. The .young people com- 
menced the journey of life together in a manner 
suitable to their means and station, and labored 
with one mutual purpose in the building up of a 
home and the development of a farm. Their first 
dwelling was a small frame house, which, in 1883, 
was replaced by the ])resent fine residence. 

Mrs. Scharp was born in Gorlitz, Prussia, on 
the 14th of August, 1840, and is the daughter of 
Carl and Christiana (Frenzel) Gueneel, who were 
natives of the same, and of pure German ancestry. 
They were reared and married in their native Prov- 
ince, the father in the meantime serving three years 
in the German Army. Later he established himself 
upon a farm, and spent his entire life upon his na- 
tive soil, his death occurring in 1874, when he was 
sixty-five years old. Both parents were reared in 
the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, of which 
they became members at an early age. The mother 
is still living in Germany, being now seventj'-eight 
years old. 

Mrs. Scharp lived at home with her parents until 
the spring of 1868, and then came alone to the 
United States, joining her brother, Ernest Gueneel, 
in Nebraska City, where she lived until her mar- 
riage with our subject. Of this union there have 
been born nine children, two of whom, Mattie and 
Timm, died at the ages of five and two respectively. 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



The survivors, Mar}^, Peter J., Hannah, Ernest, 
Emma, John and Carl, are all at home with their 
mother, and form a very intelligent and interesting 
little family, being given the training and educa- 
tion suited to their station in life. 

The Scharp homestead comprises 160 acres of 
land, and in addition to this property Mr. fScharp 
owned 180 acres elsewhere, including forty acres of 
valuable timber. Mrs. Scharp since the death of 
her husband has managed her affairs in a very in- 
telligent manner, and kept up the reputation of the 
estate in a most creditable style. The farm build- 
ings are first-class in every particular, and Mr. 
Scharp as a stock-raiser had gained quite an envia- 
ble reputation. He was a Republican in politics, 
and with his wife and children a loyal adherent of 
the Lutheran faith of his forefathers. His name is 
held in kindly remembrance by all who knew him, 
as that of a man honorable in his dealings with bis 
fellow-citizens and one who did good service in the 
building up of one of the most intelligent communi- 
ties of the West. 



'S[ ACOB DIENER came to the southwestern 
I I part of this county in the spring of 1877, 
^,,^1 ; and settled upon a tract of rented land which 
(^/; he cultivated for a period of five years. In 
the fall of 1881 he purchased his present farm of 
160 acres on section 6, South Branch Precinct, and 
the year following took possession. It was then raw 
prairie, and tlie homestead which the traveler views 
to-day with admiring interest, with its buildings, 
groves, orchards, machinery and livestock, has been 
the result of the persevering industry of the pres- 
ent proprietor, the gentleman whose name stands at 
the head of this sketch. He has of late been giv- 
ing his attention largely to fine draft horses and 
good breeds of swine. Of these he makes a spe- 
cialty, and realizes therefrom a handsome income. 

Next in importance to the life and character of 
an individual is that of those from whom he sprang. 
The father of our subject, John Diener, was a na- 
tive of Rhenish Prussia, and married Miss Caroline 
Reira, who was born and reared in his own neigh- 
borhood. The paternal grandfather, Phillip Diener, 

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a native of the same Province, spent his entire life 
there. His son John, upon reaching manhood .and 
being married, settled upon a small farm of sixty 
acres, the soil of which he tilled until 1835, and not 
being satisfied with the result, embarked with his 
little family for America. Here he located first in 
Carlisle, Pa., and was employed on a railroad. 
Thence he went to Pottsville, in Schuylkill County, 
and for a time was employed in coal mining. Later 
he took up his residence in Northumberland County, 
where his death occurred in 1874, at the age of 
sixty-four years. The mother, still continuing a 
resident of Pennsylvania, died in 1883, at the .ad- 
vanced age of eighty years. 

The seven children of the parental family were 
named respectively : Lena, Margaretta and Caroline, 
who are now deceased ; Jacob, of our sketch ; John, 
living near Syracuse, in this county, and Doroth}-, 
a resident of Pennsylvania. Jacob, like his par- 
ents, was born in Rhenish Prussia. Aug. 29, 1823, 
and until a lad twelve years of age continued with 
them on the farm in his native Province. Like 
most of the children of Germany, he was given a 
good common-school education, and he remembers 
the incidents of preparation for the long voyage 
across the Atlantic, together with their stormy pas- 
sage over. They set sail from Havre de Grace, 
France, encountering seven weeks of bad weather, 
and finally landed in the city of Baltimore. 

Our subject proceeded with his parents to Car- 
lisle, Pa., and for several years thereafter was en- 
gaged in coal mining, during which time he met with 
many hairbreadth escapes incident to this often 
dangerous occupation. He was a workman of more 
than ordinary intelligence and abilitj% finally oper- 
ated bj' contract, and upon several occasions sunk 
the trial shaft, a diflficult proceeding, requiring great 
judgment and skill. In the spring of 1877, how- 
ever, becoming very tired of mining and of the con- 
stant battle with falling slate and inhalation of gas 
which often threatened to destro}' him, he resolved 
to change his occupation to something more pleas- 
ant and less dangerous. 

Putting his resolve into execution, Mr. Diener 
made his way across the Mississippi, and the first 
night spent in Otoe County was in the rapidly de- 
veloping town of Syracuse. After locating upon 



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tlie land wliich he rented in Hendricks, he sent for 
liis family, and subsequently proceeded .is we have 
already indicated. He was first married, Jan. 6, 
1844, in Schuylkill County, Pa., to Miss Catherine 
Diehl, who was horn in Germany, Sept. 5, 1825, and 
t)nly survived her wedding five years, lier death 
taking place in the winter of 1849. This lady was 
the daughter of Phillip and Catherine (.Schound) 
Diehl, natives of Bavaria, and the father was a coal 
miner by occupation. Upon coming to America 
they settled in Schuylkill County, Pa., where the 
father died at the age of fifty years, in 1842. The 
mother is still living in Pennsylvania, being now 
eighty-eight years old. Their children were Lewis, 
Phillip. Frederick, Caroline, Charlotte, Louisa, Au- 
gustus and Lizzie. Philip and Jacob are deceased. 

This union of our suliject resulted in the birth of 
four children, all sons: Phillip Albert <Hed when 
about three years of age; John Frederick is mail 
agent on the Burlington ife Missouri River Railroad. 
He served during the Civil War, in the 7lh Penn 
sylvania Cavalry, and in the battle at Dallas, Ga., 
was wounded and captured by the enemy. He ex- 
perienced the terrors first of Atlanta and then An- 
dersonville Prison, but his life was spared, and he 
returned home after being paroled and exchanged. 
He was mustered out in 1865, with his regiment in 
Georgia, and is now in Syracuse. Charles is a 
stationary engineer by profession, and a resident 
of Schuylkill County, Pa. 

Phillip Diehl during the late war served as a 
Union soldier, and died at Hatteras Inlet. Caroline 
became the second wife of our subject in the fall 
of 1852. She was born Sept. 5, 1829, and was a 
child two years of age when she came with her par- 
ents to America. Of this union there have been born 
nine children, namely: Louis, Ernest A., Laura, 
Albert, Lizzie, Frederick, Henry, George and Will- 
iam. Louis and Ernest A. are farmers, one in 
Palmyra Precinct, this county, and the latter in 
Lincoln County; Laura is the wife of Harry John- 
son, a well-to-do farmer of Lincoln County, and the 
mother of five children. The following are also 
in that county : Albert; Lizzie, the wife of Peter 
Lloyd; Frederick and George. The other children 
are at home with their parents. 

Mr. Diener, politically, is a decided Republican, 



and in religious matters belongs to the German 
Lutheran Church. His estimable wife is a member 
of the German Reformed Church. They have one 
of the pleasantest homes in the county, and their 
hospitable doors are always open both to friend and 
stranger, to whom they extend that welcome which 
is always so grateful to the recipient, and by which 
means they have gathered around them hosts of 
warm friends. » 



^ IKILLIAM M. THALER. The life of this 
\^/l gentleman is illustrative of the fact that 
W^ thoroughness is the key to success. As a 
boj' this marked his life, whether in school or on 
the play-ground; it was equally true of him as a 
young man starting in life, as a soldier, and in his 
business relations of later years. He is a repre- 
sentative citizen of Palmyra, and has the esteem of 
his fellows. He is the son of John M. and Mar- 
garet Thaler, both of whom were natives of Ger- 
many. The occuiiation of his father was that of a 
stonemason, and he was considered a skilled vvorker. 
In the year 1839, when he had reached the advanced 
age of sixty j-ears, he started with his famil3' for 
America, and settled in Springfield, there continu- 
ing to follow his trade. About the time he was 
eighty-two years of age the samls of the hourglass 
of his life had run out, and he departed this life at 
Springfield, in the year 1861. His wife lived to he 
eighty-four years of age; she died at the residence 
of our subject in the year 1883. The father of 
our subject was twice married. By his first union 
he became the father of one child, and by the sec- 
ond, that to which reference is made above, of 
twelve children. Our subject is one of the younger 
children; he and his brother Charley, who died at 
New York in 1839, were twins. 

The native place of William Thaler is Honackon, 
Wurtemberg, Germany. He was born in the year 
1836, but his residence in that county was of com- 
paratively short duration, and his earl^' recollec- 
tions center around the Springfield home. His 
education was obtained in the Springfield schools, 
and was supplemented by a course of instruction in 
the Brooks Seminary. He was all that is meant 






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OTOE COUNTY. 



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by the expression a thorough l)oy, vivacious, bright, 
an intense lover of fun, and perhaps at times a little 
too exuberant for the comfort of some less 3'outh- 
ful. There was, however, always present with him 
a certain sturdy sense of manly honor, and his 
record is not tarnished as it might have been had 
bis home training been less careful and complete. 
Upon leaving scliool the question of trade or call- 
ing was placed before him. and he elected to become 
a stone-cutter. He served an apprenticeship of 
two and a half years, working on the stone block 
representing Illinois in the Washington Monument 
for about six weeks, t(jward the latter part of his 
apprenticeship. Difficulty with the boss caused 
him to leave, and he went to Logan County, 111., 
and there engaged on a farm. 

While in Logan County our subject met Miss 
Melinda Lanterman, who was born near Spring- 
field, 111., in 1834, to Jolin and Elizabeth Lanter- 
man. The father of this lad}' was a farmer, and 
prosperous in his occupation, his death occurring 
when she was about twenty years of age; she 
shortly afterward went to keep house for her 
brother, whose home was in Logan County. It was 
here the acquaintance was formed that resulted in 
their marriage on the 5th of March, 1857. They 
lived in Illinois until 1860, and then he came alone 
to this State, arriving in Nebraska City on the oth 
of April, 1860, and his family came in March, 1861. 
The same day he went out to visit a cousin whose 
home was in the vicinitj", and, upon being asked 
by bis relative how he liked the Territory', replied : 
"I like it well enough to live and die in Otoe 
County." He has not yet changed his opinion. 

His visit to Nebraska City over, Mr. Thaler re- 
turned to Springfield, III., where he cast his first 
Presidential ballot for Lincoln, whom he had served 
in 3'outh as a chore boy. He remained in Illinois 
over winter, and in the spring of 1861 returned 
with his wife and child, and rented first a farm in 
Otoe County, w-hich he held for two years. At the 
close of that period, his first impression of the 
count}' being strengthened, he purchased a farm, 
but did not improve it before the war. 

At the risk of a retrogression, we mention an 

incident in connection with the first vote for Presi- 

^ ' dent mentioned above, as indicating the principles 



^H.- 



that underlie the character of our subject. At the 
time Fremont was spoken of for the Presidency 
Mr. Thaler sympathized with the Fillmore part}*. 
A d.ay or two afterward he received from his former 
employer and benefactor. Lincoln, a sharp letter. 
Seeing the folly of his conduct, he made a vow that 
if Lincoln ever ran for office again he would vote 
for him; consequently, in the fall of 1860, when in 
Nebraska City, he did not think it too much to 
return to Illinois to cast his vote. The day after 
his return home he called on Lincoln, who was well 
pleased to see him, and filled with strong emotion 
as he understood the purpose of the journey from 
Nebraska. With a look that will ever be remem- 
bered by our subject lie said: "Well, William, you 
have come a long wa}' to vote for me, will you 
come that far to defend the principles you are vot- ■ 
ing for.?" The promise was given that he would 
do so, and has since been nobly fulfilled. 

In 1861 Mrs. Thaler died at Nebraska City, leav- 
ing to the care of her husband a little daughter, Mar- 
garet, and, although the condition was unfavorable 
to the fulfillment of his promise to Lincoln, and 
his path in that direction thus rendered ver\' diffi- 
cult, he was so moved by McClellan's defeat, that, 
when the call came for 600,000 men, he started 
once more for Springfield, and enlisted in Company 
A, 73d Illinois Infantry, for three j'ears, and served 
during the remainder of the war. Only about one 
week was allowed for drilling at Camp Butler, be- 
fore they departed for the front. Everything else 
was learned under the rebel fire. 

The first battle in which our subject participated 
was that at Perry ville, fought on the 9th of October, 
1862. The next was at Chickamauga. He was 
taken sick with t3'phoid fever at Nashville, and lay 
between life and death for a long time, in the sum- 
mer of 1863, in the liospital at that place and Chat- 
tanooga. After the battle last mentioned he was 
again taken ill, and upon recovery served in the 
engagement at Nashville. He was at Greenville, 
Tenn., when Lincoln's assassination occurred. At 
that place he served on detached duty. On the 
Easter Sunda}' he and his comrades were having a 
splendid time in exercises similar to those of the 
old-fashioned singing school; all were feeling happy 
and jubilant, but the news reached them just at 



■•►HI- 



HI-^«- 



^^^ 



<• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



689 



tliat time, and from tlie heights of pleasure they 
sank to the lowest depths of sorrow, to know that 
the President was no more. Receiving an honorable 
discharge at Nashville, on the r2lh of June, 1865, 
Mr. Thaler returned to his home. 

Arriving in Nebraska City on the 20th of Au- 
gust, 1865, after an absence of three years and four 
days, our subject found things more changed than 
he had anticipated. On the 1st of September he 
started freighting over the plains to Colorado and 
to Ft. Laramie, Wyo. He carried on this busi- 
ness under Government contract for two years, 
then, coming once more to Nebraska City, on the 
11th of January, 1867, he went to his farm, 
started to improve it, and has since gone on with 
that good work. 

The second marriage of our subject was cele- 
brated on the 26th of November, 1868, and he then 
became the husband of Miss Permelia Ann Cassle, 
the daughter of John and Sarah (Thomas) Cassle. 
Her father was horn in South Carolina and her 
mother in Ohio, but removed to Indiana, and finally 
came to Nebraska, in 1856, and settled near Ne- 
braska City. They became the parents of nine 
children, eight of whom are living. Mrs. Thaler is 
the fourth child, and was born on the 1st of July, 
1837, in Warren County, Ind. At the time the fam- 
ily removed to Nebraska she was nineteen years of 
age. This union has been consummated by the 
birth of four children, whose names are as follows: 
Bertha M., who died when about sixteen j'ears of 
age; Florence A., Willie W., and Milton, who died 
when but an infant. By his former marriage Mr. 
Thaler had two children — Margaret A., and John 
M., who died in Quincy. Margaret is the wife of 
Ira Gordon, and resides at Wabash, Neb., and is 
the mother of three children. 

In 1879 our subject sold his property and pur- 
chased a farm near Palmyra. In 1883 he went 
into his present business, which is tli.at of ahard- 
wareman and (lealer in harness and saddlery. He 
built a brick corner block in 1883, in partnership 
with C. B. Coswell. This business venture has 
been most satisfactory in every regard, and he has 
prospered beyond his most sanguine expectations. 
He has also built a branch store at Hendricks, in 



which he has a half-interest, and has erected a good 
residence in the best part of the town. 

Naturally' Mr. Thaler is an enthusiastic member 
of the G. A. R., and has been the commander of 
the post. He is an earnest member of the Christian 
Church, his wife and daughter equally so of the 
Baptist communion. Our subject feels strongly in 
the matter of Prohibition, and heartily espouses 
that cause. He has received many indications of 
the esteem in which he and his are held in the town, 
and also of the confidence reposed in him by his 
fellow-citizens. At present he is serving upon the 
Village Board his third term, holding the office of 
President of the same. 



bEMUEL E. SINSABAUGH, of Syracuse, was 
the first man to locate upon the present site 
of this city, coming here in August, 1871, 
and putting up the first building within its limits. 
He at once established a lumber-yard, and was ac- 
cordingly the pioneer in this business. He is now 
engaged in the breeding of fine horses, being the 
owner of the celebr.ated Bashaw Stock Farm, where 
he has a fine stable of Cleveland Bays, the better 
class of road horses and Shetland ponies. 

Bradford County, Pa., was the early tramping 
ground of our sidjject, where his birth took place 
Feb. 16, 1839. His parents were David and Susan 
(Peck) Sinsabaugh, and as they died when he was 
a small boy, he knows little of the history of his an- 
cestors farther than tiiat his grandparents were resi- 
dents of Orange County, N. Y. Of the parental 
family there were eleven children, ten of whom 
grew to mature years. These were: Rachel, the wife 
of Huston Munn: William, Richard, Alpheus, Hec- 
tor; Elsie, Mrs. Minard DeGroff ; Thomas M., Lem- 
uel E. ; Miranda, the wife of James L. Patterson, 
and Lois, Mrs. George T. Hunt. These are resi- 
dents of Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Illinois and Ne- 
braska. 

Our subject was left an orphan when a lad of ten 
years, and resided with his brothers for some time 
afterward. When a boy in his teens he was em- 
ployed as a farm laborer, and in 1858 entered a 
factory where were manufactured agricultural im- 



t^t-M» 



•►Hl^ 



690 



OTOE COUNTY. 



••^h 



plements, at Athens. Pa. In 18G0, going to West- 
ern, Pa., lie engaged in lumbering, and the year 
following occurred the outbreak of the late Civil 
"War. Soon after the first call for troops he en- 
tered the service as a member of Company H, 46th 
Penns3'lvania Infantry, and operated with his com- 
rades along the Shenandoah Valley under Gen. 
Banks, participating in all the battles of that cam- 
paign. On the 8th of August, 1862, the day pre- 
ceding the battle at Cedar River, our subject was 
afflicted with a sunstroke, and during the conflict 
which followed was captured bj' the rebels, and con- 
fined at Libby Prison and Belle Isle until in Janu- 
ary, 1863. He was tlren exchanged, and rejoining 
his regiment, participated in the battles of Chancel- 
lorsville and Gettysburg, after which this division of 
the army was transferred to Chattanooga and to the 
command of Gen. Sherman. Mr. Sinsabaugh after- 
ward fought at Lookout Mountain, Resaca and 
Dallas, receiving at the latter place a gunshot wound, 
which, in connection with the effects of sunstroke, so 
disabled him that he was relieved from active duty, 
and sent to the hospital at New Albany, Ind. Later, 
at Harrisburg, Pa., he received his honorable dis- 
charge, after having given a faithful service of three 
years to his country. 

Upon leaving the army our subject returned to 
his old haunts in Bradford County, Pa., resuming 
his work, the manufacture of agricultural imple- 
ments, until 1865. He then went into the oil re- 
gions, and was engaged in developing wells until 
the following year, when he i-eturned to the factory. 
The summer of 1871 found him west of tlie Missis- 
sippi, and preparing to locate upon the present site 
of Syracuse, this county. He continued in the lum- 
ber business until 1878, and was succeeded by H. 
N. Carpenter. He now turned his attention to the 
raising of fancy poultry, and for this purpose erected 
a set of the finest buildings in the United States. 
His operations proved highly remunerative, his 
trade extending to every State in the Union, the 
Sandwich Islands and England. But, alas for human 
calculations, a conflagration, supposed to have been 
started by a firecracker, swept away, the labor of 
years, entailing a heavj' loss of property upon 
which there was no insurance. 

As soon as he could recover from his calamity, 



our subject invested his remaining capital in a 
stock of general merchandise, associating himself 
with a partner, and the firm of Page <fe Sinsabaugh 
continued in existence until the fall of 1884. Mr. 
S. then withdrew and established the Bashaw .Stock 
Farm, and as a breeder of fine horses now occu- 
pies a position in the front ranks among the men of 
that line in Southern Nebraska. His stables are 
located near the city limits, where, iti addition to 
his farm, he owns forty acresof land. 

Miss Jennie Bloodgood, daughter of Hiram and 
Sarah Bloodgood, of New York, became the wife 
of our subject Sept. 12, 1865, the wedding taking 
place at the home of the bride in New York. Mrs. 
Sinsabaugh was born in Tioga County, N. Y.. and 
departed this life at her home in Syracuse, Neb., 
May 13, 1873. Of this union there were born four 
children : Ida M., now the wife of Henr3' "Vose, of 
Syracuse; Grace is at home with her father, Willie, 
and one deceased. Our subject, politically, votes 
the Republican ticket, and is one of the pioneer 
members of the M.asonic fraternity' in this region, 
being the first man initiated in Mt. Moriah Lodge 
No. 57, in S3-racuse. 



■-^t5»*-^t^ 



v^itf"*)^;^^ 



J' AMES M. RILEY, the well-known and pros- 
perous liver^ym.an of Si'racuse, is a native of 
the Buckeye State, and was born in Muskin- 
gum Count}' on the 16th of June, 1857. His 
father, John Riley, was a native of that State, and 
followed the occupation of farming, and in that 
calling enjoyed even more than usual success. The 
maiden name of his wife, the mother of our sub- 
ject, was Christiania McDonald, a native of Vir- 
ginia, who, throughout the years of her married 
life, manifested a spirit beautiful in its purity and 
Christian helpfulness. She was in every sense of the 
word a true wife and mother. Mr. Rilej', Sr., con- 
tinued to make his home in his native State until 
1885, when, owing to the death of his wife and two 
daughters, each of whom fell a victim to that most 
fatal of all known diseases, consumption, he deter- 
mined to seek a climate where the surviving mem- 
bers of his family might have an opportunity to es- 
cape the same fell destroyer. Accordingly he sold 



-^-It 



>► ir^ 






OTOE COUNTY. 



691 



•f 



Iiis farm and other property in Ohio and migrated 
to Kansas, where lie purcliased a section of. land in 
Wabaunsee Count}', which he lias improved and 
still oi)erates as a stock farm. Of liis family five 
children are still living, bis son John M. being the 
eldest. 

The education of our subject was obtained in 
the usual institution of his native county, and as he 
made good use of his sciiool daj's and has not been 
neglectful of self-improvement since, he is a well- 
informed man and capable citizen. On leaving 
school he became his father's assistant upon the 
farm, and continued thus employed until 1877. At 
that time he went to Kansas, where he took a com- 
mercial course in a college at Lawrence, and through- 
out the three subsequent years represented L. K. 
Hill & Co.. of Kalamazoo, Mich., as their salesman 
of plow attachments in the Stale of Kansas. Upon 
resigning this position he engaged in stock-raising, 
in which his success was even greater than it had 
been as a salesman. 

The year 1885 is memorable in the history of our 
subject as that in which he was united in wedlock 
with Addie Daly, the estimable lady who has since 
that time been the companion of his life, and has 
enriched it by the matured intelligence, culture and 
inspiration of her womanhood. Mrs. Riley is the 
daughter of George W. Daly, of Kansas, who was 
born in the State of New York, but as a J'oung 
man went to Kansas and taught school. While a 
resident there he met and married his wife, who 
was the daughter of one of the pioneers of Kaiisas. 
Mr. Daly is now agent for the Kansas Loan and 
Trust Company of Topeka, and very prosperous as 
a business man. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Riley 
has been the more firmly cemented and its happiness 
augmented by the birth of a daughter, to whom 
they have given the name Ethel. 

Kansas continued to be the home of our subject 
some time after he was married, in fact, until he 
came to this State in the year 1886, at which time 
he settled in .Syracuse, and embarked with his usual, 
thoroughness and enterprise in his present business. 
The good fortune which .attended his former occu- 
pation did not leave him when he came hither, and 
althougii in a new countiy where are many difficul- 
ties and obstacles unknown in older settled districts. 



these have never turned him from his purpose. He 
has industriously looked after his business, and has 
firmly established a reputation in the community. 
Like his father before him, our subject is a stanch 
Republican, and when opportunity offers is always 
ready to manifest his faith by his deeds, hence is 
esteemed an extremely loyal and patriotic citizen. 



-«/w~<aj2£?©-5@ 



.,*^^-J2Ri>v.-vv%/- 



„ ,,' NDREW STOUT, one of the prosperous 
^7ul! farmers of Otoe Precinct, owning forty 
acres of farming land on section 20, 160 
acres being the noi-th quarter of the south- 
east quarter of the same section, the entire north 
half of section 30, and ten acres on section 23, a 
total of 530 acres, his residence being upon the 
first named, is the son of Emley and Elvira (Denney) 
Stout. His father was born in the State of New 
Jersey, but was brought up in Ohio, whence he was 
taken by his parents when about six years of age. 
This was the native State of the mother of our sub- 
ject. 

It is believed from fainil}' tradition that the an- 
cestry of Andrew Stout were subjects of the British 
Crown, and that the grandfather of Andrew was the 
first member of the family to come to this country, 
where he settled in New Jersey after the Revolu- 
tionary War. In the War of 1812 this gentleman 
served as a teamster for the army. 

Mr. Emley Stout and Elvira Denney were married 
in Morgan County, HI., near the city of Jackson- 
ville, in the year 1835. They are now residing 
near Ashl.and, Cass Co., 111., and are respectively 
seventy-nine and seventy years of age. Their 
family circle includes twelve children, ten of whom 
grew 10 mature years. Their names are as follows: 
Andrew, Caroline, Hannah, Theodore, Aaron and 
Cyrus (deceased), George W., Charles E.; Mary F. 
died when one year old; Mary E. died aged about 
thirtj- -three; Lucinda and William. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 1st of 
February, 1837, in Pike County, 111. He grew up 
in Cass County from the time he was twelve years 
of age, previous to which he had lived in Morgan 
County from the time he was eighteen months old. 
Being the eldest son he was directed to farm work 



*^ 



•►-11^ 



692 



OTOE COUNTY. 



at a veiy early age, and while still a youth was able 
to take charge of almost any department of such 
work. This was the more necessary because his 
father was by no means a rich man. and needed all 
the help that could be given. For this reason per- 
haps more than any other the education of our sub- 
ject was not given that attention that would have 
been desirable, and, under other circumstances, 
possible. AVhat schooling he obtained be received 
during the winter months onl}', and upon the foun- 
dation then laid he has never ceased to continue to 
build. 

After spending the first twenty-two years of his 
life under the home roof our subject started in life for 
himself by celebrating his marriage with Mary E., the 
estimable daughter of Nathan and Catharine (Epler) 
Blizzard. This lady was born in Clark County, 
Ind., and there lived until she was six years of age, 
when, with her parents, she went to Morgan County, 
111., which afterward continued to be her home 
until her marriage. The date of the latter event 
was Nov. 1 8, 1858. Both her parents are deceased. 

The young couple spent the first year of their 
married life in Illinois, and then sold out their 
property and came to this State, arriving in the 
fall of 1859. Their first purchase was the north- 
east corner of section 30. By care and unremitting 
labor, judicious]}" carried on, success so far crowned 
the efforts of our subject that the adjoining quarter 
of the same section was purchased and incoi'porated 
with their previous possessions. Mr. Stout followed 
for many years general or mixed farming, finding 
it more profitable than a more special line of 
operations. 

For six 3'ears Mr. Stout held the office of County 
Commissioner, and for two years he was Chairman 
of the board. While Mr. Stout was a member of 
the board many of the leading citizens of Nebraska 
City and the count}' requested the Board of Com- 
missioners to submit to the voters the proposition to 
issue l)onds to aid in the construction of the Mid- 
land Pacific Railroad, The proposition carried, the 
bonds were issued and the road built. Subsequent 
bonds were voted on and issued in aid of the con- 
struction of the Burlington & Missouri River Rail- 
road. 

The political faith of our subject is tliat of the 



Democratic party, of which he has for many years 
continued a stanch advocate and friend. When 
running for the Commissioner's office he ran far 
ahead of his ticket. He has been prominent in the 
councils of his party in this county. In religious 
belief our subject and his wife are members of the 
Southern Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a 
charter member of the church organization at Har- 
mony, and one of the Trustees. 

Charles E. Stout, the only son of our subject and 
wife, was born in Otoe Precinct, April 20, 1860. 
He has attended in addition to the usual institution 
of instruction the Neln-aska City College, and also 
the State University at Lincoln. At present he is 
at home.assisting his father in carrying on the farm. 

Mr. Stout is a man of fine character, manliness 
and personal worth. He has a high sense of justice 
and honor, and commands the universal esteem of 
his fellows. Concerning him as a public officer J. 
J. Hostettler, his fellow Commissioner, remarked as 
follows: ''Mr. Stout is an A No. 1 man. In matters 
pertaining to the public good I found him very 
active. While we got along very harmoniously, 
yet when Mr. Stout would take a stand on any 
point he would do it because he thought it was 
right, and his natural ability and long experience 
made him one of the very best Commissioners Otoe 
County has ever seen." 



(T^-^IRAM HENDRICKS, of Hendricks Pre- 
Ijljji cinct, was the first white child born in the 
Z^^;^ southwestern part of Otoe County. This 
(^) event occurred on the 30th of December, 
1859. Here he spent his boyhood and youth, and 
grew to a promising manhood. He is now num- 
bered among the most enterprising young farmers 
of this section, and bids fair to reflect honor upon 
the name which has been familiar in this section of 
country for a period of over thirtj' j'ears. 

Our subject, although young in j'ears, has seen 
much hard labor, having been reared as the son 
of a pioneer, and at an early age commenced to 
assist his father in the development of a homestead. 
In the sketch of his brother, George Hendricks, 
found elsewhere in this volume, is given the pa- 



-•►Hl 



i 



•••■ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



093 



rental liistor}-. The first recollections of our sub- 
ject are of the wild, uncultivated prairie and the 
primitive manner in which the people of that time 
were obliged to live. He spent his boyhood and 
j'outh on the farm, remaining with his parents until 
reaching his majority, and notwithstanding the many 
difficulties in the way of education, became master of 
the common brandies, the study of which he dili- 
gently pursued, and from which he emerged with a 
goodly portion of practical knowledge. At the age 
of twenlj'-two years lie purchased the eighty acres 
whicli he now owns and occupies from his mother, 
and began farming on his own account. He has made 
all the improvements which we see to-day, and which 
reflect great credit upon his industry and good judg- 
ment. He has a fine tract of native timber, and 
streams of living water running through the farm. 
He has planted an orchard of 150 apple trees and 
laid off the fields with beautiful hedge. He has 
added to his landed possessions by the purchase of 
forty acres on section 17. 

One of the most interesting and important events 
In the life of our subject was Gis marriage, wliich 
occurred April 17, 1881, his bride being Miss Jen- 
nie Fishel. This ladj' was born in Iowa, Aug. 19, 
18()l.and is the daughter of Charles and Jessie 
(McPherson) Fishel, the former of whom is a na- 
tive of Ohio, and the latter was born on the other 
side of the Atlantic, among the Scottish Highlands. 
Mr. Fishel, a farmer bj- occupation, removed from 
Ohio to Iowa, thence in I 876 to this county, locating 
on a tract of land in Hendricks Precinct, where he 
labored successfull}', and where his death took place 
in 1878. The mother is still living, and resides on 
the old homestead. Their family consisted of eight 
children, six of whom are living, and mostly resid- 
ing in Nebraska. Mrs. Hendricks was the second 
child, and continued under the home roof until her 
marriage, acquiring her education in the common 
schools. Of her union with our subject there have 
been born three children — Charles Edwin, Carrie 
Winnifred and Mary Elizabeth. Mr. Hendricks is 
a stanch Republican, politically, and both he and 
his amiable wife are active members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church at Solon, in which he h.as 
been Class-Leader and Superintendent of the Sun- 
day-school. Like that of his father before him, his 




•► 



house has alw.ays been open for religious meetings 
and every other good purpose. His energ3' and 
public-spiritedncsss. his enterprise and intelligence, 
have commended him highly to the people of this 
county, who expect of him still further good things 
in the future. 

WIGHT WAIT. This gentleman is one 
of the enterprising 3'oung business men 
of Palmyra, and occupies the position of 
chief clerk in the hardware store of 3Ir. 
Thomas P>ell. His father, C3a'us Wait, was born in 
Vermont, near Woodstock. Upon the father's side 
the family is of French origin, while upon the 
mother's the ancestrj' were Irish. Mr. Wait, Sr., 
was an enthusiastic worker in the great cause of re- 
ligion, and almo.st as much so in that of abolition. 
He died at Woodstock, Ohio, in the year 1865, when 
only thirt3--two years of age. After her bereave- 
ment Mrs. Wait lived with her sons. She made 
her home in Nebraska for two years and then re- 
turned to Indiana. She died there in the year 
1886, having reached the age of seventy years. 
She was the mother of six children, viz: Cicero, 
Addison, Dwlght, Hiuda, Herbert and Fillmore. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 22d of 
Februarj-, 1849, at the town of Woodstock, and 
grew up there. He was seventeen years of age 
when his father died. In common with a large 
majorit}^ of those gentlemen who occupy our pul- 
pits, Mr. Wait had not been able to accumulate a 
competency, so that as a young man his son Dwight 
had to begin and climb the ladder of life for him- 
self. One thing was in his favor — his parents had 
been careful to give him a good English education, 
and had already given some tone and shape to his 
character. 

The first employment of our subject was as a 
farm hand, and he continued thus engaged in his 
native State until he came to Nebraska. In com- 
pan}- with his brother Cicero he landed in Nebraska 
City on the 1st of April, 1872, and soon obtained 
work under Dr. Converse, in the construction of the 
Midland Pacific Railroad. He was fortunate in 
having known this gentleman while a hoy in Indi- 
ana. Taking his shovel he began to work with the 

■» 



T 



t- 



•► 



M^ 



694 



OTOE COUNTY. 



I 



other men and endeavored to do his best, and so 
well did he acquit himself that he was promoted 
to the position of foreman, and had the supervision 
of from four to tweaty-five men. He continued 
in the employ of the Doctor for about six years, 
prospering financiallj' and otherwise. 

In 1878 our subject came to Palmyra and started 
business as a hardwareman, and built the store now 
occupied by Mr. Wells. His business grew in a 
most gratif^-ing manner and he was very successful. 
In 1 880 he was joined in matrimon}' to Miss Han- 
nah Bell, who was born in England in the year 
1858. (See sketch of Thomas Bell.) She was 
twelve years of age when she came to this country, 
and has since lived in Palmj-ra. Mr. Wait has 
built a two-story frame dwelling that is well located, 
and provides fully for the comfort of his family. 
His marriage has been blessed by the birth of four 
children, who bear the following names: Amy 
Elizabeth, Lydia, Carrie and Francis H. 

The citizens of Palmyra show their appreciation 
of the business integrity of Mr. Wait and have 
continued to patronize 'him, and he has an exten- 
sive agricultural implement and harness trade of 
his own in addition to his engagement with Mr. 
Bell. In the I. O. O. F. our subject is much 
respected, and he is the Vice Grand of tlie Palmyra 
Lodge. For three years he has filled the office 
of Village Treasurer with credit to himself and 
satisfaction to the people. His political sentiments 
lead him to participate with the Republican party 
in the endeavor to bring to the people of the 
State a capable governing power, according to the 
principles they believe to be right. Mrs. Wait is a 
highlj^ esteemed member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and in that relation, as also in every other, 
sustains a happy and enviable reputation. 

jkA RS. PHCEBE OSBORN, widow of the late 
11 111 Lyman Osborn, wlio was a prominent and 
jl 1^ wealthy farmer of McWilliams Precinct, is 
* now living quietly in a liandsome home in 

the village of Talmage, where she is surrounded by 
all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. 
She is the owner of a large extent of Land in Mc- 



«•■ 



AYilliams Precinct, besides land in Nemaha and Sa- 
line Counties, Neb., and Scott County, Iowa. She 
is a lady of more tlian ordinary business capacity, 
managing her farms and controlling her property 
in a skillful and profitable manner. She has been 
a resident of the State since Dec. 9, 1869, all of the 
time in Otoe County and most of the time in Ne- 
braska City. 

Mrs. Osborn came to this State from Scott County, 
Iowa, with her husband, and they settled on the farm 
in McWilliams Precinct, where Mr. Osborn died six 
months later, on the 1.3th of August, 1870. A na- 
tive of Seneca Countj% N. Y., Mr. Osborn was born 
June 19, 1812, and in his native eoimty was reared 
to manhood on a farm. He was married first in his 
native county, to Miss Lucretia Sloper, and later 
they emigrated to Iowa, locating in the vicinity of 
what was then the unpretentious village of Daven- 
port, during its early settlement. This lady died 
some years later, leaving a family of six children, 
all of whom are living, married, and settled com- 
fortably, being pros()erous and intelligent citizens. 
They were named respectively^ : Sylvester; Erena, 
who is now a widow; Huldah, Josiah, Eli and Ellen. 

After the death of his first wife Mr. Osbom re- 
turned to his native State, and was married the 
second time, April 3, 1851, to Miss Phoebe Calder, 
of Meigs County. ]Mrs. Osborn was born in Wash- 
ington County, that State, Dec. 29, 1828, and is the 
eldest child of John and Elsa (Rathburn) Cal- 
der, who were natives of New York State. They 
went with their parents to Ohio in their youth, and 
were married in the latter State, settling there upon 
a farm in Meigs County, where they lived many 
years. In their old age tliey crossed the Mississippi 
and settled in Scott County, Iowa. The father died 
at Davenport pn the 8th of May, 1877, at the age 
of seventy-four years, his birth having taken place 
in 1803. Both he .and his excellent wife were mem- 
bers of the Christian Church for many years. The 
latter, after the death of her husband, came to this 
county, and died at her home in McWilliams Pre- 
cinct, April 27, 1882. She was born in 1807. 

Mrs. Osborn, our subject, was reared and educated 
in Ohio, and engaged in teaching some time before 
her marriage. Slic and her husband soon afterward 
took up their residence in Scott County, Iowa, 

•►- 




iPi-* 



OTOE COUNTY. 



695 



4 



where the^' became the parents of two sons. The 
elder. Lyman, Jr., married Miss Anna Puffer, of 
Scott Count}', Sept. 16, 1876, and they live on a 
farm in Nemaha County, this State; John is a resi- 
dent of Talmage. Mrs. Osboi'n, like her parents, 
is connected with the Christian Church, and keeps 
herself well posted upon matters of general interest. 
She has abundant time for reading and recreation 
and social intercourse with the man}- friends whom 
she has gathered around her during the 3'ears of a 
well-spent life. 



<$, li^ILLIAM B. BUXTOX. The farm of this 
\./iJ// gentleman, which is largely devoted to the 
W^ culture of fruit, a nursery, and the raising 
of graded stock, occupies the southeast quarter of 
section 3, in Syracuse Precinct, which has been his 
home since the spring of 1 882. It forms a very 
pleasing picture of rural life, with its comfortable 
buildings, and all the other appurtenances in keep- 
ing with the requirements of modern and progres- 
sive agriculture. 

Our subject was born sixt3--three years ago. in the 
State of Rhode Island, Dec. 4, 1825, and is the 
son of William and Phila Buxton, who were of 
English ancestry, and whose progenitors had been 
residents of the New England States for several 
generations. The descendants of the latter are 
now to be found scattered all over the Western 
Continent. The mother of our subject died when 
he was a lad ten years of age, leaving five children, 
namely: Mary Ann, now the wife of Arnold Gill- 
son, of Woonsocket, R. I.; Francis, also of that 
State; Martha, the wife of Caleb Wilson, of Rock- 
ford, 111.; William, of our sketch, and Horatio, of 
Riverhead, L. I. 

After the death of his first wife the father of our 
subject was a second time married, to Miss Ruth 
Buffum. William B. soon afterward left home, and 
was employed on a farm in Connecticut for a period 
of seven years; then in the town of Stafford he 
commenced learning the trade of shoem.iker, and 
later engaged in business for himself at Burrillville, 
in his native State, and a small manufacturing town. 
About 1856, repairing to the vicinity of Milford. 



Conn., he engaged in carriage painting, and there, 
Nov. 28, 1850, was married to Miss Mar}- L. God- 
ding. 

Mrs. Mary L. Buxton was born in Rutland 
County, Vt., March 1, 1825, and is the daughter 
of Russell and Abigail (Sherman) Godding, natives 
of New England. Mr. G. was a farmer by occu- 
pation, and spent his entire life in the Green 
Mountain State, his death occurring in Rutland 
County, April 11, 1833. The family at this time 
consisted of six children, two of whom died at an 
early age. Mary L., Mrs. Buxton, is the eldest 
living; Asa is engaged at farming in S3'racuse, 
this county; ^usan M. is the wife of George L. 
Alexander, of S^'racuse; Loney married Rev. Wal- 
ter Ely, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and they are living in Connecticut. 

After the death of Mr. Godding the mother and 
children removed to Rhode Island, and the former 
in 1857 joined her children in Champaign County, 
111. Her death took place in Monticello, that State, 
Feb. 2, 1882, after she had attained the ripe age of 
seventy-nine j'ears. 

Mr. and Mrs. Buxton after their marriage con- 
tinued residents of ^Massachusetts, and Mr. B. fol- 
lowed painting in the towns of Spencer and Mill- 
bur}-. In the spring of 1857, leaving his native 
New England, he emigrated to Illinois, and settled 
on a tract of land in Philo Township, Champaign 
County. This consisted of eighty acres, which he 
improved and brought to a good state of cultiva- 
tion, and which he occupied with his family until 
the spring of 1882. His next removal was to this 
county, when he settled upon the farm which he 
now owns and occupies. He raises large quanti- 
ties of all kinds of fruit, which find a ready market 
at Syracuse and Lincoln, and from the proceeds of 
which he enjoys a handsome income. 

To our subject and his excellent wife there have 
been born five children, two of whom died in in- 
fancy. Mary A. became the wife of William En- 
nis, and died in Champaign County, 111., in the 
spring of 1881; Lyman E. is farming in Cheyenne 
County, Kan., and Abbie G. lives at home. Mrs. 
Buxton has been a member in good standing of the 
Methodist Episcoi:)al Church for over forty years, 
and our subject a period of twenty-five years. He 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



cast his first Presidential vote for Pierce, but was 
not full^' in accordance with his political views; 
for a period of thirty-four years lie has continued 
a stanch supporter of Republican principles.' He 
has no desire for the responsibilities of office, 
and has therefore avoided placing himself promi- 
nently before the public. 

The parents of Mrs. Buxton were of Scotch and 
English ancestry, and she possessed in a marked 
degree the admirable characteristics of that nation- 
ality, being conscientious, kind-hearted, pleasant 
and hospitable, and presiding over her well-ordered 
household in a most praiseworthy manner. Many 
are the friends who gather under this inviting 
roof-tree, and no people are held in higher respect 
throughout Syracuse Precinct than William B. 
Buxton and his estimable wife. 



G'^.'; 



;EN. ISAAC COE, perhaps the most promi- 
lent citizen of Nebraska City, was born in 
iddletown. Conn., on the 15th of May, 
1816. His ancestors were natives of England, and 
wrote their names Coo. The parents and grand- 
parents, both paternal and maternal, were residents 
of the al)Ove-mentioned town of Middletown, and 
followed agricultural pursuits. Our subject had 
four brothers and one sister; the latter was united 
in marriage with George H. Bliss, and died in the 
city of Chicago, 111., in the year 1852, and had one 
daughter, who is still living. His brother, Lewis 
Coe, died in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1887, leaving one 
son and one daughter, who are still living in that 
place. The remaining three brothers are living in 
the State of Connecticut. 

The subject of our sketch received in youth the 
educational advantages afforded by tlie common 
schools. In 1846 he was united in marriage with 
Sarah L. Bacon, the estimable daughter of Ebenezer 
Bacon, whose parents and grandparents, like those 
of our subject, were natives and residents of Mid- 
dletown, and followed farming pursuits. 

After their marriage Gen. and Mrs. Coe lived 
upon the farm near Middletown for six or seven 
3'ears, and one child was born to them, Eloise, now 
Mrs. F. P. Ireland, who with her liusband and one 



■^^ 



child, Sarah C, now reside in Nebraska City. Mr. 
Ireland is a practicing lawj'er. Not enjoying suf- 
flcientl}' robust health to continue farming, our 
subject sold his property, and with his family re- 
moved to Butler County, Ala., and there engaged 
in business for a number of years. On selling his 
interests there he moved to Nebraska Cit^-, in 1858. 
There he invested liis funds in Government land 
sales at the United States Land Office. 

Not long after he had identified himself with 
Nebraska City our subject was elected by the of- 
ficers of the several volunteer companies of the 
division south of Platteville in the Territory of 
Nebraska to the position of Brigadier General, and 
was in charge of the division for several years, 
the territory embraced in that district bordering 
seventj'-five miles on the -States of Iowa and ^lissouri 
and over 600 miles on Kansas, Colorado and Wyo- 
ming, as the present boundaries are defined. The 
term of service included the whole of the period 
embraced by the Civil War, and the excitement 
necessarily incidental thereto. Throughout, the 
personal liberties and effects of the citizens were 
guarded without exception, and the happy condition 
of things was very largely due to the wisdom, 
judgment, and other qualities of those in command 
of the forces. For the services thus rendered by 
the officers and forces at large there was made 
neither charge nor reward, nor was any compensa- 
tion whatever given by the Territory, and tliat in 
order that no war debt might be incurred, with the 
result that the now State of Nebraska is upon a 
financially solid foundation and takes front rank 
among the States in that regard. 

Subsequently our subject was engaged in freight- 
ing across the plains west of the IMissouri River, 
and continued the same until the laying of the 
railroad and opening of the same for traffic pre- 
cluded the necessity of any continuance in that 
line. In this he was associated with Levi Carter, 
a citizen of New Hampshire. They worked in 
partnership under the n.ame of Coe & Carter. In 
addition thereto lie invested money in developing 
the mineral resources of the various Western Terri- 
tories, and derived therefrom a large interest from 
the original investment. 

The firm of Coe & Carter assisted largely in the 



^U 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



construction of the Union Pacific, Denver, Pacific 
<t Oregon Short Line Railroads, and a number of 
otlier enterprises looking toward the development 
of the resources of the still wild portions of the 
district west of the Missouri River. Thej- were 
also large stock-buyers, and introduced a number 
of enterprises in the line of stock interests in the 
various unsettled portions of the western territory, 
bu3'ing largely of land for tlie feeding of such 
stock, including also sufficient for the harvesting 
of hay, etc., for their sustenance. 

The family of Gen. Coe consists of two children: 
Mrs. Ireland, and a son Frank E.. who owns a ranch 
well stocked with cattle and horses in Idaho Terri- 
tory. In politics the General is a stanch Democrat. 

&ON. PAUL 8CIIMINKE, Nebraska City. 
1 Sketches of the lives of the representative 
citizens of Otoe County, men who were its 
_ founders and have since taken a conspicuous 
part in the administration of its public affairs, are 
found within this volume, and the subject of this 
biographical notice occupies a prominent place 
among them. He was born in Ilesse-Cassel. Ger- 
many, Aug. 16, 1835, and is a son of Peter and 
Dora (Doell) Schminke, natives of the same local- 
ity. His father learned the trade of painter in his 
younger da3's, and followed it in his native land 
until 1852, when he emigrated to this country with 
his wife and five children, setting sail from Bremen 
in March, and landing in New York in the follow- 
ing May. He proceeded with his family to Penn- 
sylvania, and locating in Luzerne Countj-, fol- 
lowed his trade as a painter there for one year. He 
then moved to Ohio, and was engaged as a painter 
in Washington County until 1874, when he came 
to Nebraska City, whither two of his sons had pre- 
ceded him, and is now living here in retirement at 
the age of eighty-two years, honored and respected 
as one should be who has led a useful, upright life. 
His faithful wife, who crossed the seas with him to 
liegin life anew in a strange country that they might 
better their condition and that of their children, 
died in this city. The record of the children born 
to this worthy couple is as follows: Justus gave 



up his life for his adopted country in the late Civil 
"War, he being a member of the 7th Ohio Cavalry, 
having been killed in battle in East Tennessee; the 
Hon. Paul, our subject; Kate is the wife of E. 
River; John, who lives in Nebraska City, served in 
the same regiment with his brother Justus, and 
honorably bears the scars of many battles; .and J. 
Conrad. 

The subject of our sketch received a liberal edu- 
cation in the excellent schools of his native land, 
which he attended quite steadily until he was six- 
teen years old, when he came to America with his 
parents. He commenced life in this country liy 
working in the coal mines of Pennsylvania at sixty- 
five cents a diiy. He was thus employed for one 
year, when he went with his parents to Ohio, where 
his father had a farm, and our subject and his 
brothers carried it on. During the time of his 
residence there he learned the trade of plasterer, 
and was actively and profitably engaged in it for 
some years in that State. In December, 1858, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Annie Kuhlmann, 
to whose encouragement and assistance he owes 
much for his high social i)6sition in this community. 
Mrs. Schminke was born near Bremen, Germany, 
and is a daughter of Deidrich and Margaret Kuhl- 
mann, natives and lifelong residents of Germany. 

In 1865 Mr. Schminke sought the Territory of 
Nebraska, having determined to cast in his lot with 
its pioneers, and in the 3^oung and growing town of 
Nebraska City build up for himself and wife a sub- 
stantial home. Otoe County was at that time but 
sparsely settled, and there was no railway nearer 
than St. Joseph, Mo.; all transportation and travel 
was either by water or with teams overland. Being 
a good workman at his trade he had no difficulty 
in finding emplo3'ment, and was engaged as a plas- 
terer here for the ensuing ten years. He then 
fonned a partnership with his brother, and built a 
steam flouring-mill, known as the "Star Mills," and 
since then has wholl3' abandoned his trade, devoting 
what time he had to spare from his official business 
to the mills. 

Time and again has the wise counsel of our sub- 
ject been sought in making the laws of his adopted 
State, and Otoe Count3' may well be proud of his 
career in public life. None of her citizens, we vent- 



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608 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ure to assert, can show a more useful or a cleaner 
record as a civic officer. A leading member of the 
Republican party (casting his first vote for Alira- 
ham Lincoln), he has ahvaj^s guarded and defended 
the dearest interests of the commonwealth of Ne- 
braska with a single e^e to her advancement. He 
has been a member of the council, and has been re- 
peatedl3' a delegate to the county and State con- 
ventions of the Republican party. He was elected 
as State Representative in 1872, and was appointed 
one of the commissioners by the Legislature to lo- 
cate and build the asylum for the blind. In 1876 
he was re-elected to represent his district in the 
Legislature, and in 1886 he was elected to the State 
Senate. As Senator he served on various impor- 
tant committees; was Chairman of the Committee on 
Internal Improvements, was a member of the Com- 
mittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, of Muni- 
cipal Affairs, of Labor, was on the Committee of the 
Hospital of the Insane, and of the Asj-lum for Deaf 
and Blind Mutes. Mr. Sehminke is a prominent 
social factor in this communitj', being a member of 
Schiller Lodge No. 23, K. of P.; of Frontier Lodge 
No. 3, I. (). O. F., and of Nichols Lodge No. 7, 
A. O. U. W. Our subject in 1877 w.as appointed 
Postmaster' by President Haj-es in Nebraska City, 
and held the office for nine years. 



^^ RVILLE K. BROWN. Although one of the 
(( 1) .yung'^*'' farmers and stock-raisers of South 
^iJf^ Branch Precinct, this gentleman is by no 
means the least worthy of full representation in a 
volume of tliis description. Upon section 5 of that 
precinct he has 160 acres of fine land, devoted some- 
what to agricultural pursuits, but chiefly for the 
jjurposes of stock-raising and horse-breeding. His 
father was John H. Brown, who was born in Marble- 
head, Mass., on the 28th of August, 1830. He was 
the son of Thomas Peter Brown, a Virginian of old 
and well-reputed family", who served through the 
AVar of 1812, and was otherwise prominent in the 
expression of his loyal patriotism. The mother of 
our subject prior to her marriage bore the name of 
Sarah A. Thomas, and was born in Pickaway 
County, Ohio, on the 7th of November, 1830. 



Tiieir marriage was celebrated in Adams County. 
111., on the 16th of October, 1853. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brown, vSr., 
continued to live in Illinois, where they owned a 
farm of 360 acres, and until March of 1878 he was 
also engaged as a sliip[ier of stock, but at that time 
he removed to DuPage County, Iowa, and after 
four years that were not altogether successful they 
removed to this State, settling in South Branch, 
Otoe County, in 1884, where they still reside. They 
are the parents of ten children, whose names are 
recorded as follows: Adeline, John F., Milvin, Wil- 
bur and Franklin, all of whom are deceased; 
Thomas J., now in Arkansas; Orville K., Olive, 
Nettie and May. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Hancock 
County, III., near the town of Augusta, on the 2d 
of January, 1861. His parents, although needing 
his help upon the farm, were careful that he should 
obtain the best education afforded by the common 
schools. He remained upon the home farm with his 
faiher until he was twenty-one years of age, and 
then began farming for himself in Iowa. This he 
continued until 1885. He then came to this county, 
and purchased his present place, which comprises 
160 acres. His journey hither was performed by 
the aid of six teams, and was filled with the incidents 
usual to such an experience. 

Although comparatively 3'oung Mr. Brown has 
had large experience in pioneer life, and has brought 
his farm from its native wildness and unfitness for 
agricultural pursuits to a very line condition of 
cultivation. He has set out groves where will be 
found the trees most favorable to Nebraska climate, 
and also a very fine orchard, where may be found 
the choicest varieties of fruits that may be grown 
in the State, and every tree a good bearer, seeing that 
he had the opportunity from time to time to weed 
out the less desirable and replace them by better. 
One valuable acquisition is the stream of running 
water that passes through his farm. His chief at- 
tention is given to the raising of cattle and hogs, 
but he is also deeply interested in that of high- 
grade, thoroughbred draft horses of the Norman 
breed. 

Life in all its opportunity and possibility is yet 
before our subject, and it were futile to attempt 



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•«► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



r.DO > > 



any prophetic utterance, and yet it is safe to say 
that wiiile the principles tiiat have been his in the 
l)ast are continued in exercise, the years to corae 
will not be without a record worthy of one whose 
character and reputation are such as i)is, anxl whose 
family historj' is of such high order. He is a firm 
Prohibitionist, and was selected to act as delegate 
to the State Convention when it was held at Omaha. 



UILLIAM TASKER NICHOLSON stands in 
the front rank of citizens of Otoe Count}', 
WW and is one of the popular and influential 
men of his district. His admirably cultivated farm 
of 320 acres is situated on section 27 of Belmont 
Precinct, and there he is very successful in raising 
cattle of the Short-horn variety and high-grade 
Poland-China hogs, though he also raises large 
crops of grain. He was born in Yorkshire, England, 
on the 4th of February, 1831, to William and Jane 
(Tasker) Nicholson, natives of the same shire. The 
family came to the United States, and settled in this 
county in 1857, and took up the farm immediate!}' 
adjoining that of our subject. 

The father of our suliject died about twenty-six 
years ago. as the result of a paralytic stroke caused by 
a fall on the ice by which he injured the spine. His 
wife survived until the year 1886, and then died 
while visiting in Chicago. She was brought back, 
and buried in Nebraska City Cemetery by the side 
of her husband. 

When Mr. Nicholson first came to the county the 
land billowed away in beautifully rolling prairie 
mile after mile, without a sign of settlement or civil- 
ization, but his property is in nowise behind the 
phenomenal development of the State at large. His 
orchards cover six acres and his groves ten. All his 
improvements are substantial, good and valuable, 
and his property cannot possibly be of less value 
than ^50 per acre. 

On the 16th of September, 1854, the subject of 
our sketch was united in wedlock with Miss Ann 
Houndsley. daughter of John and Maria Houndslej', 
who were natives of England, where the mother 
died, and the father is still living. To Mr, .and 
Mrs. Nicholson there have come nine children, seven 



of whom are living, viz: Emma, Mary.!., Elizabeth 
A., Hettie, Sallie. William J. and Katie. Emma is 
the wife of George Hill, of Polk County, Neb., now 
residing in Oregon, and is the mother of six chil- 
dren, whose names are mentioned as follows: Al- 
fred, William, Jessie, Herman, James and George; 
Mary J. is married to Marion J. Newman, of Green- 
wood, Neb., and they have two children, named 
Minnie and I via; Elizabeth is married to Mr. John 
Baker, of Repul)lic County, Kan.; they have three 
children, who bear the names of Bertha, Roy and 
Harrj' Lee. Hettie is the wife of Isaac Crumley, 
of Colby, Kan. 

In the office of Justice of the Peace Mr. Nichol- 
son served most creditably' to himself and with 
satisfaction to the people for several years, and was 
also Assessor for several terms. He has always 
been deeplj' interested in educational institutions 
and matters connected therewith, and was one to 
organize the school district, and raise the means 
necessary to have an efficient school established 
here. He has also been identified with the various 
projects, plans and enterprises that have been for 
the advancement, growth and development of the 
county. 

Religiousl}', Mr. Nicholson is a member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and also his 
wife and those of their children who are still at 
home. They are there held in high regard, and are 
liberal supjsorters of the organization. Politically, 
our subject is a Republican. 



e 



HARLES Z. SIDLES, who is well and favor- 
ably loiown as one of the enterprising and 
prosperous farmers of Palmj-ra Precinct, 
operates 320 acres of good land on section 22. He 
was born in Somerset County, Pa., in October. 
1838, and was the fourth of nine children born to 
Daniel and Catherine (Zorn) Sidles, both of whom 
were natives of Penns3dvania. By occupation his 
father was a blacksmith, but became an extensive 
land-owner in Pennsylvania. In 1850 he removed 
to Stephenson County, 111., and continued to work 
at his trade, and later lived a retired life in Dakota, 
Stephenson County, where he died in 1879, .at the 

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4- 



run 



OTOE COUNTY. 



age of seventy years. His wife, the mother of our 
subject, is still living, and is seventy-four years of 
age, and is making her home with her daughter, 
Mrs. fSpringman, of Palmyra Precinct. The family 
record gives the names of the children of this fam- 
ily as follows: Emeline M., Henry, Charles Z., Frank 
A., Sarah, Julia, Rebecca, Mary and Daniel. 

The education of our subject was limited to two 
terms, when he attended the usual institution in 
Stephenson County. He early began to help his fa- 
ther and to work upon the farm, which he continued 
untd he came of age. He then took and operated 
a farm on shares in Stephenson County. He re- 
ceived the hand of Miss Sarah Lowery in marriage 
in that county on Oct. 25, 1860. This lady is the 
daughter of Godfred and Mary Ann Lowery, both 
born in Pennsylvania; they were the parents of five 
children, their daughter Sarah being the eldest. 
She received a good English education and a care- 
ful home training, that has borne fruit since she has 
had a home of her own. They are the parents of 
the following children: Emily Alice, Ellen, Jen- 
nie, Clara A., Laura A., Lillie and Willie. 

The three eldest children of eur subject were 
born before the war, which broke out while JMr. 
and Mrs. Sidles were residing upon their farm near 
Freeport. In 1864 Mr. Sidles enlisted for a term of 
three 5-ears, or during the war, as required. He be- 
came a member of Companj' E, 46th Illinois Infan- 
tr3', and was mustered into service at Baton Rouge, 
was present at Vicksburg, from which place they 
went to Shreveport, La. During his term of service 
he was with his regiment in Mississippi, Louisiana, 
Texas, Arkansas and Alabama. He was at Alobile 
at the time of Lee's surrender, and was present at 
the blowing up of Ft. Fisher, and was mustered out 
of service at Baton Rouge, in July, 1866. Return- 
ing home Mr. Sidles sold out his interest in eighty 
acres of land in Stephenson County, the purchaser 
being his brother Frank. In 1878 he went to Liv- 
ingston County, 111., and became the owner of a 
farm of 120 acres, which he sold in 1884, and in 
the spring of that year came to this State. 

Of the family of our subject Alice has become 
the wife of Samuel Tanner, and is the mother of 
one child, whose name is Charles; Ellen has become 
Mrs. Arthur Thompson, and she also has a son, 



bearing the name Cliarles; Clara is the wife of Clar- 
ence Frye, a florist at Lincoln, and Laura is mar- 
ried to Mr. Berr3^, of Lincoln. Mrs. Sidles is a 
member in good standing of the Methodist Episco- 
cal Church, and is held in high regard. The politi- 
cal sympathies of our subject lead him to affiliate 
with the Republican party, of which he is an ar- 
dent supporter. 

-J^^- ■ 

\f)EROME B. PRATT. Among the pioneer 
settlers of this county the name of Jerome 
B. Pratt is among the best known and 
(^^ most honored. He is the son of Thomas 
and Alma (Woodanl) Pratt; the father was a na- 
tive of Englanfl. tlie mother of Vermont. His 
father was in the British Army and fought as a pri- 
vate in the War of 1812. After the war he settled 
in Genesee County, N. Y., where he met and mar- 
rie<l Miss Alma Woodard. He followed agricult- 
ure in the same countj', and was very successful. 
In the full of 1836 he removed with his wife and 
six children to Branch County, Mich., where he 
became owner of eighty acres of land, and con- 
tinued to operate the same until 1872, when he 
died, being seventj--six years of age. and having 
survived his wife, who died aged sixty-nine j'ears, 
in 1869. The names of their children were as fol- 
lows: Jerome B., Nanc3', an infant died unnamed, 
Ferrendee P.. Ferdinand C. and Urseba A. 

Our subject was born on the 30th of Ma}', 1 838, 
in Genesee Count}', N. Y., and was eigiit j'ears old 
when he went with his parents to Michigan. His 
father took the second farm ever worked in the 
township of Algansee. He was very ^earl}' initi- 
ated into farm labor of all kinds, and was but ten 
years of age when he began to use the ax, and be- 
came quite an expert before most lads think of 
leaving school. 

In 1852 our subject prepared to enter the Uni- 
versity of Michigan by attending an academy in 
Ann Arbor, but his health failing, he became un- 
able to enter college. Coming West in 1856, Mr. 
Pratt crossed the Missouri River at Minersville,and 
on the 23d of April of the year l!362 engaged 
with the State Militia of Missouri for two years 
and seven months. He afterward served three 



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^ 




9 «<f ^•^ 




•►Hl-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



ro3 



months along llie Platte, opening up tlie roarls be- 
tween the Missouri River and Denver, wliicli was 
olistriicted by tlie Indians, doing good service, and 
only being discharged on account of physical disa- 
bility that vvas the result of exposure to which he 
had been subjected during his military service. 
Leaving the army, he returned to his squatter's 
claim, that lay to the east of the Pendleton farm 
in Otoe Precinct, and once more went to work for 
himself. Subsequently he traded his farm for his 
present home of 160 acres. 

On the 23d of A|)ril, 1808. our subject was 
united in wedlock with Miss Elizabeth Stevens, a 
native of Howard County. Ind., vvhei'e she w.as 
born Feb. 7, 1843. She came to this Stale with 
her uncle, and made her home with David Wat- 
kins and family. They have become the par- 
ents of four children, viz.: Minnie A.; Emma, who 
died when eleven months old ; Urseba and Spencer. 
Minnie is a resident of Nemaha, and is married to 
Mr. Grant Gates. The other two are at home. 

Mr. Pratt is a believer in the Universalist doc- 
trine, while his wife is a member of the Christian 
Church. They are much esteemed members of so- 
ciety ; the political principles of Mr. Pratt are 
those that govern the Republican party, of which 
he has for many years been a stout defender and 
ardent supi)orter. 



lEUBEN F. BAKER. In this biographical 
sketch is presented an outline of the history 
of one of the prominent citizens of Belmont 
^p' Precinct, one who stands in the front ranks 
of the successful farmers and stock-i-aisers of the 
county. His home farm lies on section 16 and is 
320 acres in extent. His entire landed estate com- 
prises 800 acres: 160 acres lying on section 9, 160 
on section 17, and 160 on section 18. This land 
Mr. Baker has redeemed acre by acre from the wild 
waste of prairie presented to his eye during the 
period of his pioneership, and he has accomplished 
his Herculean task only by the exercise of the most 
incessant industry. After bringing his land to a 
thorough state of cultivation he turned his atten- 
tion to the feeding and raising of stock, making a 



•►Hl:^ 



specialty of Short-horn cattle and Poland-China 
swine. The land is splendidly improved and beauti- 
fied by groves and orchards of the present proprie- 
tor's own planting. The barn and all the other 
out-buildings are among the best in the county. 
The dwelling is pleasantly situiited, and constitutes 
a home bright and comfortable in the extreme. 

Mr. B.aker was born in Shelby County, Ind., on 
the 24th of January, 1844. His father, .John L. 
Baker, a native of Covington, Ky., was born in 
1803. While quite a young man he crossed the 
river into Hamilton County, Ohio, and was em- 
ploj'ed afterward with an older brother, running a 
flatboat between Cincinnati and New Orleans for 
a number of years. Later he migrated to Shelby 
County, Ind., and finally settled upon a tract of 
land in Sangamon County, 111., in a region which 
was then but a wild border country. 

The mother of our subject was born in Shelby 
County, Ind., in the year 1803, and was the daughter 
of Ephraim Biggs, named after her mother, Rachel. 
Her parents were pioneers of Indiana, her grand- 
father having settled there long before it was actu- 
ally opened for settlement. She became the mother 
of eight children, of whom our subject was the third. 
The latter. Reuben F., upon reaching manhood, was 
married, Sept. 13, 1856, to Miss Mary E., d.aughter 
of John and Mary K. (Patterson) Mahard, natives 
of Maryland. She was born in JIaryland and edu- 
cated in the city of Baltimore. With her parents 
she afterward lived in Cincinnati, Springfield and 
in Old Berlin, 111. Mrs. Mahard is still living, 
making her home with her children in Missouri. 

There have been given to Mr. and Mrs. Baker 
nine children, of whom seven are living, namely: 
John M., George L., Horatio S., Mary A., James 
P., Othello C. and Araminda. John, the eldest son, 
became the husband of Elizabeth Nicholson, and 
lives in Republic County, Kan.; they have two 
children, who bear the names Bertha and R03'. 
George was married to Ida Wright, of Osawato- 
mie, Kan.; they reside in Belmont Precinct, and 
are the parents of three children — Reuben. Frank- 
lin and Grover. Mary A. is the wife of John 
Duncan, of Delaware Precinct, and they have one 
child, a daughter, Mary Lenora. 

Mr. Baker settled on his present property' in 



•>^fM» 



ro4 



OTOE COUNTY. 



1871. When it is remembered that he began life 
a poor boy, deprived of those aids and comforts 
usually looked for by children from parents and 
friends, it is both surprising and gratifying to note 
the successes which have attended his efforts, and 
to bear in mind that the same successes await those 
who will as honestl^y strive to attain them. Mr. 
and Mrs. B. with three of their children are mem- 
bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 
Dunbar, with which chui'ch our subject has been 
connected about thirty' years. jMrs. Baker has been 
identified with this church since a maiden of seven- 
teen j'ears. 

Our subject is a stanch member of the Demo- 
cratic party, and has been its supporter since it was 
his right to use the ballot box. The family repre- 
sents the most solid and reliable elements of this 
county and it is eminently fitting that the portraits 
of Mr. and Mrs. Baker should embellish these 
pages. 



<3= 



=f>- 



•St. R. J. W. CHADDUCK, the leading and 
oldest dentist not only in Nebraska City, 
but in the State, was born in the Shenan- 
doah Valley, Va., Feb. 4, 1831. His an- 
cestors for several generations back were also na- 
tives of the Old Dominion. His grandfather, 
Charles Chadduck, was left an orphan at an early 
age and obliged to look out for himself. The pat- 
ronymic was originally' spelled in a different man- 
ner. The grandfather when a boy was engaged in 
taking tobacco to market, and one day the weigh- 
master in writing out the weigh bill append^ed to 
it the name "Charles Chadduck," and that spelling 
has since been in general use among his descendf^nts. 
Grandfather Chadduck in due time married, and 
became the father of Eli, the father of our subject. 
The latter obtained a good education, developed 
into a school teacher, and also carried on farming. 
He was a man of more than ordinary abilities, and 
achieved considerable fame as a local politician. 
He turned his attention later to civil engineering, 
becoming County Survej'or. He spent his entire 
life upon his native soil. He married Miss Cather- 
ine Botts. who, like her huslmnd, was born in the 



James River Yalle3% and whose ancestors crossed 
the Atlantic in Colonial times. Both Eli Chadduck 
and his wife, Catherine, lived to be more than 
threescore years and ten. The latter after Lhe 
death of her husband came to Nebraska, where she 
spent her last da3's. 

Of the eight children comprising the parental 
houshold of our subject, three were sons and five 
were daughters. The two eldest, Mary C. and 
Susan v., are deceased; Emily J. and Laura E. are 
residents of Nebraska City; Caroline C. is the wife 
of James A. Matthews, of this county; George B. 
is the Treasurer of Holt County, Mo.; Charles T. 
follows the profession of a teacher in his native 
Virginia. James W., our subject, was the youngest 
born. He grew to manhood on the farm and pur- 
sued his early studies in the common school. He 
was married in his native county, June 12, 1855, 
to Miss Eliza M. Colvin, who was born in Culpeper 
County, Va., and whose acquaintance he made when 
she was a young lady of nineteen years. 

Dr. Chadduck taught school about two 3'ears 
after his marriage, then removed to Holt County, 
Mo., where he entered upon the study of dentistry, 
a profession in which he had for several j'ears been 
interested and which he had decided to make his 
life occupation. He founil, however, that the 
American professional man as well as the laborer 
needs bread, and having no capital while pursuing 
his studies he worked as a carpenter and brick- 
maker, also at other pursuits to provide himself 
and family with the necessaries of life. Leaving 
Missouri in 1862 he took up his abode in Glen- 
wood, Iowa, having then one child. Here he was 
enabled to devote himself to his profession, but the 
year following he changed his residence to Ne- 
braska City, and opened the first dental office in the 
place. Since that time his interests have centered 
here. He is a member of the Masonic fraternit3-, 
and a charter member of Lodge No. 12 in Ne- 
braska Cit3^ He has passed the various chairs of 
his lodge and served as Master a number of years.' 
He belongs to the Nebraska Dental Association, of 
which he is a charter member and of which he has 
been the presiding officer. He is also connected 
with the Missouri Valle3- Dental Association. A 
Democrat, politically, he has been quite prominent 



t¥ 



Ah-H. 



•►Hl^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



705 



in politics, having been sent to the State Legisla- 
ture twice and serving in the Senate one term. His 
estimable wife is a member in good standing of the 
Methodist Episcopal C'hurcb. 

"iflAMES HUNT. The traveler passing along 
the upper line of North Branch Precinct in- 
variablj' has his attention attracted to the 
large property of this gentleman, which lies 
on section 7, and forms one of the finest homesteads 
in the locality. The farm is 518 acres in extent, and 
is neatly laid off into i)asture and grain fields; the 
fences are ke[)t in good shape, while tiie residence, 
with its adjoining buildings, is of modern style of 
architecture, and all amply adapted to the purposes 
for which they are intended. The important feature 
of the premises is the extreme good order prevail- 
ing at every point, and the air of thrift and enter- 
prise which is suggestive of the sui)ervision of one 
of the most progressive and intelligent farmers of 
the present day. 

Next in importance to the man himself is the 
ancestrj^ from which he sprang. Henry Hunt, the 
father of our subject, was a native of Yorkshire, En- 
gland, and there married Miss Elizabeth Cleminson, 
who was born in the same Jocalitj-. They emigrated 
to America after their marri.age, in 1829, and set- 
tled on a tract of land in Cambria Count}', Pa., 
where the father built up a good homestead, and 
passed away in the month of October, 1850. The 
mother is still living in Pennsylvania, and is now 
seventy-eight jears old. They were the parents of 
seven children : Timothy L. ; Robert, who died when 
about fift5'-seven jearsold; William H., John I. S. ; 
Ruth, who died when thirty years old; Susannah 
and James (our subject). Of these five are living, 
and those besides James are residents mostly of 
Pennsylvania. 

James Hunt was born at the parental homestead 
in Cambria County, Pa., Aug. 1, 1830, and contin- 
ued a member of his father's household until twenty 
years of age. He received his education in the 
common schools, and when nineteen years old com- 
menced an apprenticeship at the carpentry trade, 



•» II ^" 



which he followed in his native State about two 
and one-half years. In the spring of 1856, desir- 
ing to see something of the Great AVest, he crossed 
the Mississippi into Henry Count}', Iowa, but there 
unfortunately was taken ill with typhoid fever, and 
could neither proceed any further nor look around 
him in the Hawkeye State. This naturally induced 
a fit of homesickness, and soon after his recovery 
he returned to his mother's home. 

The spring following, however, young Hunt re- 
turned to the West, making only a brief stay, how- 
ever, and then went back to Pennsylvania and was 
married in 1859. He purchaseil a tract of land in 
Cambria County, and soon afterward began farm- 
ing. In August. 1864, during the progress of the 
Civil War he enlisted in Company C, 51st Penn- 
sylvania Infantrj', being mustered in at Carlisle, 
and was,' together with his regiment, assigned to the 
command of Gen. W. H. Bolton. He experienced 
some hairbrea<lth escapes at the battle of Peters- 
burg, but aside from that returned home unharmed 
at the close of the war. Mr. Hunt now resumed 
his residence in Cambria County, where he contin- 
ued to carry on agriculture until the spring of 1882. 
Then, crossing the Father of Waters once more, he 
came to this State, and was located for one year in 
Johnson County. In the fall of 1887 he purchased 
the land which he now owns and occupies. Upon 
this he has made most of the improvements which 
we behold to-day. His property lies on sections 
7,17 and 18, and in addition to the thorough 
cultivation of the soil he has planted fruit and shade 
trees, and divided many of his fields with beautiful 
hedge fences. 

On the 16th of May, 1859, occurred one of the 
most important events in the life of our subject, 
namely, his marriage with Miss Christiana B. Keefer. 
This lady is the daughter of Ernest and Mary M. 
(Baird) Keefer, both of whom were natives of Ger- 
many, and upon emigrating to the United States 
settled at once in Cambria Count}', Pa. The father 
was a coal miner, and being a very industrious and 
prudent man, accumulated a good propert}'. He 
died about 1868, at the homestead which he had 
built up in the Kej'stone State. The mother is still 
living, and has novv arrived at the advanced age of 
eight}' years. Their children, five in number, were 



f 



i 



^^ 



70G 



> ► I I <• 



OTOE COUNTY. 



named respect! vel}' : John, Christiana B., RIaggie, 
William and Hannah. Those surviving are residents 
of Pennsylvania and Nebraska. 

Mrs. Hunt was horn in the Grand Duchj' of Ba- 
den. Germany, in February, 1841. and was a little 
girl four years of age when she came with her par- 
ents to America. She received a common-school 
education, and was carefull}' trained by an excellent 
niothor in all housewifely duties. Of her union 
with our subject there have been born nine chil- 
dren, namely: Henry E.. Harvey M., Mary E., 
Elizabeth C, Sanford R., Thomas S., Bertha A.. 
Laura E. and Mabel. Henry married Miss Myrtic 
Holland, and lives on a farm in South Branch Pre- 
cinct. The other children are at home with their 
parents. Mr. and Mrs. .Hunt are members in good 
standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church at 
Rockford. and Mr. H., politically, votes the straight 
Republican ticket. He has been a member of the 
School Board two terms, and is one of the most 
highly respected men of his community, one whose 
word is considered as good as his bond. The Hunt 
family is one of the most highly respected in this 
part of the count}', and the homestead, a view of 
which appears on another p.age, comprises a promi- 
nent feature in its landscape. 



APT. LOGAN ENYART stands conspicu- 
ously among the prominent men of Otoe 
^ County as one largel}' identified vfith its 
business and agricultural interests, a man public- 
spirited and liberal, one who has seen much of 
life, who distinguished' himself in the army dur- 
ing the war, who suffered the loss of an eye 
in fighting for the principles he believed to be 
right, but who in the battle of life has evidently 
come out with flying colors. He is widely and 
favorabl}' known throughout Nebraska, as much for 
his genial and hospitable disposition and broad and 
extended views of life as for his practical business 
talents, his perseverance and his energy. 

In the vicinity of Nebraska City, where he makes 
his home, Capt. Enyart has been foremost among 
its leading enterprises, few of which have been car- 
ried to a successful issue independently of his coun- 

> ► U ^ 



tenance and encouragement. He is President of 
the Farmers' Bank, one of the wealthiest institu- 
tions of the State, an extensive land-owner in Otoe 
County, having the warrantee deed to a number of 
farms, and largel}' interested in live stock. His 
homestead proper is located on section 33 in Bel- 
mont Precinct, and comprises a fine tract of land 
in a highly cultivated condition, with modern farm 
buildings, fruit and shade trees, and all the appur- 
tenances of a modern country estate. He has no 
family except his amiable and excellent wife, a 
lady highly respected in her community, and well 
fitted to be the companion of such a man as her 
husbiind. 

The Enyart family is of French descent, and was 
first represented in theL'nited States probably dur- 
ing Colonial days. Its men were of stalwart frame 
and noble constitution, traits which our subject has 
inherited in a remarkable degree. In fact, he may 
be called a man of iron nerves, and his high cour- 
age was amply displayed during war times, when, 
although he sutTered great loss of property, he 
never iiermitted himself to sink under his misfort- 
unes, but rallied from the shock, commenced again 
the battle of life, and became again wealthy. 

A native of Monroe County, Ky., Capt. Enyart 
was born June 20, 1831, and is the son of Heze- 
kiah W. and Mary (Kid well) Enyart, who were both 
natives of Virginia. The paternal grandfather, 
John Enyart, was born in the city of Paris, France, 
where he was reared to manhood and married. His 
last years were spent in Virginia. The father of our 
subject left Kentucky in 1833, and removed with his 
family to Clay County, Mo., where they lived two 
years, and then changed their residence to Davis 
County, that State. The father was principally 
interested in live stock and farming, and died ver^' 
suddenly, at the age of seventy-six years, upon the 
day of Lee's surrender, April 9, 1865. The mother 
survived her husband a number of years, her death 
taking place in Missouri, in the year 1882, at the 
old homestead, when she was seventy-five years 
old. The nine children of the parental family were 
named respectively: Logan, Louisa; Permelia, who 
died when twenty-five years old; Milton, Amanda; 
Josephine, who died at the age of twenty j'ears; 
Albert, Ilezekiah, and Mary Ann, who died when 



-► II <• 



*► II <• 



••► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



707 



thirtj'-three j'ears old. The survivors are mostly 
residents of Missouri, California, Colorado and 
Nebraska. 

The first recollections of the Captain are of bis 
childhood home iu Davis County, Mo., where he 
commenced going to school in a little log cabin 
three months eacli year. His education being com- 
pleted in two winters, it may therefore be called 
quite limited, and what he has learned he has had 
to learn himself. By a course of reading and ob- 
servation he has always kept himself fully posted 
upon matters of general interest. He was reared a 
farmer's boy, and taught those habits of industry 
anil principles of honor which have been the secret 
of his success in life. The people of that day la- 
bored early and late, and many a time young En- 
yart worked by the light of the stars in his IMissouri 
home, and being willing, active and muscular, ac- 
complished an astonishing amount. 

Our subject when twenty-three years of age was 
married, but not long afterward enlisted in the 
Confederate Army under Gov. Jackson (first call 
for soldiers to enlist in Missouri), becoming a mem- 
ber of Company G, 1st Missouri Cavalry. He was 
at once elected Captain of his company, and this 
fact indicates his popularity, as he entered the 
ranks without any military experience. He, how- 
ever, possessed the natural abilities which secured 
him the confidence of his superior officers and the 
respect of his comrades, and that he seems to have 
held until the last gun was fired, and his subsequent 
course indicated how correct they were in their 
judgment. He led his company in his first en- 
gagement at Blue Mills, ilo., and was later at 
Lexington, where he distinguished himself and 
led his troops to victory. Later he was at the on- 
set in the vicinity of Springfield, covering Price's 
retreat for ten days and ten nights. He fought at 
Pea Ridge under Gens. Van Dorn and Price, where 
he was twice wounded in one engagement, being 
struck first in the left shoulder and the second time 
in the forehead, but, notwithstanding, he kept upon 
his feet by his extraordinary will power, and never 
deserted his post until the conflict was ended. 

Later Capt. Enj-art was transferred to Corinth, 
Miss., from the West, where he fought with Gen. 
Beauregard in all the engagements around Corinth 



in the spring of 1862; at luka. Miss., in the fall 
of 1862, and later under Gen. Price. In the sec- 
ond battle of Corinth, under Gen. Van Dorn. 
while still fighting, he witnessed the defeat of the 
army under that General, and also at Champion 
Hills fought in that desperately bloody b.ittle. 
Capt. Enyart in this latter engagement received a 
very close call, a musket ball fracturing his nose 
and putting out his left eye. Although suffering 
untold agony for days, he never entered a hospital. 
We next find him at the siege of Vicksburg, where 
the entire armj' was captured, and our subject was 
an eye witness of the surrender of Gen. Pemberton's 
arm}^ to Grant and of the explosion which de- 
stroyed the Confederate boats. He was soon pa- 
roled, ■ however, and was among the first to be 
exchanged at Demopolis, Ala. He was transferred 
to the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, at Dal- 
ton, Ga., and was with this renowned warrior in 
the famous retreat from Daltou to Atlanta, when 
every inch of ground for 110 miles was disputed 
with Sherman. In this retreat the most noted 
places at which fighting occurred were Lone Mount- 
ain. Kenesaw Mountain. Xew Hope Church, Peach 
Tree Creek, and wound up with the siege of Atlanta. 

Later Capt. Enyart fought at Jonesboro, and 
subsequently joining the army of Gen. Hood, went 
back through Georgia and Tennessee, fighting at 
Altona, and Tilton, Ga. At the latter place the 
Confederates captured the 1 8th Iowa Regiment. 
Afterward they engaged in battle with the Union 
forces at Huntsville, Ala., Columbia and Franklin, 
Tenn., where blood flowed like a river, and at the 
latter place Capt. Enyart was again captured, Nov. 
30, 1864, and taken to Johnson's Island, iu the 
State of Ohio, where he was confined a prisoner 
seven months and eleven days, until June 17, 1865, 
when he took the oath of allegiance to the Union, 
the war being over, and was released in disgust 
with mankind, and started for tlie AVest. 

Capt. Enyart during this memorable period trav- 
eled over all the Southern States with the excej)- 
tion of Virginia, North Carolina and Marylaud. 
He is pardonabljf proud of the fact that he was 
never in a hospital, and notwithstanding his wounds 
and extraordinary suffering attendant upon the loss 
of his eye. never quit the arm}', but fought to the 



♦At^ 



•¥^h 



•►Hl^ 



708 



OTOE COUNTY, 



•► 



last, and was the Sir Simon Captain of his State, 
and certainly is amply entitled the balance of his 
life to the rank of Captain. In the year 1865 he 
made his way without a dollar in his pocket across 
the Mississippi to Nebraska, then a Territory. In 
iiis native State of Missouri before the war he was 
the owner of 1,000 acres of good land, witli build- 
ings, live stock, and all the other valuable appur- 
tenances of a well-developed countrj^ estate. His 
stock was driven off and confiscated, his buildings 
burned and his land left waste. In Nebraska the 
first tiling he did was to buy a yoke of oxen and a 
wagon on credit, which, be it said to his honor, he 
had no trouble in obtaining, and loading his wagon 
witli freight for Denver, he hired a man as driver, 
and on the first round trip made enough to pay 
for his team and his expenses, and had $50 left. 

In the spring of 1866 Capt. Enyart eng.iged sev- 
eral more teams, and forming a partnership with 
J. "W". Potter and Mont. Tremble, started with a 
train of thirteen wagons loaded with corn, for 
which they paid thirty-five cents per bushel, to Ft. 
Sanders. They sold this at six and a half cents per 
pound, and then secured a contract from the Gov- 
ernment to remove Ft. HoUoclv to Ft. Sanders. 
This employed them a whole season, and yielded 
them handsome proceeds. In his travels he has 
been in California, Oregon (in the days of gold- 
hunting), also over nearl}' all the territory down as 
far as Mexico, Arizona and Utah. 

Capt. Enyart now returned to Nebraska City, 
purchased a tract of land in Belmont Precinct, and 
began farming, together with raising and buying 
stock. It must not be supposed that these labors 
and journeyings were effected in an easy manner, 
on tlie contrary, Capt. Enyart endured the sever- 
est hardships, going through a wild and savage 
country, battling witli its storms, and at intervals 
almost imi;assable roads, being obliged to accept 
poor fare at times, and surrounded by all the other 
difficulties of frontier life. 

In the year 1871 Capt. Enyart turned his atten- 
tion to the cattle business in Colorado, establish- 
ing his ranch fifteen miles west of Ft. Benton, on 
the Arkansas River. Later, as time passed on, he 
acquired a cattle ranch in New Mexico, and land 
in other sections of the Soutliwest and Otoe Count}-, 

-<• 



Neb. He supplies stock to feeders, and in the lat- 
ter part of 1888 brought up 1,300 head of cattle 
from his ranch in Colorado to Nebraska. In the 
meantime, during these years, he has given due at- 
tention to tlie building up of his homestead, and in 
his domestic life is surrounded by comfort and 
luxury. 

The marriage of Capt. Logan Enyart and Miss 
Lucy Ann Childs was celebrated at the home of the 
bride, in Jackson County, Mo., in 1855. Mrs. En- 
yart was born in Clark County, Ky., but was reared 
in Jackson County, Mo., to whicli her parents re- 
moved at an early day. She is the daughter of 
Christopher and Rachel Cliilds, who were natives 
of Kentucky, and whose household consisted of 
nine children. Tlie parents and children are now 
all dead but three. 

The Captain and Mrs. Envart were separated 
during the entire period of the Civil War, our sub- 
ject never being able to visit his home until after 
the conflict was ended, and Mrs. E. could not go 
to him. Upon his retirement from the service she 
joined him in Nebraska City, and has stood by his 
side now for a period of thirty-three years, one of 
the inost faithful wives and helpmates which a man 
could desire. The Captain generously acknowl- 
edges that his success in life is largely due to the 
good judgment and wise counsels of this excellent 
lady. She has stimulated him to every worthy ef- 
fort, and been his encourager both in storm find 
sunshine. She is a lady held in higli esteem by all 
who know her. 

Capt. Enyart, although born and reared a South- 
erner, has been largely instrumental in extinguish- 
ing the old prejudices inseparable from the vicissi- 
tudes of the war, and the fact that he has been a 
prominent and popular Democratic politician in a 
Republican county and State speaks well for the 
inherent traits of his character. After filling other 
positions of trust and responsibility, he was elected 
in the year 1872 to represent Otoe County in the 
Nebraska Legislature, and so faithfully did he dis- 
charge the duties of his office that he was re-elected 
in 1874. He has been an important factor in the 
councils of the Democratic part)' in this section, 
frequently representing it as a delegate to the vari- 
ous State conventions. 



T 



•►-11^ 



-•»» 



OTOE COUNTY. 



709 



The Farmers' Bank, of Nebraska City, in which 
our subject is a Director, and of which he is Presi- 
dent, was incorporated June 1, 1884, and in Sep- 
tember, the same year, it opened for business, and 
is considered one of the solid institutions of the 
State. Its stockholders are estimated at a sum ap- 
proaching $1,000,000, and it ' is hardly necessary 
to state that they are among the wealthiest and 
most substantial men of the countj^. Capt. Enyart 
in 1856 identified himself with the Masonic fra- 
ternity, in Missouri Lodge No. 65, now being a 
member of Nebraska City Lodge No. 12. This is 
the onlj^ organization of any society lie ever l)e- 
longed to. 



^^ EORGP: a. strong . Among the farming 



%3 



I g— community of South Branch Precinct the 



subject of this sketch occupies a good po- 
sition socially and financiall3'. He has one of the 
most attractive homesteads in this region, finely 
located on section 28, and embracing 160 acres of 
land. He has acquitted liimself as an enterprising 
farmer and good business man. one largely devoted 
to the interests of his home and his family, living 
quietly and unostentatiously, and preferring the 
comforts of his own fireside to mingling with the 
busy world. Although by no means advanced in 
years, he served in the Union Army during the 
late war, and preserves a vivid recollection of many 
of the experiences of that terrible time, in which he 
endured in common with his brother soldiers the 
hardships and privations of army life. lie belonged 
to the home guards. 

The parents of our subject, David B. and Betsey 
(Kagie) Strong, were natives respectively of New 
York and Pennsylvania, whence they removed in 
their youth with their parents to Trumbull County. 
Ohio, where they were married. . The irfother died 
many years ago. Both David B. Strong and liis 
father, the paternal grandfather of our subject, are 
still living. The parental household included three 
sons and one daughter; the latter, Mary H., died 
when about thirteen years old. The other sons, 
John A. and Ilenrj- A. are living in Ohio and Wis- 
consin. 

Geoi'ge A. Strong was born in Trumbull Countv. 



•►Ht:^ 



Ohio, May 12, 1846, and soon after the death of 
his mother, which occurred when he was seven 
years old, began life for himself. He worked on a 
farm until the spring of 1862, and then, although 
but a youth of sixteen years, enlisted in a regiment 
called the Trumbull Guards, being mustered in at 
Gallipolis, and at the close of the war was mustered 
out at the same place. He had participated in 
several skirmishes. 

After the close of the war young Strong began 
an apprenticeship at the blacksmith trade, at which 
he worked three years in the Buckeye State. In 
tlie spring of 1868 he resolved to seek the farther 
West, and came to this county, homesteading the 
quarter-section of land from which he has trans- 
formed a valuable and productive farm. He has 
put up most of the buildings which he now occu- 
pies, and for the last nine or ten years has operated 
a blacksmitli-shop on his farm, which has not only 
been the source of a great convenience to himself, 
but his neighbors also. His fields are divided by 
beautiful hedge fences, and lie has planted fruit and 
shade trees, having an apple orchard of 200 trees, 
besides the smaller fruits. 

]Mr. Strong after coming to the West was mar- 
ried in the town of Syracuse, this county, Sept. 12, 
1877, to Miss Sopha, daughter of T. J. and E. J. 
(James) iidwards, who were natives respectively 
of Kentucky and Ohio. The\- removed with tbsir 
parents to Missouri and were married in that State, 
where the father for a time followed his trade of 
mason. In 1873 thej^ came to this county, lived 
for a time in Nebraslia Cit}^ and then on a farm 
in P^remont County, Iowa. Finally returning to 
Syracuse, they lived there a sliort time, then changed 
their residence to Johnson County, where they still 
make their home. Of their children, twelve in 
number, seven are living, namelj^: Amelia. Susan, 
John, Sopha, Thomas, Josephine and Frank. The 
brothers and sisters of Mrs. Strong are residents 
mostly of Nebraska. 

The wife of our subject was born in De Kalb 
Countj^ Mo., July 28, 1856, received a good edu- 
cation, and taught scliool four terms before her 
marriage. She is a very intelligent ladj- and a 
favorite in the social circles of her neighborhood 
Of her union with our subject there have been 



f 



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"10 



OTOE COUNTY. 



born five children, viz: M. Luella, Fred C, Susie B., 
J. Alta and E. Ruth. They are all at home with 
their parents. Mr. Strong is a Republican, "dj^ed 
in the wool," and an uncompromising Harrison and 
Morton man. He has been a member of the School 
Board of his district for the past three years, and 
Road Supervisor six years. 



WILHEI.M WILHELMY. Throughout the 
Xorthwest perhaps few business men are 
better known than tlie gentleman whose 
biography is here presented. He is the senior 
partner of the firm of Wilhelmy & Overton, tlie 
popular and reliable liardware firm of Nebraska 
City. Our subject was born near the city of Bremen, 
in Germany, to Christian and Mary (Arnds) Wil- 
helmy, July 26, 1835. 

The parents of our suliject came to this country 
with their only child in the year 1839, and for one 
year made their home in Buffalo, but at the end of 
that time removed to the western part of Ohio, 
when it was all new and undeveloped country. At 
the time of his deatli in 1862 the father was en- 
gaged in the liotel business at New Bremen, Ohio. 
His mother is still living, and makes her liome with 
our suliject, and has now reached the advanced age 
of seventy-nine j^ears. Their family circle included 
in all three children, tlie two younger being born 
in this country. Of these Minnie died when eight- 
een months old, and Frederick F., who was spared 
to them, has grown up, entered into the affairs of 
life with an earnest purpose, and is a member of the 
firm of Rector, Wilhelmy cfe Co., wholesale hard- 
waremen of Omaha. 

The first recollections of our subject gather 
around Buffalo, N. Y., but the days of his boy- 
hood were passed in Western Ohio, where at the time 
when everything was in a formative condition and 
pioneer life was the regular order of things, he as 
a ji-outh had every opportunity to show what was 
in him. The schools were supported by voluntary 
contributions given chieflj^ by the German settlers 
of the district, and there he received initiation into 
the mysteries of education. 

At the age of twenty-one Mr. Wilhelmy engaged 



•► 



as a clerk in a general store which was located close 
to the Indiana and Ohio State line. Until this time 
he had been brought into contact with hardly any 
but the German settlers, but now acquired the 
English language, in order to successfully carry on 
the business he had entered into. From clerking 
he embarked in hotel-keeping, taking charge of his 
father's hotel, which he continued after tlie death 
of that parent. 

In 1864 our subject was united in wedlock with 
Jliss Margaret Koop, who is a native of Ohio, and 
the daughter of John F. and Matta (Willembroke) 
Koop. Her parents were among the number who 
had emigrated to Western Ohio and purchased their 
homestead direct from the Government, settling in 
the year 1833. They are still living, and are eighty- 
eight and seventy-eight j-ears of age respectively. 
They were the parents of ten children. Of these 
their daughter Margaret was the second child and 
only daugliter. 

The subject of our sketch came to Nebraska in 
the spring of 1869, and at once engaged in the 
agricultural implement business, being one of the 
first in that line in Nebraska City. With an ever- 
increasing agricultural population around him he 
did well from the beginning, and it was not long 
before he was enabled to complete satisfactory ar- 
rangements for his family to join him. With his 
brother he continued engaged in the business until 
1875, when he sold out his interests to his brother, 
and engaged with Rheindthard Ballard & Co.. as 
traveling salesman, selling thresliers, engines and 
other implements. In this he continued for about 
nine years, and during that time did business in al- 
most every part of the Nortli and Northwest. At the 
end of tliat time the two senior members of the firm 
died, and our subject was retained by those who 
had charge of affairs, and for two years continued 
engaged in settling up the business of the firm, 
making a total of eleven years he served this firm. 

In 1886, in company with a Mr. Draper, Mr. 
Wilhelmy bought out the Simson hardware business, 
which is still run by him. Mr. Draper in the spring 
of 1887 sold his business interests to Mr. Overton, 
and the firm's name was changed to that above 
mentioned. The business has grown rapidly and 
is on a most satisfactor}- basis, and enjoys the rep- 

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t 



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t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



utation of being strictly honest in its representa- 
tions, prompt and faithful in its engagements. It 
is one of the best houses in the State, and is known 
favorably to quite a large section of countrj^. 

Tlie family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelmy 
comprises five children, viz.: Willie, who died in 
Ohio when a babe; Eddie, who was born in Mc- 
Gregor Count}', Iowa; 3ILnnie, born in Nebraska 
City; and Leon and Lillie, twins. Eddie is en- 
gaged in business with his iinele at Omaha; the 
other surviving members of the family are at home. 
The residence of our subject is one of the finest in 
the city, and is situated in the western part thereof. 
It is thoroughly in keeping with his position in the 
business world, of which he is certainly one of the 
representative men. 

Religiously, the subject of our sketch and his 
family are members of the Lutheran Church. In 
politics ]Mr. Wilhelmy is a Democrat, but has at no 
time sought to take a prominent part in such matters. 
He is one of the prominent members of the order 
of the Royal Arcanum, and holds the position of 
Grand Regent in the same. There, as in every 
other circle, he is accorded the unfeigned esteem 
and regard of those who know him,- and these 
sentiments extend also to his wife and familv. 



♦^»t59» 



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•<^*^>> 



'SA GODDING. In March of 1882 the gen- 
tleman a sketch of whose life is here briefly 
presented purchased 160 acres of land on 
section 29 of Syracuse Precinct, and set- 
tled upon it. Tbis commenced iiis history as con- 
nected with this county. The above property, 
which he still occupies, is situated on the soutli- 
west quarter of the section, and was homesteaded 
by Jacob Sollenberger, who sold to Charles Adanjs, 
and from tiie latter it was obtained by our subject. 
The old homestead claim shanty still stands, and 
was occupied for one year by Mr. Godding during 
the building of his present residence, which is one 
of the most commodious and pleasant in the county. 
September 29, 1826, witnessed the birLli of our 
subject to Russell and Abigal (Sherman) Godding, in 
Rutland County, Vt. When he was but six years (jf 



age his father died, and thus he has been deprived 
of all the help and care that otherwise would have 
been received, and wiiich is of inestimable value to 
a young man in starting in life, and on through tiie 
first few 3'ears at least of his experience. 

Not long after the death of the head of the 
family, a removal was made to Rhode Island, where 
the mother did everything possible to keep her 
family together, and, as she was able, to give them 
the opportunity of making their wa}' successfully in 
the world. At the tender age of nine years her son 
Asa was put to work in a woolen factory. There 
he continued for a number of years, learning the 
trade first of spinner, and afterward of wool finisher. 
His connection with this trade continued until I8.t6, 
at which time he emigrated to Illinois and purchased 
land in what is now Philo Township, Champaign 
County, where he was one of the pioneers. 

At the time aur subject located in the Prairie 
State there were hardi}' any settlers in his neigh- 
boihood, and he was prominently identified with 
the organization of Philo Township, and the first 
school district. At that time he was operating a 
half-section of land, but subsequently sold 160 
acres. In 1874 he rented his farming property, and 
engaged in mercantile pursuits at Philo, becoming 
partner in the firm of Van Vleck & Godding. They 
were largel}- interested in grain, owning and oper- 
ating an extensive flouring-mill in connection with 
the elevator which they built, and continued finan- 
cially successful to an unexpected degree for about 
five years. 

In 1879 Mr. Godding withdrew from the firm 
and removed to St. Louis. He there embarked in 
the manufacture of vinegar, pickles, and articles of 
a kindred nature. There also he built up an exten- 
sive business, continuing for nearly three 3'ears, 
returning at the end of that period to Monticello. 
111., and coming to this State in 1882. 

While resident at Urbana, 111., in the year 1866, 
our subject was united in marriage with Sarah A. 
Driver, of Urbana, who was born in 1840, in North 
Carolina. After a happy married life of ten years 
Mrs. Godding died at Philo, in 1876, leaving no 
child len. 

Upon the 1st of January, 1882, our subject I'e- 
entered the married stale, becoming the husband 



■^U 



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t 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



of Delia J. Heislar, daughter of George mid Rebecca 
Heislar, of Champaign County, 111. This lady was 
boru in Fredericktown. Ohio, on the 6th of Novem- 
ber, 1846. Her mother. Mrs. Heislar, died in 
August, 1849, leaving four children, viz.: Daniel; 
Mary E., now Mrs. Perry Silver; Delia J. and 
Theodore. Of the second marriage there is one 
child living, Delmont, now a resident of Hutchin- 
son, Kan. 

Mr. and Mrs. Godding have become the parents 
of one cliild living. A son, George H., born June 
2, 1885, died nine days after his birth; they have 
a daughter, Grace A., born Sept. 23, 1882; and 
an adopted son. who beais the name Joseph V., who 
has made his home with them since he was three 
years of age. 

Among the stanch Republicans of the county 
must certainly be named our subject, who has sus- 
t.iined since his ability to take part in political 
matters a reputation in that regard. AVhile in 
Philo Township he served as Collector for two 
years, at a time when wolf scalps were accepted as 
payment for taxes. Mrs. Godding is an active 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is 
greatly esteemed therein. Their home, a view of 
which appears on another page, bears fair compari- 
son with those of the other intelligent people of 
Syracuse Precinct and vicinity. 



-►l-«-i'^^*+-^ 



4 



nATHEW H. SHOEMAKER. The farming 
and stock-raising interests of Wyoming Pre- 
cinct recognize in the subject of this sketch 
one of their most energetic and successful 
representatives. Since the spring of 1882 he has 
operated successfully IGO acres of fertile land on 
section 2, bringing about a great improvement in 
its original condition, and erecting thereon some of 
the finest buildings in this part of the county. A 
view of his homestead is. presented in this volume. 
Mr. Shoemaker has been especially fortunate in 
Ills live-stock operations, and has also given much 
attention to the planting of trees on his farrh, hav- 
ing a fine apple orchard and the smaller fruits in 
abundance. Besides the home farm, he lias a fine 
tract of land 240 acres in extent in Liberty Pre- 



cinct, Cass County, which fortunately lies adjacent 
to the homestead. He has been kept busy in the 
improvement of his 400 acres, which when coming 
into his possession was raw prairie upon which there 
had been no attempt at improvement. He was a 
resident of Cass County for a period of fifteen years 
before taking possession in the spring of 1 882 of 
the homestead which he now occupies. 

Mr. Shoemaker first set foot in Nebraska in the year 
1857, and is consequently one of its pioneers. He 
has seen it transformed from a Territory into a 
State, and commenced at the foot of the ladder to 
build up the homestead an<l secure a competency. 
That he has been in a large measure successful is 
indicated in his present surroundings. He comes 
of substantial stock, being the son of Samuel G. and 
Mar3' (Patt) Shoemaker, who were both natives of 
Pennsylvania, ami the father, like our subject, was 
born in Lycoming County. After marriage the 
parents settled in Muncie Creek Township, under 
the roof where the father was born, and later his 
son, Matliew H., our subject, the birth of the latter 
taking place March 31, 1833. In 1857, twenty- 
four years after the birth of their son Mathew, le- 
tiring from active labor, the parents moved to the 
village of Muncie, where the father passed from the 
scenes of earth in the year 1871, at the advanced 
age of eighty-two years. He was born in the year 
1789. The mother survived her husband a few 
years, her death occurring in the year 1880, and 
her age being eighty-three. They were married on 
the 22d of May, 1817, their married life therefore 
had reached a period of nearly fifty-six years. 
Tliey had a family of six sons and two daughters, 
of whom four sons and both daughters are. still liv- 
ing. Our subject is the only one residing in the 
State of Nebraska. Jasper and Robert F. live in 
Penns3*lvania, where also Mary Melissa, who is still 
single, resides; William P. lives in Bourbon Count3', 
Kan., near Ft. Scott; and Catherine, wife of Noah 
Mackey, lives in Missouri, not far from St. Louis. 

This branch of the Shoemaker family were of 
Dutch ancestry, and people usually of wealth and 
standing, who exercised a decided influence in the 
affairs of the community- where they lived. They 
were principall}' agriculturists by occupation, men 
prompt to meet their obligations, and whose word 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



■15 



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t 



was considered as good as tlieirbond. The mother 
of our subject also cnine from an excellent family, 
and the town of Pottsville, Pa., was named in honor 
of her grandfather, by whom it was founded. The 
Shoemakers originally, in religious matters, held to 
the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, but later we 
find them with the Episcopalians. Henry Shoe- 
maker, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was 
also a native of Lycoming County, Pa., where he 
was reared to manhood, and married Miss Susan 
Dudder, of Dutch ancestr}'. They continued their 
residence in Lycoming County the balance of their 
lives, living to be ripe in years, and were also con- 
nected with the Lutheran Church. 

Mathew H. Shoemaker was the sixth cliild of a 
family of six sons and two daughters, all of whom 
received careful home training, and a practical edu- 
cation in the common schools. Of these six are 
living. In April, 1860, Mr. Shoemaker and three 
of his neighbors, viz: Daniel B. Robb, Thomas 
Lindsey and Amos Weaver, clubbed together and 
got an outfit consisting of a wagon and three yoke 
of cattle, and provisions for six months, and started 
over the plains for Pike's Peak, where, after a pleas- 
ant trip of forty days, they arrived. Denver was 
then but a hamlet, and the first thing that attracted 
their attention on arriving there was to witness the 
banging of a man by the citizens, for murder. This 
gave Mr. S. a fair idea of the chariicter of the peo- 
ple and their methods of administering the laws as 
tliey made them for the evil doers. He remained 
in Colorado for two years, and the whole party spent 
their time diligently employed in different occupa- 
tions. During his stay in Colorado he was very 
successful. 

Our subject continued a resident of his native 
State until a young man twenty-four years old, 
when he crossed the Mississippi and resolved to cast 
his lot with the pioneer element of Nebraska. Some 
years afterward he made the acquaintance of a most 
estimable young lady of WyoraingJPrecinct, Miss 
Alice E. Olds, to whom he was married Nov. 16, 
1874. Mrs. Shoemaker was born in Symcoe, Lower 
Canada, Oct. 12, 1857, and came to the States with 
her parents when quite a young child, they settling 
in this county, where she was reared to womanhood. 
She is a very estimable lady, and by her marriage 



«••- 



with our subject has become the mother of si.x 
children, three of whom are deceased, namely: 
Kate, Mary E. and Clara. The survivors are Ed- 
ward, Artie and Jessie, who are at home with their 
parents. Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker attend the Epis- 
copal Church at Wyoming. Our subject was a 
member of the Republican party a number of years, 
but his warm interest in the temperance work led 
him in 1888 to identify himself with the Prohibi- 
tionists. 

7=" >-7^K-s — ,,• '-»' '" 

(S^^^HOMAS D. SABIN occupies a prominent 
place among the farmers of this county, and 
resides on section 9 of Syracuse Precinct, 
his home being about one-half mile from the town 
of that name. He is a native of the Buckeye 
State, and was born on the 8th of September, 183D, 
in Knox County. His parents were David and 
Nancy (Baird) Sabin; the father was a native of 
Washington County, Pa., the mother of Peny 
County, Ohio. The latter is deceased. 

The grandfather of our subject, David Sabin, was 
born in Vermont, which is as far as our subject has 
been enabled to trace his ancestry. He removed 
from Vermont and settled in Washington County 
about the time of his marriage, where he lived for 
many years and brought up his family, then going 
to Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days 
in Licking County. 

The father of our subject grew to manhood in 
Pennsylvania, and was about eighteen years of age 
when he took his place with his father among the 
pioneer settlers of Licking County. In that place 
he lived until the year 1856, when he migrated to 
Illinois and settled upon the farm near Bloomington, 
where he continued to follow agricultural pursuits 
until 1872, when he removed to Piper City, where 
he still resides, and although he has reached the 
advanced age of eighty years, enjoys the use of his 
faculties and fairly good health. He has been a 
successful man and a leading citizen; has been able 
to educate his children and give them a start in life. 

The mother of our subject was born in Perry 
County, Ohio, in the year 1812, and died upon the 
14tli of February, 1871. Her married life extended 
overa period of forty years, which, from commence- 

«> M 



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■16 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4 



ment to close, witnessed the same affectionate devo- 
tion and faitlifulness to the obligations resting upon 
her as a wife and mother; she filled a place in the 
hearts of her family that can never be otherwise 
occupied. She was the mother of ten children, o ily 
five of whom, however, attained to years of discre- 
tion, viz: Daniel E., who resides at Albion; Mary 
J., now Mrs. Fowler, who resides near Piper City, 
111.; Thomas D., our subject; Jemima AV., of Chi- 
cago, and Eliza, who was married to Mr. David 
Hall, and died at her home at Danvers, 111. 

The subject of our sketch attained to years of 
manhood before leaving his native State. In 1856 
with his parents he removed to Illinois and began 
life for himself. In ' 1 864 he went to McLean 
County, 111., and engaged in farming. The same 
3-ear he was united in marriage with Eliza V. 
Wood, the estimable daughter of William and Mary 
(Campbell) Wood, who were natives of Frederick 
County, Va., but removed to Clinton, Ohio, where 
their daughter Eliza was born on the 10th of Jan- 
uary, 1836. Their home in Clinton County was 
only made by cutting their way. foot by foot, in 
the dense forests of that district, and thus redeeming, 
piece by piece, the land for cultivation. Their resi- 
dence in Ohio continued until 1853, when they re- 
moved to Knox County, 111., where the mother died 
in 1861. The family removed to McLean County. 
The father died in the year 1869, at his home in 
Ohio. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wood were the parents of eight 
children, seven of whom attained their majoritj'. 
These are: Mary L., who became the wife of Joseph 
Strickle; William R., of Colorado; James H.. who 
died at Denison, Tex.; Robert M., of Nebraska; 
John F., of Bloomington; Eliza V., the wife of 
our subject, and Dakin D., who resides in Nebr.aska, 
and is engaged in farming. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sabin settled 
on a farm in McLean Count}' and began life in 
earnest. Our subject gave his attention to the im- 
provement and cultivation of his land, in the en- 
deavor to bring his farm to as near a perfect state 
of cultivation as possible. He put u[) some first- 
class farm buildings, and gave attention generally 
to stock-farming, also to the buying and shipping 
of stock. In this he continued until 1883, when he 



came to Nebraska and purchased his present prop- 
ertj', which comprises 240 acres of land, and is well 
provided with the various appliances and buildings 
needed. They have but one child, a daughter, Cora, 
born Feb. 8, 1871, who has displayed a character 
and disposition most happy. The position of our 
subject and wife religiously is in the Christian 
Church, of wliich they are highly esteemed mem- 
bers and active workers. In matters of political im- 
port Mr. Sabin usuallj' votes the Republican ticket, 
supporting it in an}' effort that is made when he 
conscientiously can; but he is not confined within 
the circumscribed limits of party fence-building, 
and is guided in tliis as in everything else by the 
high principles that have characterized the decisions 
of his life, and is swa3'ed by the condition of the 
situation to be met, the needs of the constituents, 
and the power of the candidate to meet those needs, 
so that he might be called independent. He is a 
man who stands high in the community in every 
regard. 

■ -l^m- 



ai l^lLLiAM J. DOUGALL. The name of 
\/yJ/! this gentleman is familiar to a large pro- 
WW portion of the residents of Palmyra Pre- 
cinct, he being numbered among its leading men. 
His career has been creditable in the extreme, and 
one which his children may look upon with pride. 
During the late Civil War he did good service as 
a soldier in the Union Army, and upon returning 
to priv.ate life has been one of the most useful 
members of an intelligent and prosperous commu- 
nity. Genial, companionable and conscientious, 
he is popular among his fellow-citizens, and his 
personal appearance alone would commend him as 
a man of more than ordinary capabilities. He is 
of commanding presence, with fine features, and a 
remarkabl}' intelligent eye — a man who would lie 
singled out among a thousand. 

Mr. Dougall has tlic greater part of his life been 
engaged in farming pursuits, and his property in 
Palmyra Precinct embraces eighty acres on section 
14, and forty acres on section 10, besides the home 
farm on section 15. To the latter he has given 
especial attention, having gathered around himself 
and his family those conveniences and comfurts 



f 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



■► 11 ^ ^- 



naturally sugoested to the kinillj' bushanrl anrl 
father and tiie self-respecting citizen. He is in the 
prime of life, having been born Sept. 1, 1842. at 
the farm of his father in Princeton Township, Sche- 
nectady Co., N. Y. His parents were John D. and 
Jennie (Walker) Dougall. The father, a native of 
Scotland, was born about seven miles from the 
city of Edinburgh, and was given a fine education, 
attending school during his youthful days until 
coming to the United States. After taking up his 
residence in Schenectady County, N. Y'., he en- 
gaged in teaching and farming combined, and in 
the Empire State made the acquaintance of his 
future wife. 

The mother of our subject was born in the above- 
named county, and vvas there married to John 
Dougall. Their union resulted in the birth of five 
children, namely: Thomas, George, William J. 
(our subject), Peter and Margaret. The latter was 
taken from the home circle under the most dis- 
tressing circumstances, she being burned to death 
when a child. All of the others grew to mature 
years, and three are now living. The parents, a 
brother and a sister, died during the Civil War. 

Mr. Dougall spent his boyhood and youth on the 
farm, pursuing his first studies in the district school. 
At the age of sixteen years he became a student of 
Jonesville Academy. Not long after the first call for 
troops to assist in putting down the Rebellion, he 
enlisted in Company E, 44th New Y^ork Infantry, 
which was styled the " Ellsworth Avengers." His 
regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, 
and young Dougall participated in many of the 
important battles which followed, namely: Big 
Bethel, Little Bethel, Y'orktown, Williamsburg, and 
was in the seven-days fight at the second battle of 
Bull Run. At Antietam he was promoted to Ser- 
geant, and afterward severely wounded in the left 
leg. He was conveyed to the hospital at Harris- 
burg, Pa., where he lay a short time, and was finally 
obliged to accept his honorable discharge on ac- 
count of disability. He had, however, given a 
faithful service of one year, and felt that he had 
performed his duty. 

During the attack of Lee upon the city of Gettys- 
burg there were 2,200 disabled and discharged sol- 
diers waiting at Camp Distribution, not yet having 



been assigned to their respective regiments. Ob- 
serving that the Union troops were in need of their 
aid, they at once took up arms, and as if b}' magic, 
submitted to the orders of the War Department. 
Our subject at the time assumed command of a 
squad of men, and through the united efforts of the 
brave recruits, the plans of the rebel General were 
materially changed if not absolutely defeated. Mr. 
Dougall re-enlisted with the 99th Pennsylvania In- 
fantry, and sis days later was again found in the 
thickest of the fight at the battles of Fredericks- 
burg, Kelly's Ford, and the first and second battles 
of the Wilderness. At the latter he was struck by 
two balls at about the same time, and about four 
rods away seventeen color-bearers fell. Corporal 
Dougall, notwithstanding bis wounds, seized one of 
the falling banners, and was about bearing it on to 
victory, when a musket ball struck his breastplate, 
and although not penetr.ating it, dealt him such a 
blow that he reeled, and was in the act of falling 
when another ball struck him in the left heel. He 
was carried to the rear. At the battle of Spottsyl- 
vania Court House, when every inch of ground was 
disputed, the troops first advancing, then retreating, 
Sergt. Dougall while nearing the third line of the 
rebel breastworks, cleared them, and seizing the 
rebel colors, started for his own lines, but before he 
could reach them fell, severely wounded in the 
head. The cry went up from his comrades that 
"brave Dougall was no more." The latter lay un- 
conscious on the ground nearly all day, while thou- 
sands of bullets flew thick around him, and when 
the ground was strewn with the dead and wounded 
of both armies. At night he crawled into his regi- 
ment's ranks. 

Sergt. Dougall later recovering from his wounds, 
was given a thirty-days furlough and returned 
home. At the expiration of this time he rejoined 
his regiment and participated in the series of bat- 
tles along the Chickahominy, prior to laying siege 
to Petersburg. Here he was promoted to Corporal, 
and was again wounded several times. During his 
army service he participated in thirty-two general 
engagements, besides unnumbered skirmishes and 
all the other vicissitudes of war, the wearisome 
marches, hardships and privations, insutticient food, 
and the various other experiences incident to life 



•►Hl^ 



•<*> 



•4* 



718 



OTOE COUNTY. 






in the ann^'. lie wns present at the final grand 
review in Washintrton, and received his honorable 
discharge in Pliiladeiphia, Pa., after a serviee of 
four years and thirteen days. 

Our subject, April 9, 18GG, crossed the Missis- 
sippi, and coming to this county homesteaued 160 
acres of land in Palmyra Precinct. In November 
following he was united in marriage witli Miss 
Emma, adopted daughter of Homer Chamberlain. 
Tins lady was born in 1848, in Canada. They be- 
gan their wedded life together under the modest 
roof provided by our subject on the new farm, 
which they have since developed into a comfort- 
able and well-ordered homestead. Their union has 
been blessed by the birth of five children, the eld- 
est of whom, Minnie B., died when an interesting 
young girl of fifteen years. The others. Homer J., 
William E., Elizabeth A. and Joseph G., are all at 
home. 

Mr. Dougall voted for the adoption of a .State 
Constitution in 186(5, and has been an ardent sup- 
porter of Republican principles. He has served as 
Justice of the Peace four years, Road Supervisor 
twelve 3'ears, and Constable for a period of fifteen 
years. Both be and his estimable wife are members 
in good standing of the United Brethren Church, at- 
tending witli the Mt. Zion congregation in Palmyra. 
Socially, Mr. B. is Adjutant in tlie G. A. R., in 
whicii he has also served as Officer of the Day, and 
as a delegate to the National Encampment. 



-WV -\t££ja'©^@» 



A,^-Si^!nnr>^-r 



'^ '^' ASON H. AVILES. whose higlily productive 
and splendidly kept farm is situated upon 
.section 14 of Delaware Precinct, was born 
in Sandusk}^ County, Ohio, on the loth of 
February-. 1847. He is the son of Mason S. and 
Helen AYiles, natives of New York State. His 
father removed to Ohio when a j'oung man, and 
there followed his trade, that of a carpenter. In 
1861 he removed with his familj' to Eaton County, 
Mich., where he pursued carpentering, while his 
sons attended to the farm. In the fall of 1869 they 
migrated to Bates Count}', Mo., and the following 
spring settled in Peru, Nemaha County, this .State. 
The subject of our sketch was early initiated 



into the various duties of farm life, and in tbe 
common school of the district received such in- 
struction as would serve as a basis of operations in 
business or other engagements to which he might 
give his attention in after years. He accompanied 
his parents as they migrated from one place to 
another, finding such employment upon the farm 
as was both congenial and helpful. 

Finally, leaving home and beginning life for 
himself. Mr. Wiles settled about six miles west of 
Peru, where he lived until 1879, engaged in farm- 
ing. He came to this countv' in the spring of 1882, 
and lived for three years near Nebraska City, mov- 
ing to his present farm in 1885. He owns 160 
acres of land amply adapted for agricultural pur- 
suits. He has labored industriously to bring it to 
its present condition, and is usuallj' rewarded with 
abundant harvests. In the stock department of 
his farm he raises chieflj^ cattle and hogs, and upon 
an average has each season no less than eighty head 
of graded cattle. 

In no other country in tbe world are there so 
many of the masses of the people owning their own 
homes. This is an indication that, deep-rooted in 
the heart of the American citizen, is the desire for 
a fireside of his own, and that he finds the atmo- 
sphere of the domestic circle eminently congenial. 
A country has therein one of its strongest and 
stoutest bulwarks. Napoleon the Great is said to 
have remarked that if he had a nation of mothers 
he could conquer the world. Our subject, in com- 
mon with American citizens generally, having the 
same desire for the home relation, sought and ob- 
tained the hand of Lenora A. Kent in marriage, 
that event being celebrated on the 22d of January, 
1880. Their union has been fruitful in the birth 
of three children, who bear the names of Wyman 
S., Hiram L. and Frank S. 

Mr. Wiles is of a retiring disposition, and con- 
sequently is not prominent in political affairs. He 
is, however, a loyal and true citizen, careful to do 
his dutj% usually voting with the Republican party, 
but reserving to himself the right of the free citi- 
zen to support such candidates for office as he may 
deem most worthy and efficient. 

The homestead views of this volume form one 
of its most attractive features, and the Wiles 



•^l-M» 



t. 



*► i r^ 



OTOE COU^;TY. 



19 -' 



residence, with its surroundings herein given, aid 
greathr in perfecting the illustrative department, 
as indicative of the tastes and industry of an intel- 
ligent community. 



^S!p^^HOMAS WEATHERHOGG is a resident on 
section .3, Palmyra Precinct. A native of 
Lincolnshire, England, he was born in 
1829, and is the son of John and Hannah (Coats) 
Weatherhogg, of whose children six are living, 
namely: Charles, Jane, Thoma.s, AVilliam, Henry 
and George. 

The father of our subject was a farmer by occu- 
pation, and tlie boyhood of Thomas was spent in 
his native county, where he became familiar with 
tlie employments of rural life. Upon leaving liome 
he was in the employ of one man on a farm for a 
period of nine years. He was married, in 1853, to 
Miss Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mary Halford, 
who was born in 1'828. Mr. H. was also a farmer 
by occupation, and the parental family consisted of 
three children — William, Rachel and jNIary. 

Mr. and Mrs. Weatherhogg lived in England 
about four years after their marriage, and became 
the parents of one child. In 1857 they started for 
America, and after a prosperous voyage landed in 
Kew York City, whence they proceeded soon after- 
ward to the vicinity of Mendota, 111. There our 
subject engaged in farming. Later, with his broth- 
ers, Charles, William and Henrj', he started to 
I'ike's Peak, in 1863, and there experienced the 
truth of the maxim that "all is not gold that glit- 
ters." After one year spent in fruitlessly pros- 
jiecting, he turned his attention to something more 
tangible, and paying an exorbitant price for a team 
of oxen, began freighting. Later he returned to 
Illinois, and remained there until coming to Ne- 
braska in the fall of 1865. 

Mrs. Weatherhogg is deceased. Their only 
child, a daughter Anna, became the wife of George 
Hailey, and is now living at Long Pine, in Brown 
County, 111. Mr. H. is a farmer by occcupation, 
and they have one child, a daughter Lilly. 

UiKjn coming to Nebraska Mr. Weatherhogg set- 
tled upon 160 .acres of land in Palmvra Precinct. 



•t 



and put up a small house, paying for the lumber 
at the rate of $40 i)er thousand. Here he lived by 
himself, his daughter Anna having taken up her 
abode with his brother Charles, where she lived 
until eighteen years of age. She then came home 
to lier father. Our subject in 1869 contracted a 
second marriage, with Mrs. Harriet (Smith) Long- 
street, widow of the late Henry Longstreet. Mrs. 
Weatherhogg was born in Chautauqua County, N. 
Y., and went with her parents to Michigan. There 
she was first married and lived until after the war, 
when she came to Nebraska with relatives and took 
up a tract of land in Palmyra Precinct. Of this 
union there have been born four children, all sons 
— Frank, John, George and Frederick. 

Mr. Weatherhogg, politically, is independent, and 
has never had any aspiration for office. He has 
fought the grasshopper plague successfully, and 
has now a comfortable homestead in the midst of 
fruit and shade trees, including an apple orchard 
and a quantity of grape vines, and has a grove of 
Cottonwood, ash and honey locust trees. His fields 
are laid otf with neatly trimmed hedge fences, and 
his home forms an exceedingl)' pleasant picture of 
country life. 

,OBERT T. Mcpherson may be placed 
among the substantial, well-to-do citizens 
of Russell Precinct, and operates success- 
y^fully from a financial standpoint eighty 
acres of excellent farming land on section 6. Joseph 
McPherson, the father of our subject, was born in 
Scotland. He came to this countrj- a j'Oung man 
and began farming in Pennsylvania, and he was 
the owner of 200 acres in that State and there died 
in 1856. The maiden name of his wife, the mother 
of our subject, whom he met and married in the 
State of his adoption, was Miss Anna Barr, who 
was born and brought up in Pennsylvania. The 
maternal side of the family represents a French 
ancestry. Grandfather Barr was in the War of 
1812, and was one of the cliildren born in this 
country, although of French parents. The mothei- 
of our subject is still living, and is sixty years of 
age. She w.is the mother of six children, of 

•¥ 



•►Hh-* 



-•► 



720 



OTOE COUNTY. 



whom the following three survive: Hugh, who re- 
sides in Pennsylvania; John and Robert T. Eliza- 
beth, Mary and Jane are deceased. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Indiana 
County, Pa., on the 28th of August, 1851. He 
made his home with his parents until fourteen years 
■of age, and then went to Illinois, and worked out 
upon a farm by the month for about six years. He 
managed to pick up while at home and during the 
winters of his absence a fairly good practical 
education, through the instrumentality of the 
common schools. In the year 1871 he started 
overland and came to Cass County, in this State. 
He remained there one year, and then came to Rus- 
sell Precinct, in this county, where he was enabled 
to purchase eighty acres of land, his present prop- 
erty, which he has improved in a most commenda- 
ble manner. 



IKTRICH SCHINDLER. The. agricultural 
interests of Otoe Precinct are no better rep- 
resented than by the subject of this sketch, 
who owns a large and well-managed farm 
in this locality, pleasantly situated on section 22, 
and comprising 360 acres of as rich and fertile farm- 
ing land as is to be found in Eastern Nebraska. 
Mr. Schindler is a native of Switzerland, having 
been born in the Canton of Glarus, July 10, 1843. 
His father, Jacob Schindler, and his grandfather, 
Joachim Schindler, were also natives of the same 
canton, and the latter spent his entire life there. 
The father of our subject learned the trade of lock- 
smith in his native land, and pursued it there until 
1857, wiien he set sail from Havre de Grace in the 
month of February in an American-bound vessel, 
accompanied bj' three of his five children. They 
landed at New Orleans sixty days later, and tiiere 
took passage on a steamer up the Mississippi and Mis- 
souri Rivers, and landed at Otoe City, now Miners- 
ville, Otoe County, and from there Mr. Schindler 
started out to seek a location. He soon bought a 
claim in Otoe Precinct, section 22, where our sub- 
ject now resides. He soon comjjleted his purchase 
with the Government, and moved into the log 
cahin that stood on the place nearly finished. He I 



had ten acres broken, and planted that with corn 
and potatoes, and continued tolive there until 185i), 
when he rented the land and went to Arkansas, 
where he bought a tract of land in Dallas Countj', 
and there the family were reunited by his wife and 
other two children joining them. He was prosper- 
ouslj' engaged in farming there until his death in 
1864, which was brought about in this way. It 
was during the war, and the country was infested 
by guerrillas, who, while he was on his way to Little 
Rock to see Gen. Steele, waylaid and killed him, 
and at the same time the greater part of his stock 
and personal property was killed or destroyed by 
the bushwhackers. Soon after his death the family 
returned to Otoe Precinct, and settled on the land 
that he had purchased from the Government. The 
mother of our subject was a resident of the pre- 
cinct until her death. The record of the children 
born to her and her husband is as follows: Ursula, 
wife of Henrv Vallman; Emilie died soon after the 
return of the faniil}' from Arkansas ; Dietrich ; Annie 
E., wife of Jacob Baltensperger; Edward died in 
Arkansas. 

The subject of this sketch gained a good, practi- 
cal education in the Swiss schools, which he attended 
quite regularly as long as he lived in his native 
land. He was fourteen j'ears old when he accom- 
panied his father to this country, and he remembers 
well the incidents of the long voyage, and of his sub- 
sequent pioneer life here on the farm where he now 
resides, over which deer, wolves and prairie chick- 
ens used to roam, and occasionally wild turkeys. 
He went to Arkansas with his father, and lived with 
him until 1862, when he was drafted into the Con- 
federate Army, and was obliged to serve in its ranks 
as a member of Company G, 21st Arkansas In- 
fantry, doing duty in Mississippi for one year. 
While at Vicksburg he obtained a furlough, and 
after his return home communications were cut off 
by Gen. Grant, and our subject was detailed to su- 
perintend the sulphur works at the Hot Springs until 
the Federals took Little Rock. He then went into 
the Union camp at that place, and gladly took the 
oath of allegiance to the United Slates Government. 
After that he went to Cairo, III., where he worked 
at the baker's trade for six months, when he re- 
turned to the old homestead, and in the summer of 



•►HI-4*- 



»^h 




Residence OF Dietrich 5chindler ,5ec.22. Otoe Precinct. 




Residence OF Dietrich Misegadis,Sec 16 Rock Creek Precinct 



Hl-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



-•»• 



723 



that year teamerl for the frei<rhtprs over the plains, 
aiifl in tlie fall engaged with Col. Shoorp. of tlie 3(1 
Colorailo Militia, who was then on tiie frontier to 
su|)press Inilian tiuubles, as teamster, and he con- 
tinued witii the command on the frontier' nntil the 
following February, and he then returned to tiie 
old homestead to resume tiie calling of farmer, to 
which lie had been devoted under his father when 
he first came to live in this country. Ever since 
he has been actively engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, and to reward his persistent labors has as fine 
a farm as any in the connt\', well supplied with sub- 
stantial buildings for ever^- purpose, and in 1885 
he erected a good frame house, in which he and his 
farnilj' live surrounded by everj' comfort that heart 
could desire. Mr. Scliindler has paid special atten- 
tion to raising stock, and derives from that branch 
of agriculture a good annual income. 

Our subject was married, Nov. 25. 1807, to Mary 
■ Anna Tschanz. a native of the Canton of Berne, Swit- 
.zerland. She came to America with the family of 
her father, John Tschanz, who settled twenty miles 
east of St. Joseph, Mo. Nine children were born 
of the marriage of our subject and his wife, namel3' : 
Rosa, Edward, Jacob, Lewis, Henry H., Albert H.. 
Clarence. Emil3' and Madeline. 

On the 29th of February, 1888, this happy house- 
hold sustained an irreparable loss in the death of 
the wife and mother, who had been faithful in all 
the duties of life, and had been devoted to the in- 
terests of her family. .She has left behind her a 
memory that will be fondly cherished by her rela- 
tives, friends and neighbors. Dec. 3, 1888, Mr. 
Schindler married a second time, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Lizette Wissler, daughter of 
Jacob and Eliza (Rufenacht) Wissler, from the Can- 
ton of Berne, Switzerland, but now of Humboldt, 
Richardson Co., Neb. 

Mr. Schindler is one of the best citizens. He is 
a man of more than ordinary enterprise, practical 
sagacity, and decision of character. His public- 
spiritednoss and liberality are well known, as he is 
always among the foremost to encourage and pro- 
mote any scheme for the advancement of the pre- 
cinct or county. Otoe Precinct is partly indebted 
to him for her excellent schools, as he has taken a 
deep interest in educational matters, and has served 



Ht^^ 



-i- 



■ ^P - '^f 



-5— 



lEDRICIl MISEGADIS, a large landowner 
and stock-raiser of Rock Creek Precinct, 
has his home farm, on section 16, and 
this embraces 160 acres. On section 9 he 
owns 160 acres in one body and fift3' acres in 
another, and on section 17 he has eighty acres. 
The whole of this is in a good state of cultivation 
and yields the jaroprietor a comfortable income. A 
view of the homestead is given on another page. 

Our subject became a resident of this county on 
the 27th of October, 1873, and his labors as an 
agriculturist have been crowned with success. 
Prior to that date he had been a resident of Grant 
and LaFayette Counties, Wis., a period of thirteen 
years, having emigrated to the Badger State from 
his native Hanover, in Germany, in the fall of 
1860. He was then a young man of twenty-five 
years, having been born on the 12th of May, 1835. 
His father, Frederick Misegadis, was a native of 
the same Province, which at the time of his birth 
was a kingdom by itself, and where for a period of 
eleven years he worked on the farm and drove the 
four-horse team of King Frederick. There also 
he was married to Miss Adeheida Lofrutian, a 
native of the same section of country. The mother 
died after the birth of five children, when a young 
woman. The father lived to be seventy-eight 
years old, spending his entire life on his native 
soil. They were Lutheran in religion, and most 
excellent people, honest and industrious, .and 
respected by all who knew them. 

The fourth child of his parents and their second 
son, our subject had two brothers and two sisters, 
two of whom are now in Wisconsin, one in Otoe 
County, Neb., and a sister in the old country. lie 
remained in his native Province until twenty -five 
years of age, still unmarried, this interesting event 



I 



several terms as Moilerator. He was Road Super- 
visor for eight years, and in 1884 was a candidate 
for the State Legislatuie, but on account of his 
wife's sickness he was obliged to retire from the 
canvass. He has always been a Republican, and 
by voice and vote has worked for the interests of 
his chosen party. 



♦ 



r 



•► i r^ 



724 



OTOE COUNTY. 



takino; place in Dodge C'ounty, "Wis. The maiden 
of his choice was Miss Augusta Chanflsh. a 
native of Prussia, and who was born April 28, 
1847. Iter father. Ferdinand Chanfish, died when 
she was quite young, and she came with her mother 
and stepfather, William Blancke, to America when a 
little girl eight years of age. They settled in "Water- 
town, Wis., where she lived until her marriage. 

Mr. and Mrs. Misegadis became the parents of 
ten children, the eldest of whom, Frederick, died 
at the age of four years. The survivors are all at 
home with their parents, and form an interesting 
group, of which the latter may well be proud. 
'J'hey are named respectively: William F., E. W. 
Emma, Ida A., Lizzie M., Edwin H., George D., 
Christina A., Louis R. and Alva A. The eldest 
was twentj^-one years of age Oct. 29, 1888, and the 
youngest one year old at that date. They are all 
members and regular attendants with their parents 
of the Lutheran Church. Mr. M., politicall}-, is a 
conscientious Democrat, and has held the minor 
offices of his precinct. 



!S?SSK5S^i 



*ri?f 



IIL_^ OX. JA:MES FITCHIE. of Nebraska City, 
If)!' occupies a prominent position among the 
i^^ intelligent and cultured citizens of this 
(^) county, who, as pioneers, have witnessed and 
assisted in its development. He is thoroughly con- 
versant with its history — indeed, is regarded as an 
authority on the subject- — and he ha,s written manj' 
interesting articles concerning its early settlement. 
He was at one time conspicuously identified with 
the civic life of the countj^; was early appointed 
Justice of the Peace, and by his vigorous and im- 
jjartial administration of the affairs of his office 
during the four years that he was an incumbent 
thereof, he contributed greatly to the peaceful set- 
tlement of the county and to its general prosperity 
by assisting in tlie maintenance of law and order, 
winning the commendations of his fellow-citizens. 
In 1869 he was a member of the State Legislature, 
and his record at the capitol stamped him as an 
honorable and enlightened legislator. 

Our subject is a native of Ireland, but descended 
from a good old Scotch familv. who had settled in 



County Down many years previous to the birth of 
our subject, which occurred May 3, 1810. in that 
county. Thomas Fitchie, his father, was a native 
and lifelong resident of the same localitj', where 
he carried on farming for many years. The maiden 
name of the mother of our subject was Elizabeth 
Hays, and she was likewise of Scotch ancestry and 
a native of County Down, where she always made 
her home. There were nine children born to the 
parents of our subject, eight of whom grew up, 
namely: John, Samuel, AVilliam, Margaret, James, 
Jennie, Mary and Thomas. John, Samuel and our 
subject were the only three who came to America. 
John settled in Newl)urg. N. Y., and Samuel in 
Brooklyn, that State. 

James Fitchie, of whom we write, was reared and 
married in his native county. Miss Eliza Douglss 
becoming his wife Oct. 29, 1833. She was born in 
County Down, Ireland, in 1812, a daughter of 
Samuel and Alice (Wood) Douglas, natives of 
Ireland, and of Scotch aneestry. James Fitchie 
learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, and fol- 
lowed it in Ireland until 1834, when, with his wife 
he set sail from Belfast for America, coming by the 
way of Liverpool to New York, where he landed 
on our National holiday. He first located in New- 
burg, and worked as a carpenter there until 1837. 
From there he went to Pittsburgh, Pa., going by 
the way of Philadelphia to Ilarrisburg, which was 
then the western terminus of the railway in that 
State, and thence to his destination. He worked at 
his trade for awhile, and then engaged in the gro- 
cery business, continuing his residence in Pitts- 
burgh until 1852. In that j^ear he cast in his lot 
with the pioneers of Iowa, still keeping ahead of 
the railway, as Central Illinois was then its western 
terminus. 

Mr. Fitchie was employed at carpentering in 
Muscatine until 1855, when he concluded to explore 
Nebraska for the purpose of securing a home in 
that part of Uncle Sam's domain. Accordingly, in 
the spring of that year, he started in company with 
a neighbor, Mr. Hays, equipped with a pair of oxen 
and a wagon, and crossed the river above Omaha, 
proceeding thence to Tekamah, Burt Countj', where 
he took up a claim. The '"city" consisted of one 
log house covered with bark, .and two tents, and his 



-<»■ 



■•► 



otop: county. 



claim was one mile distant from its present site. lie 
spent but two nights on liis land, and then returned 
to Omaha, which was at that time but an insignifi- 
cant village, with the post-office in a sod house, 
and the other buildings of pretty much the same 
rude description. Mr. Fitchie stopped at that place 
about a week, and then came to Nebraska City to 
spend a few days before retracing liis steps to Mus- 
catine. He walked nearly the entire distance, and 
slept two nights on the open prairie. 

After settling his affairs in Iowa, Mr. Fitchie 
started with a team, accompanied by his family, to 
take up his abode on the wild prairies of Nebraska. 
He arrived with his wife and children in Nebraska 
City on the 10th day of October, 18.55, and moved 
into a vacant log cabin in that part of the town 
now known as Kearney. There were then probably 
about 100 families in the city, and but one store 
to supply all their wants. He had shipped his 
chest of carpentry tools bj' the river, but they did 
not arrive until the following spring. So here he 
was, a stranger in a strange land, without money 
or the means of obtaining it. But he was not one 
to sit down and mourn over what could not be 
helped without stirring himself actively to find a 
remedy. He immediately went to a store and 
bought some tools on time, and was thus enabled 
to obtain plenty of work. After a few weeks he 
made a claim on Camp Creek, nine miles south of 
the city, built a house, partly with sod and partly 
with logs, and in midwinter moved into it with 
his family. There were no settlers west of him at 
that time, and no other than log houses anywhere 
in tlie vicinity. The land was nearly all owned by 
the Government, and for sale at $1.2.5 an acre. 
Deer were plentiful and roamed at will over the 
broad prairies. There was a gristmill two miles 
distant from where he had located; it was worked by 
water power, but it took so long to grind the grist 
that one would get verj' hungry waiting its slow 
movements. 

, In the fall of that year Mr. Fitchie ingeniously 
contrived a grater, and picking the corn before it was 
hard, grated it to make bread. Having cows, milk 
was plentiful, and mush and milk was the principal 
food of the family for a time. A few months after 
coming to Nebraska City Mr. F. bought a house 



•►-^t::^ 



and lot in that part of the city now called Kearney, 
paying $1 00 for both. lie made a few repairs, and 
in a short time the boom came and he sold his little 
property for the snug sum of $775, taking stock in 
part paj'uient, and he was thus enabled to settle on 
his land and improve a farm. He resided on it 
until 1877, and by that time it had greatly increased 
in value, and he sold it for a sum far above the 
original cost. Since that time he and his wife have 
made their home in Nebraska City with their son- 
in-law, Hon. William Campbell. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fitchie have six children living: 
Martha D., widow of .John K. Oilman, resides in 
Nebraska City; Margaret C, widow of S. B. Davis, 
in California; Samuel D. resides in Weeping Water; 
Elizabeth A. is the wife of Jeremiah Oilman, and 
.Tennie, the wife of William Campbell; Thomas re- 
sides in Nebraska City. William N.. their fourth 
child, died at the age of eighteen years; Ella I., 
the eighth child, died in infancy; John T., the 
ninth child, died at the age of thirty -three, 

October 29, 1883, marked the golden milestone 
of the wedded life of our subject and his wife, who 
for fifty years have walked hand in hand through 
sunshine and shadow, and in sharing each other's 
joj'S and griefs have grown nearer and dearer to 
each other. On the occasion of the golden wed- 
ding, commemorative of that other wedding da,y 
that lay back in the past half century, when they 
united their fresh j^oung lives for better or for 
worse, a large concourse of friends gathered to con- 
gratulate them, and showed the warm place they 
occupied in many hearts bj^ the expression of 
kind and loving wishes and the presentation of 
many valuable gifts. 

Mr. Fitchie identified himself with the Demo- 
ci'atic party when he was a young man, and con- 
tinued to advocate the policy of that party until 
1860, when he voted for Lincoln, as his views in 
regard to the course to be pursued relative to sup- 
pressing the Rebellion coincided with those of the 
leaders of the Republican party, and he has been a 
stanch supporter of that iJarty since that time. At 
the age of flft3'-three years, when the Indian out- 
Jbreak occurred in Nebraska, Mr. Fitchie, shoulder- 
ing his musket and buckling on his armor, went 
out to defend his county and the firesides of the 



f 



■ ► I I <• 



■•►■ 



726 



OTOE COUNTY. 



pioneers in tlie western part of tiiis State. He 
furnished his own horse, served four months, and 
accepted his paj' in an honorable discharge. As 
will be observed, he was one of the old pioneers, and 
from an article which he wrote for the Nebraska 
City P7-ess in connection with the early remin- 
iscences of Otoe County, we clip the following: 

"For want of better timber thej^ made a 'Squire 
of your humble servant, and it was fortunate for 
both myself and the solemnity of the ceremony, 
that the first pair I married were so Dutchy they 
scarcely knew what I said, and it would have been 
hard to tell who was the worse frightened, they or 
I. The fees were an item in those days. I have 
heard of editors being compelled to take pumpkins 
and saw logs on subscription, but I suppose there 
are few men who have taken cottonwood rails as a 
fee for performing the marriage ceremony. Let 
me tell of one in particular who requested that I 
should wait for my fee until he could make and 
haul some posts, and to-day this man is wortli over 
a cool $100,000, a credit to himself and an honor to 
old Otoe County, as showing what a thoroughly 
hard-working man can do in this great country of 
ours." 



y^'REDERICK ZUCK. The German element 
(Sj of Rock Creek Precinct, here as elsewhere, 
has aided largely' in the growth and pros- 
perity of the community. The subject of this 
sketch is one of its most successful farmers, and a 
native of the Fatherland, born in one of the Rhine 
Provinces, Nov. 6, 1840. He owns a good farm 
of eighty acres on section 36, and in addition to 
general agriculture, is interested in live stock, mak- 
ing a specialty of the popular .Jersej'-Ked swine. 

Mr. Zuck settled upon his present farm sixteen 
years ago, in the spring of 1873. He took the 
land in its wild and uncultivated state, and has 
transformed it into one of tlie most desirable home- 
steads of his precinct. He has labored early and 
late, through sunshine and storm, battled against 
difficulties and hardships, and is now enjoying the 
fruit of his labors. He came to Nebraska in Octo- 
ber, 1867, landing in this county on the 30th day 
of the month, locating first in Nebraska Cit}'. The 



Territory had become a State two months pre- 
viously. He has watched the growth and prosperity 
of the people around him, and in the building up 
of one of the best farms in his precmct has largely 
contributed to the position which it occupies among 
the intelligent communities of this section. 

Mr. Zuck crossed the Atlantic when a young 
man of twent3'-five years, and took up his residence 
first in Perry County, liid., whence he removed to 
Rock Island, III., and from the Prairie State came 
to Nebraska. In his native Empire he had served 
three years in the German Army, and when at home 
had been engaged with his father in agricultural 
pursuits. He had little capital aside from his 
strong hands when coming to the West, and these 
have served him well. 

Mr. Zuck was married in Nebraska City, March 
28, 1873, to Miss Fredricka Scliomeius, who was 
born in Hanover, Germany, July 6, 1836, and is 
the sister of D. ,1. Scliomeius, a prosperous boot 
and shoe merchant of Nebraska City, and a sketch 
of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. 

The wife of our subject came to America with 
her mother in 1871, and lived in Nebraska Citj' 
until her marriage. Of their union there is one 
child only, a daughter. Mary E., who was born 
Dec. 20, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Z. are members in 
good standing of the German Lutheran Church, 
and our subject, politically, votes the Democratic 
ticket. 

A view of Mr. Zuck's homestead is presented in 
connection with this brief personal sketch of its 
proprietor. 



■^Z AMES CARLIN has carried on farming suc- 
cessfully in Rock Creels Precinct since the 
spring of 1871, when he purchased on sec- 
^^/ tion 16, 160 acres of school land from the 
State. It was in its wild and uncultivated state, 
and for two years Mr. C. employed himself at team- 
ing before settling upon his purchase. In 1872 he 
put up a dwelling, and gradually added the other 
buildings necessary for the successful prosecution 
of his calling, the comfort of his family, the stor- 
age of grain and the shelter of stock. He was 
prospered in his labors, and in due time pur- 



•►^1--^- 



■•►Hl- 




Residence of Friedrick Z uck ,Sec.36.Rock Creek Precinct. 




Residence of James Carlin .Sec.IG. Rock Creck Precinct. 



»► I I ^» 



:^K 



OTOE COUNTY. 



(29 



chased eighty acres more on another section of tlie 
same precinct, and which he lias also brought to a 
good state of cultivation. 

The farm of our subject is well stocked with 
cattle and horses, and from this and the raising of 
the crops which flourisli best in Southern Nebraska 
he enjoys a good income. Prior to his arrival in 
this State he had been a resident of Scott Countj'^, 
Iowa, to which he removed with his parents when a 
child. The latter were .James and Mary (Dougherty) 
Carlin, who were natives of Counties Donegal and 
Tyrone, Ireland; they were married after coming 
to America, and settled in Philadelphia, Pa. There 
James, Jr., was born Nov. lu, 1840. The father 
was a weaver by occupation, and after coming to 
this country followed that trade. The parents were 
married in Philadelphia, where were born their 
seven sons and three daughters, of whom our sub- 
ject was the second son and third child. From the 
Kej'stone State they moved to Illinois, where the 
father conducted a small store of general merchan- 
dise, and where the family lived about three years. 
They next changed their residence to Scott County, 
Iowa, settling upon a tract of land three miles 
from the city of Davenport, where the mother died 
when about fifty j'ears of age. The father survived 
his partner a number of years, his death taking- 
place in September of 1877, at the age of seventy. 
Both were members of the Catholic Church. 

Our subject was reared to manhood in Scott 
Count}-, Iowa, and was there married, Oct. 7, 1862, 
to Miss Bridget Moran. This lady was born in the 
Province of Ontario, Canada, in November, 1843, 
and came to the States with her parents, Michael and 
Mary (Egan) Moran. They located in the vicinity of 
Oswego, N. Y., where they lived a number of years. 
About 1855 they changed their residence to Rock Isl- 
and, 111., and later crossed the Mississippi into Da- 
venport, Iowa. There the mother died in 1879 when 
little past middle life. The father is yet living there, 
being now about seventy-five years old. They also 
were members of the Catholic Church. 

Mrs. Carlin was one of the elder children of her 
parents, and lived with them until her marriage, 
acquiring a common-school education. The house- 
hold circle of our subject and his wife has been 
completed bj^ the birth of eleven cliildren. They are 



named respectively: Mary, Anna, Elizabeth, Ag- 
nes, Maggie, James. Jr., John, Michael, Hugh and 
Leona. William died when an infant. Mrs. Carlin is 
a very capable and intelligent lady, one who has 
many friends in her neighborhood and community. 
Kind and hospitable, she makes her home pleasant 
for her own family and an attracti"ve resort for all 
who may take shelter beneath their roof. Both 
]Mr. and Mrs. C. are members of the Catholic 
Cluirch, and o'ur subject, politically, is a stanch 
Democrat. Mr. Carlin owned a farm in Rock 
Island County, 111., where he farmed three years 
before coming to Nebraska, at which time he sold it. 
A view of his farm property is shown in this 
connection. 



ETER SIBERT and his estimable wife, Mrs. 

Sarali (Neal) Sibert, have for many years 
■^' been favorably known among the people 

of Palmyra Precinct, where they are spend- 
ing the evening of life, sheltered' in a comfortable 
home and enjoying the esteem and confidence of 
hosts of friends. Although quite well advanced in 
years, they are remarkably well preserved, very in- 
telligent, kind and hospitable, and possess all the 
elements of character which endear them alike to 
young and old. Their property includes a good 
farm of 160 acres, lying on sections 28 and 29. Al- 
though making little pretension to elegance or style. 
they have everything around them comfortable, 
and their home possesses the added charm of con- 
tentment, which is the mainspring of happiness in 
all the relations of life. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Sibert were the children of 
humble homes in their youth, and both were en- 
dowed by a kind Providence with those elements 
of character which enabled them to rise above their 
early surroundings and educate themselves by a 
course of reading and communication with intelli- 
gent minds. The early home of Mr. S. was in 
Washington County, Pa., where he was born Sept. 
17, 1817, and where he grew to manhood on a 
farm. lie was twenty-two years of age when the 
free-school system was agitated among the voters 



H^^ 



•►:ll-* 



•►Hl^ 



730 



OTOE COUNTY. 



^k 



of the Ke.ystone State, and he was one of those who 
most urgently labored' and voted for its adoption. 

Our subject began life on his own account as an 
apprentice to the blacksmith trade, which he fol- 
lowed a number of years. In 1848 he was married 
in his native county to Miss Hannah Fleek, and 
they became the parents of four children, namely: 
Mary, George, .Tacob, and one who died in infancy. 
In the fall of 1840 Mr. Sibert, leaving his native 
State, emigrated to Wyandot County, Ohio, and for 
a period of eight years thereafter followed his trade 
at Little Sandusky. He was prospered in his la- 
bors, and accumulated a good property, including 
160 acres of farm land and real estate in the vil- 
lage. 

Our subject, however, was anxious to remove 
still further westward, and in 1848 left Ohio for 
Knox County, 111. He invested a part of the pro- 
ceeds of his Ohio property in 160 acres of land^ 
but now began casting his eyes beyond the Missis- 
sippi. Selling out again he moved to Marion 
County, Iowa, where he became the owner of a 
farm of forty acres, and leaving there in the spring 
of 1860, he came to this county and secured the 
homestead which he now owns and occupies. 

Mrs. Hannah Sibert departed this life at her 
home in Palmj'ra Precinct, on the 10th of Au- 
gust, 1859. Our subject in the year 1860 mar- 
led for his second wife Mrs. Sarah (Neal) Horse- 
man, the widow of Isah Horseman, and daugliter of 
William and Mary (Agerhardt) Neal. Her parents 
were natives of Pennsylvania, and the father was a 
cooper by trade. He served as a soldier in the 
War of 1812, and spent his last years in Pennsyl- 
vania. The mother died in Ohio. The family 
consisted of thirteen children, namely: Susannah, 
Sarah, Elias, Joseph, Henry, William, Ellen, Mary 
A., Margaret, Jane Eliza; James A., who died 
young, and two infants who died unnamed. 

The wife of our subject was trained to haljits of 
industry and economy, and at an earl^- age became 
familiar with household duties. She remained with 
her parents until twenty-two j^ears of age, and was 
then married to Isah Horseman, a native of Ohio. 
They became the parents of eight children, the 
eldest of whom, William, died in the army during 
the late Civil War: David and Joseph served each 



respectively three and one years in the army, and 
are now in Omaha and California; Plena, John, 
Samuel and Martha are all living. Melissa B. died 
when four years old. ]Mr. and Mrs. Horseman be- 
gan their wedded life together in Ohio, and Mr. 
II. died on the journey from Kansas to Iowa in 
1859. 

Of the union of our subject and his present wife 
there has been born one child only, a daughter, 
Emma Jane, who married John Stewart, a farmer 
of Palmyra Precinct, and has become the mother 
of three children — Nancy B., Sarah K. .and Benja- 
min. 

Mr. and JNIrs. Sibert upon coming to this State 
in the spring of 1860 looked upon Nebraska City 
when it was simply a trading-post. They were the 
only family in what is now Palmyra Precinct, and 
took up their residence in a little log cabin. In 
June of the following year Mr. Sibert built a larger 
dwelling, also of logs, and this was frequently' the 
rendezvous for traders and other travelers to and 
from Denver and Nebraska City. Our subject and 
his wife have had a ripe experience in pioneer life, 
and have watched with warm interest the develop- 
ment of Nebraska Territory into one of the most 
important States of the Union. They labored to- 
gether with one mutual purpose, the building up 
of a home fqr themselves and their family, and are 
now enjoying the rich reward of well-spent lives. 
The log house where they spent so many happy 
years is still standing, and although their circum- 
stances have greatly improved since the time they 
first occupied that humble dwelling, they look upon 
it as one of the old landmarks which they would 
regret to see destroyed. 

Mrs. Sibert is a lady of more than ordinary in- 
telligence, and has not suffered care or trouble to 
dampen the natural cheerfulness of her disposition. 
Her plump figure and pleasant face are suggestive 
of what she might have been when a maiden of 
sweet sixteen. The loss of her first husband left 
her alone with a large family of children, who were 
entirely dependent upon her for support. To this 
duty she bent her energies with all the natural 
strength of her character, doing for them as well 
as she could, and it is safe to say that they rise up 
and call her blessed. 



■^^ 



->-ll 



>► m <• 



-•»» 



•^ 



OTQE COUNTY. 



731 



Mr. Sihert has been a pioneer, as we have seen, 
in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. He has lived 
to see the public school system of his native State 
become one of the most admirable of any in the 
Union. He voted for Harrison in the time of "Tip- 
pecanoe and Tyler too." It is hardly necessary to 
say that he is a stanch supporter of Republican 
principles. Notwithstanding the long and varied 
experiences of his life, he is a hale, hearty and well- 
preserved old gentleman, bright and quick men- 
tally, and one with whom it is pleasurable and 
profitable to converse. In speaking of the time 
when he officiated as '"mine host" in the old log 
house, he says that the guests were often so numer- 
ous he was obliged to pack them on the floor like 
sardines in a box. They accommodated themselves 
to the situation philosophically, however, and it is 
hardly necessary to say, often engaged in great 
hilarity, in which they were joined bj' their whole- 
liearted host and hostess. The parents of our 
subject, Isaac and Fanny (Robison) Sibert, were na- 
tives respectively of Maryland and England, and 
the father served as a soldier in the War of 1812. 
The mother emigrated to America with her par- 
ents when a young girl, they settling in Maryland, 
where she was afterward married. Isaac Sibert 
learned the trade of shoemaker, and after marriage 
the parents removed to AVashington County, Pa., 
where the father died when a comparatively young 
man, in 1828 at the age of thirty-nine years. The 
mother survived her husband only a few months, 
and passed away, in 1829, in Washington County, 
Pa. The parental household included five chil- 
dren, namely: Nancy, Isaac, Hannah, Joseph, and 
Peter, our subject. Grandfather Sibert was born 
in Germany, and emigrated to the United States 
early in life, settling in Maryland, where it is sup- 
posed he remained until his deatli. 



^ OUIS B. SMO YKR, a leading farmer of Otoe 
11 ^ County, homesteaded his first land in 1865, 
J vN this being located on the southwest quarter 
of section 2, in Syracuse Precinct. A native of 
Lehigh County, Pa., he was born Feb. 23, 1842, and 
is the sou of Jacob and Anna (Biery) Smoyer. who 



were also natives of the Keystone .State. The pa- 
ternal great-grandfather of our subject, Abraham 
Smoyer by name, was a native of Baden, Germany, 
whence he emigrated to the United States early in 
life, and settled in Pennsylvania. ■ He was accom- 
panied by his brother, and from these two are sup- 
posed to have descended the Smoyer families of 
the United States. 

Great-grandfather Smoyer reared a large family, 
and his son Abraham retained possession of the old 
homestead, where he passed his entire life. Jacob, 
son of the latter, was born there and reared to 
manhood, where he married, and continued to re- 
side on the old homestead until 1852. Thence he 
removed to Ohio, and from the Buckeye State in 
1861 to Jackson County, Mich., where he carried 
on farming, and where his death occurred July 4, 
1875. The mother died while a resident of Trum- 
bull Count}-, Ohio, April 10, 1854. Their family 
consisted of eight children, all living, namely: 
Emeline, the wife of A. C. Gelger; Martha, Mrs. 
Schuester; Louis B., our subject; Kate, Mrs. Alfred 
Troxel; Amanda, Mrs. Pells; Mary A., S3'lvanus 
and James. 

Our subject was eleven years old when the family 
removed to Ohio, where he pursued his studies in 
tlie district school. He accompanied the family to 
Michigan in 1861, and soon after the outbreak of 
the Civil War enlisted in a regiment of cavalry, 
but on account of his age was not permitted to serve. 
He then began farming, which he pursued in the 
Wolverine State until the suminer of 1865. Then 
coming to Nebraska he homesteaded 160 acres of 
land in Syracuse Precinct, and in due time had 
brought the soil to a good slate of cultivation, 
erected the buildings necessary for his comfort and 
convenience, and laid the basis of a future com- 
petency. Mr. Smoyer, after taking up his residence 
in this county was married, Oct. 17, 18G6, to Miss 
Adelaide V. Sawtelle, who was born in Branch 
County, Mich., July 12, 1842. Her parents were 
Zera T. and Eliza, A. (Cornell) Sawtelle, who were 
natives of New York State, whence they emigrated 
to Michigan during its pioneer days. The father 
followed farming, and, with his excellent wife, is 
still living, their residence being in the vicinity of 
Battle Creek. Their family consisted of three 



•►Ht::* 



t^l-M» 



•►■ 



132 



OTOE COUNTY. 



daughters, there being besides Mrs. Sino.yer, Abi- 
gail v., a twin sister, who married Caleb Manches- 
ter, and died in October, 1881, and Etta, the wife 
of Zera ^Masters, of Otoe County. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Smoyer there have been born 
seven children, namely: George E., Jesse S., Etta V., 
Cora M., Gertie P. and Grade P. (twins) and Nel- 
lie A. Mr. Smoyer, politically, votes the straight 
Kepublican ticliet, and has steadily declined becom- 
ing an office-holder. Socially, he belongs to the 
Knights of Honor. 



\||OSEPH BEETE:\I is one of the promi- 
'■■ nent and representative citizens of Palmyra 



I 

^..^1' Precinct, where he is farming eighty acres 
^^ll of fine land on section 36. For the family 
history of this gentleman the reader is referred to 
the sketch of J. T. Beetem, which will be found 
upon another page of this volume. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Shullsburg, 
Wis., on the 14th of August, 1844. AVhen he was 
about six months old his parents took up their resi- 
dence in Dubuque County, Iowa; when nine years 
of age they once more made a change, and he be- 
came a resident of Allamakee County. He contin- 
ued with his parents until he was about nineteen, 
and then entered the arena and began life for 
hira.self. The first year he rented a farm, and was 
so successful that he was enabled to buy eighty 
acres, upon which he continued for five years, in 
that time making manj' improvements and bringing 
it to a high state of cultivation. 

lu 1872 our subject sold the above-mentioned 
farm and moved to Hancock County, Iowa, where 
he became the owner of 160 acres of wild, unim- 
proved prairie. This he brought into good condi- 
tion and put upon it various valuable improvements, 
when he again sold out, and went to the northern 
part of the county, purchasing 120 acres of prairie 
land, and repeated the process so far as it was possi- 
ble of improvement. He continued there for seven 
j'ears, but met with failure after failure in his crops, 
which resulted disastrously. 

In 1877 Mr. Beetem came to this county and for 
three years rented property. He then moved to 



South Russell, where he made his home for about a 
year, then in 1881 bought his present place of eighty 
acres. His Iowa experience again took shape, and 
he had all the work of improving his land, from 
the turning of the first furrow to the erection and 
finishing of his buildings. To-day his farm is one 
of the best cultivated and most valuable, other 
things being equal, within a large district. 

In Allamakee County, Iowa, on the 24th of Jan- 
uar3^ 1864, the subject of our sketch became the hus- 
band of Miss Hester Greenup, the estimable daughter 
of the Rev. S. II. and Elizabeth (Hoyt) Greenup. 
Her father was born in Kentucky, her mother in New 
York. Her father was a minister of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and served in that capacity in 
the State of Iowa for twenty-five years. He is still 
engaged in the work of his profession, and holds a 
charge in Morrison County, Minn. Both parents 
are now sixty-seven years of age. They are the 
parents of eleven children, to whom have been 
given the following names: Hester A., Julia E., 
Edwin (deceased), Jason S., Wilbur F., Allen, Al- 
bert, Lucy (deceased), Frank, Edward, and also 
Elizabeth who is deceased. Edwin, who was in the 
war fighting in tlie 12th Iowa Infantry, died at 
Memphis, Tenn., in 1863. 

It will be noticed that Mrs. Beetem is the eldest 
child of her parents. She was born in Peoria, 111., 
on the 23d of September, 1843. 'She attended the 
classes of both the common and High schools, and 
after passing a very successful examination and 
being graduated from, the latter institution, was en- 
gaged in teaching for about five years, revealing the 
possession of talents of more than ordinary value. 
She is the mother of ten children, of whom three 
are dead. The names given to her children are as 
follows: Mary Elizabeth, Sarah E., George S. (de- 
ceased), Louisa M., Caroline A., Joseph, Jr. (de- 
ceased), Charles, Jennie (deceased), Johnnie and 
Benjamin. Mary is happily married to John Jose, 
who is successfully engaged in farming in Colorado; 
they are the parents of two children, named Will- 
iam and Joseph. The other members of the family 
are all at home. 

The subject of our sketch has been prominent as 
a politician; he is an active member of the Demo- 
cratic party and has served as delegate to the County 



t 




■^■^. „ ;^a^».^i«e;i;«MJaefvC7 



.^^.■0>~j%.>rg ^ -.^.fc^T-. 



Residence OF Jos L WEBB,5Ec35C/Vi!7/?7"//^ Palmyra Precinct 




Residence OF Hermann T. Helmers,5ec.17. Rock Creek Precinct. 



OTOE COUNTY. 



735 



•► 



Convention. For three years he has held the office 
of Supervisor of Roads, and is at present School 
Treasurer. He is a man of sterling worth and en- 
joys the confidence of the people. For twenty-four 
o()nsecutive seasons Mr. Beetem was engaged in 
threshing, which is not a usual record. Nine 
seasons he was thus engaged in Missouri, fourteen 
in Iowa and one in Nebraska. 

lf_ ERMAN F. IIELMERS. The snug 80-acre 
Ifjj] farm, owned and occupied bj- the subject 
tli^ of this sketch, is fineU'^ located on section 
i^J 1 7, Rock Creek Precinct. i\Ir. Helmers has 
been residing here since the fall of 1875, and has 
in the meantime given his time and attention 
strictly to the improvement of his property. The 
results indicate with what industry he has labored, 
and should be a source of abundant satisfaction to 
him. A view, illustrating his homestead, is pre- 
sented in connection with this brief sketch of its 
owner. 

Mr. Helmers came to this localit3' from Chariton 
County, Mo., of which he had been a resident four 
years. Prior to this he had lived in the States of 
Illinois, "Wisconsin and Iowa, and his earliest home 
had been on the other side of the Atlantic, in the 
little Kingdom of Hanover, German}-. There he 
was born Sept. 4, 1843, being the son of John 
Frederick and Mary (Alfiie) Helmers, who were 
also of German birth and ancestry, and the former 
of whom spent Tiis entire life on his native soil, 
dying when fifty-six years old. He was a mason 
by trade, and after his death hio widow and chil- 
dren, Sept. 3, 1882, joined our subject in America, 
and have since resided in tht. vicinity of Berlin, 
this county. The mother is now sixty-seven years 
old. 

Our subject was the second child of the family, 
which consisted of two sons and two daughters, all 
of whom are living and in this county. Herman 
F. was the first member of the family to cross the 
Atlantic, a journe}' which he never regretted, and 
if was through his means that his mother was per- 
suaded to come with her family. He first settled 
in Wisconsin in the fall of 1865. He also had 



learned the trades of a mason and plasterer, which 
he followed until coming to Nebraska ten j-ears 
later. He was married, near the town of Syracuse, 
to Miss Sophia Beckefeld, also a native of Hanover, 
and born April 20, 1 855. She came to America 
when nineteen j-ears of age with our subject, and 
by her marriage with him became the mother of six 
children, only two of whom are living, Alfred and 
Oscar, who are eight and six years of age, and occu- 
pied at home. Mrs. Sophia Helmers departed this 
life at the birth of her last child in Rock Creek 
Precinct, Nov. 11, 1882. She was a lady g-reatly 
beloved by her husband and friends, a kind and 
affectionate wife and mother, a good neighbor, and 
a devoted member of the Lutheran Chvirch. 

Our subject in the fall of 1885 contracted a sec- 
ond marriage, with Miss Dora Bueckman, who was 
born in Hanover, in 1847, and came alone to the 
United States when thirtj'-three years of age, two 
years before her marriage. Of this union there is 
one child, a son William. Mr. and Mrs. Helmers 
are members in good standing of the Lutheran 
Church, and our subject, politically, is a straight 
Republican. 

'\Y OSEPII L. WEIBB, now operating a farm of 
130 acres on section 35 of Palmyra Pre- 
cinct, must be mentioned among the list of 
Ij^/' honored pioneers of Nebraska. He is the 
son of William and Mary Webb, who were born in 
New Jersey. The great-grandfather of our subject 
lived near May's Landing. He was one of the hon- 
ored and prosperous citizens of his time, and of 
some pretensions to affluence. He had seven fine, 
stalwart sons, all of whom, with the exception of 
the grandfather of our subject, sought their fort- 
unes in other States. The name of this gentleman 
was Frederick Webb. Upon the marriage of his 
son William arrangements were made for the young 
couple to settle at Bridgeton, in New Jersej', and 
there they made their home upon a farm. There 
were born to them eleven childi'en, seven of whom 
grew up to years of maturity. Our subject is the 
youngest of this family, and wsis born on the 27th 
of Februarv. 1833, near Morriston, Burlington Co., 



•^» 



•►Hl^ 



^i^lr 



i36 



OTOE COUNTY. 



N. J. Upon tlie migration of William Webb and 
his family to Greene County, Ohio, our subject was 
about ten years of age. 

Educational advantages in Ohio at that time were 
not so good even as those of more eastern localities, 
but such as they were he was privileged to enjoy. 
The memory is easilj- revived of the old log school- 
house that manifested all the signs so common in 
the days of the pioneers, but from these school- 
houses have come the men who have made Amer- 
ica, and have brought it upon its way as a people 
and Government, until it occupies the first seat in 
the Hall of Nations. At nineteen years of age he 
went to Indianapolis and worked in a peg and last 
manufactory. From that he went back to Ohio 
and staid one year, and then went to Iowa, locat- 
ing in Lee County for about twelve months. From 
there he drove across the plains in companj' with 
Elias Adsit and his family. They continued their 
journej'ing until they arrived at Nebraska City, in 
May, 1857. In beginning life in this State our 
subject and Mr. Adsit took land and farmed to- 
gether. There he remained prosperously engaged. 

Our subject was married, in the year 1861, to 
Miss Amanda AVhite, the estimable daughter of 
George and Elizabeth (Nesmith) White. Her par- 
ents were from New Hampshire, but had become 
pioneers of Indiana. She was born in Jefferson- 
ville, of that State, on the 9th of February, 1836. 
She was the youngest of seven children, three of 
whom came to mature years. She received an ex- 
cellent education, which, with the careful home 
training received, has fitted her for almost any posi- 
tion she might be called upon to occupy. She came 
with her mother to Nebraska City in 1859, and 
was shortly after engaged in teaching in a private 
school. She was also a teacher of music on the 
piano, and was the first to follow that profession in 
that place. Her father, who was a well-educated 
man, and for many years ^a teacher in Pennsylva- 
nia, died in the year 1852, when she was about 
sixteen years of age. Her mother died in Seward 
Ceiinty, of this State, at the advanced age of eighty 
years. 

Our sul)ject tooU up his liomestead in Palmyra 
Precinct in 1863, and was among the first home- 
steaders in the United States. In 1880 he removed 



-^^ 



to his present home, and by the erection of his 
commodious and comfortable dwelling, with its 
pleasant surroundings, supplemented by the finan- 
cial success that has come to him, he has been able 
to make his family a very fine home. Five children 
have come to Mr. and Mrs. Webb, whose names are 
as follows: Mary, Cora, Josephine, Freddj^ and 
Clara. Cora, .Josephine and Clara are engaged in 
teaching. 

Mr. Webb is a representative American citizen. 
In political matters he is one free from the confin- 
ing bonds of party policy, and votes independently, 
although at one time he was a Whig, and later a 
strong Republican. He is a stanch friend of the 
temperance cause, and an active worker therein. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Webb are earnest and consist- 
ent members of the Baptist Church, he he'mg one 
of the Trustees. He has taken a continued and 
growing interest in Sunday-school work, and for 
many years held the office of Sunday-school Super- 
intendent. In religious circles and throughout the 
entire community he is eminently res{>ected and 
esteemed. This is also true of Mrs. Wel)b and the 
daughters. 

A view of Mr. Weljb's homestead is presented on 
an adjoining page. 



■Vf, OUN HERMANN ARENDS, one of the 
wealthy men of Rock Creek Precinct, is a 
leading land-owner and agriculturist, being 
proprietor of nearly a section of land finely' 
improved and well stocked. His homestead, a view 
of wiiich we present in this volume, lies on section 
32, and is a place creditable to the intelligence and 
industry of the proprietor. The buildings are con- 
venient and substantial, the dwelling tasteful and 
commodious, the barnsand out-l)uililings admiralily 
adapted to the general requirements of farm life. 

Mr. Arends crossed the Mississippi as early as 
1859, while Nebraska was a Territory, and located 
in this county, where he has since lived. A native 
of Madison Countj', 111., he was born Aug. 26, 1855, 
and is the son of Reka and Talk Mary (Telteii) 
Areuds, who were natives of Hanover, Germany, 
where they were reared, educated and married. 
•► 



r 



•^^i^ 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



r37 



The father servert the allotted time in the regular 
army, but after the birth of six children, not being 
satisfied with his prospects or his condition in the 
Fatlierland, resolved to emigrate to the United 
States. The3' made the voyage across the Atlantic 
earl}' in the fifties, locating in Madison County, 111., 
where our subject and his sister Catrenia were born. 
A few years later the family all came to Nebraska, 
there being now nine children in the household cir- 
cle. 'i"he elder Arends pre-empted a quarter of 
section 30, Rock Creek Precinct, but less than two 
years later traded it for the same amount on sec- 
tion 32. Their nfiighbors at this time were few and 
far between, and the family were first sheltered in 
a log cabin. The fatlier immediately set himself to 
work to cultivate the soil and l)uild up a homestead, 
and was prospered in his labors. His death oc 
curred on the 19th of September, 1874, when he 
was sixtj'-four years of age. He was an honest and 
industrious man, and a lifelong member of the Ger- 
man Lutheran Church. The circumstances of his 
death were peculiarly sad, it having been occasioned 
bj' his falling from a wagon-load of lumber, and he 
was instantly killed. This was during the erection 
of the First Lutheran Church in Rock Creek Pre- 
cinct, the building material of which Mr. Arends 
was hauling from Nebraska City. He was a man 
greatly respected by all who knew him, and his 
death cast a gloom over the community. The 
mother is 3'et living, and makes her home with her 
son, our subject, being now seventy-one j^ears old. 
Siie is still active in mind and body, and also a mem- 
ber of the German Lutheran Church. 

Our subject was a child four years of age when 
he came with his parents to Nebraska, and acquired 
his education in the pioneer schools of this county. 
He was at an early period in his life taught those 
habits of industry' and economy which have proved 
the secret of his success. Upon reaching manhood 
he was married in Rock Creek Precinct. Nov. 4, 
1880, to Miss Lizzie Kastens, who was born in 
Hanover, Germany, March 15, 1862. Her parents 
were Chris and Dora (.Mesegadus) Kastens, also na- 
tives of Hanover, who came to the United States 
while their daugiiter Lizzie was an infant. They set- 
tled first in Wisconsin, but about 1875 moved from 
^ • there to Nebraska, settling in Rock Creek Precinct, 



where they now live upon a good farm, and sur- 
rounded by all the comforts of life. Mrs. Arends 
received a common-school education, and lived with 
her parents until her marriage. She is now the 
mother of four children — Mary T., Dora S. Leta M. 
and Reka F. They are all at home with their par- 
ents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Arends were brought up in the doc- 
trines of the German Lutheran Church, to which they 
still loyally adhere, and are numbered among its 
most cheerful and liberal supporters. Mr. A., politi- 
cally, is a stanch Re[iublican, and has held the vari- 
ous minor offices of his precinct. 



-<^ 



"7" 



T 



=E> 




G. BEETEM, the genial and popular land- 
lord of the Hendricks Hotel in the little 
t*i\\\ city of this name, is numbered among its 
pleading men, as one taking a prominent and 
active part in all worthy public enter[)rises. He 
commenced at the foot of the ladder in life, and 
has worked his way up to a good position socially 
and financiall}'. He put up the house which he 
now controls in 1888, and in its management has 
been ably assisted bv one of the most excellent of 
women, Mrs. Beetcm being an entertaining, intelli- 
gent hostess, who makes friends of all who have 
the good fortune to sojourn within her hosjjitable 
doors. 

The subject of our sketch is the son of John D. 
and Mary (Burnum) Beetem, who were natives of 
Kentuck}'. In the sketch of his brother. John 
Beetem, found elsewhere in this volume, will be 
noted a more extended history of the parents. 
Our subject was born in Alainakee County. Iowa, 
near the then humble village of Lansing, on the 1 llh 
of June, 1 855. He was reared as a farmer's boy, and 
attended the common school until fourteen years of 
age. Death then entered the family circle, remov- 
ing the father and head of the household, and our 
subject was thrown mostly upon his ovvn resources. 
In company with his brother John T., in June, 
1870, he started overland to Nebraska, and tliej' 
spent the following six months in Hendricks Pre- 
cinct, this county. On their journey hither they 



■^•■ 



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•►Hl^ 



t 



Pllr-* 



738 



OTOE COUNTY. 



p ' am 



came through a stretch of country where wild 
game was jjlentiful, and saw numhcrs of elk and 
deer, who had hardly learned to be afraid of the 
rifleHof^the white man. 

At the expiration of the time spoken of our 
subject returned to his old home in Lansing, where 
he remained three weeks, when he took up his resi- 
dence in Hancock County, where he was employed 
on a farm about five years. Then returning to 
Lansing, he began operating an elevator, but not 
naving recovered from the Western fever, one day 
took the train for Syracuse, this county, and soon 
afterward we find bin/again in Hendricks Precinct. 
Here he began farming, at which he continued for 
a period of ten years, at the end of which time he 
put up the Hendricks Hotel, which be has since 
conducted. 

Our subject was married in Hendricks Precinct, 
April 2, 1883, to Miss IVL^ry Flinn, a native of 
Sangamon County, 111. Mrs. Beetem was born 
March 24, 1SC4, and was the sixth in a family of 
sixteen children, the offspring of Charles and Ann 
(Keegan) Flinn, who were natives of Ireland, and 
came to America in 1866, locating shortly after 
their arrival in this county. Mr. K. has been very 
prosperous in his adopted country, and is now the 
owner of 280 acres of fine land, comprising a good 
farm with tiie necessary improvements, and located 
in Hendricks Precinct. 

Mr. and Mrs. Beetem became the parents of two 
children. Mary A. and John C. The latter died 
when one week old. Our subject and his estimable 
wife are members of the Catholic Chuich at Pal- 
myra, and Mr. B.. politically, is one of the most 
reliable adherents of the Democratic party. 



'if i OHN R. STEELE, one of the old citizens 
of Otoe County, and in fact, also of the 
State, is widely known and greatly respected, 
_l)j and carries on a successful business at Tal- 
mage, where he is connected with fire and life 
insurance, working for the Commercial Union, 
North British, Mercantile, the German of Frceport. 
lid the German of Peoria Companies, and wiili the 



Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association of New 
York City. His connection with insurance dates 
from 1 882, wlien Talmage Village was chartered. 
He has identified himself with almost every enter- 
prise that is calculated to be a permanent benefit to 
the place, and has earned a rejjutation accordingly. 
Mr. Steele was the first Postmaster of the town, 
and held the position for three years. He is now 
the Treasurer of the Building and Loan Association 
of Talmage, wliich has done good work since its 
organization in February, 1883. Its influence has 
been felt even beyond the city, and is one of the 
institutions that has helped to make the town what 
it is. Three years also he was Director of Public 
Schools, an office that he filled most creditably. 

Before coming to this county Mr. Steele was 
succe.'sful as a farmer in Four Mile Precinct, and 
he now owns a fine property of forty acres near the 
town limits of Talmage, and also an addition, em- 
bracing eighteen lots, part of which has been sold 
and improved. He helped in the erection of the 
first building in Talmage, and has with much pride 
and pleasure watched the rapid progress recently 
made In the extension and welfare generally of the 
place. 

With the exception of the years 18G8, 18G9 and 
1870, Mr. Steele has been a resident of Nebraska 
since 1855. Prior to coming to Talmage his home 
was in Nebraska City and in the vicinity of that 
place for twenty-five years. There also he was en- 
gaged in the pursuit of agriculture, and being a 
thoroughly practical man, saw much prosperity 
therein. During tlie three years of his absence 
above mentioned he was farming in Nodaway 
County, Mo., but was not sufficiently enamoured of 
that district to remain longer. 

Tlie subject of our sketch was a resident of Fre- 
montCount}', Iowa, from Iheyear 1849 until he came 
to tliis State, and was one of the first settlers and pio- 
neers of that district. He passed through the then 
not unusual experiences inseparably connected with 
such a new order of things, and helped in tlie de- 
velopment of that recently opened district. 

Virginia is the native State of our subject, and 
was Lis home until he went to Fremont County, 
Iowa. He was l)orn in Tazewell County, Va., on 
the 13lh of June, 1841. The great-grandfather of 




•►HK-^^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



739 ' » 



our subject was the first member of this family to 
settle in America, coming from his German home 
and settling in Wythe County, Va. There was born 
to him a son, David Steele, whose son William R. 
is the father of our subject. 

David Steele was a prosperous and extensive Vir- 
ginia farmer, and married a lady a native of that 
State, who presented him with nine children. After 
their children had almost all grown up he removed 
to Kentucky, and there died in the year 1863, at 
an advanced age. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Martha Peery, survived hira, and afterward 
went to Missouri, where she died at the home of one 
of her children, having passed the allotted three- 
score years and ten. 

There were born to Mr. and Mrs. David Steele 
nine children, the father of our subject being one 
of the older children. He grew to years of man- 
hood in Tazewell County, Va., and was married to 
Nancy Peery, who was born of Virginia parentage, 
in Tazewell Countj', and was there educated and 
brought up. The family of which she was a mem- 
ber was one of the oldest and most respected in 
Virginia, and was of Scottish extraction. W. Peery 
became prominent in both religious and political 
circles. He was for many years a minister of the 
Methodist Church, and in addition held many of- 
fices of political connection, receiving on several 
different occasions marked expressions of confi- 
dence and esteem from his fellow-citizens. He 
departed this life at the age of ninety-four years. 
Mr. Peery is still remembered as the writer of many 
religious and other songs, and various literary ef- 
forts on a number of subjects. His son John was 
the father of Mrs. Nancy (Peery) Steele. 

After his marriage the father of our suljject be- 
gan farming, but never accumulated a very large 
competency. In 1849, he, with eight other heads 
of families, aecom-panied by their wives and chil- 
dren, left their homes in Tazewell County and 
started for the Golden State, taking passage at 
Kenoa, on the Ohio River, and went west to the 
Mississippi, thence up'the latter river, intending to 
leave the boat and go bj' laud from St. Joseph, Mo., 
but after the boat got on its way to St. Joseph, the 
dread disease cholera attacked those aboard, and be- 
fore the}' got to St. Joseph six of the original nine 



«► II <- 



promoters of the enterprise had sickened and died, 
the father of our subject being one of the number. 

The above-mentioned disaster frustrated the in- 
tentions of the little party, and left the families in 
almost destitute circumstances. Mrs. Steele with 
her children, and in compan}' with another family, 
then went to Fremont County, Iowa, settling in the 
wilds of that comparative!}' unknown district. The 
family was poor, the children small, and the circum- 
stances and surroundings the very reverse of favor- 
able. Nevertheless, mother love was sufficient to 
suppl}' spirit, nerve and strength enough to provide 
for and take care of the five little ones for several 
years. In the year 1854 Mrs. Steele marrieil her 
second husband, John W. Bounds. The}' settled in 
Four Mile Precinct, where they continued to live 
for several years, and there she died at the age of 
seventy-seven years. Mr. Bounds had died about 
two years previously while on a visit to Missouri. 

The subject of our sketch was the first son and 
second child of five children born to his parents. 
He was eight years of age when the disastrous river 
voyage was undertaken. One year after landing 
in Iowa it was his misfortune to meet with an acci- 
dent that left him a cripple for life. From the age 
of nine years until he was sixteen he was unable to 
do without his crutches and do anything to earn 
his living. When sixteen years of age, in spite of 
having had but few educational advantages, he had 
through the long years of his sickness becom e 
quite a bookworm, and by that means had become 
quite a student and a well-educated man. He is 
a splendid business man, and has a large circle of 
friends, more especially among the business men 
of the county. 

The marriage of our subject was celebrated in 
Four Mile Precinct, this county, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Jane Biggs, who was born in 
Weston, Tenn., on the 29th of April, 1844. She is 
the daughter of Allen and Polly (Flatford) Biggs. 
Her mother died in Tennessee in the year 1856, and 
her father, who is a native of Tennessee and a 
farmer by occupation, is still living, and makes his 
home in Delta, this county, at the age of sixty- 
eight years. 

There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Steele 
eleven children, five of whom are yet living, and ^ ' 



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740 



OTOE COUNTY. 






whose nnnies are as follows: William A., Frank P.. 
Lucy B.. Sliilly and Gladjs. The rleceaseri chil- 
dren bore the subjoined names; Douglas. Nancy 
A., Mar}'. John R.. Roscoe and Dora. The sur- 
viving members of this familj' are still at home with 
their parents. 

Mr. Steele is a niemlier of the Knights of Pythias, 
and well received among his fellow-members of 
Eureka Lodge No. 8, of Talmage. He is recog- 
nized as one of the leaders of the Prohibition party, 
aiid has the distinguished honor of being the father 
of the party in this city. He is a liberal contributor 
to many Prohibition newspapers in a literary way, 
and the articles from his pen, terse, logical, trench- 
ant and finished, are proof of his abilities in that 
direction. His fellow-townsmen manifested their 
confidence and esteem by nominating Mr. Steele 
for the State Legislature from this county on the 
Prohibition ticket. 



AGNUS TAYLOR JOHNSON. In the 
fall of 1857 the gentleman whose name 
stands at the head of this biography estab- 
lished himself in a modest way in his pres- 
ent business. In time this expanded to important 
proportions, and Mr. Johnson has now for many 
years been general agent for the lines of steamers 
from America to all points of the world. His 
natural intelligence and faculty of observation 
have proved qualities amply adapted to his branch 
of the business, of which he has made a success. 
By prompt attention to the details thereof, and his 
courteous manner of dealing with the general pub- 
lic, he has become widelj' and favorably known, 
especially among the circles where he has been the 
most largely called to operate. He is a man now 
of wealth and prominence, and one amplj' worthj' 
of representation in a work of this kind, which 
comprises a record of those who by their enter- 
prise have been important factors in the building 
up of Nebraska City. 

The parents of our subject, Anderson and Ellen 
Johnson, were n.atives of Scandinavia, and are now 
deceased. Their faniilj- consisted of four children, 
of whom our subject came to America. Magnus 

4» 



T. was born in the district of Christianstadt, Aug. 
31, 1829, and attended school quite regularly near 
the home of his childhood until a lad fourteen 
years of age. He was then sent by his parents to 
the city of Berlin, Germanj^ where he prosecuted 
his studies in the High School until 1851, being 
then a young man twent3--two years of age, the 
master of fine acquirements, and having become 
familiar with several languages. 

Before the close of his last term in the High 
School young Johnson, who had signalized him- 
self as a youth of more than ordinary intelligence, 
was solicited by a Scandinavian colony to accom- 
pany them to America as interpreter, to which he 
consented, expecting to return to his own country 
when his mission had ended. After landing in the 
city of Quebec, however, he determined to explore 
a portion of the West, and coming over into the 
States, proceeded first to Chicago, and from there 
to Knox County, 111., with teams. He stopped for 
a short time in the then little hamlet of Knoxville, 
and later went to Oquawka on the east bank of the 
Mississippi River, and in Henderson County. At 
this point Mr. Johnson engaged as clerk in a store, 
where he staid one year. He then went to Mon- 
mouth, in Warren County, and opened a clothing 
store, being engaged in this business there until 
1866. Having in the meantime sold a considerable 
proportion of his goods on credit, he was in conse- 
quence a heavy loser, and was obliged on this 
account to close up his business, disposing of the 
remains of it for almost nothing. 

Notwithstanding this experience, however, Mr. 
Johnson still believed there were opportunities 
in America not to be found in liis own country, 
and he determined here to abide. The winter of 
1856-57 we find him in Nebraska City, to which 
he had come via the Mississippi and Missouri 
Rivers, landing with a capital of $70 in his pocket. 
He at once procured employment, cariying chain 
for a surveyor, at which he was employed during 
that summer. In the spring of 1858 he estiblished 
the business at which he is still engaged, and which 
has been, especially during late' years, the source 
of a handsome income. 

The marriage of Magnus Taylor Johnson and 
Tkliss Charlotte Waterfall was celebrated at the 



^t 



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OTOE COUKTY. 



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home of the bride in Nebraska City, Oct. 12, 1858. 
IMrs. Johnson was born in Ilarapshire. England, 
Aug. 11, 1837, and came to America with her par- 
ents. Her father was a watchmaker by occupation, 
and the parents settled first in Cleveland, Ohio. 
The mother spent the last 3'ears of her life in St. 
Joseph; the father died in Illinois. Their family 
consisted of five children. 

Mr. and ISIrs. Johnson commenced the journey 
of life together in a modest home in accordance with 
their means, and have now for a period of over 
thirty years been residents of Nebraska City. They 
have watched with lively interest the growth and 
development of one of the most flourishing com- 
monwealths of the West, and Mr. Johnson, in the 
building up of one of its most important industries, 
has thus contributed his quota to the advancement 
of liis adopted city. Thej' have now a liandsome 
and comfortable home, and enjo,y the friendsliip of 
a large number of the best ipeople around them. 
Their union has been blessed by the birth of six 
children, namely: Frederick, IIenrj% Crena, Charles, 
Nellie and Monas. The eldest of these is twenty- 
nine years of age and the youngest is eight. ]\Ir. 
Johnson, politically, votes the Republican ticket, 
and in religious matters he and his estimable wife 
are members in good standing of the Episcopal 
Church. 

In the spring of 1869 Mr. Johnson opened a 
hotel on Central avenue, where he officiated as 
"mine host" for a period of eight years. The 
house under his management became extremely 
popular, and was the favorite resort for travelers 
tliroughout this rearion. 



e 



OL. S. N. STEWART, the well-known in- 
ventor and builder of the Pontoon bridge. 



which has proved such a boom to Nebraska 
City, is worthy of more than a passing mention in 
this work. At the organization of the Pontoon 
Bridge Company, he was unanimously selected as its 
President, and still holds the position. He is a na- 
tive of Ohio, having been born at Marietta, April 27, 
1845, and there spent the early j'ears of his life. 
His father was a wholesale boot and shoe merchant. 



•►Hlr^- 



and the family moveil across the Mississippi to 
Iowa in 1859, wlien our subject was a lad of four- 
teen years. 

Young Stewart continued a resident of the Hawk- 
eye State until the outbreak of the Rebellion, and 
at the early age of sixteen years enlisted as a pri- 
vate in Company E. 18th Iowa Infantry, which 
was assigned to dutj' on the frontier. He went in 
as a private, and by the faithful discharge of his 
duties was in due time promoted to the rank of 
Captain. Later his strong Abolition sentiments 
induced him to resign his captaincy in the 18th 
Iowa for a First Lieutenantcy in a colored regi- 
ment — this being the 62d Regiment United States 
Infantry, serving on the Rio Grande. In the con- 
flict at Palmetto Ranch, in Texas, on account of 
his gallant services, he was breveted Lieutenant 
Colonel. Tills was the last battle of the war. and 
Lieut. Stewart was the last man wounded. May 13, 
1866, on the Union side in the late Rebellion. 

After the war was ended our subject devoted 
himself to Invention, and in 1876 crossed the At- 
lantic and remained in Europe for a period of five 
years, during which time he secured letters patent 
for his River Motor, disposing of the Austrian and 
Russian patents to a company' in Vienna. In the 
meantime he traveled extensively in most of the 
countries of Europe, making the acquaintance of 
various notable personages, princes and potentates. 
Upon returning to the United States in 1881, he 
settled in Philadelphia, and has devoted himself 
entirely to his inventions for the past six or seven 
years. About half of this time, however, he has 
spent abroad. The Deep Sea Sounder, described 
in the Engineering News of 1883, is his invention, 
and is now largely in use in the English navy. The 
Current Motor, described in the same periodical, 
is also his invention. 

The Pontoon bridge, however, is perhaps one of 
the most popular and useful inventions of Col. 
Stewart. He came to Nebraska in the spring of 
1888. and at once arranged to put in one of these 
across the Missouri River. It has given universal 
satisfaction, and Is considered a great advantage to 
the city. Although Col. Stewart has become widely 
and favorably known among the business men of 
this place, he still calls Philadelphia his horns. His 



742 



•«^ 



OTOE COUNTY. 



i 



<• 



wife was formi'ily Miss Nannie Wilson, the only 
(laiioliter of Hon. John S. Wilson, the well-known 
philunthropist of Adams County, Ohio, and whose 
latest benefaction was 160,000 donated for the jnir- 
pose of founiling an orphan asylum in Adams 
County. To JMr and Mrs. Stewart there have been 
born three children — Lulu, Noble and Donald. Col. 
Stewart makes his Westf^rn headquarters at Ne- 
braska City, in whose future he has great faith. 
He is a lil)eia]-niiiided and public-spirited citizen, 
and his generosity in assisting to build the street 
car line will long be remembered by its people. 



[7 EWIS B. RICHARD. Among the agricull- 
I (?§; urists of Palmyra Precinct few are more 



thoroughly practical, enterprising and truly 
successful than Mr. Richard, who operates 160 
acres on section 31. He is the son of Phillip and 
Sarah (Buchanan) Richanl, who were natives re- 
spectively of Lycoming and Union Counties, Pa., 
where their parents settled and continued to reside 
after their marriage. Tliere the father died in the 
year 1849, when our subject was about seven years 
of age, he himself being in the prime of life, and 
but thirty-five years old. This left liis wife with 
the care of six children, viz: Elizabeth, Mary, 
Edward, Louis B., Albert and John Jacob. Edward 
served in the armj', and fell at the post of duty. 
Albert served for two p.nd John for five years with 
the army. 

The subject of our sketch was born on the 30th of 
June, 1842, at Williamsport, Pa. He enjoyed the 
advantages of a common-school education, in spite 
of the fact that he began to work out at the 
early age of eight years. In 1868, In company 
with his mother be went to Stephenson County, 111., 
and there remained for about two years. There 
subsequently he was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Ellen Snyder. This ladj- is the daughter of 
Benjamin and Mary Snyder (the reader is referred 
to the .sketch of Mr. Snyder, which appears in this 
volume.) Her mother died while she was quite 
small, and her father died in 1886, aged eighty 
years. This is a step they have never had occasion 
to regret, and their home is one of the bright and 

4> 



cheery places that are at the foundation of the pros- 
perity of the nation. Their union has been happilj' 
consummated liy tlie birth of three children, 
William. Luclla and Jessie, of whom they are justly 
proud. 

The first few years after their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Richard lived in Stephenson County, where 
he operated a farm. Tiie same j'ear that Lincoln 
was located he paid his first visit to Nebraska, and 
took a great fancj' to the countrj'. The second 
time that he came to this State was in 1879, and 
then he was accompanied by his wife and two chil- 
dren, and located on the northwest quarter of 
section 31,. which he purchased almost iuimediately 
on arrival. 

Mr. Richard has not been prominent in civic 
affairs, but has served one term as Director of 
Schools. In politics he is strictly independent, being 
swayed only by principles, and voting only for men 
of princi|ile. He is a pronounced temperance man, 
and a worker in that cause. With his wife, he is 
numbered among the members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in good standing, and there, as 
elsewhere in the communit}', they are held in high 
regard. The propert3' of our subject is thoronglily 
improved, his residence is a pretentious, jjleasant 
and comfortable dwelling, and his .'arm buildings 
are as good as any that can be found in the county. 
He has recently erected a very fine frame barn, 
standing 46x50 feet, and designed to meet every 
requirement incidental to the farm. 



"il?OHN J. CASPERS. The subject of thi.s 
narrative represents a large amount of i)rop- 
erty in Rock Creek Precinct, his landed 
^^j|/ estate embracing 480 acres on section 32, 
and a like amount in LaFayette Precinct, Nemaha 
County. The most of this is in a productive con- 
dition, and yields to the proprietor a handsome in- 
come. The homestead is located on section 32, oc- 
cupying one of the finest situations in the county, 
and affording an extended view of the surrounding 
country. Everything that taste and means could 
suggest has been done to render it attractive, and 



^1^ 



»► II <•• 



OTOE COUNTY. 






r45 



the inmates are surrounded by all of tlie comforts 
and many of the luxuries of life. 

Mr. C'aspers came to Nebraska while it was a 
Territory in the fall of 1856, and pre-emjited 120 
acres of land in Nemaha Count}'. He toolv up his 
residence in Rock Creek Precinct, this count}-, 
in 1872. The distinguishing trait of his character 
has been a resolute perseverance that has kept him 
steadily at work, and which has enabled him to ac- 
complish the fine results whicli are apparent to-daj' 
in his surroundings and his possessions. 

Our subject was born in what was then the 
Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, Feb. 10, 1831, 
and is the offspring of a good family, his father 
being John C'aspers, Sr., who carried on agriculture 
successfully upon his native soil and there spent 
his entire life, dying at the ripe old age of eighty 
years. He had married in early manhood Miss 
Hilka Zimmermann, a native of the same Province 
as her husband, and who died several years before 
his decease, also well advanced in years. They 
were people greatly respected in their community, 
members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, 
and the parents of seven childj-en. Only one 
brother of our subject emigrated to America, and 
is now a resident of Nemaha County, Neb. 

Mr. C'aspers received a good practical education 
in his native tongue, and worked with his father on 
the farm until reaching manhood. He was then 
married to ISIiss Margaret Baraus, who was also 
born in Hanover, Oct. 10, 1827. Her parents, 
Lawrence .and Ricksta (Johnson) Barans, were also 
natives of Hanover, and the father a farmer by oc- 
cupation. They died not far from the place of 
their birth, when quite aged. Their daughter 
Margaret remained with them until her marriage. 

To Mr. and Mrs. CVspers there have been born 
nine children, with -five of whom they have been 
called to part, namely: Maggie ( 1st), Thomas, Mag- 
gie (2d), and two infants unnamed. John, their 
eldest son living, married Miss Mattie Hillis, and is 
farming in Benton Precinct, Nemaha County; 
Lawrence married Miss jMary Hillis, and they are 
living on a farm in Rock Creek Precinct; Benja- 
min married Miss Ida Pracht, and lives on a farm 
in LaFa3ette Precinct, Nemaha County; Ellen is 
at home with her parents. Both parents and chil- 



dren are members of tlie Lutheran Church, and 
Mr. Caspers, in polities, is a fervent supporter of 
Democratic principles. Mr. Caspers upon reaching 
the United States located in Madison Count}-, HI., 
where he lived two years, and thence came to Ne- 
braska. A view of Mr. Caspers' place is shown on 
an oilier page. 



iEUBEN CHURCH. Both physically and 
mentally considered, the subject of this 
slietch would at once attract the attention 
' of any intelligent individual, and within 
the confines of Otoe Precinct there are none held 
more generally in respect on account of sterling 
worth of character combined witli more than ordi- 
nary capabilities. Of noble stature and command- 
ing presence, he also has a mind in keeping with 
the ph}sical qualities bestgwed upon him by a 
kindly Providence. Presiding over his domestic 
affairs his wife, Mrs. Lydia Church, is a lady in 
every way suited to her position as the companion 
of such a man as her husband, and one who in her 
younger years must have been a lady of uncom- 
mon beauty. She still retains a large measure of 
her youthful attractiveness, and is the mother of a 
blooming family, which the parents may be par- 
doned for looldng upon with great pride. 

ilr. Church owns and operates 245 acres of val- 
uable land lying upon sections 13 and 18. Upon 
this he has labored for the last twenty years, and 
has very nearly brought it to perfection, the soil 
being in a highly productive condition, and the 
farm buildings, live stock and machinery of first- 
class description. The residence, a tasteful and 
commodious frame structure, is flanked by good 
barns and outhouses, an ample orchard, shade and 
fruit trees, and the usual appliances of the well- 
regulated country estate. The farm is largely de- 
voted to the raising of fine stock, Mr. Church 
making a specialty of the celebrated Clydesdale 
horses. In this line he exhibits some of the hand- 
somest specimens of the equine race to be found in 
Southeastern Nebraska. 

Our subject is the offspring of a good family, 
being the elder of two children born to Charles 
and Sally (Button) Church, who were both natives 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



of Rutlaml County, Vt., bom near the town of 
that name. The paternal great-grandfather car- 
ried a musket in the Revolutionarj' AVar. while 
Grandfather Church served in the AYar of 181-2. 
The family is of English ancestry, and tlie first 
representatives it is supposed settled in the Green 
Mountain State during the Colonial daj's. The 
parents of our subject were married in New York 
State, and settled on a farm in St. Lawrence 
Count3% where they lived until 1835. Thence they 
removed to Ohio, and thereafter for a time lived in 
the vicinity of the Black River, in Lorain County. 
The father, however, in 1848, not yet satisfied with 
his surroundings, pushed on still further westward 
with his family, locating first in DeKalb, County, 
III. Later he crossed the Mississippi into Iowa, 
and settled upon a farm in Hancock County, where 
he was greatly prospered in bis labors as an agri- 
culturist and accumulated a fine property. He 
lived to the advanced age of eighty-four years, and 
died at tlie homestead in Iowa. Dec. 25. 1884. 

Mrs Sally (Button) Church, the mother of our 
subject, had died when a young woman only twenty- 

•"* three years of age, during the residence of the 
family in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., leaving two 
children: Reuben, of our sketch, and his sister 
Polly. The latter is now the wife of Henry Cun- 
ningham, of Boone County, 111., and they are the 
parents of one child. Charles Church after the 
death of his first wife was married again, in St. 
Lawrence County, N. Y'., to Miss Calista Smith, 
and to them were born eleven children. The step- 
mother and her children are still living in the 
Hawkeye State. 

Reuben Church was born in St. Lawrence 
County, N. Y"., Nov. 26, 1826, and was a lad of 
eiglit years when his father removed to Ohio. He 
was educated in the common schools, and remained 
a member of his father's household until reaching 
his majority. In the fall of 1850 he started out 
for himself, making his way first to Chippewa 
County, AVis., where he was employed in the lum- 
ber regions for a period of four years. During this 
time he received a salary of $26 per month the 
year around, saved what he could of his earnings, 
and thus laid the foundation of a future prosperity. 

I Fp to tliis time Mr. Church, although now nearly 



twenty-nine years of age, had wisely refrained from 
taking upon himself the responsibilities which too 
many men and women thoughtlessly assume, but 
he now judged it proper to begin the establishment 
of a home and domestic ties of his own. He had 
in the meanwhile formed the acquaintance of Miss 
Lydia Little, one of the most attractive and esti- 
mable young ladies of the Prairie State, as sensible 
as she was beautiful, and who fully appreciated the 
manly qualities of her stalwart suitor. Returning 
to DeKalb County, 111., our subject was united in 
marriage with this lady at lier home in Belvidere, 
March 27, 1855, amid the congratulations and best 
wishes of many friends, who voted them the hand- 
somest pair seen in tliat region for many a day. 

A few months after their marriage our subject 
and his young wife moved to Iowa, ajid Mr. Church 
purchased 160 acres of land in Avery Township, 
Hancock County. He entered earnestly upon the 
cultivation and improvement of his purchase and 
was greatly prospered. AVhile at the same time 
prosecuting his labors as an agriculturist he be- 
came prominent in the affairs of Hancock County, 
his evident talents having obtained ready recogni- 
tion among the people in that section of the Hawk- 
eye State. He was instrumental in the organization 
of the county in 1858, and was elected its first 
Treasurer. He was twice re-elected to this oflBce, 
serving a term of six years, and for four years of 
this time was also the Count}' Recorder, holding 
both offices, as was frequently done in the new 
counties. For a number of years he officiated as 
Justice of the Peace. He was the Postmaster at 
Upper Grove in the same county during the ad- 
ministration of three Presidents, Buchanan, Lin- 
coln and Johnson, resigning the office upon his 
removal from the State. 

Although having little to complain of in his ex- 
perience as an Iowa farmer and citizen, the reports 
reaching Mr. Church from the Territory of Ne- 
braska induced him to change his location. He 
certainly has had little reason to regret this change 
and neither have the people around him. Since 
that time he has been a resident of Otoe Precinct, 
this county. He has studiously avoided mixing in 
public affairs since coming to Nebraska, preferrin 
to give his .attention to his farm and his family, al- 



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OTOE COUNTY. 



7-17 



though he keeps himself well posted upon current 
events aud continues a warm supporter of the 
principles of the Republican partj'. He has ac- 
quitted himself in an admirable manner, both as an 
agriculturist and a citizen. iS'o mrtu stands higher 
in the community, which he has been no unim- 
portant factor in bringing to its present position, 
representing the intelligence and the enterprise of 
ISouthern Nebraska. The Church homestead is re- 
garded with unalloyed admiration by every trav- 
eler passing through this section of the country, 
and a view of this, which we present in connection 
with this sketch, serves not only to embellish the 
Album of Otoe County, but illustrates the labors 
and successes of one of its most prominent and 
valued citizens. 

Of the eight children born to Reuben and Lydia 
(Little) Church the record is as follows: The eldest 
daughter, Sarah E., is the wife of Edgar Clayton, 
a well-to-do and highly respected farmer of Otoe 
Precinct; Reuben D., a youth of great pi-omise, is a 
student in the State University at Lincoln, expect- 
ing to be graduated in the class of '89; Frances, a 
yOung lady of fine attainments, and a graduate of 
the Peru Normal vSchool, is a popular teacher at 
Exeter, Neb., having charge of the grammar de- 
partment; Ella, the third child, died Jan. 18, 1888, 
at the age of twenty-six years; Andrew died when 
a babe of fifteen months; Anna, also a graduate of 
the Peru Normal School, is a teacher in the gram- 
mar department of the graded school at Stromsburg: 
John and Katie I., also pupils of the Peru Normal 
School, give promise of distinguishing themselves 
in a manner similiar to that of the elder children. 
Togetlier they form a bright and interesting group, 
and will in due time take their places in the com- 
munity as the most worthy representatives of one 
of the leading families of the "Water Valley." 

^^EORGE W. ELSER, of Nebraska City, has 
|( ^=, been successfuUj' operating a meat market 
^^41 for the past twenty years, during which time 
he lias built up a prosperous trade. A native of 
Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, he was born Jan. 31, 
1845, and is the son of George G. Eiser, who with 
his wife was also of German liirth and parentage, 
and lioth died in their native land. There were two 
brotliers beside our subject, Casper, who died in 
Peoria County, 111., and Joim M., who still resides 
tiiere. 

Our subject remained a resident of his native 
province until sixteen years of age, in the mean- 



time attending school until fourteen. He then 
commenced learning the trade of tanner, which he 
followed until 18C2, in which ye.ar he came to the 
United States. He set sail from the port of Bre- 
men and landed in New York City, whence he 
proceeded directly to Peoria, III., where he arrived 
with a capital of $l.oO in his pocket. He secured 
emploj'inent with a butcher at $10 per month and 
remained one and one-half years. He became 
familiar with this trade also and flnali^' started for 
Nebraska, landing in Omaha, where he worked a 
few months and then migrated to North Platte, 
where he stayed six months. Thence ho returned to 
Omaha, from there drifted liack to Peoria, remain- 
ing until 1868, We next find him in Minonk, 
Woodford Co., III., with a capital of $150, opening 
a meat shop on his own account. He soon com- 
menced bujing and shipping cattle, and in a com- 
paratively short time accumulated $12,000. He 
soon parted with this, however, and in 1870 
concluded to seek his fortunes again in the farther 
West. He started out with a team of horses and 
\yagon and traversed the State of Missouri, thence 
went to Solomon, Kan., and later turned his steps 
toward Nebraska, locating not long aftervvard in 
Neliraska City. 

A few weeks later Mr. E. purchased a meat 
market and has been in business continuously 
since that time. In 1874 he returned to his old 
home in Germany and was married to Miss Lena 
Spengler, like himself a native of Hesse-Darmstadt. 
Tlie newl3' married pair shortly afterward set out 
for the United States. They are now the parents 
of six children. Geo. W., Hattie. John M.. Carl, 
Carrie and Amelia. Mr. Eiser, politically, supports 
Democratic principles. In 1882 he was elected 
Alderman of the second ward and re-elected in 
1887. Socially, he belongs to Western Star Lodge 
No. 2. A. F. & A. M., Eureka Lodge No. 3. K. of 
P., Nuckolls Lodge No. 7. A. O. U. W., and Camp 
No. 331, Modern Woodmen. 



FRANCIS E. BROWN, Attorney-at-Law of 
Syracuse, located here in 1878. He was born 
in Livingston County, N. Y., July 1, 1847, 
and is the son of Francis and Harriet Brown. He 
was reared to manhood in his native State and 
received his education in the common schools. In 
1859 he went to Darlington. Wis., where he re- 
mained until 1S64. The Civil War being then in 
progress he enlisted in Co. E., 142d Illinois Infantry, 
in which he served until the close of the struggle. 
In 18G6 .young Brown commenced the study of 



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r48 



OTOE COUNTY 



niedioine in tbe office of Dis. Hoyte and Johnson, 
in Hudson, N. T., where he remained one year. 
Next in Mount Morris he read law with the firm of 
Wisner & Gamble, and was admitted to the bar at 
Rochester in 1871. He commenced practice at 
Mount Morris with Judge Norton, liut subsequently 
removed to NewMik, in Wayne County. In 1878 
he started westward and not long afterward located 
in Syracuse, this county. 

Mr. Brown was married in 1883 to Hattie W.. 
daughter of Geo. Hartley of Syracuse, and they 
have two children, Duane and Vida. Politically 
he is an active Republican, and has ficquently held 
the local offices. He was one time made the can- 
didate of his party for State Senator, but was de- 
feated by sixteen votes. Socially, he belongs to the 
Masonic Fraternity and is an Adjutant-General in 
the G. A. R. under Commander-in-Chief Yander- 
voort. 

R. W. C. CLARY, familiarly known as a 
competent veterinary surgeon of Nebraska 
City, was born in wliat was then Sangamon 
County, III., but is now Menard Count}', 
at Clary's Grove, Feb. 26, 1823. He was the sev- 
enth child and sixth son in a family of fourteen 
children, the offspring of John and Rlioda (Arm- 
strong) Clary, the former a native of Lincoln 
County, Ky., and the latter of Tennessee. They 
were married in the latter State and removed to the 
Territory of Illinois in the fall of 1817, settling in 
Sangamon County, and the father thereafter voted 
on the slavery question and the adoption of the 
State Constitution. 

John Clary tuade the first entry of land in the 
Springfield district, carried on farming, took an 
active part in politics and served as Justice of the 
Peace and County Commissioner. He and his 
father in the spring of 1819 settled at what was 
afterward known as Clary's Grove, when there were 
no white residents within five miles. Our subject 
received his education in the primitive schools, 
the first building in that vicinity devoted to this 
purpose being a log house on his father's farm. He 
waded through slough and snow across the prairie 
in the pursuance of his studies, and from his boy- 
hood up entertained a remarkable liking for animals. 
He grew up strong and healthy, and when attaining 
manhood was mairied Aug. 19, 1847, to Miss 
Elizal)etli, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Green) 
Watkins, who was born and reared not far from the 
early home of her husliand. 

Our subject came to Nebraska witli his family in 
1868, employing ten days in making a trii) which 



can now be accomplished in nineteen hours. They 
located on a claim in Ncmeha County, and endured 
the common lot of pioneers. Our subject improved 
a farm, which he left in 1877 for Ncbr.aska City, 
■where he entered upon the practice of his profession, 
in which during all these years he had been perfect- 
ing himself. He has signalized himself as a liberal 
and public citizen. 

To Dr. and Mrs. Elizabeth Clarj' there were born 
nine children, namely : Robert M., George, Andrew 
J., who died in Illinois; Maiy F., John L. also died 
in Illinois; William M.; Henry L.. an infant, and 
Anna S. The present wife of our subject was 
formerly Miss Angeline G., daughter of James and 
Elizabeth (Wheeler) Hayes, to whom he was mar- 
ried April 30. 1871. This lad}' was born in At- 
chison County, Mo., and lived there until eleven 
years old. Thence she removed with her mother 
to Iowa, the father having gone to California, where 
he died. She lived in Iowa until her marriage. Of 
this union there are five children, the eldest of 
whom. Cora E., is a successful teacher; Martha E., 
Charles C. Lula E. and Ralph F. are at home with 
their parents. 

The Dr. in 1874 lost $6,000 by going security for 
a friend, which left him bankrupt. He endeavors 
however, to make the best of circumstances. Po- 
litically he affiliates with the Democratic parly. 
During the Mexican War he enlisted June 16, 1846, 
in the 4th Illinois Infantry and served about six 
months, being discharged for disability. During 
the late Civil War he also participated in the con- 
flict for union and freedom. 



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OSIAH ROl^ERTS, a resident of Syracuse 
Precinct, settled here in February, 1883. 
He was born in Clinton County, Ohio, Feb. 
(^)) 14, 1830, .and is the son of James and Mary 
(Antrim) Roberts, who were natives of Tennessee 
and of Welsh and P^nglish parentage respectively. 
The paternal grandfather, John Roberts, settled 
first in Tennessee, whence he removed to Ohio, 
where he spent his last day. He married jSIiss 
Phebe Myers, who was of German extraction. 
The maternal grandparents were natives of 
ILngland. 

The parents of our subject were married in 
Tennessee whence they removed to Ohio, settling 
in Clinton County during its pioneer days. Later 
they were residents of Logan County. James Rob- 
erts served under Gen. Andrew Jackson in the War 
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OTOE COUNTY. 



749 1M 



of 1812. Both he and his wife died in Logan 
County, Oliio, leaving a family of fourteen chil- 
dren, all of whom grew to mature years and of 
whom our subject was the ninth in order of birth. 
He was but two years old when the family tools: up 
their residence in Logan County', where he lived 
until eighteen years of age, and in the meantime 
commenced worlt at tlie blacksmitli trade. 

From Ohio, in 1851, Josiah Roberts removed to 
Knox County, 111., and from there later to Fre- 
mont County, Iowa. Still later we find liim at 
Fort Kearney, Nebraslta, where he operated a 
blaclvsmith-shop in the employ of the Government 
eighteen months. He next migrated to Atchison 
County, Mo., where, in 1854, he was married to 
Elizabeth H. Wilson. Mrs. Roberts was born in 
Indiana. After marriage they came to Nebraska 
and our subject pre-empted land in Nemeha County 
upon which lie made some improvements, then 
returned to Fremont County, Iowa, where he fol- 
lowed farming and blaclismithing until 18()2, 

The next removal of Mr. Roberts was to Mills 
County, Iowa, and at Glenwood he conducted a 
blaclismith-sliop until after the war. He them set- 
tled on a farm in that county where he prosecuted 
agriculture until 1883, tlie year of his removal to 
this State, when he settled where he now lives. He 
owns 320 acres of good land here, besides two 
tracts, 320 and 160 acres respectively, in Russell 
Precinct. He makes a specialty of stock-raising, 
keeping about 150 head of cattle. His success has 
been largely due to tlie increasing value of his 
land. In Iowa lie owned a whole section. He paid 
for his present farm 18,000, for the 320 acres in 
Russell precinct $5,000, and for the 160 acres 
$2,500. 

Mr. and Mrs. Roberts iiave ten children living, 
namely; Lucinda. James N., Isaac M., Jasper M., 
F^mmett, Bartley, Fanny, Edward, Luke and Alvira, 
Mr. Roberts, politically, is Independent, support- 
ing such men as he believes are qualified for office. 
His estimable wife is a member of tlie Christian 
Church. 



lyL^ ON. SAMUEL HOWARD CALHOUN, a 
ifji] pr<jrainent resident of this county, was born 
l^^ in Boston, Mass., May 27, 1836. His father, 
(^) Charles Calhoun, was also a native of Bos- 
ton, and liis paternal grandfather, Andrew Cal- 
houn, was born in Ireland. The latter came to 
America when a young man, locating fiist in Bos- 
ton, and from there removed to New Hampshire, 
where he purchased laud and engaged in fanning. 
He spent his last days in the city of Concord. He 



was a Presbyterian in liis belief, and in this faith 
reared his children. Of these there were nine who 
grew to mature years. Their mother in her girl- 
hood was Martha Chamberlain. Charles Calhoun, 
the father of oar subject, was reared in his native 
city, and took to mercantile pursuits, which lie 
carried on in Boston. About 1830 he was elected 
Secretary of the Massachusetts State Senate, and, 
with the exception of two years, when the Know 
Nothing party was in power, served continuously 
nearly thirty years. He accumulated property and 
became owner of a country seat at Woburn, where 
he spent a part of each year. In 1866 he came to 
Nebraska, and died at the home of his son, our 
subject, in September, 1869. 

The father of our subject, politically, was aii 
old line Whig. He married Miss Alinira Stevens. 
who was born in Burlington, Mass., and who sur- 
vived her husband until February, 1874, having 
also spent her last da^'s with her son, Samuel H. 
There were in the family, besides the latter two 
daughters. Martha, who died at the age of twenty 
years, and Mar}', who died when twelve years old. 
Samuel H. attended the city schools during his 
boyhood, and later was graduated from'the Latin 
School of Boston, under Prof. Francis Gardner. 
He next entered Williams College, and was gradu- 
ated in the class of '57. 

In the fall of the year above mentioned Mr. 
Calhoun came to Kansas to accept a position in the 
otlice of an uncle, who was Surveyor-General, with 
headquarters at Lecompton. The year following 
the oflice was removed to Nebraska City, and in the 
month of August, that year, our subject made his 
advent in this place. There was no railroad nearer 
than Jefferson City, and transportation was effected 
by water and stage. The town comprised an out- 
fitting point for freighters going with Government 
stores to Utah. When the gold excitement broke 
out the Pike's Peak emigrants caine this w.ay. busi- 
ness was lively and money plenty. Nebraska was 
a Territory, much of the land belonging to the 
Government, and unsurveyed. Indians of various 
tribes frequented this localit}-. 

Mr. Calhoun remained in the office of the Sur- 
veyor-General until the beginning of the year 
1860. In the meantime he had been reading law, 
and in December of that year was admitted to the 
bar. He commenced practice in Nebraska City, 
continuing until 1886, when he was appointed Col- 
lector of Internal Revenue for the district of Ne- 
br.aska, comprising this Territory and Dakota, with 
headquarters at Omaha. Politically, he has always 
been a Democrat, and prominent in the party here. 
He served several terms as Mayor of Nebraska 
City, and Prosecuting Attorney for Otoe County. 



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OTOK COUNTY. 



He represented llie county in the State Senate, nnd 
has been a deh^jrnte to the various conventions. 
In I 87.T he jiaiticipated in the revision of the State 
Constitution, being Chairman of the committee ap- 
pointed tlierefor. He was married, in 1864, to Miss 
Matihla McMeclian, and tliey have four childeren 
— Joliii C, Annie, S. Howard nnd Alexander. 
Mrs. Howard was born ntGhisgow. Mo., and is tlie 
daugliter of .John -and Matiid.i McMechan. a sketch 
of wliora apjiears elsewhere in this volurao. 

_J #«# 5- 



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ON. J. STERLING MORTON. This is one 
of the names inseparably associated with the 
early history of Otoe County. Coming to 
Nebraska when it was a wilderness, he lo- 
cated on a tract of unbroken prairie, adjacent to 
which Nebraska City afterward grew, and his ca- 
reer has been marked more by the desire to estab- 
lish a home, in the truest significance of the word, 
than the acquisition of wealth or political fame. 
Arbor Lodge forms one of the rarest s[)ots in the 
landscape of this county — the ideal country home 
blessed by happiness and content, a home of culture 
and refinement, but from which one of the lights 
went out on the 29th of June, 1881, when the wife 
and mother, to whose efforts had been largely due the 
building up of this home, departed hence. There 
were left four children — Joy, Paul, Mark and 
Carl. 

A native of the town of Adams, Jefferson Co., 
N. y., Mr. Morton was born April 22, 1832. The 
first representative of the family of whom there 
has been preserved any authentic record was Rich- 
ard Morton, a Scotchman by birth, a Puritan in 
religion, and a blacksmith by trade. He removed 
at an early day from Hartford, Conn., to Iladley, 
Mass., and thence to Hatfield, about 1668. One of 
his immediate descendants was Abner Morton, the 
paternal grandfather of our subject, who was grad- 
uated from Dartmouth College in 1799. After his 
marriage he settled in St. Albans, Vt., and became 
the father of a son, Julius Dewen, the father of our 
subject. 

Julius Dewen Morton was a man of marked 
ability, and made for himself an honorable record, 
both as a business man and a citizen, and at the 
time of his death was President of the Farmers' and 
Mechanics' Bank, of Detroit. He married Emeline 
Sterling, Sept. 30, 1830, and they removed from 
New York State to Michigan when their son J. 
Sterling was but a lad. He subsequently attended 
school at Albion, was then admitted to the State 
University at Ann Arbor, and finally entered Union 



College, N. Y., then under charge of Dr. Eliphalet 
Nott, from whom he received his diploma in 1854. 
Prior to this he had shown strong |)redilections 
toward journalism, being a frequent contributor to 
the Detroit Press, and other jjapers of reputation. 
On the 30th of October, 1854, occurred the mar- 
riage of J. Sterling Morton with Miss Caroline Ion 
French, of Detroit, with whom he had attended 
school from childliood, and to whom he had been 
l)etrothed at the age of sixteen. On the wedding 
day, accomjianied by his wife, he started for Ne- 
braska, and a few weeks later became owner of f^ve 
town shares and seventy lots included in the pres- 
ent site of Nebraska City. He also became editor 
of the Nebraska C'ity Nevs, and was engaged in 
editorial work at intervals until 1877. In the 
meantime, the year after his arrival, he was 
elected to the Territorial Legislature, and was 
made a (candidate the second term, but defeated by 
eighteen votes, in consequence of his opposition to 
the chartering of "wildcat" banks. He was re- 
instated as a member in 1857, and took an active 
part in the adjournment of the Legislature to Flor- 
ence, a struggle as bitter perhaps as any in which 
Nebraska has been interested. 

Mr. Sterling succeeded Thomas B. Cuming as Sec- 
retary of the Territory, in the spring of 1858, and 
a few months later, following the resignation of 
Gov. Richardson, became acting Governor. In the 
fall of 1860 he was nominated by the Democracy 
as a delegate to Congress, and was elected by a 
majority of fourteen votes. Secession coming on, 
and his jiarty being in the minority, his seat was 
contested, and the questioii finally decided in favor 
of his opponent. He was at this time but twenty- 
nine years old, and on account of his moi-e than 
ordinary capabilities there were enlisted in his be- 
half tlie strongest intellects on the Democratic side 
of tiie House. An able argument was made by 
Pendleton, sustained by speeches from Richardson, 
of Illinois; Vallandigham, Voorhees and John J. 
Crittenden, the last mentioned having moved and 
successfullj' insisted upon the passage of a resolu- 
tion granting the defeated contestant mileage and 
pay for the time he was in Washington. 

Upon returning home Mr. Morton took no active 
part in politics until the spring of 1866, when he 
received the gubernatorial nomination, contesting 
with David Butler the honor of being the first 
Governor of Nebraska as a State. In consequence 
of alleged irregularities in Rock Bluff Precinct, 
Cass County, by wliich about 160 ballots were 
thrown out, Butler was declared elected. Later, 
without a caucus being held, Mr. Morton received 
the entire strength of his party for United States 
Senator, but since that time he has withdrawn from 
political life, declining all nominations. He was 



)m A 
,'as V 



•►Hf^ 



■•► 



OTOE COUNTY. 



751 



appointed to represent Xebraska at the Paris P^x- 
position, and was one of the Commissioners at the 
National Centennial in 1876. He has served as 
President of the State Board of Agriculture and 
Horticulture, and is tlie originator of "Arbor Day," 
a festival adopted liy many of the Western .States. 



-J»»;^»»-i»!^ 



»tf5«f-»<tf5^ 



M 



HARLES M. nUBNEU. editor of the Daily 
and Weekly News, Nebraslva City, is one of 
'^^^ tlie leading journalists of Otoe County. He 
has traveled much in tlie United States, is a man 
of varied information, is fluent in conversation, 
and wields a ready pen. He was born in Louis- 
ville. Ky., Sept. 24. 1855, and is a son of Dr. George 
Alfred Hubner, a learned physician, a native of 
Mulhausen. Alsace, whicli at the time of Ins birth 
was a Province of France. His fatlier. grandfather 
of our subject, belonged to one of the old Alsacian 
families of that place, and was a lifelong resident 
tliere. 

Dr. Ilulmer was reared in his native town, and 
attended school qidte regularly until l\e had at- 
tained manhood. He then commenced the study 
of medicine, going to Germany to take a course in 
one of the noted medical scliools of that Empire. 
He afterward pursued his studies in one of the 
famous liospitils of Paris, and was graduated from 
there at the conclusion of seven years' study and 
practice, having attained high rank, and was thus 
well fitted for a career in which he gained consid- 
erable eminence as a ph3'sician of more th.in ordinary 
sldll and learning. He traveled in different parts 
of Europe, and in about 1840 set liis f.ace toward 
America. After his arrival liere lie located in New 
Orleans, and practiced there ior a time. He then 
bought a plantation in the Ouaoh'ta parish, and 
also became quite an extensive slavc-owner, and 
for a number of years he spent only his winters in 
New Orleans, and the rest of the year on his plan- 
tation. He died in New Orleans in 1858, and a 
valued citizen was lost to that State, as he was a 
man enterprising and liberal, witli shrewd busi- 
ness talents, and of well-balanced mind. His amia- 
ble wife, who was a fitting companion for sucli 
a man, now makes her home in Columbus, Ohio. 
Her maiden name was Ann Morton, .and she was a 
native of Wales. Her fjitlier, William Morton, was 
also a native of that country, and lie was a manu- 
facturer of cloth. He came to America iu 1839, 
located in Franklin County, Ohio, being quite an 
early settler there, .and took a Government con- 
tract to build a bridge in that county, of wliich he 
was a resident until his death. 

Charles Hubner, of whom we write, may be said 



to have grown up with Nebraska City, as he was 
brought liere when an infant, on account of ill- 
health, and in tliis fine climate grew to a vigor- 
ous manliood, receiving his education in tlie city 
selrools. AVlien lie w.as fourteen years of age he 
commenced life for himself as a printer's devil in the 
Nebraska City News ofBce, and in the course of time 
tlioroughly mastered every detail of the art pre- 
servative. He then started out to see something 
of tlie world, .ind worked at his trade in several 
different cities in the United States. In 1879 Mr. 
Hubner took charge of the city department of the 
Lincoln Globe, and in 1881, in company with J. K. 
Dietrich, started a paper at Red Oak. Iowa, the 
paper being called the WeeJcly Democrat. The 
name may have been significant of the fact that the 
paper did not have a very strong hold on life, as 
after a few months its publication ceased, the vent- 
ure not proving a success. Our subject, however, 
rose superior to this failure, .and returning to Ne- 
braska City in 1882, took charge of the iVews, with 
which he has been connected ever since, and by 
his energy and ability he has made it one of the 
best, newsiest, and most reliable papers in this sec- 
tion of the countrj'', with a Large circulation. On 
the 27th of February, 1887, the paper became the 
property of a stock company which was then formed, 
of which he is a memljer, his associates being E. D. 
Marnell and Thomas Morton. This company pub- 
lishes the Nebraska Citj' Daily and Weekly News, 
besides doing a large business in job printing. 

Politically. Mr. Hubner is a Democrat; socially, 
he is a member of the Western Star Lodge No. 2, 
A. F. & A. M., and a thirty-second degree member 
of Alpha Consistory, A. & A. S. R. 



•»Htr»^ 



LEX. S. McCartney, of Belmont Town- 
ship, has a farm of 400 acres on section 18, 
with a tine brick residence, a good barn and 
(g« all the other outbuildings required for the 

successful prosecution of agriculture. He makes a 
specialty of stock-raising, keeping Poland-China 
swine, and good grades of Short-horn cattle. The 
land is in a good state of cultivation and the whole 
premises indicate comfort and plenty. 

Our subject was born in County Antrim, Ireland, 
April 21, 1835, .and is the son of James McCartney, 
a native of the same locality, and who is now 
deceased. The family emigrated to tlie I'nited 
States in 1838, and sojourned for a time in New 
York City. Afterward they lived in Orange and 
Oneida Counties, N. Y., until 1845, when they 
changed their residence to Guernsey County, Ohio, 



I 



<• 




t 



OTOE COUNTY. 



where Alex. S. completed his education in Madison 
College. For five years thereafter he taught school 
in (Tiiernsev Countj-. 

Mr. McCartney came to Kansas in 1856, settling 
in Johnson County, and as a soldier under Gen. 
Jim Lane and John Brown participated in the 
border troubles. He returned to Oliio in 1858, and 
thence in 1863 came to Nebraska with five car loads 
of sheep. He visited the State in 1864, bringing 
four car loads of sheep, Spanish Merinos, and very 
valuable, and the year following superintended the 
transportation of a car load of horses to Iowa and 
Nebraska. 

Our subject located on his present farm in June, 
1866, at the time when it had undergone very lit- 
tle improvement. He worked diligently early and 
and late for a number of years, and is now enjoy- 
ing the reward of perseverance and industry. He 
was married to ISIiss Mary P.. daughter of Thomas 
Milligan, and of this union there have been born 
eight children, six of whom are living, namely; 
Thomas B., Maggie, Martha A.. Andrew, William 
and Robert. The two daughters are attending college 
in Tarkio, Mo. Mr. McCartney, politically, is 
identified with the prohibition party and was one 
of four men and three women who attended the 
first Prohibition convention in the county. Hurl- 
ing the late war he proffered his services as a sol- 
dier of the Union army but was rejected by the 
examining surgeon. In religious matters- he is a 
member of the United Presbyterian Churcli, 



,UFUSA. LITTLEFIELD, engaged in the 
practice of dentistry at Syracuse, was born 
in East Bridgewater, Plj'mouth Co., Mass., 
^)Dec. 17, 1850. His parents were Rufus A. 
and Abigail R. (Whitman-) Littlefield. He was 
reared on a farm and received his education in the 
common schools, and made iiis home under the 
parental roof until twenty-seven years of age. 

At this period of his life Mr. Littlefield went 
into the State of New Ham|)shire at Enfield, Grafton 
County, engaging in the manufacture of shoes. 
This place was located on the west shore of Mas- 
coma Lake, and on the east side was a settlement 
of Shakers. Our subject sojourned here until the 
fail of 1880, when he returned home, and the year 
following came to Nebraska, joining his brother 
George H., who had previously settled here and 
become a prominent ph^^sician of Syracuse. In May, 
1881, our subject commenced the study of dentistry 



in Tecumseli with Charles H. Philpot, D. D. S.. as 
preceptor, with wlioni he remained nearly three 
years. He practiced his profession in that place 
until December, 1884, when his office and dwelling 
were destroyed by fire. After this calamity' he re- 
moved to Syracuse, of which he has since been a 
resident. 

Dr. Littlefield was married. Oct. 24, 1884, to 
Miss Anna E. B. Emmons, daughter of James A. 
and Nancy Emmons, who was horn in Brownville, 
this State. Her parents were among the first set- 
tlers of that region. The Doctor and his wife have 
two bright children, both sons — Rufus A. and James 
A. Politically, he is a Republican, religiously, a 
Congregationalist, and socially, a K. of P. 



!^f UGUST CLAIR, the successful manager of 
(^Oj the Planters' Stock Company of Delta, es- 

]/| li\ tablished in April, 1888, and now in a 
^w prosperous condition, and also the owner 

of a well-improved farm of eighty acres near Delta 
Station, and in these connections widely and fa- 
vorably known throughout Otoe County, is the 
j-oungest of three children born to his |)arents. 
This interesting event occurred on the 18th of 
December, 1848, in Burgoyne. France. There he 
spent the first nine years of his life, coming with his 
parents to the United States in 1857. Their home 
was made in Nemaha County, this State, upon a 
pre-emption claim in Glenn Rock Precinct, where 
the father spent the remainder of his days, and also 
his mother, wlio survived him about twenty-three 
years; both had reached a very advanced age. 

Miss Emily Carlin and the subject of our sketch 
celebrated their union in marriage in the above 
county, in September, 1879. His wife was born in 
France, which she left with her parents when she 
was about eleven years of age, and subsequently 
spent two years in Ohio, and then came to this 
State, growing to womanhood in Nemaha County ; 
her parents are yet living upon a very productive 
and well-cultivated farm in Otoe County. Of this 
marriage there have been born four children, two 
of whom are deceased, viz: Julie and Nora. The 
two surviving children bear the same names, and 
are still with their parents. 

Mr. Clair came to this place from Nemaha County 
in 1882. Prior to that date, until the year 1858, 
he had successfully operated a farm in Glenn Rock 
Precinct, comprising 160 acres, which had been 
originally entered by the father. He is energetic 
in business, and by no means short-sighted. He is 
one of the promoters, if not indeed the chief, of the 






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OTOE COUNTY. 



753 



oigaiiization of tlie Planters' Stock Company, which 
he, now represents as grain bnj'er, and was instru- 
mental in the erection of the splendid elevator at 
Delta, which is their property, and has a capacity 
of 6,000 bushels, with an annual shipment of about 
200,000. - 

Our subject was reaied and has continued his 
allegiance as a Catholic, while his wife, for similar 
reasons, is a member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. 
Clair is a firm supporter of the Democratic part}% 
and is also an affiliate of the Kniijhts of Pvthias. 



-f 



^^*^ HARLES JAME.S. There came from Mercer 
/((^l County, Pa., in the spring of 1867, one who 
^^(7 has since been numbered among the most 
successful and enterprising men of this county, the 
subject of this sketch. Nebraska had then but 
recently been transformed from a Territory into a 
State, and Rlr. James, taking up 160 acres of the first 
school land that w.as put up on the market, applied 
liimself at once to its improvement and cultivation, 
and in his labors met with most gratifying success. 
He is now notable as a land-owner and stock-raiser, 
and has his homestead on section 16. in Wyomrng 
Precinct, embracing a tract of 160 acres. On sec- 
tion 8 he has 160 acres, which, like the other, has 
been brought to a good state of cultivation, and 
is considered one of the finest tracts of land in 
the precinct. The home farm is supplied with first- 
class buildings, including a comfortable residence 
and a fine large barn, the latter occupying an area 
of 32x64 feet, and underneath is a warm stone 
basement for the shelter of stock. 

Our subject was born in Count}- Donegal. Ire- 
land, in 1845. and is consequently in the prime of 
life. He was one of a large family of children, the 
offspring of William and Margaret (Buchanan) 
James, the former of whom, a farmer by occupa- 
tion, was of Irish birth and ancestry, and died when 
his son Charles was a little lad five years of age. 
The widow with her seven children emigrated to 
America in 1850, and settled in Mercer County, 
Pa., where she took u|) a tract of land, and where 
our subject developed into manhood. He was em- 
ployed for a number of years in the oil regions of 
the Kej'stone .State, which he left in 1867 to seek 
his fortune across the Mississippi. Upon first coming 
to Nebraska he employed himself at farming six 
years in Otoe County, then returned to Pennsyl- 
vania, and was married, in Venango County, to 
Miss Maria S. Strawbridge. Aug. 23. 1863. This 
lady was born in the latter county in 1845, where 



she was reared to womanhood and received her 
education in the common schools. Her parents, 
Benjamin and Alvira (.Sheffield) Strawbridge, were 
natives of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, and the 
father was a farmer b}' occupation. They spent 
their last years in Venango County, Pa., dying at 
an advanced .age. Their family included three 
sons and six daughters, all of whom are living. 

Mr. and Mrs. James soon after their marriage 
returned to Nebraska, and took up their abode in 
an humble dwelling on the land which our subject 
had secured from the State, and here the}' have 
since made their Lome. The household circle was 
completed by the birth of four children, one of 
whom, a son, George W., died when seven weeks 
old. The survivors are Mary E., Charles S. and 
Hattie F. The eldest is thirteen years of age and 
the }'oungest eight, and all are at home with their 
parents. Mr. James, politicall}-. is a sound Repub- 
lican, and both he and his estimable wife hold a 
good position in the social circles of their com- 
munity, enjoying the friendship of its best people. 



^—^^ 



(« )>:ILLIAM SCHACHT. The name which 
\/iJ// ''''^"^1® ^^ ^^^ head of this sketch is a fami!- 
\^/^ iar one to a large majority of the people of 
Os.age Precinct, of which he was one of the very 
first settlers, and is now one of its most extensive 
land-owners. His broad fields, embracing an area 
of 1.200 acres, includes some of tlie finest farming 
land along the southern line of the count}'. Situa- 
ted in a beautiful and level valley, its soil, under 
careful cultivation, yields abundantly the lichest 
products of Nebraska. The farm buildings of Mr. 
Schacht invariably attract the attention of the trav- 
eler through this region, as comprising all that is 
convenient for use and handsome in architecture. 
The dwelling, a fine qnd imposing structure, is 
commodious and well arranged, and, within, pre- 
sided over by a lady of great amiability and good 
taste, illustrates the modern idea of the complete 
home. The family move in the highest social cir- 
cles of Osage Precinct, and have everything about 
them to make life pleasant and desirable. 

The subject of this sketch w.as born in the Prus- 
sian Province of Westphalia, March 25, 1832. and 
is the son of Christof and Wilhelmina (Brine) 
Schacht, who were also natives of Prussia, and of 
pure German ancestry. The father w.as born in 
1797. and was an extensive farmer and land- 
owner in his native Province. When a youth of 
eighteen years he entered the German Army, and 
fought under Frederick William III. against the 



nd ,> 



754 



OTOE COUNTY. 



4agi 
est; 



fii-st Napoleon. He continueil in the arm}- until 
the close of the war, then returned to the occupa- 
tions of rural life, to wiiich he had been familiar 
from his bo^'hood. He spent his entire life upon 
his native soil, dying at the advanced age of eighty- 
five years, in the svinter of 1882.- The mother had 
preceded her husband to the silent land fourteen 
years, her death having taken place in 1868, when 
she was fifty-five years old. 

The ten children of the parental family all lived 
to mature years. They were named respective!}' : 
Francis, August, William, our subject, Charlotte, 
Katherine, Herman, Wilhelmiua, Henry, Louis and 
Frederick. Of these six are now living, making 
their homes mostly in Nebr.aska. 

William staid with his father until a youth of six- 
teen years, and then determined to seek his fort- 
une on another continent. Embarking on the 
'■Edmund," at the port of Bremen, he was tossed 
about on the waves of the Atlantic for a period of 
ten weeks and three days, finally landing in the 
(Mty of New Orleans. Thence he went up the river 
by steamer to St. Louis, and from there to Frank- 
lin Count}', Mo., where he was engaged one and 
one-half years at his uncle's in farming. 

We next find our subject in ftLicoupin County, 
111., where he w.as engaged in farming four years. 
Thence he returned to Missouri, and was in the 
employ of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company 
two years. The spring of 1857 finds him first in 
Nebraska City, where he was occupied in draying 
three years. Next he rented a tract of land near 
the city, upon which he farmed two years. In the 
fall of 1859, when the first land sale was opened in 
Nebraska, he purchased 160 acres of land in Osage 
Precinct, ami settled in a log house, in April, 1862, 
being one of the earliest pioneers of that place. 

The neighbors of Mr. Schacht were at this time 
few and far between. xVs soon as possble he pro- 
vided a shelter for his family, and set about the 
improvement of his property. It is hardly neces- 
sary to recapitulate the story of the early settler 
and the difficulties which beset him on either hand, 
the far-away market, the lack of railroad facilities, 
the indifferent machiner}' for farm purposes, and 
the numberless other difficulties with which he had 
to contend. Our subject, however, had inherited 
too largely of the traits of his substantial German 
ancestry to permit him to give way to discourage- 
ments. He fought his way successfully, and in 
due time found himself surrounded by the results 
of his labor, in the shape of a good area of culti- 
vated soil, convenient and comfortable farm build- 
ings, and all other accessories of the progressive 
agriculturist. In due time he added to his real 
estate, purchasing at different periods 160 acres in 



Johnson County. 520 acres in McWilliams Pre- 
cinct, Otoe County, and enough in Osage Precinct 
to make up the sum of 1240 seres. The most of 
this is now urder a state of cultivation, and repre- 
sents a value approaching §100,000. In 1884 he 
helped start the Bank -^f Talmage, of which he is 
now a stockholder. When we consider that the 
proprietor began at first principles, having no 
capital save his courageous heart and willing hands, 
it must be admitted that he has done well. 

To Miss Caroline Bock, of Missouri, our subject 
was married, at Nebraska City, on the 14th of 
April, 1859. Mrs. .Schacht, like her husband, is 
also a native of Prussia, and was born Oct. 18, 
1836. Her parents were Christof and Caroline 
(Krappig) Bock, also of German birth and parent- 
age, and the father a farmer in good circumstances. 
He died in his native Germany in 1843. when but 
forty-three years old. The mother subsequently came 
to America, and died at the home of her daughter, 
Mrs. M. Hofman, in Leavenworth, Kiin., Feb. 22, 
1879, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. 
The parental family included four children — 
Minnie, Dora. Caroline and Hannah. 

The mother of Mrs. Schacht, when the latter was 
a young girl eighteen years of age. came with her 
family to America, settling in Gasconade County, 
Mo., where Miss Caroline made the acquaintance 
of her future husband. Of their union there have 
been born ten children, two of whom, .lohanna and 
Henry, died when fifteen years and several hours 
old respectively. The others are Charlotte. Min- 
nie, Emma, Herman. Caroline. William. IMatilda 
and Christof. Charlotte is the wife of Charles 
Brandt, a traveling salesman for an agricultural im- 
plement firm of Omaha: they reside at Nebraska 
City. They h;\ve two children — Martha and Otto. 
Minnie married Henry Arniknecht. and they are 
living on a farm in Arapahoe County, Col.; they 
have three cluldren — Bertha, Martha and Ellen. 
The younger children of our subject continue under 
the home roof. Herman is an especially bright 
boy, and was for a time a student in the Business 
College at Burlington, Iowa. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Schacht are members in good 
standing of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at 
OsHge. Mr. S. was one of the charter members, 
assisting in its organization, and has been uniformly 
a most liberal an<l cheerful contributor to its sup- 
port. Politically, he votes the straight Republican 
ticket, has been a member of the .School Board in 
his district for a period of eighteen years, and Road 
Supervisor fur several years. He is a man whose 
influence has been most sensibly felt in this region, 
and one the very force of ^<'hose example has 
worked good to the entire precinct. 



Jf^ 



^TT* 



^^■) 









CASS COUNTY, 



NEBRASKA. 




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J4^^<^^''^^.^ 0^ii^^6^t<^^^^ 



•►Hl^ 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 








. JAMES M. PATTER- 
SON, Cashier of the Bank 
of Cass Countj% is one of 
lattsmouth's most influ- 
ential and liig-hly re- 
peeted citizens, and as 
ives us much pleasure to 
^|yy^ record a sketch of his life on the 
exP^y^/O pages of this volume. He was born 
^v^i^ in Cross Creek Township, "Washing- 
ton Co., Pa., Sept 28, 1836, of 
Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his name 
and lineage are closely interwoven 
in the annals of the Kejstone State 
from an early date in its colonial 
history. His father, James Patterson, was born in 
the same township as himself, April 24, 1798. and 
his grandfather, the Hon. Thomas Patterson, was 
born in Lancaster County, Pa., Oct. 1, 1764. The 
father of Thomas, who was named AVilliam, was 
born in the same county in 1733, and his father, 
James Patterson, the great-great-grandfather of our 
subject, was born in County Tj^i-one, Ireland, in 
1708, of Scotch-Irish parentage. He came to 
America when a young man, in 1728, settled in 
Lancaster C'ount3', Pa., and eventually married 
there. He was a farmer, and followed that occu- 
pation in that countj^ until his death. He and his 
wife reared a family of ten children. The great- 
grandfather of our subject was reared and married 
in his native county, and moved from there to Wash- 



ington County about 1779. He crossed the Alle- 
ghanj^ ]\Iountains with pack horses, accompanied by 
his family, and settled on a tract of heavily tim- 
bered land in the midst of the primeval forest that 
covered that part of the countrj', which was then 
considered in the "Far West." He made the 
journey to I'hiladelphia on horseback to secure a 
patent to his land from the State, the patent that 
he obtained bearing the signature of Benjamin 
Franklin. He cleared and highly improved a good 
farm from the wilderness there, whereon he made his 
home until death called him to a better life, June 
29, 1818, and his body now rests in Cross Creek 
Cemetery. In 1794 he erected a substantial stone 
house that is still standing, and is occupied by his 
great-grandson. Robert M. Patterson. 

The grandfather of our subject was reared in his 
native county, and when a youth of fifteen accom- 
panied his parents to their new home in the wilder- 
ness in Washington County. He was married, in 
Westmoreland County, Oct. 6, 1795, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Findley. Her father, great-grandfather of our 
subject, the Hon. William Findley, was for many 
years a prominent IMemlier of Congress from Penn- 
sylvania. The grandfather of our subject, Thomas 
Patterson, settled in Washington County, and 
erected saw and flouring mills on Cross Creek, which 
are still owned by his descendants. The locality 
became known as Patterson's Mills, and his death 
occurred there in November, 1841. Politically, lie 
was a Democrat, and one of the leaders of his 



•> I I < • 



•►:il-^ 



•►Hl^ 



758 



CASS COUNTY. 



40tt 



parly. He served four terms in Congress, and won 
an honorable record as a statesman. He held a 
commission in the State Militia, and was known as 
Gen. Patterson. His wife died Jan. 8, 1837. 
Twelve children liad been born to them, of whom 
three died in infancy, and seven sons and two 
daughters grew to maturity. 

The father of our subject passed tlie early years 
of his life in the home of his birth, and when a 
young man engaged in milling, but later he 
turned his attention to the mercantile business at 
Patterson's jNIills, where he was Postmaster, also, 
for a number of years. The last few years of his 
life he lived retired, enjojdng a handsome compe- 
tence, and died Aug. 17, 1861. The maiden name 
of his wife was Eliza Walker, and she was born in 
Cross Creek Township. Feb. 22, 1802. Her father, 
Alexander Walker, grandfather of James M., was 
born in Bedford County, Pa., and there began life 
as a farmer. He subsequently moved to Washing- 
ton County, where he bought a tract of land, and 
there he carried on agricultural pursuits until his 
death. The mother of our subject died at Patter- 
son Mills, Dec. 9, 1886, having rounded out the 
venerable age of eighty-four years. There were 
eleven children born to her and her husband, nine 
of whom grew to maturity, as follows: Elizabeth, 
Marjr A., Thomas M., Alexander W., Jane, Am- 
brose, James M., David F. and Emily A. 

James M. Patterson, the subject of this sketch, re- 
ceived his education in the public schools, and 
when quite young commenced clerking in his 
father's store, and later, in company with his 
brother Thomas M., succeeded to his father's busi- 
ness. In 1860 he sold out, and in March, 1861, 
came to Nebraska, then a Territory, and located at 
Rock Bluff. That place was then a small but flour- 
ishing town, nearly as large as Plattsmouth at that 
time. In comp.nm- with his brother Ambrose he es- 
tablished himself in the mercantile business there, 
and the}' carried it on together for three years. At 
the expiration of that time they sold out. and the 
subject of this sketch returned to Pennsylvania to 
buy sheep, purchasing 1,000, and shipping, them by 
rail to the western terminus of the railway at 
Ottumwa, Iowa. From there he drove them to Cass 
County to graze on the large tracts of wild prairie. 



Three years later he sold the sheep, and again en- 
gaged in the mercantile business at Rock Bluff, in 
company with his cousin, James A. Walker, under 
the firm name of Patterson & Walker, continuing 
until 1873, when they disposed of their stock and 
business at a good profit. In 1874 Mr. Patterson 
came to Plattsmouth to take up his residence. He 
soon became influential in public affairs, and in 
1877 was elected Citj^ Treasurer. His administra- 
tion of that office was marked by a faithful devo- 
tion to its responsibilities, and it added to his 
reputation as a financier of more tlian ordinary 
ability, and it was indeed so satisfactory that he held 
it for five consecutive years. In the fall of 1877 he 
was elected County Treasurer, and was re-elected in 
the fall of 1879, his experience amply qualiying 
him for that important office. Wlien the Bank of 
Cass County was organized, in 1881, its Directors 
gladly availed themselves of his valuable services 
as a financier, and elected him to be casliier, which 
position he still holds. His invariable courtesy 
and kindly manners make him popular with the 
pati'ons of the bank, as well as generally liked by 
many others in the community. He is influential 
in politics, standing high in the Democratic party, 
with which he has always affiliated. In 1884 he 
was candidate of his party for Presidential Elector, 
and in 1888 was candidate for State Treasurer. In 
him this count}' has found an able representative of 
her interests in the halls of legislation. In 1862, in 
Territorial days, and again in 1870 he was elected 
a member of the House, and served on a number 
of important committees, and in 1882 he was 
elected to the Senate, and represented his constit- 
uency with ability and honor. 

Mr. Patterson was married. Aug. 17, 1858, to 
Ellen H. Campbell, a native of Cross Creek Town- 
ship, AVashington Co., Pa., where she was born Oct. 
31, 1838. Her father, Samuel Campbell, was born 
in Belmont County, Ohio, and his father. David 
Campbell, was born in Washington County, Pa. 
He was a farmer, and spent his last years in Wash- 
ington County. His wife, Mrs. Patterson's grand- 
mother, whose maiden name was Ann Rea, a daugh- 
ter of William Rea, was a native of that county, 
and there spent her last years. Samuel Campbell is 
a farmer, and is still a resident of Washington 




•►Hl^^^ 



■^"T 



CASS COUNTY. 



759 



Countj, bis home being in Independence Town- 
ship. The maiden name of his wife was Jane 
McGugin, and she was a native of Washington 
County, Pa. Her parents, who were the grand- 
parents of JMrs. Patterson, were David and Jane 
(Vincent) McCiugin, natives and lifelong residents 
of Pennsj'lvania, the former dying at the age of 
eighty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson's mar- 
ried life has been blessed to tliera b}^ the birth of 
ten 'children, two of whom are deceased: Kate 
Florence, w^ho was born in Pennsj'lvania, and died 
in the second year of her age; and Ella, who was 
born in Rock Rluff, and died in Plattsmouth at the 
age of ten years. The names of the other children 
are Jennie C, James, Thomas M., Samuel, Eliza AV., 
Edith, Charles A. and Rea. Jennie married the 
Hon. R. B. Windham; James married Grace A. 
Anderson, and he is assistant casliier in the bank; 
Thomas M. married Nettie M\'ers, and is book- 
keeper in the bank. The other children are single 
and at home. James, although only a little over his 
majority, was elected City Treasurer of Platts- 
mouth in the spring of 1888, which position he 
still holds, and fills to the entire satisfaction of his 
constituency. 

On an adjoining page we print an admirable 
portrait of this honored citizen of Cass County. 
Standing as he does in the front ranks of her best 
citizens, it is fitting that it should appear as a' 
frontispiece to the biographies of her leading 
people. 

REDERIC F. REXFORD, a stalwart and 
sturdy representative of the pioneer agri- 
culturists who came to Cass County wliile 
it was yet in its infancy, and iiave watched witii es- 
pecial interest its rapid growth, is an influential and 
leading citizen of Centre Precinct, where he settled 
in 1866, on iiis present homestead. He is well and 
favorably known throughout the county as a man 
of unusual aljilit}', great energy, and of unswerving 
integrity. He fought valiantly in the late war for 
the defence of his Nation's honor, and of his war 
record he has reason to be proud, for few men 
served longer, took part in more severe engiige- 



ments, endured more hardships, or exhibited more 
personal bravery. He Jwas born in Chateaugay, 
Franklin Co., N. Y., Sept. 14, 1839, and lived there 
until seven years of age, then moved to Malone in 
the same county, where he grew to man's estate, 
receiving a good common-school education. His 
father, Isaac Rexford, was born Oct. 28, 1807, in 
Vermont, and there passed his early life, and there 
learned the cooper's trade. He married Miss Louisa, 
daughter of Frederic Fuller, who was a blacksmith 
of Keeseville, Essex Co., N. Y. After marriage 
tliey moved to Canada, wiiere Mr. Rexford worked 
at his trade for awhile, then returned to New York 
and located in Franklin County. Mr. Rexford also 
served two years during^tlie late Rebellion, liut was 
finally discharged on account of disability. He 
afterward moved to Dayton, Ohio, wiiere he spent 
his last years, dying there in November. 1886. He 
was a member of the Baptist Cburch. and a worth}- 
man and citizen, His widow is still living, and 
makes lier home with our suliject. 

F. F. Rexford, of whom we write, moved from 
his native countj- to Ohio, and soon after the break- 
ing out of the late civil strife enlisted, Aug. 16, 
1861. in Compan}' A, 2d Oliio Cavalry. After 
sufficient drill the company was sent to St. Louis, 
Mo., and was at Camp Benton Barracks a w«ek, then 
went to St. Joseph and Ft. Leavenworth, thence to 
Kansas City, and had its first engagement at a town 
(Independence) twenty miles east, where the first 
man in the company was killed ; then proceeded 
to Ft. Scott. Kan., and had that place as headquar- 
ters. In the summer of 1862 the company made 
different raids in Missouri, Arkansas and Indian 
Territory, having a number of small engagements, 
and in the fall of 1862 was ordered back to Co- 
lumbus, Ohio. There the members were remounted 
and re-equipped, and sent into the Army of the 
Ohio, under command of Gen. Burnside. In April 
they were ordered to Kentucky, having Somer- 
set as headquarters, and in the middle of June five 
companies maiie a raid into Eastern Tennessee over 
the Cumberland Mountains, our subject being 
among the number. Thej' had a hard lime to get 
back, having to fight their waj- through, losing 
most of their horses, some of the soldiers being two 
weeks without horses, and in a starving and ragged 



i- 



•►Hl^ 



reo 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 



^^ 



coiifHtion. While they were away the balance of 
the division went for Morgan, and helped to capture 
him at the Ohio River. The3- then went into camp 
at Crab Orchard. Ky., where the3' were again re- 
fitted, and sent with Burnside to East Tennessee to 
keep possession of it, and there took an active part 
it; the siege of Knoxville. They staid there until 
January, when provisions and provender for the 
horses gave out. They were in a good many en- 
gagements in the valley during the fall and winter, 
antl our suliject lost his tent mate, many of his com- 
pany being killed or dying from exposure. In 
Jaiuiar}' his company veteranized, and was sent home 
on a thirty-days furlough. The sufferings of tlie 
men had been so great that they were willing to do 
anything for a few da3's at home. The soldiers 
afterward met at Cleveland, and were transported 
to Cincinnati, and from there ordered to the Poto- 
mac. They went to Annapolis. Md., and staid there 
until ordered to Washington, where they were 
again re-cquipped. On May 1 the compafiy of 
which our subject was a member was ordered to the 
front to take part in the Wilderness campaign, 
being in the thick of those hardly fought engage- 
ments, forcing Lee back to Richmond. The arm^' 
then crossed the river on pontoons, moved on to 
the south side of Petersburg, then up on to the 
Weldon Railway. A raid was organized, and our 
subject and his comrades were sent into Virginia, 
destroj'ing rebel railways and supplies for eight}' 
miles. The}' had more or less engagements all of 
the time, captured many trains, tore up rails, and 
burned trains. On their return the enemy got in 
front of the cavalrj', and harassed and divided the 
company, so that they were forced to cut their way 
through, some riding hard for three days and nights 
oil circuitous routes, finally bringing up in Union 
quarters. 

Our subject was disabled, not being able to wear 
his boots for two months, but not a day of rest did 
he have, and for two weeks did not unsaddle but 
once, and then for fifteen minutes only. After get- 
ting back to Sandy Point on the James River, they 
left their worn out horses there, and took transports 
for Baltimore, with hardly enough clothes to be 
decent. They had neither hats nor shoes, manj' 
with simpi}' underclothing. Thej" got off at Balti- 



more, and lay on the pavement the rest of the 
night. The sanitary commission clothed them as 
best the}' could, and proceeding to Washington, our 
subject's regiment arrived there just in time to head 
off Gen. Early, who was within four miles of the 
city. The rebels retreated up the Shenandoah, and 
Mr. Rexford was one of the number who was des- 
patched in pursuit. The Arraj' of the Shenandoah 
was then formed, Sheridan taking command. Gen. 
Custer commanded the 3d Division of cavaby, 
to which our subject behjnged, and in that valley 
they were in many hard battles, naniel}' : Winchester, 
Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and so on up the vallej', 
drawing the enemy clear m) be3'ond Danville. They 
went into winter quarters near Winchester, staying 
there until the latter part of February, 1865. 
The}' were then ordered up the valley to ji>in 
Grant at the south side of Petersburg. The 
regiment was engaged in the battle of Five Forks, 
where it lost very heavily. Our subject was also 
present at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. 
The war closing his regiment w.as ordered to Wash- 
ington to take part in the grand review, and was 
thence ordered to Missouri, gciingtothe Ohio River 
by railway, and then on transports to St. Louis, 
thence to Raleigh and S|)ringfiold, where the mem- 
bers did duty in fort, guarding ammunition until 
September 1. They were then sent to St. Louis, 
where they were mustered out, and thence trans- 
ported to Columbus, Ohio, and discharged after a 
continuous service of four years and one month, 
with but two furloughs, one of five days and one of 
thirty days. 

In the spring of 18CG our subject concluded to try 
his fortunes in the Great West. The broad prairie 
land of Nebraska, with its rich soil and genial cli- 
m.ate, seemed a great inducement to him to settle. 
He then bought the farm which he now owns, 
a part of it lying on section 2.5, and a i)art on 
section 3G. his residence being on the former section. 
The land was in its normal condition, not a furrow 
having been turned, and not a tree of any descrip- 
tion in sight. Nothing daunted by its appearance 
Mr. Rexford immediately began its improvement. 
He put up a small house, set out five acres of forest 
trees, planted an orchard and plenty of small fruits 
which have borne much and good fruit the past fi''- 





)c/W}>>m/7if) 



-€*■ 



^l 



CASS COUNTY. 



teen j'ears. The land is under good cultivation, 
and suriounded by either fence or hedge. He does 
an extensive business in general fanning, raising 
grain, horses, hogs and cattle. Besides attending 
to that business, which is as much as an}' farmer 
usually has time for, our subject is interested in the 
manufacture of sorghum, having been working up 
the enterprise for several years. He is now using 
an evaporator and crusher sent him from Buffalo, 
which is one of the most complete machines of the 
kind, and is putting in steam power. He has al- 
ready' given much time and thought, and invested 
a good deal of money in his efforts to place the 
business on a paying basis, and he now thinks he 
sees his wa}' to a profitable end. Our subject has 
also discovered a fine bank of potter's clay on his 
farm, and is now tr^'ing to utilize that in some 
manner. His ability and judgment are recognized 
by all, and he is as anxious to benefit his town and 
his townspeople as himself, and works for their in- 
terests as unselfishly as his own. Having held the 
various precinct offices he lias materially advanced 
the cause of good government within its limits. 

Mr. Rexford was united in marriage to Miss 
Susan Torrence, in Percival, Iowa, March 16, 1868. 
(For her parental history see sketch of Sylvester 
Torrence.) Of this union four children have been 
born, of whom three are still living, namely : Willis, 
Ada and Charles. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rexford are 
valued members of the Congregational Church and 
of the Sunday-school, he having been Deacon for 
more than twenty yeais. He is also a prominent 
member of the G. A. R., LaFayette Post No. 61, 
of Weeping Water. 



^^EN. ROBERT RAMSEY LIVINGSTON, 

(ll ^/ ^^' '^'' "^* '^°'" '" ^Io"*^''eaU Canada, Aug. 
^\^S! 10, 1827. and his father, also named Robert 
Ramsey Livingston, was a native of Scotland. 
Gen. Livingston was reared in his native cit}', and 
received his preliminary education in the Royal 
Grammar School, which was then under the charge 
-^» — 



of Alexander Skakel, LL. D. He afterward pur- 
sued the study of medicine'at Magill University, 
in the same city, from which institution he was 
graduated with honors. Subsequently he attended 
medical lectures at the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons in New York City. A few years later he 
became interested in the copper mines of Lake 
Superior, and was appointed Secretary of a cora- 
l^any formed for working those mines, spending a 
part of his time at the mines, and a part at the of- 
fice of the company- in Boston. In 1857 mining, 
in common with many other branches of industry, 
suffered a collapse, and oursubject resumed his pro- 
fession as a ph^'sician. In 1859 Dr. Livingston 
came to Plattsmouth, then a small town, and here 
opened an office and established himself in his pro- 
fession in this city. 

In 1861, during the absence of the proprietor. 
Dr. Livingston assumed the charge of the Platts- 
mouth Herald. While he was filling the editor's 
chair the Civil War broke out, and he, with pa- 
triotic zeal and ardor, took a prominent and active 
part in sustaining the Union cause. At the time of 
the arrival of the news of the firing on the '-Star of 
the West," the weekly issue of the Herald was in 
the press; work on it was at once suspended, and 
the Doctor immediately had a large number of pos- 
ters struck off, calling on all loyal men of Cass 
County to meet that evening in the hall over the 
printing-office. The call was promptly responded 
to, and a full company of infantry was organized 
that night. Dr. Livingston's name heading the list 
of privates. He was immediately and unanimously 
elected Captain of the company. To him is due 
the credit of having raised and organized the first 
military company in the Territory of Nebraska for 
the suppression of the Rebellion. This was before 
there had been any call for troops, but he held his 
company in readiness, and June 11, 1861, it was 
mustered into service as Company A of the 1st 
Nebraska Infantry, and w.as sent South. In Decem- 
ber of that year Capt. Livingston w.as promoted to 
the rank of Major, and in June, 1862. another pro- 
motion gave him the rank of Lieuten.ant Colonel. 
A few months afterward he vvas m.ade Colonel of 
his regiment. He was a brave and gallant officer, 
and took an .active part in the battles of Ft. Henry, 






•►Hf^ 



764 



CASS COUNTY. 




Ft. Doiielson, Shiloh, Corinth and many others. 
In the summer of 1863 Col. Livingston was ap- 
pointed fommandino; oflicer of the post at St. Louis, 
and a few months Inter received the appointment 
of commanding officer of the District of St. Louis. 
He served with distinction in Arkansas, and re- 
ceived the thanks of the Legislature of that State 
for ridding it of the roving bands of guerrillas and 
bushwhackers that infested that region. The fol- 
lowirfg is a copy of the resolution of thanks passed 
at that time by the Arkansas House of Repre- 
sentatives: 

'■Whereas. Col. R. R. Livingston, Commandant 
of the Northeastern Division of the State of Arkan- 
sas, has manifested on all proper occasions an ear- 
nest and patriotic desire to ameliorate the suffering 
condition of the numerous loyal refugees that have 
been driven from their comfortable homes and fire- 
sides hy the ruthless, wanton and traitorous bands; 
" Therefore, Be it resolved by the General Assembly 
of the State of Arkansas, that, in consideration of 
the sterling worth exhibited in the chivalric and 
generous character of Col. R. R. Livingston, 1st 
Nebraska Regiment, Commandant of the North- 
eai5tern Division of Arkansas, we feel it to be our 
duty to, and hereby do express in our own behalf, 
and in behalf of those who have been relieved by 
many repeated acts of disinterested humanity, the 
thanks of this Legislature, and sincerely hope that 
he will be preserved to humanity, to whom he has 
rendered such valuable service." 

In the latter part of the year 18G3 the regiment 
commanded by Col. Livingston veteranized, and 
while at home on furlough he was assigned to duty 
on the northwestern frontier, to take care of hostile 
Indians. With his command he soon rid the ter- 
ritory of the savages, and restored peace and quiet 
to the settlers. In the spring of 1 865 our subject 
was breveted Brigadier General. In July of that 
year his regiment was mustered out of service, and 
Gen. Livingston laid down the sword for the scal- 
pel, and resumed his professional duties in Platts- 
mouth. In 1869 he was appointed Surveyor Gen- 
eral of Iowa and Nebraska by President Grant, 
serving in that capacity two years. Meanwliile he 
became interested in the building of the Burlington 
& Missouri River Railway in Nebraska, and in 1870' 



-^*' 



he was appointed surgeon of that road, and held 
that position until his death, which occurred Sept. 
28, 1888, at his home in Plattsmouth. He was a 
public-spirited citizen, and materially aided the 
improvement and growth of the State, mnch credit 
having been due him for organizing the Nebraska 
State Medical Society, of which he was the first 
President one j'ear, and Corresponding Secretary 
several 3'ears. He was also devoted to the best in- 
terests of his adopted city, and actively promoted 
various beneficial schemes for its advancement dur- 
ing the several terms that he officiated as Mayor- 
He was, from the time of its organization to his 
death, a member of the State Board of Fish Com- 
missioners, having been President of the same for 
a time, and at the time of his death was Chairman 
of the city Board of Health. 

Gen. Livingston was a thoroughly bus}' man, 
and, in addition to attending to his public and 
private business, he served for a number of years as 
President of the faculty of the Omaha Medical 
College, and gave lectures on the principles and 
practice of surgery in that institution, and also in 
the State University at Lincoln. Socially, he was a 
prominent member of the Masonic fraternitj", and 
was Master of Plattsmouth Lodge No. 6, A. F. & 
A. M., for four years, and High Priest of Nebraska 
Chapter three years, and Grand High Priest of tiie 
R. A. M. of the State eighteen months. At the 
time of the organization of the Mt. Zion Cora- 
mandery No. 5, K. T.. in 1873, he was made Emi- 
nent Commander, and served acceptably for several 
i years. Politically, Gen. Livingston was a Repub- 
lican until 1872, when he supported Horace Gree- 
ley, and after that time he afHliated witii the 
Democratic party. A portrait of Gen Livingston, 
M. D., is shown in this volume. 

Theodore P. and Robert Livingston, physicians, 
Plattsmouth, Cass Co., Neb., are worth}' successors 
to the practice of their father, the late Gen. R. R. 
Livingston. The former was born at Dingman's 
Ferry, Pike Co., Pa., Feb. 6, 1864, and the latter 
in Plattsmouth, Neb., Sept. 23, 1866. 'i hey are 
both graduates of the Omaha Medical College, 
Theodore having received his diploma in March, 
188.5, and Robert his March 22, 1888. They 
are bright, talented young men, and have a promis- 

_ •►- 



CASS COUNTY. 



765 



ing future before them, their practice gradually 
increasing in this city, where they arc well known, 
and are rapidly gaining the coiifldence of their 
patrons. 



«Ai- 



"il/ OHN T. MARSHALL is a man of more than 
average enterprise and force of character, and 
well represents the agricultural interests of 
Cass County, owning and managing a farm 
on section 25, Weeping Water Precinct, on which 
he has one of the finest residences in the southern 
part of Cass Count}'. Mr. Marshall devotes his 
time mostly to raising stock, paying especial atten- 
tion to raising thoroughbred horses of the Hanible- 
tonian race. 

Our subject was born in England, Dec. 8, 1857, 
and is a son of John Marshall. (For parental his- 
tory see sketch of Wiljiam Marshall.) He lived in 
his native land until fourteen j'ears ol age, working 
the last two years at the shoemaker's trade, which 
he learned of his father. At the age mentioned he 
accompanied his parents to this country, coming 
directly to Nebraska as soon as they landed. His 
father took up the land now included in the farm 
of our subject, and he and his family lived here one 
summer. They then moved into the city of Weep- 
ing Water, where Mr. Marshall, Sr., went into busi- 
ness, at first manufacturing and repairing boots and 
shoes, continuing thus engaged until 1876, when he 
and his son, our subject, opened a store under the 
firm name of John Marshall & Son. The store is 
still standing, being the first, and is still the only 
exclusive bo(jt and shoe store in Weeping Water. 
The firm continued business under its original name 
for five years, and built up a large trade in that 
time. John Marshall then sold out to his son Will- 
iam, and the firm name was changed to Marshall 
Bros. The father still continues to work for the 
firm in the repairing department. Three years later 
our sul)ject, wishing to devote his time more ex- 
clusively to agriculture, sold his interest to his 
brother Arthur U., and the business is still carried 
on under the old style, Marshall Bros., although, 
there has been another change, their brother Charles 
being a<lmitted into partnership, William and Arthur 
retaining the management of affairs. The farm on 



which our subject lives was when his father took it 
up wild prairie land owned by the railway company, 
and he paid $10 an acre for it. It now presents a 
very different appearance with its many valuable 
improvements, and indeed is considered one of the 
best farms in the precinct. There is a good grove of 
forest trees, an orchard of choice fruit trees already 
in bearing order, and a variety of small fruits, our 
subject raising all that he needs. There is a good 
hedge around the farm, and a substantial set 
of buildings is provided for every possible use, 
even the stock being housed, Mr. Marshall not lik- 
ing to have bis anim.als suffer when he is cofnfort- 
able, reminding one of the saj'ing, "a merciful man 
is merciful to his beast." He has expended $1,500 
on his buildings alone. Mr. Marshall devotes his 
farm principally to raising horses, cattle and hogs, 
and carries on a very lucrative business in that line. 
He is raising a high class of thoroughbred horses, 
and h.as a fine Hambletonian mare and stallion. 

The marriage of our subject with MissL. Medella 
Smith was solemnized in the month of iNLay, 1880. 
In the 3'ears that have followed two children have 
been born to them — Clara C. and T. Walter. The 
elder stays with her grandparents during the school 
year. Mrs. Marshall is a twin daughter of C. P. 
Smith, formerly of Plattsmouth, but now a resident 
of Lincoln. He is a native of the State of Vermont, 
as was his wife, whose maiden name was Callista 
Felch. He went to Mississippi to teach before the 
war, and there his daughter, of whom we write, w.as 
born. Soon after the war he moved to Nebraska, 
and is now living in retirement in Lincoln. His 
wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church at 
Lincoln. 

Mr. Marshall is a man whose character is above 
reproach, and his generosity and liberality are well 
known, every appeal from the suffering and needy 
sounding a responsive chord in his large, warm 
heart. He is faithful in his discharge of his duties 
as a citizen and as a man, and while a resident of 
the village of Weeping Water his fellow-citizens 
honored him by entrusting to him the otfice of 
Trustee, which position he held for three years. He 
is prominently identified with the K. of P.. the I. 
O. O. F., and the Masonic fraternity, serving three 
years as Secretary of the latter, and he has held the of- 




t 



>^f^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



X 



fices in the Odd Fellows' Lodge up to Representative 
to the Grand Lodjje and District Deputy'. He and 
his wife are among the most active members of the 
Congregational Church at Weeping Water, and in 
the Sunday-scliool. Mrs. Marshall, socially, is a 
Daughter of Rebecca, a lodge connected with the I. 
O. O. F.. located at Weeping Water. Mr. Marshall is 
also manufacturing boots and shoes at the village of 
Avoca in connnection with his farming. 

\T^ DGAR A. STOPHER. As an enteriirising 
fej and wide-awake business man of Cass 
jf' — <^ County, and one who, through his o.wn 
efforts, has established himself among the promi- 
nent and wealthy men of his community, we take 
great pleasure in placing a brief sketch of the varied 
life experience of this gentleman before the public. 
He is a native of Iowa, born in Princeton, Feb. 27, 
1842. His father, Samuel Stopher, was of German 
descent, and was born in Lancaster County, Pa., 
but removed from there with his parents when 
quite young to the Western Reserve in Ohio. He 
afterward learned the carpenter's trade, in Portage 
County, and subsequently removed to Kalamazoo, 
Mich., where he married Miss Wealthy French, a 
native of New York. In 1838, accompanied by 
his family, Mr. Stopher went to Scott County, 
Iowa, traveling with teams, there being no rail- 
ways, and not even a stage route across Illinois, 
and located seven miles below the mouth of the 
Wapoo River. He was one of the first settlers of 
that State, and entering 160 acres of land from the 
Government, improved a fine farm. In 1860, be- 
ing seized with the mining fever, he went to the 
Rocky Mountains and engaged in mining and hotel- 
keeping, then for a year freighted on the plains. 
In 1863 he enlisted for one year in the 2d 
Nebraska Cavalry to fight against the Indians. 
When his time had expired he returned to Iowa, 
and engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own 
farm. In 1874 Mr. Stopher disposed of that farm, 
and coming to Nebraska, bought eight}' acres of 
land, where he resided until his death, in 1881. 
His widow is still living on the home farm, in Ne- 
braska, at the age of sixtv-nine years. She is a 



woman of rare Christian character, and a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To her and 
her husband were born three children — Edward 
and Ellen, both of whom are dead, and Edgar A. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, 
and his schooling consisted of an attendance of 
three months each winter in the district schools of 
Iowa until he was eighteen years of .age. Educa- 
tional advantages were not as good then as at pres- 
ent, and he can remember when the first High School 
of his native State was established at Mt. Vernon. 
In 1860 he went with his father to the Rocky 
jNIountains, and engaged in mining. He also had 
several claims, but was not successful in his vent- 
ures. He continued there two years, and then 
went back to the farm in Iowa with his mother and 
sister. In the fall of 1863 he went to Omaha, where 
he enlisted in the same company with his father, 
Company K, 2d Nebraska Cavalry, and was sent, 
under command of Gen. Sully, into Dakota, skir- 
mishing and scouting. At the battle of AVhite Stone 
Hill they routed the Indians, and his father es- 
caped death only by the fleetness of his horse. He 
served his time, and was mustered out of service at 
Omaha, in December, 1863, and honorably dis- 
charged. Mr. Stopher then engaged in rafting on 
the Mississippi River, and continued until June, 
when he returned to the home farm. Sept. 20, 
1864, he was drafted into the army, and mustered 
in as a private, in Company- C, 14th Iowa Volunteer 
Infantrj-,at Davenport. He did garrison duty for 
awhile, and was twice sent to Louisville, Ky., serving 
until the end of the war, when he was honorably 
discharged at Davenport, in Julj% 1865. 

Our subject then farmed in Iowa until 1868, 
when he again came to Nebraska. He came by rail 
to Pacific Junction, then walked to Cass County, 
and took up a homestead claim of eighty acres on 
section 30, Stove Creek Precinct. Having secured 
his land, Mr. Stopher returned to Iowa for his 
family, and in the fall came back with them across 
the countrj' with teams, and settled on his land. It 
was unbroken, but by incessant toil and skill he 
has evolved a fine farm from the wild prairie, on 
which he has ere<-ted a handsome residence, a com- 
modious barn, and other necessary farm buildings. 
He has set out groves of trees, an orchard, built 



<^ 



-^U. 



«► II <• 



CASS COUNTY. 



r 



windmills, and made more thorough improvements 
than are to be found on many Western farms. As his 
means have allowed he has purchased ^other land, 
until his home farm comprises 320 acres, and he 
has besides two farms in Tipton Precinct, Cass Co., 
Neb., one of 120 acres and another of 160 acres. 
Besides carr_yirig on farming on an extensive scale, 
Ml. Stopher deals largely in stock, buying and 
feeding cattle, and shipping them to Omaha, 
where he always finds a ready market. He also 
raises hogs of a fine breed, having as many as 200 
at the present time. On his home farm may be 
seen many fine cattle of the I^urham stock, and also 
a large number of 'horses of fine grades. 

The marriage of Mr. Stopher and Miss Hannah 
Hogan was solemnized in Princeton, Iowa, Jan. 17, 
1867. Her parents, Hiram and Susan (Reynolds) 
Hogan, were born respectivelj^ in Cambridge, 
AVashington Co., N. Y.,in 1800, and in Hayhridge, 
Adams Co., Vt., in 1807, being of Irish and Scotch 
origin. Both her paternal and maternal grand- 
fathers served in the Revolutionary War seven 
years, her grandfather Hogan having been cut 
down with a sabre and left for dead, but subse- 
quently recovered. Mr. and Mrs. Hogan were 
married in the State of New York, but shortly 
afterward removed to Ijidiana, where he worked at 
carpentering one year. In 1845 the}' removed to 
Canada, and he worked at his trade there for sev- 
eral years. In 1865 he emigrated with his familj- 
to Scott County, Iowa, wiiere he remained until the 
spring of 1871. Desiring then to establish himself 
in a permanent home he came to Nebraska and 
pre-empted a claim of eighty acres in Cass County, 
whicli he proved up and converted into a fine 
farm, remaining here until his death, in Septem- 
ber, 1878. Mrs. Hogan died during their residence 
in Canada, July 16, 1851. To them had been born 
eight children, as follows: Janet, Solomon, Me- 
lancton S., Leonard, Harve^' and Levi, all deceased; 
Hannah and Ozial. The wife of our subject was 
born in Ontario County, N. Y., Aug. 25, 1840. She 
received a good education, and taught school with 
success previous to her marriage. Of her union 
with Mr. Stopher seven children have been born, 
namely: Edward, Frank, Belle, Hattie, Walter, 
John and Minnie. Belle is attending school at 



*t 



Crete, Neb., and Frank is on a ranch in Lamar, 
Wyo. 

Mr. Stopher is well and favorably' known 
throughout the county, being one of its most influ- 
ential and prominent citizens. He has a fine 
physique, is tall and well formed, has a command- 
ing figure, and with an intellect equally well de- 
veloped, he is a wortly representative of the 
highest class of manhood, and a man ,of whom his 
fellow-citizens are justly proud. Mrs. Stopher is 
a refined, well-educated matron, having all the 
attributes of a noble woman, and presides with 
much grace over the hospitable home of herself 
and husband. Our subject takes a warm interest 
in educational matters, and has served for twelve 
years on the School Boai'd. He is a member of 
the G. A. R., Kenesaw Post No. 123, at Elmwood, 
being a charter member, and is at present Com- 
mander. He is likewise a member of the A. O. 
U. W. at Elmwood. In politics he is a straight 
Republican, fearlessly expressing his opinions at 
all times, and has been a delegate to county and 
State conventions. Religiously, Mrs. Stopher is a 
communicant at the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



^,^ prrER COON was one of the very ear- 
liest settlers of Centre Precinct, as when 
he settled here in 1867, he and his brother 
were the onlj' residents of this part 
of the county for awhile. Our subject early 
identifled himself with the agricultural interests of 
Cass Count}', and is now a prosperous grain and 
stock raiser, with a fine farm on section 20, town- 
ship 11. range 11. When he first became the pos- 
sessor of this place it was in a state of nature, form- 
ing part of an extensive, wild prairie, and on this 
prairie, where since have sprung up valuable farms, 
he broke the first furrow and set out the first tree. 
Peter Coon, Sr., the father of our subject, was born 
in New York, either in Columbia or Dutchess 
County. He received a good practical education 
in his native State, and was there married to Miss 
Elizabetii Wheeler, and there, in their home in 
Columbia County, a family of nine children, all of 
whom grew to raatnrit}', was born to them. In 



••► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1837 Mr. Coon disposed of liis farming interests in 
iS'evv York, and moved with his family to Luzerne 
County, Pa., and there lived on a farm until his 
death in 1843, when scarcely past the prime of life, 
at the age of forty-five years, five months and 
eleven days, he having been born In 1798. His 
widow survived him and married again, living 
until about 1878, in Nebraska. 

The subject of this sketch was boin in Columbia 
County, N. Y.. Aug. 31, 1833, and lived in the 
place of his birth until he was four years of age, 
when his parents moved to Pennsylvania. He ac- 
quired a sound education in the common schools, 
and at the age of twenty-two left home and made 
his way to LaSalle County, 111., and was there en- 
gaged in farming for twelve years. April 6, 1865, 
he enlisted in defense of bis countrj', and served 
until the close of the war as a member of Company 
C, 104tli Illinois Infantry. He vvas in the Army 
of the Cumberland under Gen. Sherman, and was 
honorably discharged July 12, 1865. In 1867 
Mr. Coon concluded to invest the money that 
he had made in farming in Illinois in Nebraska 
land, and came here with his family for that pur- 
pose. He lived for a 3'ear in Weeping Water, and 
in the meantime looked about for a suitable loca- 
tion, and finally selected a tract of eight}' acres of 
land now included in the present homestead. He 
also owned an 80-acre farm a mile to the east, and 
a farm in Clay County, but he has since sold them 
to use the funds in other ways. His present farm 
was at the time that he took possession unculti- 
vated prairie, but by hard labor and wise manage- 
ment he has improved it into one of the best places 
for miles around. It is ornamented by a beautiful 
grove of five acres of forest trees, and a good or- 
chard, and he has 'built a fine house, that would 
grace any Eastern village, it being a model of taste 
and convenience, 22x28 feet in demensions, two 
stories in height and an L. It was one of the 
first good houses erected in this locality. The farm 
is highly cultivated, and our suliject raises a large 
amount of grain and a good deal of stock of high 
grades. 

Mr. Coon in earl}' manhood, while still living in 
Pennsylvania, took unto himself a wife in the per- 
son of Phcebe A. Bennett, their union being con- 



summated in December, 1854. To them the fol- 
lowing children have been born: Sarah Alice, 
Mary Rosella, George Edwin, Katie Belle, Henr}' 
Everton, P~rederick Eugene. Sarah Alice married 
Aaron Jenkins, of Cass Count}-, and they have two 
children, Walter and Charles; Mary married Cliarles 
Bouton, and now lives in Cheyenne County; they 
have one chilil, Lloj'd E. The remainder of the 
children are at home, and have been given good 
educational advantages. Mrs. Coon was born in 
New York, May 27, 1833, and lived there until 
about fifteen years of age, when she accompanied 
her parents, Hezekiah and Sally (Flint) Bennett, 
to Pennsylvania. Her father was a shoemaker by 
trade, and he died in his Pennsylvania home. His 
widow is still living in Dundaff, Susquehanna 
County. She reared a family of six children. Mrs. 
Coon has been a faithful wife and a loving mother. 
She looks vvell to the ways of her household, and to 
her co-operation our subject is undoubtedlj- greatly 
indebted for his prosperity. 

Mr. Coon is a man of sterling common sense and 
a good capacity for business. He has always been 
deeply interested in the welfare of his adopted 
county and township, and has done what he could 
to further their advancment. He has not taken 
part in public affairs, excepting as a member of a 
local school board. He is a firm believer in the 
policy of the Reimlilican party, and always casts 
his vote in its favor. 



El LIAS SAGE. Adjacent to the city of Platts- 
mouth is one of the pleasantest homes in the 
^ northeastern part of this county, situated on 
a rise of ground overlooking a goodly portion of 
the surrounding countrj' and especially of the town. 
This has been the abiding-place of the subject of 
this sketch for the last nineteen years, who became 
a resident of Nebraska in the fall of 1858. A native 
of the Empire State, he was born in Lewis County, 
April 17, 1820, and is the son of Harvey Sage, who, 
it is believed, was born near Copenhagen, N. Y., in 
1794. 

Our subject was named after his paternal grand- 
father, EliasSage, Sr.,a native of Sandisfleld, Mass., 



•► II 4 »- 



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•^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



7G9 



and Iioni in ITriO. The latter was the son of Sam- 
uel Sage, who was the son of Nathaniel Sage, the 
latter born in Connecticut, in 1707, and a son of 
John Sage. The last-named gentleman was the son 
of David Sage, a native of Wales, who crossed the 
Atlantic about 1G52, thirty years after the landing 
of the Pilgrim Fathers. He settled in Middletown, 
Conn., where he spent the remainder of his days, 
and the stone marking his grave is still standing in 
Riverside Cemetery, on the banks of the Connecti- 
cut River. 

This David Sage was married in February, 16G4, 
to INIiss Elizabeth, daughter of John Kirliy. His 
great-greatgrandson, Elias, the grandfather of our 
subject, left New England probably when a young 
man, and settled in New York State (biriiig the 
pioneer days of Lewis County. His occupation as 
an agriculturist was interrupted by the War of 1812, 
during which he shouldered his musket and hastened 
to the defense of his country. After the British 
had been again driven from American soil he re- 
sumed farming in Lewis County, and there spent 
the remainder of his days. 

Harvey Sage, the father of our subject, served by 
the side of his honored sire in the War of 1812 
when quite a youth, and for his services was given 
a land warrant, which Elias purchased after his re- 
moval to Nebraska. He was reared a farmer like 
his forefathers, and upon reaching manhood pur- 
chased land in the vicinity of Denmark, Lewis Co., 
N. Y., upon which he operated until 1844. That 
year, leaving the Empire State, he emigrated to the 
vicinity of Fulton, Whiteside Co.. 111., making the 
journej' overland with teams. He purchased a farm 
four miles northeast of the town of Fulton, when 
the small village of Chicago, 170 miles distant, was 
the nearest market for grain. The round trip oc- 
cupied about ten days, and the present flourishing 
city of the AVest contained only a few thousand 
souls. In 1856 Harvey Sage sold out his farm 
property and retired from active labor, taking up 
his abode at a snug home in Pekin, 111., where he 
resided with his children until his death, which oc- 
curred Jan. 7, 1882. 

The mother of our subject was in her girlhood 
Miss Elizabeth Hager and was born in Schoharie 
County, N. Y., where she spent her childhood and 



youth. She passed aw.a^- at the home of her hus- 
band at the farm near Fulton, III., about 1848. The 
parental family consisted of five children, who are 
recordad as follows: Warren was born June 14, 
1814, and came to Plattsmouth, Neb., from Illinois 
about 1865, where he engaged in farming, and died 
about 1872; Bernard was born April 5, 1816, and 
died at Ypsilanti, Mich., about 1884; Henry was 
born March 22, 1818, and resides in Auburn, this 
State; Sarah Maria became the wife of Orvilla Cut- 
ler, and died at Carthage, N. Y.,sorae j^ears ago. 

Our subject was the 3'oungest son of his parents, 
and was reared to man's estate in his native county. 
He acquired his education in the common schools, 
and began teaching when nineteen years old, fol- 
lowing this profession during the winter season, 
while in summer he was occupied on the farm. In 
Maj", 1843, he made his wa^' to Whiteside County, 
111., and purchased a quarter-section of land near 
the town of Fulton. There had been brought to a 
very good state of cultivation about 100 acres of 
this land, and upon it were log buildings which he 
was enabled to utilize for a fewj'ears until he could 
substitute better. He still continued teaching and 
farming alternatel3', and continued a resident of 
that county until the fall of 1858. Then, selling 
out, he removed to Pekin and changed his occupa- 
tion to that of milling. 

Subsequentlj', desiring to see the country west 
of the Mississippi, Mr. Sage made his waj' to 
Nebraska Territory via the Illinois and Missis- 
sippi Rivers to St. Louis, thence by steamer to St. 
Mary's, and landed in Plattsmouth twenty-one days 
after starting from St. Louis. Plattsmouth was then 
a hamlet of perhaps 100 souls, with two stores. The 
settlements in the Territory were confined princi- 
pally to the neighborhood of the river, the land a 
few miles back being still owned by the Govern- 
ment and occupied by Indians. Deer were plenti- 
ful, and a few miles west, in the southwestern part 
of the Territory, buffaloes were frequentlj'seen roam- 
ing over the country. 

Mr. Sage first rented a tract of land near the pres- 
ent city limits, upon which he operated one year, 
and in 1860 started out with a company to cross 
the plains, and twenty-eight daj's later, on the 1st 
of May, they arrived upon the present site of Den- 



*► 1 1 < •• 



■<• 



u 



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<9 



CASS COUNTY. 



ver, Col., there being then little indication of the 
present important arid flourishing city. Mr. S.nge, 
in company with others, went into the monntains 
and prospected for a time, but not finding gold, re- 
tnrned to Plattsmoulh in September following, and 
has since been a resident of this city. 

Our subject, while iiaving his residence within the 
city, improved a tract of school land three miles 
out, and was principally' occupied at this for four 
years. Tiie outbreak of the Rebellion then fur- 
nished unlooked-for employment, as in October, 
1862, he enlisted in Company H. 2d Nebraska Cav- 
alr3',and repaired to the frontier in quest of Indians, 
and serve<l fourteen months and twenty days in the 
West and Northwest. At the expiration of his term 
of enlistment he received his honorable discharge 
and returned home. 

After resuming the peaceful pursuits of a civilian 
our subject put up a house on his farm, but other- 
wise turned his attention in a different direction, 
and became agent for the Haines Harvester, in the 
interest of which he traveled over a large part of 
Nebraska and Western Iowa. He was tlius employed 
until the fall of 1 883, but in the meantime, in March, 
1 870. purchased his present home, which comprises 
a tract of land twentj'-nine acres in extent, and 
which is mostly devoted to the raising of .small 
fruits, which find a ready market at Omaha. His 
land joins the corporation and is consequently quite 
valuable. 

While a resident of New York Mr. Sage was mar- 
ried, Oct. 14, 1841, to Miss Eliza A. Wright, who 
was born in Vermont, and died at Fulton. 111., Sept. 
8, 1853. Of this union there were born three chil- 
dren, who are still living: Eugene H. is a resident 
of May wood. Frontier County, this State; Harvey 
W. is occupied at the tinning business in Platts- 
mouth, and Amelia, the wife of- E. T. Duke, lives 
at Omaha. Mr. Sage contracted a second marriage, 
April 21, 1855, with Mrs. Carrie Potter. She is 
the daughter of William Chambers. This lady was 
born in Troy, N. Y., May 9, 1828. Her father was 
a native of the city of Tro3', and the paternal 
grandfather, Leonard Chambers, wasanative of Ire- 
land, whence he emigrated to America early in life, 
settling in Troj', N. Y., where he spent his last days. 

AVilliam Chambers was reared in his native State, 



New York, and married Miss Elizabeth Sage, who 
was born in Connecticut, and traced her forefathers 
direct to David Sage, who was prominent in the 
early history of New England. Both parents died 
in New York State. The present wife of our subject 
was first married in Jefferson County, N. Y.. in 
1851, to Samuel E. Potter. The latter was born in 
Steuben County, and was the son of John S. and 
Lydia M. Potter. He died in Champion, that county, 
March 25, 1853. Of this marriage there was born 
one child, a daughter. Nellje, who became the wife 
of J. S. Burnett, and they are now residents of 
Maywood, Frontier County, this State. In politics 
Mr. Sage is a good Republican. 



— , ^^ ^ 

j^_^ON. FRANCIS M. RICHEY, formerly a 
[ifjij prominent resident of Union Count}', Iowa, 
iAW^ is now one of the leading citizens of the 
i^) city of Plattsmoutb, where he is extensively 
engaged in the lumber business, and he is also at the 
head of public affairs as Mayor of this municipalit}'. 
He was born in Franklin Count}', Ohio, ten miles 
west of Columbus, the State capital. May 1 1, 1841 
On his father's side of the house he is derived 
from an honorable Irish ancestry, his grandfather, 
John Riche}-, having been born in Eastern Penn- 
sj'lvania. His parents came to America in Colonial 
times, and fought with the Colonists in their strug- 
gle for independence during the Revolutionary 
War. He subsequently settled in Erie County, Pa., 
but he afterward moved from there to Muskingum 
County, Ohio, where he spent his last years. 

His son, Welsh Richey, the father of our subject, 
was born in Erie County, Pa., and was there reared. 
He removed from his n.ative State to Ohio, and first 
lived in Muskingum County, and later made his 
home in Franklin County. He erected a woolen- 
mill and operated a carding-machine, but th.at vent- 
ure prove<l a finanial failure, and he lost all his 
property. He then returned to Muskingum County 
with his family, and resided there until 1854. He 
was an ambitious man, and hoping to improve his 
fortunes, in that year he started westward to locate 
in Iowa, the removal being made overland with 
teams. He became a prominent pioneer of Union 



Ht^ 



•►^K-^ 



•►Hl-^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 






County, where lie pre-empted a tract of Government 
land in April. lSo5. lying three miles from the 
l)rcfent site of Afton. the greater part of the land 
in that part of tlie country being owned by the 
United States, and for sale at the price of $1.25 an 
acre. The first house was built in Afton the spring 
that he bought his land, there not being many white 
settlers in that vicinity, Init there were 2.000 Indians 
making their home there. Deer and other wild 
game roamed at will over tlie wild, uncultivated 
prairies. There being no railways west of the 
Mississippi at that time, all the stock, hogs and cattle 
had to be (biven to Burlington for shipment. Mr. 
Ridley commenced to improve his farm, first. erect- 
ing a log cabin to shelter his family. In 1857 
death crossed the threshold of that humble abode, 
and the father and husband was no more. The 
mother of our subject was his fourth wife, and to 
them were born three children. Her maiden name 
was Sarah McClurg, and she was a native of Penn- 
sylvania. She survived her husband many j'ears, 
dying in Afton in 1880. 

The suliject of this sketch was thirteen years old 
when he accompanied his p.arents to Iowa, and he 
remembers well tlie incidents of the journey and of 
pioneer life after settlement. He had attended the 
|)ublic schools in his native place in Ohio, and after 
the removal to Iowa he became a pupil in the prim- 
itive pioneer schools of that period. After his 
father's death he assisted his elder brother in the 
improvement of the old homestead, and continued 
to reside with his mother until he was twenty-one. 
He then started out in the world to see what he 
could make of life on his own account. He secured 
a situation with the Western Stage Company to 
drive a stage from Afton to Chariton, a distance of 
sixty miles. He continued thus engaged for a year, 
and then commenced teaming from Eddyville (then 
the western terminus of the railway) to Afton. In 
the spring of 1863 he came to the Territory of Ne- 
braska, and starting from Plattsmouth with a load 
of freight, drove across the plains to Denver and 
returned to his starting point, making the round 
trip in seventy days. He then went back to Afton 
and resumed his business of freighting. He was 
wideljr and favorably known throughout that part 
of the State where he had made his home since bov- 



■^*- 



hood, his frank and geni.al manners making him' 
popular with all classes of men, and his keenness, 
promptitude, and decision of character, securing 
their respect, so that when he was proposed for the 
responsible office of Sheriff of Union Count}', in 
1868, he received tlie hearty support of his fellow- 
citizens, and was elected; and so well were his con- 
stituents satisfied with his alile and vigorous inanag- 
ment of the duties devolving upon him that he was 
three times re-elected, serving four terms. In 1879 
he settled on a farm in Dodge Township, Union 
County, and engaged in agricultural pursuits for a 
few years. In 1880 he was again called from his 
seclusion to enter public life, his fellowrcitizens 
having elected him to represent Union County in 
the State Legislature. His course as a member of 
that honorable boily marked him as a wise and sen- 
sible legislator, who had the best interests of his 
country at heart. Among the more important com- 
mittees on which he served we may mention the 
Railway Committee and that of Compensation for 
Public Officers. In 1882 Mr. Richey settled up his 
affairs in Iowa preparatory to taking up his resi- 
dence in this State. ICver since then he has been 
engaged in the lumber business in the city of Platts- 
mouth, and has built upan extensive and flourishing 
trade. His large business interests have brought 
him in contact with many people, and he is well 
known throughout the county, and none know him 
but to respect and esteem him, alike for his social 
and manly qualities. 

Mr. Richey was married, in 1865, to Miss Paulina 
Dickinson, a native of Will County, 111. Seven 
children were born to them — May, Lou, Frank, 
Charles, Fannie, Emma and Bertha. In Septem- 
ber, 1885, the pleasant household of our subject sus- 
tained a sad loss in the death of the beloved wife 
and mother, a lady of rare merit, whose admirable 
traits of character had gained her many warm friends 
in this city. 

Mr. Richey has always been a stanch Republican 
in his political sentiments, having cast his first 
vote for Abraham Lincoln. During his residence 
here he has been a conspicuous figure in the 
public life of the city, his fellow-citizens gladly 
availing themselves of his sagacity, knowledge of 
affairs and wide experience, to assist them in the 



•^¥:i^ 



.>-ll^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



government of the nuinieipalily. Twice he has been 
electe(] to the important office of Maj'or, first in 
I880 and again in 1888, so that lie is the present 
incumbent of the mayoralty. All agree that under 
his able administration the eit}' has never been bet- 
ter governed, was never more prosperous, or never 
had more encouraging prospects for future develop- 
ment. Our subject is prominent!}' identified with 
the I. O. 0. F., having joined the order in Afton, 
in 1873. 



•#-w 



^=^ARRY TREAT, well known throughout Cass 
III I--, County as one of its early settlers, is a rep- 
^^^Jj resentative farmer and prominent citizen 
of Centre Precinct, living just outside the city limits 
of Weeping Water, where he settled in June, 1860. 
He is well informed on all matters pertaining to the 
township, and from him we learn the source of its 
poetic name. The legend runs as follows: A beauti- 
ful Indian maiden was captured, heart and bod}', by 
the brave chief of a hostile tribe. Tiie Pawnees, 
to which tribe she belonged, hurried in ])ursuit, and 
a battle took place on the banks of the stream, in 
which all the braves of that tribe were killed. The 
tears shed b}' the maids and widows, thus bereft 
of lovers and husbands, caused the stream to break 
forth, which was named Nehr.awka, meaning in our 
language Weeping Water. 

Garry Treat, Sr., father of our subject, was born 
June 19, 1799, in Orange, Conn., where he was 
reared and educated. He was married in Tallmadge, 
Summit Co., Ohio, to Mary T. Woodruff. She 
was also a native of Connecticut, where her birth 
occurred in 1805. The farming country of the 
undeveloped West seemed to offer especial advant- 
ages to the father of our subject, and he accord- 
ingly changed his location to Tallmadge, Ohio, where 
he was married as above stated, and where he died 
in April, 1847, while yet in the prime of life. His 
widow and her family of little ones continued to 
live on the farm several years. 

In the spring of 1860 Garrj' Treat, Jr., the sub- 
ject of our sketch, following in the footsteps of his 
father, pushed on farther West to look for a new 
and better location. AVith a horse and carriage, 
and a little dog for company, he left the Ohio 



homestead, and after traveling one month came to 
Weeping Water, tiien a small hamlet of less than 
half a dozen log houses. The whole population 
consisted of the families of Messrs. Reed, Wolcott, 
Taylor, and two other men who have since gone to 
their long rest. Mr. Treat took up 240 acres of un- 
improved land on section 35, township 11, range 
11, on which were a small log house and a well of 
water. He at once commenced the improvement 
of his land. 

After securing his land Mr. Treat went to Tabor, 
Iowa, where he enlisted in defense of the Union in 
August, 1863, becoming a member of Company 
B, 29th Iowa InfanUy. He served in the Western 
Department, and took an active part in several en- 
gagements. At the battle of Spoouville, Kan., he 
was wounded in the leg, which soon swelled to twice 
its original size, and being overlooked by the sur- 
geons of the Union Army, he wasca[)tured by the 
rebels, and held several days on the field near Jen- 
kins' Ferry. He was then taken to a rebel prison 
in Princeton, Ark., and for a month was in the 
rebel hospital there ; thence with 100 other prisoners 
he was removed to Camden, and confined in a com- 
mon prison, a building that had formerly been used 
as an auction prison for slaves. There he remained 
five months, barely subsisting on the maggotty 
pork, stale meat, and crusts of moldy bread doled 
out to him. From there he was. taken to Tyler, 
Tex., and was kept in a small stockade for four 
months with 3,000 other prisoners. Mr. Treat was 
paroled after an imprisonment aggregating ten 
months of suffering, Feb. 15, 1864, and ten days 
later was delivered at the mouth of the Red River 
to Union officials. The moment that his ej'es be- 
held the stars and stripes on that occasion will ever 
be remembered as the happiest one of his life. Our 
subject next went to New Orleans as a paroled 
prisoner, and three or four weeks later, his time 
having nearly expired, he was given a furlough and 
sent up the river to St. Louis, whence he proceeded 
to Clinton, Iowa, where he received an honorable 
discharge June 5, 1865. 

Before returning to his home Mr. Treat visited 
Tabor, Iowa, to fulfill a previous engagement, that 
of marriage with Miss Catherine Hanley, a success- 
ful teacher in some of the public schools in the 



•►-11^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



773 



neiglihorliood. She is a native of Hector, N. Y., 
and eanie to Iowa with her brother. Her parents, 
Aaron H. and Caroline (Smith) Hanley, lived and 
died in the Empire State, hohling an honorable 
position among the farmers of their community. 
Our subject brought his bride to his homestead in 
Centre Precinct, which is just outside of the city 
limits, in precinct 3, and commenced the develop- 
ment of his farm in earnest. He has made all the 
improvements himself, turning the first furrow, set- 
ting out trees, planting an orchard. shrubber3-, and 
many small fruits. In 1870 Mr. Treat built a sub- 
stantial stone house which is a model of neatness 
and taste, and will be a monument of iiis industry 
and prosperitj' for years to come. In all of 
his labors he has had the cordial assistance of Mrs. 
Treat, who has been a devoted wife and faithful 
mother. To them have been born two children — 
Charles H. and Anna May. The former is a ma- 
chinist in Syracuse, N. Y., and the latter is attend- 
ing the academy at Weeping Water. Our subject 
has always taken an active interest in the advance- 
ment of the city, and helped forward all commend- 
able enter|)rises for its benefit, having proved 
himself so true a benefactor that he is often spoken 
of as one of the real city fathers. He has steadil}' 
avoided all public office, though he has served 
acceptably to all as Supervisor of the precinct. In 
politics he is a Republican, and supports the prin- 
ciples of that part}'. Mr. Treat is an esteemed 
member of the Congregational Church, while Mrs. 
Treat commnnes at tiie Baptist Church, of which 
she became a member in early life. 

\f ACOB RUSTERHOLZ, an honored citizen of 



I Cass County, is connected with its stock- 



^..^ I, raising and farming interests as one of the 
(^^ most intelligent and progressive agricultur- 
ists of Stove Creek Precinct, and his farm on section 
20 is one of the most highly im|)roved and best 
managed estates in this localitj'. 

Our subject was born Aug. 15, 1836, on the 
shores of Lake Zurich, Switzerland, which was also 
the birthplace of his parents, Jacob and Elizabeth 
(Gunthardt) Rusterholz. His father was a mason 



and also a small farmer, and was a lifelong resident 
of his native place, dying there in 1881. at the age 
of seventj'-two. His wife died in 1849, at the .age 
of thirty-nine years. They had five children, of 
whom our subject, the second ciiild in order of 
birth, was the only one vvho ever came to the 
United States. 

Our subject was reared amid the beautiful scenes 
of his birthplace, and received a liberal education 
in the schools of that vicinity, gaining a good 
knowledge of both the French and German lan- 
guages. After leaving school he went to work in a 
cloth mill to learn how to manufacture cloth, and 
in 1861, after he had become thoroughl}' conver- 
sant with every detail of cloth-making, he opened a 
manufacturing establishmentof his own in his native 
land. He married, in 1862, Miss Saline Ryffel, a 
native of Switzerland, and established a pleasant 
home. For a few years everything went well, he 
was prosperous in his business and happj' in his 
domestic relations, and had prospects of a brilliant 
future before him. Suddenly ail was changed b^- 
the shadow of death falling over his peaceful home 
in 1865, when his beloved wife was taken from him. 
She left a son .Jacob, who is still living in Switzer- 
land, where he is engaged as a butcher. After that 
sad affliction his native land became distasteful to 
him, and on account of failing health he sold his 
business, wound up his affairs, and started to travel 
to seek distraction. He sailed from Antwerp in 
the steamer " Queen," and fourteen days later 
landed in New York. He journeyed extensively 
over the country, and finally coming to Nebraska 
in 1868, decided to invest his capital in the rich 
farming lands of this State and turn his attention to 
agricultural pursuits, hoping thus far from the 
scenes of his early days to soften the memories con- 
nected with them, and in this salubrious climate re- 
establish his health. He spent the first year in Ne- 
braska City, and in the spring of 1869 be took up 
his present homestead, then comprising but eighty 
acres, and cast in his lot with the few settlers who 
had preceded him in Stove Creek Precinct, and 
thus became a pioneer of the place. He has proved 
to be both a practical and skillful farmer, and has 
met with unqualified success, having brought his 
land to a good state of cultivation, and provided it 



.>Ht^ 



?^:#-^ 



•►Hl^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



with a neat arirl substantilal set of buildings, anrl 
llie appliances for carrying on agriculture success- 
fully, so that it is as a wiiole one of the best 
equipped and most valuable farms in the precinct. 
He has fenced it and planted groves, and an orchard 
of 100 trees, and it is well sup|)lied with running 
water from Stove Creek. He has added forty acres 
of land, .adjacent to his homestead, to his original 
purchase, and also has that improved. He does 
general farming, and has some fine stock of good 
grades, including fifteen horses of good blood. 

Our subject was married a second time in 1876, 
ill Stove Creek Precinct, to Miss Sophia Seiker, a 
native of Germany. By her death in 1883 he was 
a second time bereaved of a good wife. 

Mr. Rusterholz is a man of fine mental capaeitj', 
and is well informed on all topics of general interest. 
His straightforn-ard, manly character and unblem- 
islied reputation have won for him a high place in 
the regard of his fellovr-citizens. In religion he 
adheres to the German Reformed Church ; in politics 
he is an earnest Republican. 



®S.SUOTT7r> — (jTv-, 



•^ 



i; 



'•--•iiac.'5>^^ 



' ARON JENKINS, stock dealer, is one of 
the foremost citizens of Manley Village, 
Centre Township, where he owns some val- 
uable property. He is erecting a commo- 
dious residence here for his own use. He is the 
proprietor of the only hotel here, which he has put 
in charge of another man, and devotes his time 
mainly to dealing in stock, in which he is quite 
extensively engaged. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Ohio, Feb. 
6, 1844, coming of good New England stock. His 
father, Calvin Jenkins, was born in Massachusetts 
about 1810, and there made his home the first few 
years of his life. He then accompanied his parents 
to Ohio, who at that early date must have been 
pioneers of that State. He remained an inmate of 
the parental household until he attained manhood. 
He married Martha Barnes, and to them were born 
five children, of whom all lived to maturity, two 
afterward dj-ing in the army — Charles and Chaun- 
cey. Those living are: Aaron, Edmund and Al- 
bert, now in Ohio. Mr. Jenkins has been a farmer 



-•*■ 



all his life, and is now enjoying the fruit of his la- 
bors on his well-ordered farm in Ohio. His esti- 
mable wife, mother of our subject, died in 1853, 
and he married again. His first wife was a native 
of Connecticut, and with her parents went to the 
Western Reserve in Ohio, where she married. 

Our subject received an excellent education, and 
after leaving school engaged in various occupa- 
tions, and finally began to deal in stock. Leaving 
his early home in Ohio he went to McHenr}' County, 
111., and was there three j'ears prior to coming to 
Nebraska. Before leaving his birthplace he had, 
when a youth of eighteen, enlisted, Aug. 12, 1862, 
in Company K, 105th Ohio, Infantry, and went 
forth to fight for the stars and stripes, serving in 
the Army of the Cumberland. He took part in 
many active engagements, and at the battle of Per- 
ryville he was wounded in the left thigh, and was 
laid up for six months in a hospital at Louisville, 
Ky. Returning to his regiment he was with it all 
through the march to the sea, and continued under 
Sherman until his honorable discharge at Washing- 
ton, in June, 1865. he having won a good record 
for bravery on the battle-field. In 1870 our subject 
left Illinois and came to Nebraska to try farming 
on this rich soil. He first settled in Clay County, 
taking up a homestead on the wild prairie, and im- 
mediatel3' set about its improvement, putting out 
a grove and orchard, and also building a house. 
He lived there twelve years, busily engaged in cul- 
tivating the land, and then sold his property at a 
good profit, and came to this place to take vip his 
residence. This village had just been laid out, and 
Mr. H. W. Gleason kept the only store in town, 
and he and Mr. Williams, who kept a lumber-yard, 
were the onlj- business men. Mr. Jenkins soon 
erected a hotel, of which he is still the owner. It 
is a good-sized, conveniently arranged house, two 
stories in height, 26x28 feet in dimensions, and a 
one-story L, 24x26 feet, making it a good, roomy 
hotel, the first in the village, and the only one now. 
Mr. Jenkins managed his hotel himself for some 
time, until his duties as "mine host" conflicted with 
his increasing business as a stock dealer, and he now 
hires another man to look after the house. 

Our subject was married, Dec. 24, 1875, to Miss 
Alice Coon, and to them have been born two chil- 



t. 



»► ni <t 



■•»- 



-^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



dren, Walter T. and Charles F., both of whom are 
receiving the benefit of good educations. His wife 
was born in Illinois, Aug. 8, 1858, and when a child 
came to Nebraska with her parents, Peter and 
Phoebe (Bennett) Coon, of whom see sketch on 
another page. 

Mr. Jenkins having been reared in Trumbull and 
Ashtabula Counties, the Western Reserve of Ohio, 
settled mostly by New England people, inher- 
ited those sturdy traits of character for which his 
.incestry are noted, and his success in life was there- 
fore assured almost from the start, as the}' marked 
him as a man of practical ability, common sense, 
and good habits. His fellow-citizens have shown 
tlieir confidence in his judgment and integrity by 
frequently soliciting him to hold office, and elect- 
ing him to responsible positions, but he would never 
qualify. However, he does his duty at the polls, 
where he supports the Republican party. 



THOMAS RANKIN. The Rankin family is 
favorably known throughout Rock Bluff Pre- 
cinct, and represents a good farm property 
on section 16. It originated in Ii-eland. Thomas 
Rankin, Sr., the paternal grandfather of our sub- 
ject, having been born in Count}- Derry, where he 
was reared to manhood and married. Later, in 
compan}' with his brothers, AVilliam and Samuel, 
and their families, he came to the United States. 
Thomas and Samuel located in AVashington County, 
Pa., and William in Fayette County. They en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits and spent the re- 
mainder of their lives in the counties where they 
first settled. 

James Rankin, the father of our subject, was born 
in County Derry, Ireland, and at about the age of 
twelve came to America with his parents, and mar- 
ried in Washington Count}', Pa. He served as a 
soldier in the Revolutionary War from the begin- 
ning to the close, entering the ranks when a youth 
of eighteen 3-ears. In 1788, as he was crossing the 
Alleghany Mountains, en route to Pliiladelphia after 
a load-of salt, he stopped at a hotel on the mount- 
ains to stay over night, and there met Samuel 
Stejjhens and his faniilv, who were en route for 



*t= 



Western Pennsylvania for the purpose of locating 
on a farm there. This chance acquaintanceship ri- 
pened into a mutual friendship, which was further 
cemented by the fact that Mr. Stephens became the 
neighbor of the grandfather Rankin, and James 
Rankin in 1 790 married IMiss Slartha, the eldest 
daughter of Mr. Stephens. 

The parents of our subject after their marriage 
located on a tract of wild land in the woods, where 
the father carried on agriculture, and where there 
were born to them a familj' of nine children, 
Thomas of our sketch being the sixth child. He 
first opened his eyes to the light Jul}' 11, 1804, 
and lived upon the homestead until a man of thirty- 
five years. In the meantime the father died, about 
1812, at the age of fifty years, after suffering 
greatly from impaired health brought on by the 
hardships which he endured in the army. The 
mother survived her husband a long period, dying 
about 1863, at the advanced age of ninety-three. 

Thomas Rankin was married, in Washington 
County, Oct. 27, 1840, to Miss Catherine, daughter 
of Joseph and Catherine (Hopkins) Wright. Enoch 
Wright, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. R.ankin, 
served in the army during the Indian War in Penn- 
sylvania, about 1814. He married Miss Rachel 
James, and Joseph Wright, the father of INIrs. 
Rankin, was their only child. Joseph was subse- 
quently educated at Jefferson College, and became 
a Methodist preacher. His death took place at his 
home in Washington County, Pa., about 1852. 

Mr. Rankin, our subject, left the Keystone State 
in the year 1871, and then determined to seek his 
fortunes on the other side of the Mississippi. Dis- 
posing of his property interests at the old home, he 
came to this county and purchased the land which 
he now owns and occupies; it comprises in this 
township 400 acres, and he also later became owner 
of 160 acres in Pottawatomie County, Iowa, and a 
ranch near Broken Bow, in Blaine County, this 
State. His homestead embraces 400 acres of val- 
uable land under a high state of cultivation, and is 
situated on sections 21 and 15. He has comforta- 
ble buildings, a goodly assortment of live stock, and 
the farm machinery necessary for the carrying on 
of agriculture after modern methods. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Rankin there have been born 
•»> 






M- 



776 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 



twelve children, all of whom lived to mature years. 
The\' were named respectiveh": Lucinda E. is the 
wife of Jesse Merrill; thej^ live in Buchanan Count}', 
Iowa. Rachel C, wife of Rev. James Imbrie, of 
the United Presbyterian Church; they reside in 
Armstrong County. Pa. Martha B., wife of R. R. 
Yersou, of Broken Bow, Neb.; Mary L., wife of 
W. F. Rankin; they reside on the ranch in Blaine 
Count}', Xeb. D. Millie, wife of Robert Mout- 
gomery; they reside in Butler County, Pa. James 
S., who died Nov. 13, 1878; Joseph A., single; 
Thomas S., who died in 1876; Sarah A., single; 
ILnoch W., single; Anna F., single, and Charity J., 
who died in 1880. The eldest son, James 8., dur- 
ing the late Civil War enlisted in Company G, 140th 
Pennsylvania Infantry, and served three years, 
during which time his health was greatly injured 
on account of privation and hardships. On his re- 
turn from tlie army he was gi-aduated from West- 
minster College, and after leaving the army devoted 
tlie remainder cf his life to preaching the Gospel 
as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He died at his brother's in Rock Bluff Precinct, 
Nov. 13, 1878. He was married, in September, 1867, 
to Miss Nancy J. Jones, of Washington County) 
Pa., and they became the parents of three children 
— Lilly, Jessie and Joseph. The mother of these 
died in August, 1873, five years before the decease 
of her husband. Since his death Lilly and .Jessie 
have made their home with their grandparents, our 
subject and his wife. Little Joseph died soon after 
the death of his mother. James Rankin partici- 
pated in man}' of the important battles of the war 
and was captured by the rebels at Gettysburg. He 
was incarcerated in Belle Isle Prison a period of 
three months, during which time he lost fifty pounds 
of flesh. The history of that rebel bastile is too 
well known to need repetition here. 

Our subject and his estimable wife are members 
in good standing of the United Presbyterian Church, 
attending services at Murray. In the church Mr. 
Rankin has been a Ruling Elder a period of nearly 
forty years. He cast his first Presidential vote 
for Jackson, and afterward became a Whig, then a 
Republican, and voted for Lincoln and Grant, for 
many years supporting the principles of that party. 
He has always had a warm interest in the temperance 

<■ 



movement, which led him to identifly himself with 
the Prohibitionists about 1872, with whom he now 
votes and labors. During the agitation of the 
slavery question he was a strong Abolitionist. 

'Til— 5) BERGER. The family history of this sub- 
fe) stantial and well-to-do resident of Rock 
•V -^ ' Bluff Precinct is substantially as follows: He 
w.is born in 181,5, and is the son of John Berger, 
whose parents, Jacob and Catherine Berger, were 
natives of Germany, where the}' were reared and 
married. They emigrated to the United States at 
an early date, about 1770 it is believed, and lo- 
cated in Penns}lvania, where their son John was 
born about 1775. 

The grandparents left the Keystone State a few 
years later, settling in Pittsylvania County, Va., 
where, engaged -in agricultural pursuits, they spent 
the remainder of their days. John Berger was 
married in the Old Dominion to Miss Margaret, 
daughter of Jacob Hedrick, the latter of whom was 
also a native of Germany, and whose daughter 
RLirgaret was born on the ocean during the voyage 
of her parents to America. John Berger lived in 
Virginia until 1830, then removed with his family 
to Henry County, Ind., settling in the midst of a 
heavy timber tract, from vvhicli he proceeded to build 
up a farm. The first dwelling was a hewn log house, 
in the building of which our subject took an active 
part. They dressed the logs with their Itroadaxes, 
rived boards for the shingles, and split the lath out 
of the timber, all by hand of course, as there was 
nothing else, not even a plane or turning lathe. The 
dwelling, 18x36 feet in area, was one and one-half 
stories in height, and when completed made a very 
pretentious residence for those days. 

Under this primitive roof-tree the parents of our 
subject spent the remainder of their days, the 
father dying in 1855 and the mother the year fol- 
lowing, at the ages of ninety-one and seventy -eight 
respectively. There had been born to them a fam- 
ily of eleven children, ten of whom lived to mature 
years, and all natives of Virginia. Enos was mar- 
ried, in Indiana, to Miss Elizabeth Wallace, May 
1 8, 1839. This lady was the daughter of Joshua and 



•►Hl-^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



•►Ht^ 






Sophia (Scott) Wallace, tben lesiflents of Fayette 
County. Tlie young people began housekeeping in 
W.iyne Cnunty, where our suliject had contracted 
for the building of a part of the AViiite River Canal, 
and they lived there until the contract was annulled 
b}' the State. 

In the j-ear 1843 Mr. Berger crossed the Mis- 
sissippi with his little family, and made his way to 
Andrew County', Mo., where they lived on a farm un- 
til 1848, Mr. Berger in the meantime occupying him- 
self mostly at stone cutting and masonry. He got out 
the stone work of the court-house at Savannah, and 
performed other important work in the construction 
of some of the best buildings of that region. Upon 
leaving Missouri the family took up their residence 
in Warren County, Iowa, whence the\' removed in 
the fall of 1849 to the present site of Winterset, in 
Madison County. The following summer Mr. Ber- 
ger put up the first house in that embr3'0 town. 
That same summer this was selected as the county 
seat. Mr. Berger was appointed Postmaster about 
that time, serving two years, and was then elected 
Treasurer and Recorder of the county, which joint 
offices he held until leaving the Ilawkeye State in 
1856. 

In January, 1857, Mr. Berger erected a sawmill 
in the vicinity of the present town of Rock Bluff, 
and made preparations to remove his family to this 
county, in which they took up their residence in 
July following. Mr. B. and his eldest son, James 
W., worked in the miH, and put np their house at a 
time when the greater part of Rock Bluff Precinct 
was an uncultivated prairie. The first dwelling of 
the family was a small plank house, into which they 
removed about 1865. In 1868 they completed the 
commodious brick residence which the family now 
occupy, and which is noticeable among the other 
fine buildings of that region. In due time there 
were added a frame barn, fences and orciiard, forest 
trees and the smaller fruits, and all the other things 
which conduce to make country life pleasant and 
desirable. The Berger residence at the time of its 
completion was considered the best farm house in 
the county. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there were 
born seven children, namely : Josephine A., Mary 
r E., James W., George T.. M. Francenia, John P. and 



Luella M. Miss Josephine, the elilest daughter of 
our subject, is the wife of A. S. Alley, an attorney 
of Wilber. this State; Mary, Mrs. G. L. Seybolt. is 
a resident of Jan Jose, C'al. ; her husband was special 
postal agent and detective several years ago, until 
tlie incoming of the Democratic administration, 
when he was removed. He now o{)erates a fruit 
farm. M. Francenia married A. R. Johnson. Presi- 
dent of the Cable Railway Company of Omaha, and 
who also has a large fruit faim in California; James, 
who is still living at the home farm, was married, 
Nov. 26. 1874, to Miss Susan C, daughter of John 
and Jemima (Thornhill) Johnson, a sketch of whom 
appears elsewhere in this volume. The family is 
favorably and widely known along the eastern line 
of this county, having been no unimportant factor 
in its growth and development. 

Mr. Berger and his son James were formerly 
members of Rock Bluff Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F., 
which lodge surrendered its charter later anil dis- 
banded. George belongs to the Masonic fraternity 
at Wilber. Tue father and sons are solid Repub- 
licans, politically. Mr. Berger voted for William 
Henry Harrison in 1836 and 1810, and for his 
grandson in 1888. 



l^^VRAY S. VOSBURGII. The subject of this 
^ sketch was born near the city of Scranton, 
/JLii ) Pa., over forty -six years ago, on the 5 th of 
May, 1842. He came to Nebraska in 1878, and is 
the proprietor of one of the best farms of Center 
Precinct, comprising 160 acres of land on section 
9.' Soon after coming here he took up a tract of 
uncultivated prairie, and bj^ j-ears of unflagging 
toil and the outl.-iy of hundreds of dollars has built 
up a homestead which is now one of the noticeable 
features in the landscape of this region. He has a 
grove of forest trees which comprises the finest 
windbreak in this county, and which, it is said, can- 
not be beaten even in the State of Illinois, famous 
for these institutions. His hedge was |)lanted by 
surve3"ed lines, and the farm is all enclosed by this 
system of fencing. The residence is a neat and 
substantial structure, and with its adjacent build- 
ings, and the abundance of fruit and shade trees. 



^ 



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778 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 






fulfills the modern idea of the complete home. The 
land is reraarkalily fertile. 

In addition to the ordinary barns and stables, 
there is an exceptionally fine corn-crib 24x32 feet, 
with a foundation of solid masonry'. Every acre 
of the farm can be utilized, there being no waste 
land. The past jear (1888) Mr. Vosburgh har- 
vested 4.200 bushels of corn from less than eighty 
acres, while his wheat and oat crops were in pro- 
portion. The ten years' labor of our subject on 
this farm in its results should be amplj' satisfactory, 
and is the best indication of the ability, energy and 
good judgment which liave been exercised in con- 
nection therewith. 

Our subject spent his boyhood and youth in the 
Keystone State, remaining at home on the farm un- 
til eighteen years of age. He then conceived the 
idea that he would like to enter the legal profession, 
and accordingly repaired to Wilkesbarre, and en- 
tered upon the study of law under the instruction 
of Charles Denison. Not long afterward, however, 
be abandoned this, and became a traveling salesman 
for the firm of Spaulding & Place, of Gloversville, 
N. Y. Subsequently we find him at Scranton City, 
Pa., as clerk of the Wyoming House, where he con- 
tinued a period of eight years, never being absent 
from his post a day. After the outbreak of the 
Rebellion, Mr. Vosburgh entered the Commissary 
Department with the sharpshooters of the 203d 
Pennsylvania Regiment, and was in the armj' a 
period of eighteen months, being mustered out at 
the close of the war. 

Our subject now returning home for a few d.ays, 
visited Iniefly with iiis friends, then once more be- 
came the employe of the Wyoming House, remain- 
ing there until tiie spring of 18G8. He then resolved 
to seek the West, and started for Chicago, 111., ar- 
riving there on the 1.5tli of April. Thence he went 
into Lee County, to which his father had in the 
meantime removed, and lived with him there on a 
farm one year. He was married in LaSalle County, 
111., Feb. 22, 1871, to Miss Emma Briggs, who was 
born in Luzerne County, Pa., May 10, 1850. This 
lady became the mother of two children, Clyde 
and Frank, who make their home with their father. 
Clj'de is attending the High School at Plattsniouth. 
Mrs. Emma Vosburgh departed this life at the home 

-♦ 



of the family Feb. 5, 1 879, after an illness of ten days, 
aged twenty-eight years, eight months and five days. 
Our subject, June 20, 1881, contracted a second 
matrimonial alliance, with Mrs. Mary A. (Short) 
Elster. This lady was born Aug. 17, 1842, in En- 
gland, and is the daughter of Edward and Mary 
(Booth) Short, who were born in England, and 
lived there until their daughter Mai-y was twelve 
years old. They then emigrated to America, set- 
tling in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the father fol- 
lowed his trade of tailor, and where Miss Mary 
completed her education. She made her hon)e with 
her parents until her marriage, but in the meantime, 
while on a visit to an aunt in Whiteside Count}-, 
111., formed the acquaintance of Mr. F. Elster, with 
whom she came to Nebraska in the winter of 1870, 
the year after their marriage, which occurred Jan. 
5. 1869. Of their union there were born two chil- 
dren — Nellie May and William B. The daughter 
became the wife of Dr. O. Waters, of Gretna, this 
State. The son makes his home with our subject, 
and is attending Weeping Water Academy. 

Mrs. Elster during her widowhood made her home 
in Plattsmouth, where she was married the second 
time, June 20, 1881. Her father, Edward Short, 
and his estimable wife, are still living in Ann Arbor, 
IMich. The parental household includeil four chil- 
dren, who are now in Nebraska. 

Charles Vosburgh, the father of our subject, was 
born near the Hudson River, N. Y., whence he re- 
moved with his father to Pennsylvania when a boy. 
Grandfather Vosburgh took up land in the midst of 
a heavy timber tract which he cleared, and where 
he built up a comfortable homestead. Later he 
sold out, and purchased another farm. He retired 
from this later, although still retaining ownership 
of it, and is now the proprietor of a hotel at Abing- 
ton, Pa. He married in early manhood Miss Milli- 
cent Van Luvener, and thej' became the parents of 
thirteen children, all of whom are living, and lo- 
cated mostly in Pennsylvania. 

The wife and mother departed this life June 29, 
1886, in Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather, 
Cornelius Vosburgh, was also a native of the Empire 
.State, and married a Miss Pulver. He also re- 
moved to Pennsylvania, where he Itved a number 
of years, and from which he removed when an old 



i^ J I ^» 



•►Hil-^^ 






CASS COUNTY. 



FBI 



rain to Eirlville, III., where his death took place 
when he was seventy -eight yeais old. Grandmother 
Vosburgli later made her home with our subject in 
Illinois, and died at the advanced age of ninety-one 
years. 

Mr. Vosburgli stands well among the men of his 
community, where his well-known qualities as a thor- 
ough and skillful farmer are thoroughly recognized, 
and where his sterling worth of character is fully 
appreciated. He has been too bus3' to give any 
time to office-seeking, although he is a reader and 
keeps himself posteil upon current events. He 
gives his uniform support to the Republican party, 
and in religious matters to the Congregational 
Church. He is identified vviili the Masonic fra- 
ternity. 



JUDGK SAMUEL M. CHAPMAN. This gen- 
tleman occupies a prominent position among 
the citizens of Cass County, and was born in 
^^ Blairsville, Indiana Co., Pa., Oct. 28, 1839. 
His father, Joseph Chapman, was born in Derry 
Township, Westmoreland Co., Pa., in the year 
1799, and was brought up to agricultural pursuits. 
There being few schools of any kind, and none after 
tiie order of the present common schools, he was 
self-educated, and was so diligent as to be enabled 
to master even the higher branches of mathematics, 
including trigonoaietr3- and geometiy. He was in 
fact a prodigy in the science of mathematics. His 
migration to Indiana County was made in the year 
183C, when he established a tannery at Blairsville, 
continuing the same until 1843, when he sold the 
business, and went to the then Territory of Iowa, 
making his home about six miles west of Burlington 
in Des Moines Count}-, and gave his attention to 
agriculture. He purchased a large tract of land at 
Kossuth. Des Moines County, and engaged in gen- 
eral farming until his death, which occurred in 
September, 18G1. He was in politics an enthusiastic 
Whig, and stumped the State of Pennsylvania in the 
interests of Gen. Harrison in the j^ear 1840. and 
subsequently became a Republican at the birth of 
that [)arty. The maiden name of the mother of 
Judge Chapman was Eliza Pollock. Her father, 
ThouKis Pollock, a descendant of one of the good 



old Colonial families, was born in Ligonier Valley, 
Westmoreland Co., Pa., on. the 25th of November, 
1782, and his father, James Pollock, was born in 
Coleraine, the North of Ireland, in the year 1728. 
James Pollock came to America with several 
brothers in 1750, and settled in Columbia County, 
Pa. Going to Westmoreland County about thir- 
teen years later he was there married to Mary 
Heron, of that place. He was the first Justice of 
the Peace in that section of the country, and took 
his commission with him when he went to Ligonier 
Valley. He died there in the year 1812, sincerely 
mourned b}' the community where he was well 
known. 

The grandfather of our subject was reared to 
farming i>ursuits, and from the lime he was able to 
manage it ha(i been proprietor of a farm. His first 
wife, the grandmother of our subject, was Rachel 
Hendricks, a sister of Gen. William Hendricks, of 
Indiana, and daughter of Abraham Hendricks. She 
died in Westmoreland County in the year 1807. 
Later he vvas married to Susan, daughter of the Rev. 
Joseph W. Henderson, of Indiana County. He was a 
loyal citizen, and active in the interests of the people. 
He was one of the Commissioners of Westmoreland 
County, and served for several terms as Represent- 
ative in the State Legislature. For quite a num- 
ber of years he was Associate Justice of the Common 
Pleas Court, and in every instance showed himself 
worthy of the confidence of the people. He was a 
man of deep religious convictions and consistent 
life, and held membership in the Presbyterian 
Church, in which he served in an official capacity 
for a number of years. 

To Joseph and Eliza Chapman were born eight 
children — Thomas P., James P., John W., Jane, 
Samuel M., .losepli M., Mai'y H. and Washington 
H. The eldest son, Thomas P., resided in S.iunders 
County, Neb., where he died in the year 1875, at 
which time he was a member of the State Leg- 
islature; James P. died in Des Moines, Iowa, in 
1862; Washington H. died in infancy; John W. 
died in Council Bluffs in June, 188G; Jane is the 
wife of the Rev. A. H. Barclay, and resides in 
Colorado; Samuel M. and Joseph M. are twins; the 
latter is engaged in banking and general mercantile 
business at Weston, Saunders Co , Neb. Mary H. 



•► 



•►Hl^ 



782 



CASS COUNTY. 



is the wife of Daniel Matson. and residts atKossntb, 
Iowa. 

Tlie subject of this slietch was about three years 
of age when lie was first ushered into pioneer life in 
Iowa Territory, and from his early daj's was ac- 
customed to very few if any of the conveniences 
that are by many looked upon as the indispensables 
of life. His earl3' education was obtained iu the 
log school-house, that even as it is mentioned again 
takes form in the mind, standing out clearly with 
its rough-hewn benches, rude desk, unplastered walls 
and puncheon floor. As soon as he was sufficieutl}- 
prepared to do so he entered the Yellow Springs 
College at Kossuth, Iowa, and was still pursuing 
his studies when the late war broke out. He enlisted 
at the very first call for troops, and Ix-cameamem- 
oer of Company E of the 1st Iowa Infantry. The 
regiment was organized at Keokuk, and was there 
prepared for the front. 

The 1st Iowa Volunteers were sent first to Hanni- 
bal, Mo., and opened the railroad from that place to 
Macon, Mo.; from there thej- went on a forced 
march to Booneville, where they joined Gen. Lyon, 
who was Commander of the Department of Missouri, 
and on the oth of July, 18G1, they started for 
Springfield, in the same State. Not long after they 
arrived a portion of the regiment, including Com- 
panj' E, went down to the White Kiver, where they 
met the enemy, and engaged them at Forsyth. The 
conflict was continued a few days later at Dug 
Springs; from there they returned to Springfield. 
Shortly after this they fought the battle of Wilson's 
Creek, where the brave and gallant Lyon fell. 

After the above-mentioned battle the regiment 
retreated to Rolla and thence to St. Louis, where, 
his time having expired, our subject was honorablj' 
discharged. He re-enlisted on the 14lh of August 
of the same year, a few da3-s after receiving his dis- 
charge. This time he was attached to Company K, 
of the 14th Iowa Infantry, and participated in all 
the battles in which that regiment was engaged 
during its service. It will be remembered as one 
of the most dashing and intrepid bodies of men in 
the service, always ready for service, and knowing 
no fear and daunted by no danger. The most im- 
portant battles, perhaps, in which the regiment 
engaged were those of Ft. Henrv. Ft. Donelson, 



Shiloh, and both battles of Corinth. They also 
served under Gen. Banks' command in the Meridian 
raid and Red River expedition, and in the latter 
were under fire fil'ty-two days. In this connection 
they fought at the battles at Ft. De Russey and 
Pleasant Hill, which were followed by the engage- 
ments at Yellow Bayou and Chicot Lake. From 
the latter pl.ice the regiment went to Memphis, 
where it was under Gen. A. J. Smith, and partici- 
pated in the battles of Forsyth and Tupelo, Miss. 
Shortly afterward they went to Missouri to look 
after Price, who was committing serious depreda- 
tions in that State. Then followed the conflict at 
Iron Mountain, after which they went, via Rolla, 
Jefferson Citj' and Sedalia, to St. Louis, and from 
that city to Davenport, Iowa, where he received an 
honorable discharge Dec. 8, 1864. 

On the 1st of January following our subject 
landed in Plattsmouth, Neb., and at once began 
reading law with the Hon. T. M. Marquett, and was 
admitted to tiie bar in open court. Judge Elmer S. 
Dund^' presiding, iu 187G, almost immediately after 
which a partnership was formed with the Hon. 
Samuel Maxwell, now one of the Justices of the 
Supreme Court of Xel)raska, their parLnersiiip con- 
tinuing until Mr. Maxwell was elected to the above- 
mentioned oflftce in 1873. Our subject continued in 
practice until in November, 188G, when he was 
elected to fill the vacancy occasioned bj- the death 
of Judge Mitchell, one.of the District Judges of 
the Second District, and was re-elected in 1 8fs7 for 
the full term. 

The marriage of Judge Chapman with Miss S. E. 
Putram, of Ludlow. Vt., was celebrated in October, 
18G9. They became the parents of four children, 
viz: Harriet Elizabeth; Emeline, who died in in- 
fancy'; Thomas P. and Sarah. On the 1 1th of Feb- 
ruar3', 1880, Mr. Chapman was left a widower. In 
June, 1883, a second marriage was contracted, the 
name of the lad3' being Agres D. Samson, who is 
the daughter of David and Margaret Samson (see 
sketch elsewhere in this volume). Of this union 
two chililren were born — Samuel Maxwell and 
Helen Hope. 

Judge Chapman has always taken considerable 
interest in pulilic afl'airs, and cast his first Piesiden- 
tial liallot ill favor of Abraham Lincoln, from which 



•►Hh:^ 



f 



CASS COUNTY. 



7S3 



time lie has been a stanch Republican. He was 
elected to the State Senate in 1875. and re-elected 
with a largel}' increased majority in 1877. lie has 
frequently been called upon to serve on various 
committees of importance. He was Chairman of 
the .Judiciaiy Committee through both terms of 
office. His service was most acceptable to his con- 
stituents, who recognized his constant interest in 
their welfare. Among the fraternities, as elsewhere, 
the stable character, high principle, clear intellect 
and untiring energj' of Judge Chapman are recog- 
nized and acknowledged. He is a member of the 
Plattsmouth Lodge No. 7, of the 1. O. O. F. ; Platts- 
raouth Lodge No. 6, of the A. F. & A. M. ; Ne- 
braska Chapter No. 3, R. A. M.. and Jit. Zion 
Comraandery No. 5, of Knights Templars. 

The portrait of this able jurist and well-known 
citizen of Cass Count3- adorns a page of this vol- 
ume — a fitting tribute to the worth of the man. as 
well as an indication of his deserved prominence in 
the community. 

'Ip^ 0I3KRT TROOP is a member of the firm of 
Ibs^ P-genberger <k Troop, who conduct one of 
<lii\V, the best appointed and best managed gro- 
^^ceriesin Plattsmouth, and although the\- have 
been established but little more than a 3'ear they 
ahead}- command a good pajMng trade, which ex- 
tends even beyond the city limits. 

Mr. Troop was born in Ireland, Feb. 23, 1843, 
and his father, likewise named Robert, was also a 
native of that country, and was of Scotch ancestry. 
He received a good education in his younger d.iys, 
and then learned the trade of a machinist, serving 
an apprenticeship of five years. He did not con- 
tinue to follow that trade, however, after his term 
of service expired, accepting instead the steward- 
ship of one of the large estates in his native island. 
In the year 1844 he emigrated to America with his 
family, and located at Davenport, Iowa, which was 
then but a village. Iowa was then a Territory, the 
settlements being confined to the region adjacent 
to the Mississippi River, and the greater part of the 
land was owned by the Government, and for sale 
at SI. 25 an acre. Mr. Troop continued to resiilc 



•► 



in Davenport from 1844 until his death, Feb. 3, 
1873, and during that time witnessed its growth 
from an insignificant town to a large and important 
city of 20,000 inhabitants. He was for some time 
engaged as an accountant in a bank, and he subse- 
quently became a salesman in a lumber-yard. He 
was a man whose integrity and raanj' good traits of 
character commanded the rpspect of those with 
whom he was associated, and his kindly disposition 
won their regard. The maiden name of his good 
wife was Jane Agnew. and she was also a native of 
Ireland. They had quite a family of children, eight 
of whom grew to maturity : Miza married Murt 
Connor, and lives in Coal Valley, 111.; William, 
James, John, Samuel and James are all deceased : 
Thomas lives in Cass County, Neb.; and Mary 
lives in Plattsmouth. 

Our subject vvas but a year old when his parents 
came to the United States, so he can recollect no 
other home than this, his adopted country, and 
-when the great Civil AVar broke out, and our flag 
was threatened with dishonor and these United 
States with disunion, he patriotically sprang to their 
defense, and fought with the zeal and bravery of a 
native-born citizen. Amid the pioneer influences 
of his earlj' home his character was molded in 
strength and vigor. He received a ver}- good rudi- 
mentary education in the early, primitive schools 
of Davenport, which has since been supplemented 
bj- observation, experience and reading. At the 
youthful age of twelve years he began to depend 
upi>n his own resources for a living, and found 
employment as a cabin boy and assistant cook on a 
Mississippi River boat. He followed boating on 
the river in different capacities until August. 1862. 
In that month he enlisted in Company E, 20lh 
Iowa Infantry, and went to the front to assist in 
fighting the battles of his adopted country. Among 
the more important battles in which he took an 
active part were those of Prairie Grove and the 
siege and capture of Vicksburg. He was taken 
prisoner at Morganzie Bend, La., in November. 
1863, and was confined in the rebel prison at Tyler, 
Tex., until September, 1864. He was then ex- 
changed and joined his regiment, and fought with 
it at Ft. Blakely, and also al. the fort at the mouth 
of Mobile B:iy. .Vfter that lie and his comrades l 



•►-11^ 



784 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



were stationed at Mobile until their discharge, in 
July, 1865. Our subject returned to Davenportat 
the close of his military career, and there engaged 
as mate of a steamer owned by Smith & Howlett. 
He continued in their eujploy sixteen months, and 
then turned his footsteps toward Nebraska. Here 
he found employment in the construction depart- 
ment of the Union Pacific Railwaj- the ensuing two 
j'ears. He then returned to Davenport to take 
charge of the street car stables. At the end of two 
years he left that place to take a similar one in 
Milwaukee. He had charge of tlie street ear barns 
there until the spring of 1876, when he again took 
u[) his residence in Nebraska. He bought a farm 
in Eight Mile Grove Precinct. Cass County, and 
managed it with good results until the fall of 1887. 
He then formed a partnership with J. V. Egenberger 
to engage in the grocery business. Thej* have 
been much prospered in this venture, their credit 
stands high in financial circles, and they bid fair to 
place themselves among the foremost representa- 
tives of the mercantile interests of Cass County. 

Mr. Troup and Miss Lou Moore were united in 
marriage Dec. 18, 1870. She is a native of Mis- 
souri, and a daughter of George Moore. Mr. Troop 
bears a high reputation for honest dealings, and the 
cheerfulness, cordiality and urbanity that distin- 
guish his manners gain the good-will and liking of 
all who come in contact witli him. He is promi- 
nently identified with the G. A. R., as a member of 
McConihie Post No. 45, and he also belongs to 
Cass Camp No. 32, U. W. To the many friends 
whom they have gathered around them he and his 
wife often extend the generous hospitality of a 
home made attractive bj' Its coziness, and the true 
courtesy of the host and hostess. Polilicall}', he is 
a Republican. 

•^^^- 

ORNELKuS VOSBURGII is a successful, well- 
to-do farmer, who occupies a place of prom- 
inence among the agriculturists of Centre 
Precinct, where he has a highly productive farm 
on section 9, admirably adapted to the cultivation 
of grain, in which he is extensivelj' engaged. 

Our subject was born in Lackawanna Township, 
Luzerne Co., Pa., Oct. 30, 1834. His father, Charles 



Yosburgh, was a native of New York, born near the 
Hudson River, in the town of Hudson, Nov. 10. 
1809. In early manhood he removed to Luzerne 
Countj-, Pa., and w.as there united in marriage to 
Miss Milicent Van Luvener, and with her he lived 
in happy wedlock for the unusual length of fifty- 
two years. Of their union thirteen children were 
born, all of whom are still living. The mother of 
our subject passed away on the 29th of January, 
1886, thus closing a life well rounded in years, 
well spent, and full of all things that go to make 
a good woman. The father of our subject is 
now passing his declining years in Lackawanna, 
where he is well known and honored, and is there 
tranquill}^ awaiting life's great end. His f.ather, Cor- 
nelius Vosburgh, was born on the 19th of March, 
1786, and spent the early part of his life at Hud- 
son. From New York he went to Pennsj'lvania, 
and from there removed to Illinois, where his death 
occurred March 24, 1864, at the age of seventj'- 
eight years and five days. He was a farmer and 
blacksmith, and followed those pursuits nearly all 
his life. His wife was born Sept. 23, 1786, and 
died Nov. 29, 1877, her life being prolonged to 
the advanced age of ninety-one years, two months 
and six days. The following children were born 
to her and her husband: Seymour V., Phoebe, 
Charles (father of our subject), Eliza, Samuel, 
William, Samuel, Fidelia, Clarissa, Paraelia and 
James. 

Cornelius Vosburgh remained with his father until 
he had attained manhood, then started forth to see 
something of the world, turning his footsteps west- 
ward, and in 1855 we find him located in Rock 
Creek Township. But after trying farming there 
a year, he retraced his steps toward his East- 
ern home, going as far as DeKalb County, 111., 
where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 
the j^ear of the Chicago fire, 1871, when he ag.ain 
came westward, and in Floyd County, Iowa, fol- 
lowed his calling for awhile. But California held 
strong attractions for him, and he was soon on the 
way to the Pacific Coast. He spent a few years in 
the Golden State and in W.ashington Territorj'^ 
prospecting, but not liking that region for a farm- 
ing country, in 1876 we again find him in DeKalb 
County, 111., where he resided until October, 1881, 



^^ 



^JU 



*► II <•• 



:-=)»- 



<* 



CASS COUNTY. 



when he came to make his home in this State, settling 
on land that he had previously purchased, whereon 
he still abides. From the wild prairie, by incessant 
and well-directed labor, he has built up a comfort- 
able home, and has a farm under good tillage, has 
set out a good grove of trees, an orchard of apple 
trees of four acres, and all kinds of small fruits; 
he has also planted pear trees, but has had no suc- 
cess with them. He is continually making improve- 
ments, and his place already compares favorably 
with other farms owned by men who have been 
here much longer. 

Cornelius Vosburgh and Cornelia C. llowlet were 
united in marriage May 23, 1859, and their wedded 
life has been blessed to them by the birth of four 
children, three of whom are still living — Alfred 
H., George W. and Gertrude J. George married 
Miss Barbara Angel, and they have one child- 
Lewis Edward; Gertrude married Charles B. An- 
drews, son of I). D. Andrews, of whom see sketch 
on another page of this work. Mrs. Vosburgh was 
born in Lee County, 111., Jan. 29, 1842, and the 
fii'st eight years of her life were passed in her na- 
tive place. She then went to Syracuse, X. Y., and 
staid with an uncle until she was sixteen years 
of age, and in 1855 returned to Illinois. She is 
a daughter of H. G. and Amanda M. (Canfield) 
Howlet, natives of Syracuse, X. Y.. where they lived 
until after their marriage and the birth of three 
children, when they moved to Niles, Mich., and 
thence to where Chicago now stands in the year 
1835, and were thus numbered among its early pio- 
neers. There were then only three houses there, 
and a butcher shop. Mr. Howlet owned the land on 
which the old Board of Trade liuilding afterward 
stood. He subsequently sold his property there, 
and took up his residence in Dixon, 111., and later 
removed to a place three miles northwest of Paw 
Paw Village. He was one of the Deputy Sheriffs 
who helped to break up the "Dick Allen Prairie 
Banditti," he arresting Allen himself. He was in 
other ways prominent in public affairs, was Justice 
of the Peace, and held various other oftices. He died 
Jan. 7, 1888, his wife having preceded him many 
years, dying in the year 1852. They were the par- 
ents of nine children, five of whom lived to ma- 
turitv. Parley Howlet. the grandfather of Mrs. 



Vosburgh, was a native of ^'ermont. He moved 
from there to Xew York, and died on his large 
farm near Syracuse. The maiden name of his wife 
was Phebe Dodge. 

Mr. Vosburgh is thoroughly respected for those 
characteristics that mark the true man and the hon- 
orable citizen. He has avoided public office, except- 
ing to act as Roadmaster, preferring the quiet of 
his cheerful fireside to the cares of public life. Yet 
in every other vr&y he is ready to do aught that 
will promote the welfare of the township. He has 
ever stood by the Republican partj- since its forma- 
tion, and has not lost an opportunity to cast his 
vote in its favor since he attained his majority. 



("fi_^^IMEXUS ADAMS, son of the well-known 
rj)V George W. Adams, of Avoca, has charge of 
i^^ his father's farm in this precinct, and is evi- 
(^ dently, in point of industry, enterprise and 
intelligence, a "chip of the old block." Of the 
Adams family of this county a sketch will be found 
elsewhere in this work, having for its subject the 
father, George AV. The Adams farm is devoted 
mainlj- to the raising of fine stock, a specialty being 
thoroughbred horses and Short-horn cattle. The 
farm is beautifully located on section 3, and com- 
prises 520 broad acres with substantial and con- 
venient buildings, the whole, fnlfllling the popular 
idea of the model countr3' estate. Of this our sub- 
ject has had the charge for the last five 3'ears. and 
in the management of its various interests is evi- 
dently proving himself a success. 

Mr. Adams was born at the farm which he now 
occupies, Sept. 15, 1862, and was reared amid the 
quiet pursuits of country life, acquiring a practical 
education in the district school and remaining at 
home until his marriage. This interesting event 
in his life occurred Dee. 5, 1883, at the home of the 
bride, Miss Louise Gruber, in Libertj' Precinct. 
Mrs. Adams was born in tiiat precinct, March 19, 
1863, and is the daughter of the well-known Peter 
Gruber, one of the most prominent farmers in the 
southea-stern portion of this county. Mr. G. is a 
native of Germany, born and reared in one of the 
Rhine Provinces, where also he was married to Miss 



•►:ll-^ 



hJ^ 



■•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



Jacobina Opp, a native of the same locality. After 
the birth of three children they emigrated to the 
United States, settling first in the city of St. Louis, 
Mo. A few years later they came to this couaty, 
and Mr. Gruber secured land in Liberty Precinct 
during its early settlement. True to the instincts of 
his substantial German ancestry, he labored dili- 
gently, and is now the owner of a fine property, 
including a large and valuable farm of over 600 
acres, which, with its buildings, live stock and ma- 
chinery, forms one of the attractive points of inter- 
est along the soutiiern line of the county. 

Mrs. Adams was reared under the parental roof- 
tree, where she lived until her marriage, and is a 
lady in every way fitted for her position in life as 
the wife of a prominent and enterprising citizen. 
The young people have started out with the fairest 
prospects, and enjoy the good wishes of hosts of 
friends. 



'it; OHN V. EGEXBERGEK. This gentleman is 
the senior member of the well-known firm of 
Egenberger & Troop, grocers, of Platts- 
^_ mouth. He was born in the village of Wald- 
liausen, which lies about five miles from Buchen, the 
capital of Grossherzogthum Baden, Germany-, on tlie 
24th of October, 1854. His family had been resi- 
dents of that village for several generations, and 
seldom had any member of the family gone far 
from it to live. He is the son of John V. and 
Halena Egenberger. His fathiu- was a farmer, and 
reared his son to agricultural pursuits. He died in 
the year 1869, when about forty-five years of age. 
The mother of our subject previous to her mar- 
riage bore the name of Helen Guthmann and is the 
sister of F. R. Guthmann (see sketch of that gen- 
tleman elsewhere in this volume). She came to 
America in September, 1872, and now resides in 
Plattsmouth. She is the mother of ten children, 
six of whom are living. These are: Mary, the wife 
of Henry Weckbeek; Veronica, the wife of William 
AVeber; Louisa, who is married to ILnmmond Spies; 
Fred and Ludwig, single, all of whom are resi- 
dents of Plattsmouth. 

Tiie subject of our sketch attended the schools 



of his native village until the spring of 1872. 
when, with his parents and relatives, he came to 
this country, and with them made his home in 
Plattsmouth. He commenced life in the Xew 
"World In- working on a farm in Cass County, and 
after the first year .spent twelve months in Lancas- 
ter County, where he was engaged as a clerk in the 
store of his uncle, .T. V. Weckbeek. There he re- 
mained for nine years, after which he was in a 
hardware store for two years, and then engaged in 
mercantile pursuits in his own interest. In 1887 he 
formed a partnership with Robert Troop, and be- 
gan his present business, which has succeeded f;ir 
bej'ond their expetations. 

On the 16th of September, 1876, our subject was 
united in wedlock with Miss Mary Halschuh. She 
was born in Plattsmouth to John and Mary E. 
Halschuh, in June, 1859. Her parents were natives 
of Hesse-Darmstadt, in the village of Erbueh, and 
came to this countrj- in the j'ear 1853. There have 
come to Mr. and Mrs. Egenberger five little ones, 
to whom they gave the names here appended: Ed- 
die, Albert, Freddie, Annie and Mena. 

The subject of our sketch is a thoroughly capa- 
ble business man and a much respected citizen, 
understanding and appre.'iating the principles of 
government and the institutions of liberty of the 
country. He is a member of the Board of Trade, 
and holds a leading position among the business 
men of Plattsmouth. He is a member of the A. 
O. U. W., and meets with Trio Lodge No. 81, and 
is also identified with the Liederkrantz. 



(iPg^JlJEODORE JOHN, a well-to-do gener.-d far- 
mer and stock- raiser of Stove Creek Pre- 
cinct, has a farm which in all its appoint- 
ments ranks among the best in this localit}', and is 
one of which tiie owner maj' well be proud. Eighty 
acres of his land, forming the original homestead, 
with its substantial house, barns and other build- 
ings, are located on the northeast quarter of section 
20, and the remaining 160 acres of his land are on 
the opposite side of the street on section 21, the 
farm comprising in all 240 acres of improved hind. 
It has good fences of hedge and wire, beautiful 



-It:* 



♦^ 



»► I I 4* 



-•► 



CA.SS COUKTY. 



JLz 



groves planted by bis' own Imiids, three af;res of 
orchard, contaiiiino; 200 trees, and well supplied 
with water. Stove Creek running through it, and it 
is adniiraljly adapted for a stock farm, to which 
purpose he devotes it largely, raising well graded 
cattle, hogs and horses, having eight of the latter. 
Our subject is a veteran of the late Civil War, 
wherein he fought with valor for the country of his 
adoption, and has as fine a military record as any 
soldier, his experiences as an officer in the German 
Army, in the Fatherland, doubtless proving benefi- 
cial to him on Southern battle-fields. - 

Mr. John was born in Prussia, Aug. 16. 1831, to 
Benhart and Johanna (IIuss) John, also natives of 
Germany. His father was a farmer of some means, 
and owned a farm of 240 acres in his native country, 
of which he was a lifelong resident, his death oc- 
curring there in 1842. His widow departed this 
life in 1860, To that estimable couple were born 
five children, as follows: Theodore, Oswald, Her- 
man (deceased). Olio and August.a. 

Their son Theodore, of whom wo write, passed 
his boyhood in the place of his nativity, spending 
most of the time, as soon as old enough, in school, 
until he w.as fourteen years old. After his edu- 
cation was completed he went into a brewery, and 
there worked until he was eighteen, when he entered 
the German Army, serving in the cavaby as orderly 
under the King. He entered as a private, and 
served in that capacity three years, and was then 
promoted to be Sergeant, and was a commissioned 
officer the remainder of the twelve years that he 
was in the array. His life there finally proved too 
irksome, and longing for greater freedom, he re- 
tired from the service, and went back to his old 
employment in the brewery. In 1860 he set out 
for the United States, sailing from Hamburg in the 
steamer "Bavaria," and after a rapid passage of eight 
days landed at New York. He went from there to 
Albany, where he found work in a brewer}'. In 
18C1 he went to LaCrosse, and was for a time en- 
gaged in the same work. The same summer he 
went to Clinton County, 111., and was employed on 
a farm there until the fall of 1861. At that time 
he enlisted in the 3d Missouri Cavalry, and after 
staying in camp three months under Gov. Stewart, 
wag mustered out. In .Janunrv he re-enlisted, and 



became a member of the 12th Illinois Cavalry, 
Compau}' B, and was mustered in at Chicago, and 
in the spring of 1802 his regiment was sent to Vir- 
ginia to join the Army of the Potomac. It took 
an active part in several skirmishes, and in the fol- 
lowing battles: Culpeper, Shaftsbury (three daj's), 
battles of Gett3'sburg, Pamunkey, etc. In Rich- 
mond the Union soldiers burned the stores of the 
rebel arm}-, and otherwise created great havoc in- 
side the fortifications, the regiment in which our 
subject was engaged taking an active part in that 
siege. It was then ordered back to West Point, 
and thence to Chicago to recruit, it being but 
twenty-five strong after the hard fighting through 
which it had passed. Three mouths later it was 
ordered from that city to New Orleans, and after 
being transported to that city, was sent on the raid 
up the Red River. After that our subject and his 
fellow-soldiers were sent back to Memphis, and in 
the spring of 1865 he was honorably discharged in 
Springfield, 111., after having served his adopted 
country three years and six months, in the front 
ranks of his regiment all the time, but was never 
wounded, and his vigorous constitution repelled all 
sickness. 

After the close of the war Mr. John went to 
Clinton County, Iowa, and worked on a farm for 
six months, and then his system for the first time 
began to give way to the effects of his hardships on 
Southern battle-fields, and he was ill until the next 
spring (1866), when he sought the healthful climate 
of Nebraska to restore his physique to its wonted 
vigor, coming by steamer to Nebraska City. He 
there entered into business as a freighter, teaming 
goods or supi)lies vvith six yokes of bulls to Fts. 
Laramie and Smith, making four trips in the next 
two years. In the fall of 1867 he went back to 
Nebraska City, and in the spring of 1868 came to 
Cass County, having decided to try farming, and 
took up his present homestead of eighty acres on 
section 20. This part of the county was com- 
paratively unsettled at that time, there being but 
two or three settlers ahead of him, and he had to 
start from the very beginning and evolve his farm 
from the wild, uncultivated prairie. We have seen 
how he has prospered since then, and has added to 
his original purchase in spite of the discour.age 



ige- w 



* ► II ^» 



ibs 



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CASS COUNTY. 



^v 



ments offeiTrl by grnsshoppcr inids, in which that 
insect made wny vvilh his entire crops one or two 
seasons, and the destructive powers of high winds 
and drouths. 

Mr. Joiin was marrieil in St. Louis, in March, 
1868, to Miss Ro-a Fullemer. a native of Germany, 
and she has made his home pleasant and attractive 
to her family, and also to tlieir many friends. The 
household circle is completed liy the three children 
who have been born of their marriage- — Minnie, 
Annie and "Willie. 

Our subject is possessed (-f sagacity, forethought 
and energy, so combined with those useful qualities 
of prudence, thrift and steadiness of purpose, that 
he cannot fail to accomplish what he attempts, and 
tiius his success was assured from the start. He and 
his wife are among the leading members of the 
Catholic Church of Elmwood. and were active as- 
sistants in building it. In his political opinions 
Mr. John is strongly Republican. 

'if OHN JOHNSON, of English ancestry, and 
who is numbered among the well-to-do resi- 
dents of Rock Bluff Precinct, is the sub- 
ject of an interesting history. His parents, 
William and Jane (Talifairo) Johnson, were na- 
tives respectively of England and Virginia. The 
paternal grandfather, John Johnson, Sr., also of 
English birth and ancestry, spent his entire life 
upon the soil of his native country. His son Will- 
iam emigrated to the United States when a j'oung 
man and settled in the Old Dominion, where he 
was married to ISliss Talifairo. 

The maternal grandfather of our subject met 
his death while serving as a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary War under the immediate command of 
Gen. George Washington. It was while he was at 
home on a furlough that he was killed at a mill near 
his home by the Tories. William Johnson after his 
marriage, leaving the Old Dominion, migrated to 
Alabama, when his son John was a mere child, he 
having been born in Buckingham County, Ya., 
Dec. 15, 1813. They located among the pioneers 
of ^Montgomery County, Ala., during its early set- 
tlement, where our subject lived until about 1840; 



^^:^ 



then turning his steps westward, he crossed the Mis- 
sissippi, and located in Montgomery County, Mo., 
where he engaged in farming, and was married six 
years later, Jan. 27, 1846, to Miss Jemima C. Thorn- 
hill. This lady was the daughter of Thomas L. 
and Lucy (Strange) Thornhill. Iler paternal grand- 
father, AVilliam Strange, married INIiss Sarah Lee 
and both were natives of Yirginia. The father of 
INIrs. Johnson was own cousin to Jefferson Davis, 
and her mother also was own cousin to the first 
wife (the daughter of ex-President Ta^'lor) of the 
President of the Confederacj'. To John and Je- 
mima Johnson there was boi'n a family of eighteen 
children, fifteen sons and three daughters. Of these 
five are living, namely: AYilliam T., Thomas R., 
Austin; Catherine S., now Mrs. J. M. BergOr, a 
resident of Rock Bluff Township, and Andrew .J. 

Mr. Johnson left Missouri in January. 1865, 
coming to Nebraska Territorj-, and locating in 
Rock Bluff Precinct on the land, from which he 
made a good farm, and where he now lives. He is 
the proprietor of 400 broad acres, comprising the 
homestead, on sections I and 2, and has also 160 
acres on section 16 and fiftj' acres of timber south 
of the city, besides ten acres of timber on the 
Island below Plattsmouth. The home farm is 
well improved, with good buildings, and the land 
is in a high state of cultivation, as is .also the 
land on section 16. 

Mr. Johnson, politically, has been a lifelong 
Democrat. During the war, and while a resident 
of Missouri, his horses, wagon, and a yoke of cattle 
were stolen by thieves, who sold the property. 
There was then an organized band of these ma- 
rauders, who made it their business to drive away 
stock and carry off everything which they could 
secure, including meat, groceries, and everything 
that could be turned into money or that they could 
make use of in any way. One night after Mr. John- 
son had slaughtered thirty hogs, the thieves came 
and stole all the backbones with the exception of 
five, and upon those they put poison. This was 
discovered by the fact that they left the cellar door 
open, and the cats who got in and ate of the meat 
died of the poison which was intended to kill the 
family. 5Ir. Johnson soon after left the country 
with his family, also leaving undisturbed the pois- 



r 



•► II <•• 



CASS COUNTY. 



791 k 



oned meat in the cellar. Having been a resident of 
Alabama, he remained neutral, and subsequently he 
was compelled to leave Missouri for safet3'. 

Andrew J. Johnson, the son of our subject, re- 
mains at home with his parents, their solace and 
support, and like his father before him, has devel- 
oped into a capable and intelligent man, one who, 
on account of his sterling worth of character, occu- 
pies a good position in his community, is carrying 
on the farm in the able and judicious manner in 
which it was educted and has been built up, com- 
prising one of the most valuable estates in the 
county. 

OTIS II. BALLOU. a distinguished citizen of 
Piattsmouth, and one of the most brilliant and 
successful lawyers of the Nebraska bar. is a 
man of rare discernment and culture, and since tak- 
ing up his residence in this city has exerted a bene- 
ficial influence in |)romoting its prosperity and 
development. He is closely identified with the bus- 
iness interests of Cass County, and is manager of 
the Piattsmouth street railway, whicli he was instru- 
mental in organizing. 

Mr. Ballon was born in Greenfield, Saratoga Co., 
N. Y., Oct. 23, 1842. His father, Moses Ballou, was 
born on the same farm, of sturdy New England pa- 
rentage. Otis Ballou. grandfather of our subject, was 
born at Smithfield, R. I., and there grew to man- 
hood and married at the youthful age of nineteen 
years. After marriage he started with his young 
wife with an ox-team for the wilds of New York, and 
became a pioneer of Greenfield, Saratoga County. 
He bought a tract of timber land, erected thereon a 
substantial frame house, and at once set about clear- 
ing a farm. Schenectady, twenty-five miles distant, 
was the nearest market for some ^-ears. the way to 
it lying over a rough road, through the woods much 
of the distance. He and his wife spent the remain- 
der of their married lives there, dying on the home- 
stead which they had there erected. 

The father of our subject was reared and married 
in that pioneer home, and he be^^ame a prominent 
paper manufacturer, owning and managing two 
mills in the town of Jamesville, N. Y. He subse- 
quentlj- disposed of his property in that town, and 



moving to Union Village, Washington County, 
built a paper-mill, which he operated with signal 
success until 1865. In that year lie sold out his 
business, and in 1 870 left his native State to take up 
his residence in Omaha. He lived there one year, 
and then came to Valley Station, and buying a tract 
of land of the Platte Valley Company, engaged in 
farming and stock-raising until his death. Feb. IG, 
]"882. The maiden name of his wife was Fanny 
Peacock, and she was also a native of Greenfield. 
Her father, Henry Peacock, was likewise born in 
that town, of which his parents were early pioneers. 
There were but two chihlren in the family of the 
parents of our subject, himself and his brotlier Ev- 
erett G.. a real-estate dealer in Omaha. 

Otis Ballou received, his early education in the 
district schools, and subsequently took a good course 
of study in the academy at Jonesville. N. Y. After 
leaving school he taught one term in Saratoga 
County. When he was twenty-one years of age he 
began his career as a man of business by opening 
a wholesale paper store in Philadelphia. In that 
venture he was entirely successful during the three 
years that he carried it on. On account of impaired 
health he was obliged to dispose of his business, and 
received a $2,000 bonus for it. He then turned 
his attention to the more healthful ^mploj'ment of 
raising fruit, going to Burlington, N. J., where he 
bought a fruit farm, which he operated until 1871, 
when he came to Omaha. During his residence in 
New Jersey he had studied law with the firm of 
Earl & White, and after removing to Omaha he 
continued to prosecute his studies. He was admit- 
ted to the bar in 1 873, and the following 3'ear opened 
an office in Omaha, and in the years that followed 
built up a good pi'actice. In 1881 he became in- 
terested in the lumber business, but w.as not suc- 
cessful in that undertaking, losing the capital that 
he had invested during the year that he carried it 
on. After that he and his brother formed a part- 
nership to conduct the real-estate business. The 
time and place for their embarkation in that busi- 
ness proved very propitious, as it was in season to 
take advantage of the great " boom " that soon 
struck that city and caused a rapid rise in the value 
of propert3^ and stimulated business to an unpre- 
cedented extent. The brothers made money very 



•t 



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i i 792 



CASS COUNTY. 



fast by their shrewd investments, and were soon 
counted among the weaitli3' citizens of Omaha. In 
1884 ]\Ir. Ballou resumed tlie iiractiee of law in 
connection with his other business, and continued 
practicing and selling real estate until 1887, when 
he came to Pltittsmouth. Here he bought 1,200 
acres of land, a part of which was included in the 
corporation of the city, and the remainder joining 
it. Subsequently he laid out two additions to the 
city from a part of the investment, which already 
have been considerably improved. He at once com- 
menced the erection of his present home, which 
was completed in the summer of 1888. This is the 
finest residence in Cass County and probably' the 
finest country seat in the State. It is of a strikingly 
beautiful style of architecture, and the rare taste 
displayed in its ornamentation and furnishings, to- 
gether with its surroundings, makes it a lovely 
dwelling-place. 

Mr. Ballou was married, March 25, 1868, to Miss 
Isabel Glasgow, a native of Philadelphia. Her par- 
ents, William and Mary Glasgow, both natives of 
Pennsylvania, were of Scotch ancestry. Mr. and 
Mrs. Ballou have two children living, Robert and 
Isabel. William, their first-born, died at the age of 
two and one-half ^-ears. Fanny and Arthur were 
twins; the former died at the age of four years, and 
the latter died in infancy. 

Mr. Ballou has always been a stanch Republican, 
and a leader and counselor in the part}'. He has 
been a delegate to State and County Conventions 
many times, and in 1887 was one of the candidates 
of his part}' for the position of District Judge for 
the Third Judicial District of Nebraska. There was, 
however, a non-partisan ticket put into the field by 
the Democratic party, and an exciting contest fol- 
lowed, which resulted in the defeat of the entire 
Republican ticket. The contest brought forth the 
following tribute to our subject from Judge Cobb 
of the Supreme Bench, which we copy verbatim, as 
it expresses so well his character and ability, and is 
an echo of the estimate in which he is held by those 
familiar with him: Omaha Republican, Nov. 5, 
1887 — Query: "Judge Cobb, what is your opinion 
of the qualifications of Mr. Ballou for the position 
of District Judge.'" Judge Cobb: "My jjcrsonal 
opinion is this: Mr. Ballou stands very nearly at 



the top of the profession in this State, and I think 
if he were elected to the position of District Judge 
in Omaha, he would by his conduct and knowledge 
of the law meet the approbation of the bar as well 
as the citizens at large. 1 have heard him in many 
cases before the Supreme Court, and he invariably 
handled them with a very high degree of judgment, 
and evinced in the plainest manner close research 
and careful study in tiieir preparatit)n. His work 
was never faulty nor neglected, and always com- 
pared favorably with the best efforts of the at- 
torneys of the State. Mr. Ballou is an active Re- 
publican; he has been actively identified with the 
party's interest, and is as enthusiastic in the success 
of those principles he so earnestly espouses. I think 
that the material for Judges can be selected from 
no more trustworthy source than from the Repub- 
lican party, I have been a partj'imian all my life, 
and sincerel}' believe in it. The fact that a man 
has been an active Republican during his life is no 
good or valid reason wh_y he caunot do justice upon 
the bench to his most implacable enemy. To char- 
acterize Mr. Ballou as unqualified is unjust and un- 
fair; he is perfectly capable and would make a good 
and fair Judge." 

It gives us pleasure to print on another page the 
portrait of Mr. Ballon", than whom no other citi- 
zen of Cass Count}' more deserves the honor. 



^^ BRAM M. ROCKWELL, one of the promi- 
(@/u| i nent farmers of Centre Precinct, owning a 
fine farm of 160 acres on section 26, town^i 
ship 11, range 11 north, of the city of 
Weeping Water, is also one of Nebraska's pioneers. 
He was born in Saratoga Count}-. N. Y., Nov. 5, 
1849, coming of good stock and a family that had 
long been residents of the State. Jonah Rockwell, 
his grandfather, was a native and lifelong resident 
of New York. 

Seth B. Rockwell, the father of our subject, was 
.also born in Saratoga County, Feb. 14, 1808, being 
the date of his birth in that beautiful locality. He 
married Miss Elizabeth Tabor, and to them came 
five children, all of whom grew to maturity, and 
four of them are living in this precint. Mr. Rock- 



•Mh^ 



^ 



■<• 



it^ 



CASS COUKTY. 



-•► 



793 



f 



well contimierl to resiile in his Daiive State until 
l!Sd4, when he moved with his family to Illinois, 
In the fall of tlie j'eav of 1SG8 he eaine still fur- 
ther West, and passed the remainder of his daj's in 
the home of our subject, dying here in 1883. His 
wife had preceded him in death two or three years 
before. They were people of sober, blameless lives, 
who were justly held in respect and esteem. 

Our subject was a child of five years when his 
parents took him to their new home in Jllinois, and 
he grew to a stalwart manhood, his parents care- 
fully training him in liabits of industry, and instill- 
ing into his mind principles of honesty and virtue. 
He completed his education in that State, and in 
18U8 came with his parents to Dodge County, and 
took up land, but continued to make his home with 
his father and mpther until his maniage, and then 
they lived with him. The}' staid in Dodge County 
nine years, and in 1877 came to the place where 
our subject now lives. This the}' bought when it 
was wild prairie land, and have put on it every im- 
provement of which it can boast, and the}- are 
many and valuable. Our subject has a good or- 
chard, comprising three acres of choice fruit trees, 
besides siflall fruits. A good house was erected and 
substantial out-buildings the first yearof possession. 
The farm is well stocked, and is cultivated to a 
high degree, rendering it very productive, and our 
subject raises a large quantity of grain. 

Our subject has a pleasant home, his wife being a 
good housewife, who knows well how to make ever^'- 
thing comfortable and C0Z3'. Mr. and Mrs. Rock- 
well were united in marriage Sept. 11, 1881, and 
three children, Walter Calvin, AVilliam O., and 
Abiam M., deceased, have blessed their wedded 
life. Mrs. Rockwell was formerly Miss Mary Maple, 
of Centre Precinct, where she had lived for some 
years prior to her marriage. She was born Feb. 22, 
1862, in Iowa, and is a daughter of William and Mar- 
tha A. (Jenkins) Maple. They were natives of Ohio, 
who became pioneers of Iowa, and subsequently of 
Nebraska. Mrs. Rockwell lived with her parents 
until her marriage, and they are now living in Elm- 
wood Precinct, where her father is engaged in farm- 
ing. 

Mr. Rockwell is worthy of respect and esteem, 
inasmuch as his conduct in life is guided by prin- 



ciples of right and true piety, and by all his towns- 
people he is spoken of as a man of ability and in- 
tegrity of purpose. His busy life gives him no 
time to mingle in public life or to attend to politics, 
but on election days he is always found at the i)oIls, 
supporting the ticket of the good old Democratic 
parly by voice ami vote. He is an earnest mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and does 
what he can to extend its influence. 



■vf^ DWARD WILLIAMS, one of the prominent 
l^ and leading farmers of Tipton Precinct, set- 
(JL^ tied on liis present homestead in 1869, where 
he arrived after a tedious and wearisome journey 
overland with teams, and settled down to the im- 
provement of his eightj- acres of raw land. He 
built a sod house in which they lived nine months. 
In the spring of 1870 he built a small frame house, 
hauling the lumber from Plattsmouth; he broke 
some prairie laud s-.nd raised a few potatoes the first 
year, one of which weighed a pound. He set out 
trees from time to time until he now has a grove of 
eight or ten acres and a small orchard. He began 
raising strawberries for market, but has now quit, 
it not proving sufficiently remunerative. The en- 
tire farm is divided into 15-acre lots b}' cross 
fences of wire; the entire tract is well watered bj' a 
branch of Camp Creek, and is in all respects a well- 
located and admirably conducted homestead. 

In 1884: the present beautiful residence was 
built, 14x26 feet, two stories high, with a wing 
14x1 6 feet, with porch and cellar, and is surrounded 
by a neat picket fence, new barn, and other con- 
venient out-buildings. His attention is devoted to 
gardening, general farming. Short-horn, graded 
Jersey and Angus cattle, and thoroughbred Poland- 
China hogs. The cattle and hogs show the care 
that has been given them b}' their owner, and most 
certainly do him full credit. 

Mr. Williams was born near New Diggings, 
LaFayette Co., Wis., Oct. 12, 1845, and was one of 
a family of six children: Melvina, Mary and Will- 
iam are older, and Lucy and Emma are younger 
than our subject. The sister Melvina and brother 
William are dead. The father died when our subject 



♦r^^ 



Hl^ 



■•►Hl- 



794 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 



r 



was a child. After his death our subject went to live 
with Ml-. W. Thompson, where he remained several 
years. A\'hen he began to work out by the month 
all his wages went to help support his mother and 
her family. He continued working until eighteen 
years of age, when, Dec. 29, 1863, he enlisted 
in the 46th Illinois Infantry, Company D, and was 
mustered into service at Camp Butler, under Capt. 
Miller, Col. Jones Regimental Commander. He 
participated in the skirmish at Benton, Miss., 
May 13, 1864. and the engagement at Jackson. 
Miss., July 6 and 7; in the skirmish at Spanish 
Fort, Ala., March 28, 1865; in the charge on and 
capture of Ft. Blakeslee, April 9; at Mobile, April 
12, and many other minor engagements and skir- 
mishes. He was mustered out and honorably dis- 
charged from the service at Baton Rouge, La., 
June 20, 1866, when he returned North and rented 
various farms until 1869, when we find him located 
at his present homestead in Tipton Precinct. 

The subject of this sketch and Miss Caroline E. 
Krieger were married at Cadiz, Green Co., Wis., 
Jan. 3, 1869. This lady is the daughter of 
Albert and Mary Magdalene (Humell) Krieger. 
Jesse Williams, the father of our subject, was a 
miner, and was engaged in mining at Galena, 111., 
where he continued working up to a year or two 
before his death, when he removed to McConnell's 
Grove, near Freeport, on the Pecatonica River, 
where his decease occurred when he wa.* forty years 
of age. 

Our subject's mother was married the second 
time, to Mr. David D. Young. Mr. Young served 
in the 46th Illinois Infantry during the late Civil 
War, from which he was honorably discharged at 
the expiration of his three years' term of service, 
this being the same regiment of which our subject 
was a member. The mother died in 1871, aged 
fifty-seven years. The father of the wife of our 
subject came to America when he was seventeen 
years old, settling in Pennsylvania. He was a black- 
smith, and continued his trade in Philadelphia after 
his marriage. He was a fine musician, highly edu- 
cated in the art, and was unusually expert in hand- 
ling the violin, and was a member of one of the 
leading bands of Germany. In 1859 he removed 
with his family to Milwaukee. AVis., where he farmed 



for two j-ears. In 1861 he removed to Stephenson 
County, 111., where he bought and improved fifty 
acres of land. He lived on this farm for seven 
years, when he removed to Nebraska, where he 
bought a tract of land, which he held only three 
months when he sold it, and went back to McCon- 
nell's Grove, 111., where he rented land and lived 
until 1880, when he died, aged fifty-seven years. 

The lady's mother is living with one of her 
daughters in Freeport, 111., and is now seventy-two 
years old. She has been married three times; four 
children were born to her as the result of the first 
marriage, they being Arnold, Ellis, Sarah and 
Mary. Arnold and Ellis were in the late Civil 
War; Arnold died of the typhoid fever at AVin- 
chester, \^a.; Ellis was wounded but recovered, and 
is now living in Pennsylvania. Two children, 
twins, were born as the result of the second mar- 
riage, Moses and Aaron Heise. They were both 
in the arm}-. Moses died four weeks after he en- 
listed, from the black measles; Aaron served to the 
close of the war, and was honorably discharged. 
The wife of our subject, Caroline, was born in 
Clearfield County, Pa., Dec. 19, 1855. When she 
was four 3'ears old the family removed to AViscon- 
sin, and from there to Illinois when she was six 
years old, wliere they lived until she was married 
to our subject. She was the eldest of three chil- 
dren of her mother's third and last marriage, her 
sister Sophia J. and brother Josepli being younger. 

During the period in which our subject was in 
the arinj' he lost his health by exposure and the 
viscissitudes of war, and returned home with his 
constitution broken and health shattered, so much 
so that at this time he finds himself the large 
portion of the time unable to look after the opera- 
tions of the farm. At such times the work is not 
neglected, for in the person of his estimable 
wife he finds a good manager and a veritable 
helpmate. AA'hen he is unable to work she takes 
the burden from his shoulders, and if need be 
will go out into the field and help assist in 
stacking the grain, breaking ground, and partici- 
pating in any other necessary labor to make their 
farm a success, and it is only due to her to say 
that the competency and comfort which they now 
enjoy are largely due to iier ability and willing- 



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•► i r^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



TS),') 



ness to assume the management of the place when 
needed. During her leisure hours she has acquired 
great skill in making wax flowers and other wax- 
work, and she has lovely' specimens in her parlor, 
which is the most costly furnished room in the pre- 
cinct, many of the articles contained there being 
the direct result of her exquisite taste and skill. 

Two 'children have been born to this couple, 
William J. and James A.; both died with the dread 
disease diphtheria. Both husband and wife are 
conscientious members of the United Brethren 
Church. Mr. Williams is a straight Republican in 
politics. 



^pfl TYSON. The subject of this personal nar- 
@/lJ Ii rative was an early settler of Stove Creek 

/// I4l Precinct, and has contributed his full quota 
(^J' toward iis development and progress. He 

is a native of Canada, born in Ontario, A|)ril 27, 
1821. His father, John Tj'son. was born in Ger- 
many, near Hamburg, where he grew to man's es- 
tate. He learned the cooper's trade there, and was 
also a sailor, having charge of a private vessel for 
several years. He subsequently emigrated to 
America and settled in Canada, where he married 
Malin<la Waldron, a native of Chittenden County, 
Vt. He afterward moved to Prescott, on the St. 
Lawrence River, but after sojourning there a few 
years he moved across the river into New York 
State. Six years later he moved to Genesee County, 
where he worked at coopering until 1842. Mr. 
Tyson then moved with his family to Hancock 
County, 111., where he engaged at his trade. An- 
other removal found him in St. Louis, where he 
remained but a short time before returning to Illi- 
nois, wiien he settled in DeKaib Countj', and con- 
tinued his former occupation. Besides working at 
his trade Mr. Tyson was a local preacher in the 
Universalist denomination for some years, and 
preached occasionally until his deatii, wliich oc- 
curred in DeKaib County in 18G2, at the venerable 
age of ninety years. His wife survived him, dj'ing 
in 1873, at eighty-six years of age. They had a 
family of six children, as follows: William H.. a 
soldier of the Mexican War, who, after being dis- 
charged from the army, returned as far as St. Louis, 



and there fell a victim of cholera; Abiathar; Sarah, 
deceased; Harriet, of Columbus, Neb.; Silas and 
Louisa, deceased. Abiathar Waldron, the maternal 
grandfather of our subject, at the time of the 
Revolution, being too young to enlist, went into 
the army as a servant, but was mustered into the 
ranks. After the war he went to Vermont, and in 
171)8 married a daughter of Mr. Evarts, and settled 
on a farm in AVilliston. He subsequently sold his 
laud there and moved to Quebec, Canada, becoming 
one of the pioneer farmers of that section of the 
country. When the Canadian Rebellion broke out 
in 1838, he solil his Canadian possessions, and moved 
to St. Lawrence County, N. Y. In 1840 he bought 
a farm there, on which he lived until his death in 
April, 1841. Mrs. Waldron survived her husband, 
djing in 1846. 

Abiathar Tyson, of this sketch, can remember 
moving with his parents from Canada to the States, 
first locating in St. Lawrence County, and then in 
Erie County, N. Y. ; when twenty-one j-ears of age 
he moved to Illinois and followed the cooper's trade, 
and also worked at carpentering somewhat. He 
afterward removed to DeKaib County, III., in 
1848, but the cholera breaking out soon after, he 
took a trip back to New York, and remained there 
a year. Our subject then returned to DeKaib 
County, III., and worked at coopering there until 
his marriage, June 22, 1857, to Miss Ellen W. 
Boughen, daughter of James and Maria (Worf) 
Boughen. Her maternal grandfather, William AYorf, 
was a farmer in England, and her paternal grand- 
father, James Boughen, was a huckster in the same 
country. James Boughen, Jr.. the father of Mrs. 
Tyson, was born in England, and there spent his 
entire life. When young he worked out as a gen- 
tleman's servant, but after marriage engaged in mill- 
ing until his accidental death by scalding in 1849, 
while at work in a brewery. His widow afterward 
emigrated to the United States, and located first in 
New York State, then moved to Illinois, but is at 
the present time living in Clay Countj% Kan., at 
the advanced age of seventy-one. She is the mother 
of four children, namely : Ellen, Charles (deceased), 
and Ambrose and John, of Clay County, Kan. 
Ambrose enlisted in an Illinois regiment in 1864, 
and served until the close of the war. Ellen, the 



»► I I <• 



he Y 



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7d6 



■•►^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



ih 



wife of our subject, was born in Walton. Norfolli 
County, England, Dec. 23, 1838, and carae to 
America with her mother when fifteen years old. 
She sailed from Liverpool on the sailing-vessel 
'•Van Gerard," and after a voyage of seven weeks 
disembarked in New York City. She remained 
with her mother until her marriage with onr subject, 
in Belvidere, Boone Co., 111. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. TySon re- 
mained in Illinois until the fall of 1865, when they 
came with two teams to Nebraska, crossing the 
Mississippi River at Ft. Madison, Iowa, and the 
Missouri River at Nebraska City. Five weeks 
after leaving home they reached Nemaha County, 
thence came to Cass County, and took up a home- 
stead claim of IGO acres in Stove Creek Precinct, 
section 10. township 10, range 10. It was raw 
prairie land, and our subject broke it with oxen. 
He raised a small crop the first year, and hauled 
the lumber to build his house, having to ford a 
stream with it. He continued improving his land, 
set out trees and orchards, but the grasshopper raid 
came soon after, and for four successive years Mr. 
Tyson lost his crops. He had a hard struggle then, 
having to subsist one year on buckwheat and had 
to mortgage his farm to live. A few years of good 
harvests after that enabled him to retrieve his losses, 
and soon placed him in an independent position. 
He has since then built a fine house, a large barn, 
and other buildings on his farm, and bought forty 
acres of land in Elmwood, on which he has erected 
a commodious dwelling, where lie now lives and 
carries on farming on a small scale, having given 
up the management of his homestead farm toone of 
his sons. 

To our subject and his wife the following family 
has been born: Lester R. is a mail agent from Coun- 
cil Bluflfs to Ogden; William Henry, deceased; 
Horace manages the homestead farm ; Louis A. is a 
farmer in Stove Creek Precinct; Florilla is the wife 
of .1. Breedon. a farmer of Dundee County, Neb., 
and they have one child; Arvilla.at home; Moroni 
is at school at Council Bluffs; Delbert is at home; 
Ilattie. deceased; Pollen M., at home; Edith and an 
infant both deceased. 

Mr. Tyson, politicall}', votes the straight Re|)nb- 
lican ticket, and has served as Constable four years 



and on the School Board several terms. Relig- 
iously, he and his estimable wife worshi|) with the 
Latter-Day Saints, who hold their meetings in the 
district school- house. They are both kind, hospit- 
able people, who, by their genial, pleasant ways 
have endeared themselves to their entire neighbor- 
hood. Mr. Tyson has amassed a comfortable 
property-, but is still expecting more, a dowry set- 
tlement of an estate that was given to some of his 
ancestors by Col. Dondow in 166G. They emi- 
grated from England to New York, and were 
granted a tract of land on the Harlem River by the 
common syndicate that controlled it, and the heirs 
are now trying to prove their claims. 



<^ ItelLLIAM WESTLAKE. By a happy dis- 



ypensation of Providence men are led into a 
„ ^ thousand channels, some delighting in the 
pursuit of agriculture, others inclining to a pro- 
fessional life, while others are born with mechanical 
genius, and so on we might enumerate a long cate- 
gory. All these worked out properly are important 
in completing the sum of human acquirements and 
happiness. The subject of this sketch, a success in 
his line, is not onl}' a skillful farmer, but a stock- 
raiser of no little importance in Southern Nebraska. 
In carrying on his operations he utilizes a fine tract 
of land in Avoca Precinct, pleasantly located on 
sections 18 and 19, and 400 acres in extent. 

As an especial lover of the equine race Mr. West- 
lake has in his stables and fields some of the 
finest specimens of horseflesh to be found in Cass 
County. At the head is '-Bonnie Boy," an animal 
registered No. 2,965, sired in France in 1882, and 
imported by Mr. Perry, of River View, 111. He was 
purchased by Mr. Westlake in February, 1883, and 
weighs about 2,000 pounds. In color he is that of 
almost indescribable brown, which is universally 
admired. The next two animals most valuable in 
the estimation of their owner were purchased by 
him of William L. Elwood, of DeKalb County, 111., 
in 1887. They are named respectively "Soubise" 
and "Ilouri," the former No. 6,795 (5280), and 
the latter No. 5,878 (8224). Soubise was foaled 
in France in 1884. He is a dark gray stallion of 



r 



4 



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CASS COUNTY. 



-•► 



J91 



magnificent proportions, and was imported a few 
months prior to his purchase by Mr. Westlake. He 
weiglis 1 ,900 pounds, and is of proportionate value. 
"Houri" is a fine black horse, foaled also in France, 
in 1885, imported the year following, and [mr- 
chased by our subject in 1887. He weighs 1,800 
pounds, and is much admired. 

Mr. Westlake has obtained a fine reputation as a 
breeder throughout Nebraska and the States adjoin- 
ing. He has exhibited at both the State and local 
fairs, and frequently carries off the blue ribbons. 
His experience in this business is quite extended, 
he having given to it much attention since 
coming to the 3'oung State of Nebraska in the 
June of 1867. He at that time settled in Avoca 
Precinct, of which he has since been a resident, and 
is the owner of one of the finest farms within its 
limits. His land is all improved and embellished 
with a handsome and substantial set of frame build- 
ings. The village of Avoca is two miles distant, 
and forms his post-office and the nearest station of 
the Missouri Pacific Railroad, four miles from 
Weeping Water. 

The Westlake farm, when purcliased by its pres- 
ent proprietor, was a tract of raw prairie, of which 
he first secured only eighty acres. He is now a 
land-owner to the extent of 400 acres, which com- 
prises an exceedingly valuable property, and upon 
which he has expended years of labor and thousands 
of dollars. Adjacent to the buildings is a spring of 
never-failing water, which can only be appreciated at 
its TuU value by those who have suffered the incon- 
venience of drouth in a somewhat capricious cli- 
mate. In addition to the breeding of horses Mr. 
Westlake has also a herd of fine cattle and swine. 

A native of Devonshire, England, Mr. Westlake 
was born Oct. 30, 1836, and came with his parents 
to America when a little lad ten years of age. They 
settled in Canada, where he was I'eared to man's 
estate with a limited education. He was married 
in the Dominion, Nov. 11, 1858, to i\Iiss Ann Gra- 
ham, who was born in Simeoe County, Canada, 
about 1838. Her parents were natives of Ireland. 
Her father died when she was a little child one 
year old, and the mother died Jan. 1, 1881. Like 
her husband her school days were lirief in duration, 
and she earh' became acquainted with the cares and 



responsibilities of life. These experiences, how- 
ever, usually result in a self-reliant and independ- 
ent disposition, and are in manj' cases of more 
value than college learning. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Westlake there were born six 
children, of whom the record is as follows: The eld- 
est son, William H., married Miss Mary E. McKay, 
and they are living on a farm in Avoca Precinct; 
John and Samuel are at home with their parents; 
Hannah is the wife of George Hebner, and they are 
also residents of Avoca Precinct; George and 
Frederick continue under the home roof. Mr. W., 
politically, is independent, aiming to support the 
men wliom he considers best qualified for office, 
and carefully refrains from taking upon himself 
the cares and responsibilities incident to a phblic 
position. The stock-raising interests of Cass 
County, and in fact Southern Nebraska, have 
found in him one of their most useful and eflieient 
factors. 

— 7— f^{^ 

■¥ OSHUA W. BULLIS occupies a in-ominent 
I position in tiie farming community of Weej)- 
ing Water Precinct, where lie is quite ex- 
tensively engaged in raising grain and stock. 
His farm, embracing the northwest quarter and 
forty acres of tlie southwest quarter of section 9, 
contains 200 acres of as fertile and productive land 
as is to be found under the sunny skies of Ne- 
braska. 

Our subject was born in Canada, Nov. 20, 1853, 
received his education in the excellent sehciols of 
his native town, and lived there until he was twenty 
years of age. His father, Josliua Bullis, is like- 
wise a Canadian by birth, and he is still living there 
at an advanced age. he liaving been liorn in 1809. 
He has always lived on the same farm, although he 
has now practically' retired from work, having won 
a comfortable competence by hard labor in earlier 
life, so that lie can now jjass his declining years in 
ease. He has been a prominent man in his day, 
having served in public capacities, and he is still an 
influential member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church with his famil3\ He married Mary An- 
drews, of Leeds, England, who crossed the waters to 
Canada when a young lady, with her mother. She 






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798 



CASS COUNTY. 



died in 1800, when oursul)jeet was seven j'ears old. 
Her father, Capt. William Andrews, was a soldier 
and officer in the Englisli service most of his 
life. At the age mentioned Joshua BuUis left his 
father's home, and crossing tlie border to the 
"States," made his way to Wisconsin, where he be- 
gan life as a clerk in a store in Menasha. Seven 
years later he came to Nebrasl^a, in June, 1879. 
He first located in Elmwood Precinct, and was 
there engaged in farming for several years. At 
one time he owned an improved farm on section 
10, which he afterward disposed of, and bought aa- 
other on section 13, which was also well improved. 
He subsequently disposed of that also, at an advance 
on the original cost, and coming to Weeping Water, 
was activelj' engaged in the mercantile business for 
two years. He was very successful in that venture, 
but thought that a stirring, out-of-door life would 
agree with his health better, and would also suit 
his tastes. Therefore he bought his present farm in 
1885. lu the tliree short years that have elapsed 
since that time, by his energetic and vvell-rlirected 
toil he has brought about a great change, convert- 
ing the tract of wild prairie land into a well-culti- 
vated farm, replete with all the improvements of a 
model farm. He has it all neatly fenced and under 
good tillage, and has erected a substantial dwelling 
and other necessary buildings. In this, the third 
3'ear of his occupancy, he has raised 4,000 bushels 
of corn, 700 bushels of oats, 500 bushels of barley, 
200 bushels of wheat, besides potatoes and otiier 
vegetal)les, and he has put up ten tons of hay and a 
like amount of millet. He raises fine stock, and has 
twenty head of cattle on his place all of the time. 

Mr. Hullis and Miss Mary I. Chapman, of Me- 
nasha, Wis., united their fortunes Oct. 9, 1878, and 
together tliey have built up one of the coziest homes 
in all Weeping Water Precinct. Mrs. Bullis was 
born in Sheboygan. Wis., a daughter of John Chap- 
man, a woolen manufacturer of Menasha. He died 
in January, 1885. His widow, a woman of great 
business tact and ability, is still living, and man- 
ages the mill at Watertown, Wis. 

Our subject is a man of more tiian ordinary 
ability, and although still young, has, \>y his own 
exertions, gained a competi'ucj-. His fellow-citi- 
zens have conlidence in him, and would gladly en- 



trust some responsible office to his care, but he is 
too bus\' with his own private affairs to mingle in 
public life, and has refused to be nominated to any 
position. He is a Republican in liis political views, 
and his part}' has no more stanch supporter in this 
precinct. 



EMIL SCHRIDER. The neat homestead oc- 
cupying IGO acres on sections 4 and 5, Avoca 
_' Precinct, is owned and operated by the gen- 
tleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch, 
and who is still in the enjoyment of single blessed- 
ness. Witli the exception of this he has i>erformed 
his duties creditably as a member of the commu- 
nity, and it is supposed that in the thorough and 
skillful cultivation of his land he has found liimself 
too busy to take upon liimself the further responsi- 
bilities of a family. 

In the Duchy of Sleswick-Holstein, which has 
furnished so many of the best citizens of America, 
w.as located the boyhood home of our subject, and 
where his birth took place July 16, 1840. He was 
there reared and educated, and for a period of 
eleven months during his early manhood belonged 
to the standing array of Denmark. He lived in his 
native country until twentj'-four years of age, then, 
not satisfied with liis surroundings or his prospects, 
started for America, taking passage on the ship 
"Sembrio," and landing ten days later in the city 
of New York. His destination w.as the Far West, 
and he accordingly proceeded straight toward the 
Mississippi, landing in this county, and settling at 
once in Avoca Precinct. He purchased 160 acres 
of land on sections 4 and 5, wiiich constitutes liis 
home farm, while he has 160 acres on section 8, in 
Weeping Water Precinct. He has always made it 
a rule to live within his income, and avoid placing 
an incumbrance upon his property. His land is 
mostly under a state of cultivation, and each j'ear 
is adding something to its value. Upon becoming 
a naturalized citizen he identified himself with the 
Republican part}', and is a man of prominence in 
his precinct, holding many of the local otfices, and 
generally respected in his community. 

The parents of our subject were Claus and Anna 
(Johanson) Sclirider; the father lives in his native 



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-•►HI 



•►■ 



CASS COUNTY. 



801 



CTermaiij'. and the mother died in 1887. Tliey were 
honest and iiidustrions people, and the fatiier was 
eniplu^'ed as a nieclianic inosti3' in connection with 
an iron manufactory. Tiie parental household in- 
cluded six children, five of whom are living, three 
in this countrj', and two in Germany. 



V¥| OHN BLACK, M. D.. is among the foremost 
I I men of enterprise and abilitj' who have been 
^,^1 ] instrumental in raising Plattsmouth from a 
(^^J// small town to its present condition as a 
wealth}' and important metropolis, with great com- 
mercial interests, and the center of a rich agricult- 
ural region. His influence has indeed extended 
far beyond the limits of this municipalitj', as he, 
with other men of high standing, has given the 
financial interests of Cass County a great impetus, 
he having been instrumental in the establishment 
of no less than three banks within its borders. 

The Doctor was born in Northumberland County, 
England, Nov. 14, 1821, and is a son of William 
and Cicely (Lilley) Black, both natives of that 
county. The father of our subject was reared and 
married in the home of his birth, and having been 
reared to the life of a farmer, followed that pursuit 
there for some j'ears. In 1838 became to America, 
accompanied bj' his wife and seven children. They 
landed in New York after an exceedingly long voy- 
age of sixty-seven days, and Ohio being their desti- 
mition, they proceeded on their journey by the 
modes of travel common in those days, almost be- 
fore the era of railway's, and at length found them- 
selves in the wilds of Knox County, in the Buckeye 
Stale. They .lived there until 1852, when JMr. Black 
and his family, once again taking up the westward 
route, traveling with teams, taking a part of their 
househohl goods, cooking and camping b}- the waj'- 
side wherever night overtook them, at length ar- 
rived in DeKalb County, Mo. Several families 
were with them, and the six weeks consumed in 
traveling passed awaj' very pleasantly. Mr. Black 
bought a tract of wild land one-half mile from the 
village of Maysville.and there imjjroved an excellent 
farm, which he made his home until his death, in 
January, 1862. His wife survived him some years. 

•^» 



dying at the home of her son in Maj'sville, in 1873. 
They were the parents of seven children, all born 
in England, as follows: Isabelle, John, Robert. 
P>lizabetli. Alexander, William and Margaret, and 
all of whom came to the United States. 

Our subject was reared in his native county until 
he was sixteen. He attended the parish school and 
assisted on his father's farm, and at the age men- 
tioned accompanied his parents to this country, and 
has since known no other home. He was ambitious 
to improve his education, and commenced attend- 
ance at the district schools of Knox County, Ohio. 
He advanced rapidly in his studies, and subse- 
quently pursued a good course at Fredericktown 
Academy, in the same count)'. He entered upon 
the study of medicine in that town at the age of 
twenty-two years, and afterward became a student 
at Cleveland, attending lectures at the Cleveland 
Medical College, from which he was graduated with 
honor in the spring of 1847, being finely prepared 
for his profession. He opened an office in Clari- 
don, Ohio, and in the few years that he remained 
there secured an excellent practice. During his 
residence there he was united in marriage with Miss 
Martha Wiley, June 29,1848. being the date of 
their wedding. She was born in Knox Countj', 
Ohio, Dec. 13, 1825. Hugh Wiley, her father, w.as 
born in Pennsylvania, and his father, John Wiley, 
who was a farmer, spent his last years in Franklin 
County, that State. Mrs. Black's father was reared 
and married in Pennsylvania, and Elizabeth Mor- 
row, who was born anil reared in Chambersburg. 
Pa., and was a daughter of Wilson Morrow, became 
his wife. They moved to Ohio about 1824, the re- 
moval across the mountains being made with teams. 
They located in Knox County, and were pioneers 
there. He bought a tract of timber land, on which 
was a log cabin, in which the family found shelter 
for a few months, and then Mr. Wiley replaced it 
by a more commodious hewed log house, the same 
in which Mrs. Black was born. Tiie surrounding 
country was in a very wild condition, deer, bears 
and wolves being plentiful for some j'ears after the 
family first settled there. The nearest markets for 
grain were the lake (lorts, seventy miles distant. 
Mrs. Black's mother, h.aving no stove, did her cook- 
ing by the fireplace for some j'eais. She was an 



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4^ 



802 



CASS COUNTY. 



expert both in spinning and weaving wool and flax, 
and Ijer skillful hands supplied her hnsliand and 
children with clothing. INIrs. Black's father cleared 
a farm, oh which he resided nntil shortly before his 
death, when he sold it, and purchasing another place 
near by, made his home on it until his death, in 
1855. 

In 1854 Dr. Black moved to Missouri with his 
family, going via rail to Rock Island, 111., then the 
western terminus of the railway, thence down the 
Mississippi to Burlington, where they took the stage 
to Mt. Pleasant, the end of the stage route; there 
the D(jctor hired a hack to take them to Centrevllle, 
and from there they proceeded to the end of their 
journey in a two-horse wagon. Our subject estab- 
lished himself in Maysville, Mo., and practiced med- 
icine there until I860. In that year he came to 
Nebraska and opened an office in Plattsmoulh, 
where he was actively engaged in his profession for 
some j'cars. He soon became identified with the 
financial interests of the city and count}-, and was 
active in obtaining the establishment of the Bank 
of Cass Countj', of which institution he was Presi- 
dent until he sold out his share of stock. He then 
assisted in foun<ling the Citizens' Bank, and was its 
President for three years. To his influence, also, 
does the Commercial Bank at Weeping Water owe 
its existence. One of the enteiprises of our suiiject 
was the erection of a fine large block in this city, 
known as the Union Block. He has abandoned the 
practice of his profession, having won a good repu- 
tation for skill and learning, and is now living in 
retirement in the enjoj'ment of an ample income, 
for he has acquired an extensive propertj' by judi- 
cious investment. lie and bis familj- occupy- a 
prominent position in the societj- of this commu- 
nit3', and are held in highest estimation by a large 
circle of friends, who often share with them the 
hospitalities of a refined and cultured home. Dr. 
and Mrs. Black have six children, namely: Erasmus 
W., Junius N.; Josephine A., wife of P. K. Rufner, 
of Plattsmouth; Oella D., wife of E. A. Kirkpat- 
rick. of Cass County' ; Robert W. .and Martha Celestia, 
who lives at home with her parents. Mrs. Black, a 
lady who is admired and esteemed for her many 
amiable qualities, is a devoted member of the Pres- 
bj-lerian Church, and quietly lends her influence to 



promote its good works. Politically, Dr. Black has 
always been identified with the Democratic party. 
We present herewith the portrait of this well- 
known, wide-awake and enterprising citizen of 
Plattsmouth. one who has done much to raise the 
city from its former condition as a small village, 
and to whom she owes in no small degree her pres- 
ent prosperity. 



|T^_^ ARRY C. RITCHIE has been identified with 
Kjl the commercial interests of Plattsmouth 
(^^^ since 1884, buying a honie here and estab- 
i^J) lishing himself in his present business as a 
member of the firm of J. W. Jennings & Co. He 
has since formed a partnership with L. E. .Skinne', 
and they make .abstract business a specialty, nl- 
tlrough they do an extensive real-estate, loan and 
insurance business besides. 

Mr. Ritchie was born in Madison. Jefferson Co., 
Ind., Oct. 30, 1849. His father. John Ritchie, w.as 
a native of the same county, while his grandfather, 
Silas Ritchie, is supiiosed to have been a native of 
Virginia. The paternal great-grandfather of our 
subject was born in the North of Ireland, and com- 
ing to America, landed in Virginia, and there made 
his home the rest of his days, being actively en- 
gaged as a farmer. The grandfather of our sul]ject 
was reared and married in his Virginian home, and 
moved from there about 1820 to Indiana, becoming 
an early settler of that State. He bought a tract 
of timber land, a part of which is now included in 
the town of Madison, and was a resident there until 
his death. 

The father of oui' subject w.as reared to manhood 
in his native State, and was there married to Mel- 
vina Kyle. Three children were born of their mar- 
ri.age — Ilarr^' C, Genevieve and Lucy M. Mr. 
Ritchie engaged in the mercantile business with his 
father for a time, and later engaged in the manu- 
facture of brick, and also superintended a large 
pork packing house in Indiana. He is still a resi- 
dent of his native State, but has retired from busi- 
ness, having .accumulated considerable property. 

Harry Ritchie was leared and educated in Madi- 
son, and at the age of eighteen entered the mercan- 



•^^ 



•►-Hf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



«03 



t 



tile world as a clerk in a dry -goods store, remaining 
in the same establishment three years. He desired, 
however, to try life beyond the aiississii)pi. and 
went to St. Joseph, Mo., where he secured a hicra- 
tive position as clerk in a wholesale dry -goods 
house. He remained with that firm until 1875, 
wlien he went to Hamburg, Iowa, to establish him- 
self in business as proprietor of a general store. He 
managed his interests thera very well for some 
3'ears, but in 1879 he closed out his business and 
returned to St. Josepli, where he again entered the 
employ of a wholesale house, and, as a drummer, 
traveled over Kansas and Nebraska. He won 
golden opinions from his emploj'ers, as he made 
large and i)roStable sales, his geniality, frankness, 
and read}' conversational powers, making liim popu- 
lar with all with whom he had dealings. In 1884 
he came to Plattsmouth and bought a home, wish- 
ing to settle down quietly in a pleasant locality 
with his famil}'. As before mentioned, he became 
a member of the firm of J. W. Jennings & Co. He 
became associated with his present partner in 1886, 
and they are conducting a good business. 

Mr. Ritchie was married, July 17, 1879, to Miss 
Josephine M. Fegan. She was born in Fairfield, 
Iowa, a daughter of James and Mary Fegan, natives 
of Pennsylvania. Two children, Jennie M. and 
Mary L., complete the household circle. 

Although Mr. Ritchie has been a resident of this 
city but a few years, he shows the interest of an old 
settler in its development, and encourages the vari- 
ous schemes for its improvement. He and his 
estimable wife have attained social prominence in 
this community, where the}' are cordially liked by- 
all who have had the pleasure of meeting them. Mr. 
Ritchie is an ardent Republican in his political 
views. 



^j. APT. J. M. CREMER, an old veteran of the 
(l\ n U"'*'" Arin\' during the Civil War, has for 
^^7 years been recognized as one of the most 
prominent and public-spirited citizens of Tipton 
Precinct. He was shot six times while in the serv- 
ice of his country-, the first and second grazing his 
scal|), the third entering his neck, and the fourth, a 
ball, struck him in the left breast, and went clear 



tlirough his body nine inches; the fifth struck his 
left forearm, mutilating it, and breaking the bone 
so that it was useless. The sixth shot struck him 
in the left breast bone, and three-fourth inches be- 
low the fourth wound, and lodged within his ribs, 
where it at present lies, although it keeps changing 
about, and at times gives the Captain much pain. 

Capt. Cremer is the offspring of a substantial old 
family, and the son of David Cremer, who was 
born in Somerset County, Pa., in 1798. The lat- 
ter married Miss Elizabeth Stull, also a native of 
Somerset County, and born the same year as her 
husband. The paternal grandfather, Adam Cremer, 
was born in Westmoreland Count}', Pa., and served 
through the Revolutionar}' War .as a non-commis- 
sioned officer. Afterward he established a black- 
smith-shop in connection with a farm in his native 
county, and was quite prominent in public affairs, 
officiating as Justice of the Peace, and occupying 
other local offices. He lived to the advanced age 
of eighty-six years. The great-grandfather, Adam 
Cremer, Sr., was a native of Germany, and upon 
emigrating to America settled in V'irginia, where 
he carried on farming. Upon the outbreak of the 
Revolutionary War he shouldered his musket and 
rusheil to the defense of the Colonists. He spent 
his last years in Virginia. 

On the mother's side John Stnll, the grandfather 
of our subject, also a native of Pennsylvania, took 
part in the War of 1812. He had in the meantime, 
in 1800, emigrated to Ohio, and in the Buckeye 
State spent the closing years of his life. He was a 
son of one of the earliest settlers of Pennsylvania, 
who was of German descent. He married a lady of 
Swedish ancestr}', who was the daughter of a Capt. 
Allbright, and she lived to be one hundred and 
thirteen }'ears old. 

The father of our subject was reared in his na- 
tive State, and in his young manhood was a mem- 
ber of the Penns3'lvania Home Guards. He was 
there married, and in 1 833 emigrated to Tuscarawas 
County, Ohio, where he purchased from the Gov- 
ernment a tract of timber land. He cleared two 
farms in the Buckeye State, but in 18.52, pushing 
farther westward, i)urchased eighty .acres in Kanka- 
kee County, III., and from the tvilderness built up 
a good homestead, where he spent the remainder of 

•P^ 



•►-Hl^ 



^^h 



804 



CASS COUNTY. 



! 



his life, passing away in 1866. He was a Wliigr. 
politieallj'. a man of decirled views, and a good 
citizen. Tlie mother survived her husband until 
1874. and died at the old home in Illinois. Both 
were active nieralieis of the Church of the United 
Brethren a period of fortj- years or more, in which 
the father was a chief pillar, and officiated as Class 
Steward. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 
twelve children, namely: Margaret, Hannah, Sarah 
and Johanna, all deceased; J. M., our sul>ject; 
Isesa, Jesse, Silas .and Rachel (deceased); David, 
Joseph and Klizabeth, residents respectively of Ne- 
braska and Indiana. Jesse during the Civil War 
enlisted as a Union soldier, in 1861, in the 64lh 
Illinois Infantry, which was assigned to the Army 
of the Cumberland, and was with Slierraan at the 
siege of Atlanta. On the iid of July, I 864, he was 
shot dead while in the performance of his duty. 

Capt. Cremer was born in Turkey foot Township, 
Somerset Co., Pa.. April 27, 1825, and grew up on 
a farm. When a little lad eight years of age, his 
parents removed to Ohio, and he remained with 
them until a youth of seventeen. He then began 
an apprenticeship at the tanner's trade at Canal 
Dover, Ohio, remaining there two years, when on 
account of failing health he returned to the farm. 
He woiked with his father two years thereafter, and 
then began learning the cariienter's trade. A year 
later he returned to his old home in Pennsylvania 
to visit friends and settle up his gr.and father's es- 
tate. Upon going back to Ohio he employed him- 
self as a carpenter, and was married in Canal Dover, 
Oct. 12. 1848, to Miss Martha, daughter of John 
and Hannah (Riggle) Gamble. 

The parents of Mrs. Cremer were natives of Ohio. 
The palcinal grandfather, AVilliam Gamble, was born 
in Ireland, and settled in Ohio upon emigrating to 
the United States, where he spent his last days. 
Grandfather Riggle was a native of Virginia, of 
German descent, a blacksmith by trade, and lived 
to be very old. John Gamble, in 1851, removed 
to Illinois, settling near Pontiac iu Livingston 
County, where his death took place at the age of 
fortj' years, in 1852. The mother also died that 
year, at the age of forty -three. Their children com- 
piised seven sons and four daughters, the eldest of 



whom, Elizabeth, died when quite small; Martha 
J., Mis. Cremer, was the second child; Adam and 
William W., are deceased; Harvej- and John are 
residents of Wisconsin ; Asbury died in 1852. The 
others are Rohert. of Champaign. III. ; Cook, of Wyo- 
ming Territory; Louisa is living in Wisconsin, and 
Ellen S., who died when three years old; Adam, 
Harvej', John, Robert and Cook all served as sol- 
diers in the Union Army. Adam died at LaGrange, 
Tenn., in 18G3. 

Mis. Cremer was born in Tuscarawas County, 
Ohio, Jan. 10. 1829, and remained a resident of her 
native State until the fall of 1851. The family then 
journeyed overland with teams to what was then 
Will, but is now Kankakee County, III., and settled 
near the present town of Momence, when there were 
only two house s between them and Chicago. Father 
Gamble purchased 240 acres of prairie land, but for 
two j'ears thereafter occupied himself mostly at his 
trade of carpenter. Subsequentlj' he paid his whole 
atteni.iou to farming. In 1860 lie moved to Coles 
County, Mo., and was one of the earliest settlers of 
that region. He purchased 320 acres of land, but 
there being loo many rebels abc ut, went back to 
Illinois, and this time located near Fairfield, in 
Wayne County, where he purchased a farm of 120 
acres. 

The }car following, 1861, our subject entered 
the service of the Government, and assisted in re- 
cruiting the 18th, 40lh and 63d Illinois Regiments. 
This effected, he raised a company for the 87th 
Illinois Infantry, and himself became a member of 
Company D, in that regiment, enlisting as a private 
in August, 1862, at Shawneetown. He thereafter 
participated in many of the important battles of 
the war, being at Uniontown and Casej'ville, Kj\, 
Island No. 10. Ft. Pillow. Hernando, Tenn., Cold- 
water, Young's Point, Milliken's Bend, Grand Gulf, 
Port Gibson, Jackson, Miss., and Champion Hills. 
At Champion Hills 1.600 men of his division were 
kdled outright. Later they met the enemy at Black 
River, and the Captain participateil in the siege and 
capture of Vieksburg. He was with the corps 
which made the famous charge on the 22d of Maj', 
1863. Jul}- 4 was another memorable daj'. and 
later our subject with iiJs regiment was transferred 
to the Deparlnicnt of the Gulf, after whicli he was 



■•►J I- 



»► II M* 



CASS COUNTY. 



■•► 



805 



protnoterl to the rank of Captain of Company I. 
Soon afterward lie went to New Orleans to recruit, 
remaining tliere until September 9, when they were 
transferred to the command of Gen. Banks. Sub- 
sequently occurred the battles of Franklin, New 
Iberia, Vermilion, and other hand-to-hand engage- 
ments with the Confederates. 

In February, 1SG4. the company of Ca|)t. Creiner 
was maile a part of the Red River expedition, and 
fought in a number of l)attles. Among tliese was 
that at Wilson's Hill, where our subject was under 
fire four hours, and where he received his most seri- 
ous wounds above spoken of. lie w.as left on tiie 
field three days an<l tliree niglits, suppi)se<l to have 
been mortally wounded. Upon being discovered 
he was loaded into an ambulance, hauled forty 
miles to the Red River, then taken. on a boat 640 
miles to New Orleans, and placed in the St. James' 
Hospital. The sufferings wliich he thereafter en- 
dured can better be imagined tlian described, in 
fact he was iu a condition wiiich it would hardly be 
proper to mention here. Nothing but his splen- 
did constitution enabled him to survive. When 
wounded he weighed 214 pounds, and fourteen 
days later had been reduced to l;jl pounds. 

Capt. Creraer remained in the iiospital until .June 
10, 18(J4, and then received a passport to return 
home. He was given transportation across the 
Gulf to New York, was provided with an artificial 
arm, and arrived at his home in Wayne County, 111., 
July 14, 1864. In August following Gov. Yates 
forwarded to him his honorable discharge. Dur- 
ing his absence the wife of Capt. Cremer, in addi- 
tion to her natural anxiety concerning her husband, 
had had her own conflicts with the rebels of South- 
ern Illinois, who came very near making away with 
everything they could destroy, so that the Captain 
jind his wife were in effect quite destitute, with the 
excepti(jn of twenty acres of land. In December 
of that year they removed to Kankakee County, on 
a farm, and with the helj* of his boys the Captain 
soon recovered his losses, remaining there until 
1870. 

During the above-mentioned year Capt. Cremer 
operated as a contractor with the Plymouth, Kan- 
kakee & PaciQc Riilroad Company, and for two 
3'ears tliereafter was fortunate in making consider- 



able money. He finally rented a large ranch in 
Lake County, Ind., and embarked in the cattle busi- 
ness, which he continued until 1878, operating 
largely with full-blooded Hereford stock. In the 
fall of 1878 he ventured wejt of the Mississippi 
into Cass County, this State, and purchased 400 
acres of land, intending to establish a Hereford 
stock farm, but afterward changed his mind and 
went to general fanning. 

The journey to Nebraska was made overland with 
teams, the Captain bringing with him sixteen head 
of horses, and taking up his abode on a tract of raw 
jirairie purchased from the Burlington & Missouri 
River Railroad Company. As soon as possible he 
put up a house with lumber shipped from Chicago, 
and set out some trees. In 1882 he began planting 
the grove which is now the object of admiration by 
the traveler through this section of the county. 
Later he established an orchard of 450 apple trees 
and 300 peach trees, and in all set out probably 
45,000 trees, his grove alone covering an area of 
ten acres. 

In 1882 the Captain sold off a quarter-section of 
his laud, and to the balance has given his close at- 
tention, effecting first-class improvements, putting 
up a neat and substantial residence with a barn 
and out-buildings, corn-cribs, hog houses, etc. His 
fences are largely of hedge, and the land has been 
brought to a good state of cultivation. The house- 
hold circle was completed by the birth of ten chil- 
dren, namely: Elizabeth E., Isasa L., John W., 
Sarah M., Clarissa A., Franklin W., Ulysses S. 
Grant; Lilly M., who died in 1888, when twenty- 
two years old; Emma H. and Lettie J. The eldest 
daugh.ter is the wife of Claus Ohm, and they live on 
a farm in Stove Creek Precinct; I. L. is married 
and farming in Tipton Precinct; John W. is en- 
gaged in the agricultural irai)lement trade ia Kan- 
kakee. 111.; Sarah M., Mrs. Wallace Hess, is the 
wife of a well-to-do farmer of Kankakee, III.; 
Clarissa, Mrs. Joseph D. Skiles, lives on a farm iu 
Butler County, this State; Franklin W. contin- 
ues on the home farm; hi was united to Miss 
Mary J. McCartcr, Dec. 25, 1887. She died Oct. 
21, 1888, leaving one child, named Thomas J., who 
is living with his grandparents McCarter, of Fron- 
tier County, Neb. U. S. Grant is married and 



»► II ^- 



?^»- 



••► 



806 



CASS COUNTY. 



fniniing in Tiiiton Precinct; Lilly M. became the 
nil'e of R. D. Shny. and died in Tipton Precinct, 
Oct. 26. 1888, leaving one ciiild, Coia L., who 
makes her home with her gvand|)arents. The other 
children of our subject remain nniler the parental 
roof. 

It is hardly necessary to say that Capt. Cremer 
is a Republican, "dyed in the wool." Few men 
have attained to more prominence in county affairs 
than he. He served twenty-two terms as a jury- 
man, has been sent times without number as a dele- 
gate to the various conventions of his party, offl- 
ciated as Sheriff two years, and Justice of the Peace 
two terms, and has otherwise been connected with 
the important interest* of Cass County. Socially, 
he belongs to Kenesaw Post No. 123, in which he 
is Senior Commander. Both he and his estimable 
wife have been active members of the United Breth- 
ren Church a period of forty-five years, in which 
the Captain has made himself useful as elsewhere, 
officiating not only as Class-Leader, Steward and 
Secretary, but also as a minister in the pulpit. He is 
at present the local preacher of this church in Stove 
Creek Circuit. He realizes the impoitance of re- 
ligious instruction to the young, and has given no 
little time to Sunday-school work, officiated as Su- 
l)erintendent, and otherwise furthered the cause as 
he has had opportunity. It will thus be seen that 
he has built up a good record as a useful and self- 
sacrificing citizen, and he is amply worthy of repre- 
sentation in ii work designed to commemorate the 
life of the pioneers of Cass County. 

_ .^.^ ^ 



(F_^ ENRY RAUSCH. There are few sections 
Ib)^, in Cass County, as elsewhere, in which we do 
'^^ not find the persevering and thrifty German 
(®) farmer. The subject of this sketch is one 
of the most worthy representatives of this class of 
citizens who have been closely identified with the 
development of the Great West. He owns a good 
farm of IGO acres, comprising the northeast quarter 
of section 8 in Tipton Precinct, and in addition to 
o-eneral agriculture makes a specialty of the raising 
of swine, producing each year of these animals 
of unusual fine quality. His operations are carried 



on in a thorougli and skillful manner, and his prompt- 
ness in meeting his obligations has placed him in 
a good position in his comniunily. 

Before proceeding further in noting the career 
of ]Mr. Rausch we will revert to those from whom 
he drew his origin. His father, Conrad Rausch, was 
born in Eisenach, Saxony, in the town of Farn- 
roda. In early manhood he was married, the lady 
being a native of his own Province, and settled 
down to his trade of blacksmith in the village of Farn- 
roda, neqr the well-known village of P^isenach. He 
also carried on farming in connection with black- 
smithing, and there spent the remainder of his days, 
dj'ing in February-, 18CG, at the age of sixty-eight 
years. He had served for a time in the German 
Arn)y against the great Napoleon. The mother 
also died in her native land, about 1864. Their 
children, four in number, were named respectively: 
Henr3', our subject; Ansophine, Lizzie and Chris- 
tine, the three latter all deceased. 

The subject of this sketch, like his parents before 
him, is a native of Saxonj', born under the little 
roof-tree in Farnroda, .June 24, 1820. He was 
placed in school at the tender age of five years and 
continued his stu<lies until a lad of fourteen. He 
then began an apprenticeship at the stonemason's 
trade, serving three years, then worked as a jour- 
neyman until 1843. He had in the meantime trav- 
eled all over, not only the German Empire but 
many of the other outlying countries of Europe. 
He finally decided to seek his fortunes in the West- 
tern Hemisphere, and on the 20th of December, 
1843, embarked from Bremerhaven on the sailing- 
vessel " Emma," and after a voyage of sixty days 
landed in New York City on the 14th of February. 
He at once went to work for a farmer for his board, 
where lie worked three months. He then went into 
the city of New Y^ork, where he worked at his 
trade until August, and then went to Waterbury, 
Conn., where he sojourned until October. We 
next find him in Virginia on the James River Canal 
at stone cutting, where he staid one year. We next 
find him in Campbell County, Va., in company 
with John Robinson, burning lime, where he staid 
eighteen months. 

While a resident of the Old Dominion Mr. 
Rausch met his fate in Appomattox County, in the 



»► 11^ 



'^^ 



•►Hh-^*- 



4 



CASS COUNTY. 



.so: 



>► I I ^» 



person of Mrs. JIary J. (Lee) Wilson, to whom he 
was married in November, 1850. Tliis lady is a 
second cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee, and was born 
in November, 1819, in Appomattox County, where 
slie was reared to womanhood. The \ pnng people set- 
tled down together on a farm, where Mr. Rausch in 
connection with his trade also prosecuteil agriculture 
in a small way, and was thus occupied until after the 
outbreak of the Reljelliou. In March, 18G2, he en- 
listed in the Confederate service, 44th Virginia In- 
fantry, under the command of Gen. Lee, but not 
long afterward was transferred to the arti.lerj' and 
assisted in the defense of Richmond. Another six 
months found him a member of the engineer corps, 
laying out roads and building bridges. After the 
surrender at Appomattox Court House Mr. Rausch 
received his honorable discharge, and returned to his 
farm, resuming the labors of a civilian in the Old 
Dominion until the fall of 18(i5. He then changed 
his residence to Culpeper County, in Old Virginia, 
where he and his famil3' lived three j'ears, and Mr. 
R. occupied himself mostly' at his trade. 

Mr. Rausch had for some time previous to this 
had his eye on the country west of the Mississippi, 
and in February, 1868, perfected his arrangements 
for the removal hither. Making his way to the 
southvvestern corner of this county he homesteaded 
eighty acres of land in Tii)ton Precinct, of which 
he still retains possession. It was then an unbroken 
prairie, upon which no improvement had been at- 
tempted. After putting up a shelter for his family, 
they in the meantime living in their wagon, he 
commenced breaking the sod with the oxen which 
had conveyed them hither. After the first season's 
crops were put in he began making such improve- 
ments as he could with the material at hand, having 
to haul his lumber from Nebraska City. He also 
began setting out trees, both fruit and forest, and 
has now a fine grove and a small apple orchard. 

The land of Mr. Rausch is amply watered by 
Camp Creek, and the whole has now been brought 
to a good stnte of cultivation. He afterward added 
eighty acres to his first purchase, and in 1871 con- 
structed a dam across Rock Creek for the purpose 
of a mill dam. He has a neat and substantial resi- 
dence, with a barn 24x64 feet in area, hay-scales, 
and all the other farm machinery necessary for the 



successful prosecution of his calling. His swine are 
of the full-blooded Poland-China and Jersey; he 
also has graded cattle, with about eleven or twelve 
head of handsome and powerful Percheron horses. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Rauseli there were born six 
(children, three of whom, the two eldest and tlie 
youngest, Herman, Emma and Kendall R., are de- 
ceased, the first-named dj'ing in infancy. Conrad 
is at iiome with his father; Cornelia is the wife tjf 
Mr. J. W. Butts, a plumber by trade; Norah eom- 
pleteii. her studies in the High School at Lynchburg, 
and is prosecuting her trade of milliner in Lynch- 
burg, Va. Mrs. Mary J. Rausch died at the home- 
stead in Tipton Precinct, in March, 188.3. Mr. 
Rausch, politically, is a solid Democrat, and in re- 
ligious matters belongs to the Luther, m Protestant 
Church. Socially, he is a member of the E. A. U., 
at Lincoln. 



il|U,,^ENRY BEHRNS. The intelligent traveler 
l|f~ jj is always gratified in noticing the evidences 
'!y^^ of tlirift and enterprise in a new countr3', 
(^J and involuntarily regards with admiration 
the labors of a man who has by his industry and 
perseverance placed himself in a good position 
flnaucially, and who as a natural result is looked 
upon by his neighbors as a leader in the community. 
These thoughts involuntarily occur in noting the 
career of the subject of this sketch. He represents 
a fine property in Avoca Precinct, a property in- 
cluding 395 acres of valuable land, which, with the 
high culture to which it has been subjected, and 
the fine farm buildings with which it is embellished, 
forms one of the most desirable estates along the 
southern limits of Cass County. The Behrns farm 
is pleasantly located on section 22, and stock-raising 
forms the leading enterprise now engrossing the 
attention of the proprietor. 

This farm has for its owner a more than ordinary 
value and interest, having been land purchased by 
his father as early as 1862, five years before the 
transformation of Nebraska from a Territory' into 
a State. Six years later Henry assumed its man- 
agement, and has considerably increased its acreage. 



♦^h 



••► 



808 



CASS COUNTY. 



He possesses all the thrift and prudence of bis sub- 
stantial German ancestrj', a nationality ■which has 
figured largely in the development of the Great 
West. He has been willing to labor and to wait 
for results, and a looker-on cannot see any reason 
why he should not be satisfied with his possessions 
or his surroundings. 

Our subject, who is a native of the Empire 
of Germany, was born Oct. 10, 1845, and is the 
eldest son and child of James and Sophia (Got- 
john) Jielirns, who were born and reared not far 
from their own home. Their household includes 
two sons and two daughters, and the father on his 
native soil followed the occupation of a briekmaker. 
Being a man ambitious for the welfare of his fam- 
ily, he determined to seek his fortune on the other 
side of the Atl.antlc. In the year 1862 the par- 
ents and all the children came to America, and 
from New York City proceeded directly westward 
be3'ond the Mississippi, taking up their home at 
once in Avoca Precinct, this counts'. The father 
secured b}'^ pre-emption eighty-flve acres on section 
22, and proceeded to build up a homestead, labor- 
ing early and late a number of j'ears, and until his 
sons were enabled to relieve him of further care. 
He and his estimable wife still continue at the home- 
stead, now retired from active labor, the father 
seventy-two years old and the mother seventy- 
seven. They were trained in the doctrines of the 
Lutheran Church, to which they still loj'ally ad- 
here. 

Mr. Behrns received his early education in the 
excellent schools of his native land, and was 
about seventeen years of age when emigrating to the 
United States with his father's family. He attained 
his majority in Avoca Precinct, but found his 
bride over the line eastward, being married in Lib- 
erty Precinct, Oct. 29. 1868. to Miss Mary Sturm. 
This lady, also a native of Germany, was born in 
the Province of Alsace, June 8, 1850, and came to 
the United States with her father, Andrew Sturm, in 
her girlhood. The mother had died in her native 
Germany when her daughter Mary was but a child. 
jMr. Sturm secured a tract of good land in Liberty 
Precinct, tliis county, and surrounded himself with 
all the comforts of life, building up a good farm, 
where he spent his last days and where his death 



took place in A])ril, 1874, when he was sevent3^- 
four j-ears old. He also was in religion a Lutheran. 
Mrs. Behrns was the j'oungest of the five chil- 
dren born to her parents, and remained with her 
father until her marriage. Of lier union with our 
subject there have been born five children, namely: 
Henrj' J., Mary, Jlinnie, Joseph and Sophia. They 
are alKat home with tlieir parents. Mr. and Mrs. 
Behrns, like their ancestors, are Lutherans in relig- 
ion, while our subject, politically, gives his support 
to the Repulilican party. 



\T OHN MAGNEY, one of the earliest pioneers 
" of this State, resides on a well-improved 



J farm of 160 acres on section 36, in Mt. 
Pleasant Precinct. He was bom in Hamil- 
ton Count3-, Ohio, Jan. 25, 1835, where he lived 
until he was eleven years of age, then removed 
with the family to Scioto County, same State. His 
education was received in the subscription and 
later in the public schools of his native county, at- 
tending the latter in the primitive log school-house, 
of which so much has loeen said and written, which, 
although often rough on the exterior and plainly 
furnished inside, has produced many of the bright- 
est scholars the world has ever known. To the 
rudimentary knowledge thus obtained he has added 
the education acquired by years of experience and 
oliservation, and now, by a careful perusal of the 
prints of the day, he is a well-informed man. 

The attention of the gentleman has been given 
especiallj' to farming all his life, but in his early 
years of pioneership he would work as carpenter 
and joiner when occasion offered, which enabled 
him to inaugvirate the present system of improve- 
ment exhibited on his home farm. He was married 
in Ohio to Mary E. Searl, on the 8th of January, 
1857. This lady is a native of Ohio and was born 
in Scioto Countj-, Julj' 22, 1837. She is a daughter 
of Wyatt and Mercy (White) Searl. Her paternal 
ancestors ai-e supposed to have been of Swedish 
origin; her grandfather White was reputed to have 
been a soldier in the War of 1812. Her parents 
had the following-named family: Jane, now the wife 



♦rJ*- 




Residence OF Frank Dobney, Sec. 25. Tipton Precinct, Cass Co. 



■'rr^K ^ tt . ' *^ f '.^y^ -^^ 







Residence OF John M agney.Sec. 36. M^. Pleas ant Prect. Cass Co 



«► I I <•• 



t 



CASS COUNTY. 



811 



of Frederick Dow, of Otoe County, Neb.; Mary 
E., the wife of our subject; Celia, tlie wife of Jo- 
seph Kronk, and resides in Scioto County, Ohio; 
Josie, the wife of William Curtis, resides in Wayne 
County, Mich.; Matthias resides in Gosper Countj', 
Neb.; Caroline, the wife of Henry Pepper, resides 
in Lincoln County, Kan.; Madora, the wife of 
Charles Flick, resides in Omaha; Albert resides in 
Gosper County, Neb.; the deceased members of the 
family were jMildred, Fernando, Oscar and Royal. 

In the autumn of 1865 our subject with his wife 
and three children left Ohio for Cass County, Neb., 
traveling tlie entire distance with a team and cov- 
ered wagon, camping out where night overtook 
them. They were en route for seven weeks. For 
fifteen months after their arrival in the State they 
lived at Eight Mile Grove, Cass County. In the 
spring of 1867 he settled on his present farm, and 
has devoted his entire time and energy fi'om that 
time to the present to the improvement of his 
home, and the success that has attended his efforts 
has been almost phenomenal. 

'Our subject is the son of John and Catherine 
(Glarden) Maguey. They were both natives of 
France, and emigrated to America and settled in 
Hamilton County, Ohio, at an early date. Of all 
the children born to them, the following only sur- 
vive: Jane, now the wife of Charles Mouglj', re- 
sides in Scioto County; John Eli resides in the 
same county; Matilda, now the wife of Louis 
Jaques, resides in Dearborn County, Ind.; Peter is 
in Ohio. The deceased members of the family are 
Ezra, Phj^lissa and Charles. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Maguey a family of six children has been born, 
named as follows: The son George is in Omaha, en- 
gaged in the practice of law; Wesley; PernetM. ; 
Elizabeth, the wife of Creed Harris, who resides in 
Cass County; and Reno A. A son, Cortes, is dead. 

The subject of our sketch is a truly self-made 
man. Coming to the West at an early day, having 
but slender resources and nothing to depend on 
but his own efforts and exertions, he has succeeded 
in accumulating a splendid property, represented 
by the 160 acres of highly cultivated land, with 
his handsome residence and its elegant surround- 
ings. In his wife he has found a most earnest 
counselor and thorough helpmate. She has borne 



her share of the privations and toils always ex- 
perienced by the wife of a pioneer with 7nuch brav- 
ery and fortitude. In addition to her household 
cares she has devoted much time to the rearing and 
education of her children, until she now can refer 
to them with feelings of the greatest pride, and 
they certainly do her justice. Herself and husband 
are members of the United Brethren Church, and 
both take a lively interest in all matters pertaining 
to the religious, educational and social advance- 
ment of their friends and neighbors. In politics 
Mr. Maguey is a Democrat, has served on the School 
Board of the district in which he lives several 
times, and in all things is a friend of progress. 

A view of the Maguey homestead is presented on 
an accompanying page. 




interests of Tipton Precinct find a 
most energetic and successful representa- 
tive in tlie person of the subject of this sketch, who 
states that he "came to Nebraska with nothing but 
an old plug team." He is now the Supervisor of 
Tipton, and is numbered among the leading fanners 
of Southern Nebraska. He is the owner of 320 
acres of Dnely improved land, with a handsome new 
residence, substantinl barns and out-buildings, shown 
elsewhere, a goodly assortment of live stock, and 
all the other appurtenances which the progressive 
agriculturist naturally gathers around him. He 
makes a specialty of stock feeding, having about 
150 head of cattle each year, besides horses and 
swine. 

In connection with his farm buildings Mr. Dob- 
ney has a new Perkins-Geared mill, with a 16-foot 
wheel, six-horse power, feed grinder, besides watei 
tanks in all his yards, which not only sui)ply this 
indispensable article to the farm animals wherever 
needed, but by this means water is also conveyed 
to the house by a force pump. Not far from the 
buildings is a fine apple orchard of 600 trees, and 
there is upon the farm the regulation grove and 
windbrake, covermg probably six acres of ground. 
The farm machinery is of the latest improved put- 



•^l::- 



'^* 



•►Hl^^^ 



812 



CASS COUNTY. 



tern, and the cattle are given tlieir rations by means 
of a patent feeder. Tlie farm is mostly enclosed 
with hedge and wire fencing. As a stock-raiser 
Mr. Dobney is especially a success, this industry 
appearing to be one to which he is naturally adapted. 
He ships annually about seven carloads of graded 
cattle directly to the market at Omaha, and 200 
head of hogs. His horses are mostly of the Nor- 
man breed, of which he usually keeps from seven- 
teen to twentj' head, making a display of equines 
scarcely equaled, and certainly not excelled, along 
the southern line of the county. Mr. Dobney is 
conceiled to be the heaviest stock-breeder in this 
region. 

Next in importance to the subject of a biographi- 
cal record is the source from which he drew his 
origin. The Dolmey family- is of English descent, 
and the parents of our subject, Richard and Eliza- 
beth (Bell) Dobney, were natives of Staffordshire, 
whence the}' emigrated to America in 1854. The 
paternal grandfather, William Dobney, spent his 
entire life in his native Englan<l, prosecuting agri- 
culture, and lived to the advanced age of ninety- 
three years. On the mother's side Grandfather 
Bell, also a well-to-do English farmer, died at the 
age of over eighty j'cars. 

The father of our subject, like most of his an- 
cestors, was reared to farming pursuits, which he 
followed before emigrating to America. Soon after 
landing he made his way to Northeastern Ohio, 
settling on a tract of land near the city of Cleve- 
land, where he lived one year. Then, pushing fur- 
ther westward, he rented a farm in Adams County, 
III., near Quincy, where he sojourned for a period 
of eight years. Thence, in the spring of 1863, he 
crossed the Mississippi, and purchased land in the 
vicinity of Tabor, Mills Co., Iowa. There he im- 
proved a farm of 1 20 acres, and labored success- 
fully as a tiller of the soil, adding to his real estate 
until he is now the owner of 280 acres, all improved, 
provided with good buildings, and forming a com- 
fortable modern homestead. The dwelling is noticea- 
ble as being more than ordinarily' fine for a farm 
house, and was erected at a cost of $5,000. He 
also is largely interested in the buving and feeding 
of cattle, having all the necessary conveniences. 
The elder Dobne}' also owns 320 acres near Su[)e- 

-^» 



rior, Nnekolls Co., Neb. He is now sixty-one 
years old, and his estimable partner is sixt^'-four. 
They are active members of tlie Congregational 
Church, and people higlily respected in their com- 
munit3-. The father during the progress of the 
late Civil War |)roffercd his services as a soldier of 
the Uniou Army, but on account of a defective leg 
was pronounce<l ineligible. 

To the parents of our subject there were l)orn 
five children, namely: Frank, our subject; Mary 
E. and Sarah, resiilents of Iowa; .John, who died 
when young, and George, who is living with 
his parents. Frank was born in Lincolnshire, En- 
gland, July 19, 1819, and was a lad five years of 
age when he accompanied his parents to America. 
They emiiarked on a sailing-vessel at Liverpool, 
and after a voyage of six weeks and three days 
landed in New York Cit^'. Tlience they proceeded 
at once to Oliio, where they lived one year, and 
then to Adams County, 111., where the father pur- 
chased a tract of land, and pursued his occupation 
of farming. 

Our subject, in common witii his brothers ahd 
sisters, studied his first lessons in the district schools, 
and was fourteen years old when the family, leav- 
ing the Prairie State, migrated to Mills County, 
Iowa. He assisted his father in the various em- 
ployments around the homestead until twenty-two 
j'ears of age. In 1870 he started out for himself 
for the young State of Nebraska, making the jour- 
ney overland with a team. Crossing the Missouri 
at Plattsmouth, he made his way southwestward to 
the vicinity of Weeping Water, and in that precinct 
purchased eighty .acres of land from tiie Burlington 
& Missouri River Railroad, contracting to pa^- 
therefor$ll per aeiv. He was without capital, and 
ran in debt for the whole of it. 

Mr. Dobney began the improvement of his pur- 
chase by breaking a portion of the prairie land, 
but remained here only a short time that year. The 
first year of his residence he harvested good crops, 
but the two years following the grasshoppers ate 
him out. He, however, held on to his little farm, 
although he naturally fell behind in his payments. 
He was given a continuance, and in due time found 
himself upon his feet. For six years his crops 
were remarkably bounteous, and in due lime he 



A 



-^•■ 



CASS COUNTY. 



■*^ 



813 



rliscovercii that tlie stock business would prohably 
lie fully as profitable, if not easier, than the tilling 
of the soil. He commenced the feedinj; of cattle 
nith excellent results, and in 1877 added to his 
real estate by the purchase of another eighty acres. 
He brought his quarter-section of land to a good 
state of cultivation, provided it with neat and sub- 
stantial buildings, the regulation grove and orchard, 
and the smaller fruits in their season. He sold this 
property in the fall of 1882 at |40 per acre, ivbich 
all must admit was at a very reasonal)le profit. 
Later he invested a part of his capital in his pres- 
ent homestead in Tipton Precinct, making the 
purchase on the 25111 of December of the above 
year. This then was but a raw prairie, and he 
repeated the experiment of constructing a farm. 
He has now all but forty acres under cultivation, 
has put up a residence and made other improve- 
ments. A few years will serve to make this one of 
the most complete homesteads in this part of the 
county. 

The vvife of our sulijcct. in her girlhood Miss 
Ellen Stocpforth, was born in England, Feb. 8, 
1851, and they were married in Plattsmouth, Neb., 
Oct. 15, 1875. Mrs. Dobney was reared to woman- 
hood in her native land, and came to America 
with her parents in 1874. The latter, William and 
Eliza Stoepforlh, are now residents of Cass County, 
Neb. The six children born of this marriage were 
named respectively: Alice, George, Richard, Fred- 
erick, Frank and Charles. They are all at home 
with their parents, and form a very interesting and 
intelligent group, the eldest being thirteen years of 
age, and the youngest two. 

Mr. Dobney grew up, as it were, under the wing 
of the Republican party, of who.se principles he is 
an earnest supporter. He has been quite prominent 
in the political affairs of Cass County, being sent 
as a delegate for a number of j'ears to the County 
and Slate Conventions, and was a delegate ty the 
Congressional Convention in the fall of 1888. He 
has represented his precinct in the County Board of 
Supervisors for the past eight years, a record which 
does him much credit. He has been nearly since 
the time of his first residence here a member of the 
School Board of his district, and is also at present 
holding the office of Constable. Sociallj', he be- 



longs to Lodge No. IC.O. I. O. O. F., at Elm wood, 
and is also a Knight of P} thins. It will thus be 
seen that he is eminently woithy of mention in a 
work of this kjnd, and his whole career has been 
one to which his children may revert with pride in 
3'ears to come. 

I )>;ILLIAM JAMES. The history of this 
\iij// gentleni.an, who was one of the first set. 
WW tiers of Stove Creek Precinct, is a forcible 
illustration of what may be accomplished by per- 
severance and resolution, under the most adverse 
circumstances and financial discouragements. His 
farm of eighty acres of land lies on section 26, 
township 10, range 10, and his homestead, with its 
fine yard of ornamental trees and shrubbery, forms 
an attractive feature of the landscape. He was born 
at Ilighbridge, Somerset County, England, March 
1, 1837. His grandfather, Joseph James, spent 
his early life in England, but later emigrated to 
Canada, and built a brewerj' in Toronto, where be 
succeeded well financially, remaintng there until 
his death. 

John James, father of our subject, was born 
and still lives in Highbridge, England, at the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-eight years. He learned the 
cooper's trade, and at one time owned a small 
piece of property there, which he disposed of be- 
fore it had increased in value by the rise of the 
price of real estate in that town. He married Miss 
Anna Tidball, who died in 1839, when only twenty- 
two years of age, leaving three children, namely: 
William, Henry and Frederic, of whom the latter 
two are deceased. 

William, of our sketch, was early deprived of a 
mother's care, and when only eight years of age 
went into service for a gentleman farmer, for 
whom he worked eight years. He had no schooling 
excepting such as he received by attending Sunday- 
school twice every Sunday. He subsequently 
worked for another farmer a year, then decided to 
seek his fortune in America. Accordingly, in 1855, 
he sailed from Bristol on the ship "Osprey," dis- 
embarking in New York City after a vo3'age of five 
weeks. He then proceeded to ^larccllus, Onondaga 



■ ► I I < • 



'^^ 



^l^^ 



814 



CASS COUNTY. 



A ha 

r 



Co., N. Y., where he lived two years, working at 
various occupations, and attended school a part of 
the time. In 1857 Mr. James moved still fartlier 
West, and located near Henry, in Marshall County, 
' 111., where he worked on a farm for several years. 
In 1863, having accumulated sufficient property to 
warrant him in taking a life companion, our sub- 
ject was married, and, purchasing a farm of eightj- 
acres, commenced to work for himself and bride. 
He toiled hard, and had the cheerful assistance of 
his good wife in all his labors, but for three succes- 
sive seasons his crops were a failure. Determining to 
try his luck in a better farming country, Mr. James 
moved with his family, in 1870, to this State. He 
came overland with three teams and a wagon, per- 
forming the journey in three weeks. He crossed 
the Missouri River at Nebraska City, thence came 
to Stove Creek Precinct, where he had previousl}- 
bought his present homestead. Scarcely any im- 
provements had been made, and not a tree was to 
be found on the place. With willing hands and 
courageous heart he set to work to establish a 
home, first putting up a small house, the lumber 
for which lie had to bring from an island in the 
Platte River. Again was our subject unfortunate 
in his business labors, and for three continuous years 
his crops were gathered by the grashoi^pers, and he 
had to mortgage his place to-tide him through the 
hard times, it taking him six or seven years to re- 
gain his losses. Since that time, however, fortune 
has smiled upon him, and prosperity greeted him 
at every turn. In 1880 he built a new barn, and 
four years later erected his present dwelling, a com- 
modious and convenient house, neatly' and tastily 
arranged and furnished. He has now a large grove 
of forest trees, a fine orchard, and has his front 
j-ard ornamented with cedar trees, taken from Gov- 
ernment land on an island in the Platte River, 
which are kept neatl}- trimmed. Besides general 
farming and stock-raising, Mr. James pays special 
attention to horse-raising, having eight head of fine 
grade, one of which is one and one-half Clyde 
and three-fourths Norman breed. 

The maiden name of Mrs. Janves, to whom Mr. 
J, was married in ^Marshall County, 111., May 29. 
1864, was Sarah J. Smith. She was born in Dur- 
ham. England, and came to America with her par- 



ents when a young child. To her and her husband 
have been born seven children, namelj': John F., 
William H. (deceased), Frederic W., Etta May and 
Eddie L. (twins), Charles L. and Sydney R., all of 
whom are at home. Mr. James is a man having 
the universal respect and esteem of his fellow- 
townsmen. He is well informed on all general sub- 
jects, and takes much interest in township affairs, 
and has served for several years as a member of the 
School Board. He is a Democrat in his political 
views, and an earnest worker for that party. He 
has served as a member of the petit jury. Mr. 
James is a charter member of the Baptist Church, 
of Wabash, Cass County, and assisted in building it. 

^W. , ENRY UMLAND, one of the most prosper- 

,i|)l] ous German farmers of Tipton Precinct, has 
i^^ hy his industr3^ and perseverance built up 
v^) from a modest l)eginning a fine properly, and 
is now in the enjoyment of the good things of life. 
Of German birth and ancestry, he first opened his 
eyes to the light in Prussia, Oct. 1, 1827, and was 
left an orphan when a little lad eight years of age. 
He made his home with his stepraotlier five years 
thereafter, then started out in life ou his own ac- 
count. He had only three years' schooling. He 
began learning the carpenter's trade at the age of 
thirteen, at which he worked until twenty years of 
age. About this lime he entered the Prussian Army 
with others to guard against the invasion of the 
French in the Duchies of Holstein, Baden, etc. 
AVhen his services were no longer needed in this 
direction he returned to civil life and resumed \york 
at his trade. 

Young Umland, however, was ambitious of being 
and accomplishing something further than it seemed 
possible he could do on his native soil. He kept 
his eyes open to what was going on around him in 
the world, and from re.idiug and hearsay had gained 
something of what an enterprising young man might 
accomplish in the United .States. Accordingly in 
the spring of 1851 he took passage on a sailing-ves- 
sel, and after a tedious voyage of ninety days 
landed in New York City. 

From the metropolis our subject proceeded di- 



■► II <• 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



815 



recUy wrslward, first to Chicago, 111., tlience to 
Milwaukee. Wis. ; finfliiig motliing desirable in the 
latter place he returned to tlie Garden City and 
entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad 
Company. That same fall he migrated sonthwest- 
ward to St. Louis. Mo., where he emplojed himself 
in farming and carpentering, and finally purchased 
land across the river in St. Clair C'ounlj-. 111. Upon 
this he farmed a fi.-w years, then sold out and turned 
his attention for a time once more to his trade, 
operating as a contractor until his removal to this 
State. 

Our suliject was married, in St. Clair County. 111., 
Sept. 20, 1855, to Miss Anna, daughter of Rudolph 
and Margaret (Huher) Herder. The parents of 
Mrs. Uniland were natives of Switzerland, and the 
father a farmer by occupation. The}' emigrated to 
America in 1854. settling in St. Clair County. III., 
where the father died in I 856 at the age of fifty- 
nine years. The mother only survived herhusliand 
seven years, her dcalli faking place also in St. Clair 
County, when she was sixty-two years old. The 
four children of the parental family were named re- 
spectivelj': Jacob and Rudolph, who died j-oung; 
Abraham, a resident of Lancaster County, Neb., and 
Anna, the wife of our subject. 

Mrs. Umland was born in the Canton of Zurich, 
Switzerland, Aug. 25, 1833, near the foot of the 
Alps. She lived there until a j'oung lady of twenty- 
one years old, her childhood days being passed 
amid the most beautiful scenery in the world. In 
setting sail for America she embarked with her par- 
ents at Havre, France, on the sailing-vessel "Hor- 
tensia," which five weeks later landed them in the 
city of New Orleans. Thence thej- made their way 
to St. Clair County, 111. 

The parents of our subject were natives of Prus- 
sia, and the father a gardener by occupation. lie was 
an honest, hard-woiking man, and spent his entire 
life in his native country, dying in 1835 at the age 
of sixty-two years. The mother had passed away 
eight years before, in 1 827. The family included 
three children: Hannah, who died when small; 
Ernestina, a resident of Wisconsin, and Henry, of 
our sketch. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Unilnnd there have been born 
three sons and three daughters, namely: Eliza, 



Jacob. Rudolph. William, Annie and Sophia. The 
five j-ounger children are living at home with their 
parents, and are being carefullj- trained and edu- 
cated. Kliza is the wife of Allen Crabtree, a well- 
to-do fainier of Tipton Precinct, a sketch of wliom 
appears elsewhere in this volume. Our subject and 
his wife are members in good standing of the Ger- 
man Evangelical Church, and Mr. Umland is a very 
strong Republican. 

The Umland estate includes in all 500 acres of 
land, mostly on section 19. Mr. Uniland had origi- 
nally twenty more, which he sold some time since. 
The home farm embraces eighty acres on section 
30, and to it there has been given very careful cul- 
tivation, so that it is in a highl}^ productive condi- 
tion. The buildings are neat and substantial, and 
include a very attractive residence, which with its 
surroundings fulfills the modern idea of a country 
home. A stream of living water runs through the 
farm, and there are groves, orchards, and trees of 
the smaller fruits. Mr. Umland makes a specialty 
of stock-raising, keeping usually fourteen head oi 
horses besides the teams operating on the farm, and 
has full-blooded Durham and graded cattle. 

JWl OHN W. McDERMED. The subject of this 
I sketch, one of the younger citizens of Avoca 
I Precinct, presents an example of enterprise 
I and industry which it would be well for 
man}' others to follow. He is the son of an excel- 
lent family, and has succeeded to the homestead 
which was land taken up from the Government and 
improved by his father. This property consists of 
160 acres, which was secured by the elder McDer- 
raecl when in a state of comparative wildness. It is 
pleasantly located on section 20, and remains the 
home of the mother and part of the famil}-, whose 
interests are carefully looked after by the subject 
of this sketch. Alfred McDermed departed this 
life Sept. 2, 1885, at the age of fifty-seven years. 

Our subject was born in Peoria County, 111., 
Oct. 9, 1857. He was a lad of nine years when his 
father came with the family to Nebraska in the fall 
of 1866. They located first in Mt. Pleasant Pre- 
cinct, this county, lyhere the father began operat- 



«► 11 <• 



?^h 



•►HI^ 



810 



CASS COUNTY. 



ing oil rented land, and by patient industry and 
close economy saved sufflcient money so that he 
was enabled to make a pureliase in 1870. His life 
thereafter was that of a peaceable and law-abiding- 
citizen, a man careful and conscientious in his deal- 
ings with his neighbors, indulgent and liberal with 
his family, and in all respects a praisewortlij^ citizen. 

Alfred JMcDermed was born in Maysville, Ky., 
of a respectable family' of Scotch .ancestry, and 
leaving the blue grass regions settled in Illinois 
when a single man. He emplojed himself in the 
Prairie State as a farm Laborer, and in due time was 
married in Peoria County to Miss Elizabeth Mc- 
Farland. The mother of our subject was a native 
of Ireland, and was born May 1, 1830. She lived 
in the -'land of the shamrock" until a young girl of 
fourteen j'ears, when she came to America with her 
sister. Her father came with his famil}^ to the 
United States later, and they lived for a time in the 
eit^' of Philadelphia, Pa. Later the parents re- 
moved to Illinois, after which Elizabeth joined 
them, where slie grew to womanhood and lived witJi 
them until her marriage. 

To Mr. and ]Mrs. McDermed tliere were born 
eight children. The eldest daughter, Maggie, is the 
wife of J. W. Sperry, a well-to-do citizen of Avoca 
Precinct, and whose biographj^ appears elsewhere 
in tills volume; Orlestcr m.arried Miss Ida Davis, 
of this county, and is engaged at labor in Weeping 
Water; John W., of our sketch, was the third 
child and is still unmarried; Hester died when 
about twenty-two years old; JIattie is the wife of 
Joseph Malcolm, a miller by trade, and they live 
in Ashland, Saunders Count}'; George is a skillful 
barber, and is operating successfully at Union, this 
County; Mary L. died in September, 1886, aged 
twenty years; Frank remains at home. Mrs. Mc- 
Dermed is a very estimable lady, and was ever the 
faithful and efficient helpmate of her husband in his 
best labors and ambitions. She is held in the most 
tender respect by all her children, and universally 
spoken well of by her neighbors. 

John W. McDermed has been familiar with farm- 
ing pursuits from his boyhood up, and is manag- 
ing the homestead successfully and with excellent 
results. Like his father before him, politicallj-. he 
is a stanch Democrat, as are all the sons. The 



parents formerly belonged to the Methodist Church, 
but there being no society of that denomination in 
this part of the county they identified themselves 
with the Baptists. The family occupy a good 
position socially in their community, and the home- 
stead is numbered among the other well-regulated 
estates of Cass County. 



JULIUS SACKS is operating successfully on a 
good farm located on the northeast corner 
of section 18 in Tipton Precinct. He may 
most properly be ranked among the early 
pioneers, iiaving been one of the first to take up a 
homestead in tliis region. AltJiough of German 
birth and parent.age. and Iiaving only six montiis' 
sciiooling in America, he speaks tlie English language 
fluently, and is at once recognized as a man more 
than ordinarily intelligent. He is held in high es- 
teem by the |)eople of his neighborhood, and gives 
his aid and influence to those enterprises calculated 
for the educational and moral advancement of the 
community. 

Our subject is the son of Carl G. and Christiana 
Sacks, who like him were born in the Prussian Prov- 
ince of Saxony, and spent their entire lives in the 
Fatherland. Carl .Sacks was a finely educated man 
and a teacher by profession. He followed this 
from the age of twenty years until he was fifty, 
then purchased 100 acres of land, and thereafter oc- 
cupied himself in agriuultural pursuits until his 
death, which took place in September, 1882, after 
he had .nrrived at the advanced age of eightj'-one 
years. The mother had preceded her husband to 
the silent land twenty-seven years, her death taking 
place in 1856. Both were members of the Lutheran 
Church. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 
ten children, eight of whom lived to mature j'ears. 
They were named respectively : Emily, Pauline; Ida, 
who died when twent3'-lwo years ohl ; Gustave, who 
died at the age of thirty; Antonia, Albert, Carl, 
Francis, Emma and Julius. 

It will thus he seen that our subject was the 
youngest of the 'parental family. His brother 
Albert entered the army upon reaching manhood. 



-^h^ 



■•►Ht 



•►Hl-^^ 



•t^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



817 



fliiiing the war between Fiance and German}-, 
serving until tiie close of the struggle. Julius was 
placed in school .it tlie early age of five years and 
gave his attention quite closely to his studies until 
a 3'outh of fourteen. He remained a member of 
the parental household until twenty 3'ears of age, 
then, having learned much from reading and hear- 
sa}' of the opportunities for the enterprising young 
man in America, he determined to come hither. 
Accordingly, bidding adieu to his old friends and 
associations, he embarked at Hamburg on the 
steamer " Germania,"and after being tossed about 
the Atlantic two weeks, landed in Jsew Yotk City. 
His destination, however, was the Western countrj'. 
and he soon placed himself this side of the Missis- 
sippi, working on a farm in Stevens Creek Precinct, 
Lancaster County, tiiis State. 

After a sojourn there of one _vear, during which 
he h.id attended a district school six months, Mr. 
Sacks pre-empted his present homestead in order to 
hold it, not being of tlie required age to settle on 
it. He commenced finall}- its imjjrovement by put- 
ting up a sod house with a bo.ird roof, the latter 
material being hauled from Nebraska Cit}'. He then 
set about breaking the prairie, and after getting in 
his first crops began planting trees, both of fruit and 
forest, and has now two acres in a good orchard 
and that indispensable institution — a wind-break. 

The crops of IS74 were destroyed bj' grasshop- 
pers; those of 1875 by hail; and in 1876 the farmers 
of JSouthern Nebraska suffered from drouth. .Since 
that time crops have been uniforml}- good and Mr. 
Sacks has had little reason to complain. In the 
spring of 1871 he purchased fort}' acres adjoining, 
which, like the balance, is now improved, laiil off 
with substantial fencing, and j-ields bountifull}- the 
rich crops of this region. The land is watered by the 
south branch of Camp Creek. Our subject in ad- 
dition to general farming makes a specialty' of fine 
stock, Clydesdale and Norman horses, Durham 
cattle and Poland swine. 

Mr. Sacks was married in the city of Lincoln, 
July 22, 1874, to Miss Caroline Drees. This lady 
was born in April, 1856. in what was then the King- 
dom of Hanover; German}', and came to America 
with her parents in liS68. Of this union there 
have been horn five children, namely: Albert, who 



mJ/l sturdy pio 
W^ L5, and ca; 



died when sixteen months old ; Julius, Jr.. deceased ; 
Stevens, Julius, Jr., (2d) and Walter. Thceldestof 
these is ten years old and the youngest six. 

Mr. Sacks has become thoroughly identifier! with 
American institutions, and in meeting him and con- 
versing with him there is little to indicate that he 
is otherwise than a native-born American. He keeps 
himself well posted in regard to current events, 
and is entirely in sympathy with the Republican 
party, with which he became identified on com- 
ing to this country. A self-made man in every 
respect, his 'has been a career marked with indus- 
try, perseverance, and all the qualities which go 
to make up a complete manhood and a worthy 
citizenship. 

ILLL\M EHvENRARV, who is one of the 
pioneers of 1856, landed here May 
ast his lot with the early settlers 
of Cass County when it was taking its first onward 
steps toward the important position it now occu- 
pies as one of the leading .and most influential 
counties of the State. He is a native of Indiana, 
born in L'nion County, Feb. 26. 1833. He is of 
German descent, his patei-nal grandfather, William 
Eikenbary, a German, having married a lady of 
the same nationality as himself. After residing in 
Germany several years, they emigrated to America, 
and settled in Virginia, thence went to Indiana, and 
there spent the remainder of their lives. They had 
a large family of children, consisting of fourteen 
sons and one daughter. 

Samuel Eikenbary, father of our subject, was 
one of the younger sons, and was born during the 
residence of his parents in Virginia. He was reared 
on his father's farm in Indiana, and after attaining 
his majority was married in Union County to 
Martha Crawford. She was of Scotch ancestry, 
and was born in Indiana. Her parents were early 
settlers of Union County, where they carried on 
farming, and both died, respected and honored, at 
a ripe old age. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Eikenbary 
settled on a farm in Union County at the time of 
their marriage, and continued to live there until 
after the birth of five of their children. In 1837 



•►Hl^ 



i^t-M* 



•►Hl^^ 



818 



CASS COUNTY. 



they removed to Des Moines Countj', Iowa, and 
established themselves on a farm eleven miles west 
of Burlington, and there the remaining four of 
their children were born. In the fall of 1856 they 
pushed on still farther west, and coming to Ne- 
braska located two miles south of Flattsmouth, 
where the father of our subject pre-empted a home- 
stead and lived until his death, in 1869, at the age 
of threescore and six years. His wife survived 
him, dying in 1871, at the age of sixty-five years. 
Religiously, they were associated with the Dunk- 
ards until their removal to Nebraska, when they 
became communicants of the Christian Church, 
and died in that faith. They were worthy people, 
held in high respect by the community for their 
manj' good qualities. In politics he was a firm Re- 
publican, and had the courage of his opinions. 

The subject of this personal narrative was only 
four years old when he went with his parents to 
Iowa, therefore his earliest recollections are of his 
home in that State. He received an excellent edu- 
cation, attending school in the town in which his 
father settled, and later at Mt. Pleasant, in the 
same State. He was still a single man when he 
came with his parents to Nebraska in 1856, and 
the ensuing year he took up a claim of 160 acres 
on section 1, Liberty Precinct. When he had 
proved up on his homestead, he and his brother 
Henry went to farming near the city, remaining 
thus engaged until 1871, when our subject sold 
out his interest there to his brother, and took pos- 
session of his homestead. At the same time he 
bought 160 acres on section 2, and a tract of eighty 
acres in Liberty Precinct; his farm thus aggre- 
gates 400 acres. Scarcely any improvements had 
been made on any of his property, but by judicious 
labor, skill in management, and perseverance, he 
has now one of the best farms in point of improve- 
ment in Liberty Precinct. Mr. liikenbary has 
erected a commodious house on section 2, which 
is a model of comfort and convenience, and with 
the fine barn and out-buildings, adds materially to 
the attractiveness of the place and to its value 
from a financial point of view. Our subject pays 
special attention to stock breeding and raising, 
having horses and cattle of a superior grade. At 
tlie head of his herd of tine Durham cattle, which 



he has raised for seventeen j'ears, is a fine speci- 
men of that breed, the registered bull "Ashland." 
His horses are thoroughbred English draft horses, 
coming from the best imported stock of that breed, 
to the raising of which he has paid especial at- 
tention for the last four years. 

The marriage of Mr. P]ikenbary to Miss IMary 
E. McCord was celebrated in Rock Bluff Precinct 
in 1861. She was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 
1840, and came with her parents to Nebraska in 
the spring of 1857. They, Donaldson and Anna 
(Pascall) McCord, on coming to this State settled 
in Rock Bluff Precinct, where they improved a 
farm, moving thence to Nodaway County, Mo., 
where they both died in the sunset of life. Their 
daughter Mary was reared in Keokuk County, Iowa, 
and remained with her parents until the time of 
her marriage with our subject. She was a woman 
of energy, intelligence and ability, and proved her- 
self a most companionable, devoted wife and ten- 
der mother, and her death, in 1876, was mourned 
b^' the whole community, by whom she was es- 
teemed and loved. Siie was the mother of five 
children, namely: Albert R., who is attending the 
Commercial College at Lincoln; Cora M., the wife 
of T. W. Swan, a farmer of Liberty Precinct; Mag- 
gie and MoUie (twins), and Francis J. are at home. 
They are a bright, active, capable familj' of chil- 
dren, with promises of a bright future before 
them. 

Mr. Eikenbar^' was a second time married, Aug. 
29, 1883, the maiden name of his wife being Fan- 
nie P. Davis. She was born in Libertj- Precinct, 
Jan. 25, 1863, and was reared and educated there, 
and for some time previous to her marriage taught 
school with much success. Her parents, William 
and Sarah J. (Simmons) Davis, came from Mis- 
souri to this count}' and located on a farm in 
Liberty Precinct, which they have improved and 
still occupy. In politics Mr. E. is a steadfast ad- 
herent of the principles formulated by the Repub- 
lican party, and has served his district several 
years as Sciiool Officer. He has been very success- 
ful in his life work, and is one of the most pros- 
perous and influential citizens of Cass County, 
whei'e he is highly esteemed for his unswerving in- 
tegrity, force of character, and excellent business 



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CASS COUNTY. 



4 

HI 9 iL 



capacity. Both he and his wife are eminently lios- 
pitable, and not only entertain their friends most 
delightfulh', but extend such a cordial welcome to 
the stranger who comes within their gates that it 
is ever appreciated and gratefully acknowledged. 



-i-»-i-^^>^=€-'-§- 



>* J:ILLIAM O. TODD is the editor ami pro- 
\jjJ// prietor of the Union Ledger, wliicli he es- 
Wi tablished in Union Village, Nov. 3, 1888. 
This paper starts out as a five-column folio slieet. 
which will soon he enlarged to meet the demands 
of the reading public. Although it has so recently 
entered upon life, it has obtained a vigorous hold 
upon it, and has already secured a fair and profit- 
able circulation. As a well-edited paper it will un- 
doubtedly advance the interests of Cass Coant3', 
and more especially of this village, and it has a 
promising future before it. 

Mr. Todd was born Sept. 1 1, 1863, in Des Moines 
County. Iowa. His father. Alvin Todd, was a na- 
tive of Ohio. He was in early life a mechanic, and 
later became a farmer. In 1837 he accompanied 
his parents from his native State to Iowa, and they 
located near where the city of Burlington now is, 
it being at tliat time an insignificant hamlet. He 
grew up and was educated in Dos Moines Count}', 
and was there married to Phoebe Penny, a native 
of Pennsylvania. In her childhood she had ac- 
companied her parents from the place of her birth 
to their new home in Dps Moines Country, Iowa, 
and there she was reared to womanhood. After 
marriage Alvin Todd gave his attention to farm- 
ing for several years, and later established a cooper 
shop at Fairfield, Iowa. From there he moved to 
a place in Des Moines County, and afterward lived 
in Monmoutii, III., for two years. He then re- 
turned with his family to Des Moines County, and 
made his home there until 1880, when he and his 
family removed to Mills County, Iowa, where he 
followed farming until he and his wife came to Cass 
Count}' in 1882, and he has since been an honored 
resident of this county, owning-and managlnof afine 
farm near Ashland. He and his wife are Baptist 
in religion, and he is a Prohibitionist in politics. 
Since their residence here they have won respect 

^a ■ 



and esteem from all who have the pleasure of their 
acquaintance for their unblemished characters and 
strictly upright conduct. 

Their son William, of whom we write, was tiie 
fourth iu order of l)irth of the eight children born 
to them. He was well educated in the schools of 
Iowa, chiefly in Des Moines County, but is very 
properlj' considered a self-made young man, as he 
has thus earl}' in life made his own way to the hon- 
orable position that he occupies as a member of one 
of the most useful of the professions. He is also 
in part self-educated, as he h.as picked up a great 
deal of valuable information by careful study when- 
ever opportunity offered since leaving school, at a 
time when most young men consider their educa- 
tion completed. He came with his parents to this 
State in 1882, and for three years was clerk in a 
drug-store in Ashland, and later in a hardware store. 
He subsequent!}' learned the trade of printing in 
the same town, p.nd became thoroughly conversant 
with the art in all its details. He first ventured 
into journalism as the editor of the Ashland Herald, 
which paper he established himself, and ran success- 
fully for one year. He has also worked on the 
State Journal and other papers, so that he does not 
solicit the patronage of the public as an inexperi- 
enced editor. He is a bright, quick-witted young 
man, whose ambition and enterprise will undoubt- 
edly win his success. 

Mr. Todd was married in Ashland. Jan. 6. 1887, 
to Miss Kate Borland. She was born near Iowa 
City, Iowa, jn 1870. Marcii 5, and is a daughter of 
William and Mary (Mugett) Borland. Her father 
is deceased, his death having occurred in Essex, 
Page Co., Iowa, in 1879. when he was in the very 
prime of life, being scarcely forty years of age. 
He was a native of Vermont, and when a youno- 
man went to Iowa, and in the town of Comanche, 
Clinton County, was married. During the remain- 
der of his life he was engaged in farming. After 
his death his wife married again, and lives with her 
second husband, Dwight Davis, at Chatsworth, 111. 
Mrs. Todd was reared in Iowa, and being a bright, 
apt scholar, received a good education, and was 
well fitted for the profession of teacher, which she 
adopted on leaving, and taught a private school 
successfully at home. Her and lier husliand's home 



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820 



CASS COUNTY. 



is one of true leBnenient, and it lias been blessed 
liy tlie birtli of a little daughter. Laura Marie. Mr. 
and Mrs. Todd are Baptists in their religious views, 
and politically, he is an ardent Proliibitionist. al- 
though he conducts his paper as a strictly inde- 
pendent organ, and impartially opens his columns 
to all parties. 



^/ ON. 8. M. KIEKPATRICK, late a member 
of the State Legislature, and one of the 
most prominent men of Cass County, has 
) for years been intimately connected with the 
most important interests of Southern Nebraska. 
Lie came within its precincts when it was but a Ter- 
ritory, making a claim on the 18th of June, 1855, 
the first Land pre-empted on section 18, in Liberty 
Precinct, and wa-s the very first settler in the val- 
ley of the Weeping Water at this point. He came 
here when around him was an unbroken waste, be- 
fore the county could boast of but one log house and 
a cabin, of sufficient importance to be designated as 
a village, and when the flourishing city of Platts- 
mouth was the site of a few little huts, put up by 
adventurous but impecunious people, who were 
struggling to delve from the soil enough to keep 
soul and body together. Indians still roamed over 
the country, and wild animals also. The outlook 
was anything but promising, but the subject of this 
sketch was a man of more than ordinary determina- 
tion. He had come to stay, and was not to be 
driven from his purpose by any ordinary circum- 
stances. He clung steadfastly to his resolution to 
continue and "grow up with the country." at a time 
when white settlers were frequentlj' making a stam- 
pede from the depredations of the Indians, although 
to tell the truth ]Mr. Kirkpatrick saj'S that there 
was a great deal more smoke than fire during those 
times, and many of the people were unnecessarily 
alarmed. 

Our subject secured his Land liefore the (lovern- 
ment survey had been completed. It included one 
of the finest mill sites along the Weeping W.iter, 
which he utilized as soon as possible, erecting a 
sawmill, from which he began dressing lumber in 
September, the same year of his arrival. It is 



hardly necessary to state that the equipments of 
that mill were somewhat inferior to those of the 
present time. The year following, however, Mr. 
K. introduced some new improvements, including 
a set of burrs, with which he intended to grind 
wheat, but afterward transferred the property to 
other parties, before beginning operations as a 
flour miller. This was the first mill Iniilding erected 
on the Weeping AVater. in fact the first mill of any 
kind built in the county. For some years it ac- 
commodated the people for miles around. 

At the time of the settlement of Mr. Kirkpatrick 
there were onl}- about 180 voters in the county. 
He was readily recognized as a man of more than 
ordinary ability, and was soon selected to represent 
the county in the Territorial Legislature at Omaha, 
being a member of the Senate, and re-elected three 
times by the Republicans of his district. He was 
in the Constitutional Conventions of 1871 and 1875, 
in the latter of which were adopted the existing laws 
of Nebraska. Prior to this he had represented the 
people of Cass County in the Territorial Legisla- 
ture, and afterward was Speaker of the House. 
Since 1874 he has withdrawn from politics, although 
often being solicited to return to the field. During 
his public life it was conceded, even by his enemies, 
that in his day he was one of the most able parlia- 
mentarians of the State. 

The public duties of Mr. Kirkpatrick brought 
him into contact with many eminent men, while his 
own habit of observation resulted in yielding him 
a large fund of useful information. He is inti- 
mately acquainted, not only with the history of 
Nebraska, but the general development of the 
Great West, which has been a subject uppermost 
in his mind for a long ppriod. A close student 
and an extensive reader, and a man of decided 
views, he is one also whose opinions are generally 
respected, and who has borne no unimportant part 
in the building up of Cass County, and introducing 
those measures best calculated for its advancement. 
The village of Nehawka was platted on his land, 
and to it he has extended his fostering care. It is 
evidently destined in the near future to be a busi- 
ness point of no small importance. 

The farm of Mr. Kirkimtrick embraces about 300 
acres of finely improved land, and upon it are the 



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T 



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CASS COUNTY. 



821 



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l)uil(liugs naturallj' suggested by the means and 
requirements of its proprietor — a substantial dwell- 
ing with pleasant surroundings, an abundance of 
fruit and shade trees, which, together with the live 
stock and farm machinery, fulfill tlie modern idea 
of the well-regulated rural estate. 

A native of Adams County, Ohio, Mr. Kirltpat- 
rick was born Aug. 31, 1815, and is the scion of an 
excellent family, being the son of Absalom Kirk- 
patrick, wlio was the son of Andrew, the son of 
William. The latter was the first representative of 
tlie family in the United States, crossing from Lon- 
donderry, in the North of Ireland, probably dur- 
ing the Colonial days, and settling in Maryland- 
They were of Scotch ancestry, and like the fore- 
fathers of hundreds of other people in this countr}', 
were driven from their native land during the re- 
ligious wars of three centuries ago. William Kirk- 
patrick must have made his home in Maryland the 
remainder of his life. His son Andrew enlisted in 
the Revolutionary War, and participated in the bat- 
tle of Brandywine, at which he had a brother killed, 
and also in other important engagements. He mar- 
ried a lad^- of Welsh descent, Miss Elizabeth Bowen, 
who was born on the Eastern Sliore of Maryland. 
They subsequently moved to Virginia, and later to 
Ohio, locating a few miles east of the present city 
of Cincinnati, where they spent the remainder of 
their lives, dj'ing when quite aged. 

Absalom Kirkpatrick, the father of our subject, 
was one of the seven sons of Andrew and Elizabeth 
Kirkpatrick, which completed their family, they 
having no daughters. The sons all lived to man's 
estate, were married and became the fathers of fam- 
ilies. Absalom, with four other brothers, was sub- 
jected to the general call for soldiers in the AVar 
of 1812, in which, however, they were not called 
upon to engage in any active battles, probably be- 
ing lield in the Reserve Corps. Absalom must have 
attained his majority in the Old Dominion, as he 
was not married until the removal to Ohio. He 
was ttiere wedded to Miss Elizabeth Van Pelt, who 
was born in St. John's, Nova Scotia, where her 
father had settled about the time of the beginning 
of the Revolutionary' War. Prior to this he had 
lived on Staten Island. Upou removing from Nova 
Scotia to tlie States they settled first on the Nola- 

■^^ 



chucky, a braneli of the Tennessee River, in Ten- 
nessee, whence they removed to Ohio, where the 
father, Tunis Van Pelt, died soon afterward. 

Absalom Kirkpatrick and his wife began their 
wedded life together on a farm in Ohio, where they 
lived until after the birth of all their children. 
They then changed their residence to Montgomery 
County, Ind., where they spent the remainder of 
their days, not far from the town of Crawfords- 
ville. The fatlier died in 1855, at the age of sixty- 
eight years. He was a man of strong character and 
fine intelligence, and was prominent in public af- 
fairs. The mother after tlie death of her husband 
made her home with her son A. F.,at the old home- 
stead, and passed away in 1863, at the advanced 
age of eiglity years. She was in all respects the 
suitable companion of her husband, being a lady of 
more than ordinary intelligence, high minded, with 
cultivated tastes, and was a beautiful singer. 

The subject of this sketch was the fourth child 
and second son of his parents, whose familj- included 
five sons and three daughters. Of this large fam- 
ily only two sons are surviving, S. M. and his 
brother C. Q., of Lafayette, Ind. Our subject 
lived in Ohio until a lad of fourteen years, where 
he began the rudiments of a practical education. 
He removed with his parents to Indiana, and from 
his youth up has been a lover of books, and by this 
means added to his store of knowledge when he 
could no longer attend school. He has always en- 
tertained an especial interest in matters of history, 
and there are few men of the present day possessing 
a more complete store of general information. 

The marriage of Hon. S. M. Kirkpatrick and 
Miss Elizabeth C. McMillin was celebrated at the 
home of the bride in Crawfordsville, Ind., Oct. 11, 
1836. Mrs. K. was born in 1816, in Campbell 
County, Tenn., and brought up in Tazewell County, 
Va., and accompanied her mother to Indiana when 
fifteen years old, in the fall of 1830. Later she spent 
one and one-half years in Louisa County, Iowa, 
where Mr. K. was engaged in merchandising, and 
where Mrs. Kirkpatrick died, together with their 
only child, in September, 1839. 

Mr. Kirkpatrick contracted a second marriage, 
in Thornton, Ind., April 1, 1841, with Miss Eliza- 
beth Craig. This lady was born in Adams County, 



r 



9 822 



CASS COUNTY. 



Ohio. May 6, 1823, and is tlie daughter of Robert 
Craig, a native of County Down, Ireland. Robert 
Craig, the father of Mrs. K., was of Scotch ances- 
try, and her motlier, Sarah Kerr, tlie daughter of 
Paul Kerr and Jane Weir, who were married on the 
Atlantic Ocean while coming to America. Many of 
tiieir descendants became prominent people, and are 
now scattered in various parts of the Union. One 
cousin has for forty j'ears been a resident of Can- 
ton, China, belonging to the American Foreign 
Mission. 

Mr. Craig emigrated to tlie United States w1ien a 
child, and was reared by an uncle in Pennsylvania. 
There also he was married, later moved to Ohio, 
and thence to Indiana. He died in Boone County, 
tliat State, when a very old man, aged ninety- 
tliree years. Mrs. Kirkpatrick was well reared and 
educated, and is a very intelligent lad}-, possessing 
all the womanly virtues. Of her union with our 
subject there have been liorn ten children, two of 
whom are deceased: Sarah V., who died wlicn three 
years old, and Julia F., wjio died in infancj'. The 
survivors are recorded as follows: Edwin A. mar- 
ried Miss Oella D. Black, daughter of Dr. John 
Black, of Plattsmouth, and is engaged in the grain 
tr.ide at Xehawka; John M. married Miss Cornelia 
F. Goodrich, and is carrying on farming exten- 
siveh' in Wheeler County, this State, where he 
owns a large amount of land; Elizzie H. is the wife 
of Orlando Tetft, a sketch of whom appears else- 
where in this volume; Lee C. is residing at the 
home of his parents; William W. married Miss 
INIaggie Gaffney, and is farming in Wheeler County; 
Robert C, Mary S. and Kate L. are at home with 
their parents. Jlary is a student of Lincoln I'ni- 
versitv. 



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(^\ALEX'T1NE HAY, a well-to-do farmer and 
' ^ stock-raiser, operating 160 acres of land on 



f 



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section 1 of Stove Creek Precinct, is one of 
the prosperous and reliable citizens of the com- 
munity, and a successful agriculturist. He was born 
in Hes.se-Darmstadt, Germany, July 28, 1814. His 
parents, Andrew and Mary (Barrer) Hay, were 
horn in Germany, and spent their entire lives tliere. 



His father was a blacksmith and farmer, and lost 
his life by accident while working at his former 
occupation, in the year 183G, when fifty-three years 
of age. His mother survived until 1870, dying at 
the ripe old age of eighty -one years. Both were 
members of the Catholic Church, and lived con- 
sistent Christian lives. They were the parents of 
eleven children, namely: Anthon, and Peter, dead; 
Valentine; Mary, dead; Catherine; Andrew, dead; 
Barbara, Cnleorge, Theresa, Mary and John. Valen- 
tine Hay, an uncle of our subject, was Colonel in 
Napoleon Bonapart's army for seven years. 

Tlie subject of our sketch was educated in his 
native country, and at the age of twei\'e ^-ears 
was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith's trade. 
Eight years later he began as journeyman black- 
smith, traveling the first year in German}', and the 
three ensuing years in France and Switzerland. In 
1840 he emigrated to the United States, sailing from 
Havre de Grace on the ship "Louis Phillippe," and 
after a voyage of twenty-one daj'S landed at New 
York City. F^ngaging in blacksmitliing there, he 
continued until 1847, when he started a smithy of 
his own in Sodus, Wayne County, that State, where 
he remained until 1855. Mr. Hay then bought a 
farm of sixty acres and worked on it two years. 
In 1857 he bought seventy acres of land situ- 
ated nine miles from Milwaukee, Wis., and there 
staid two years, engaged in farming and black- 
smithing. ]\Ioving from there to Pekin, 111., our 
subject built a shop and worked at his trade 
two years, then bought a farm in Tazewell 
Count}', the same $tate, where he remained until 
1872. Desiring to try farming in a country pe- 
culiarl}' adapted to it, our subject came to Nebraska 
with a team (his wife coming by rail), crossed the 
Missouri River at Plattsmouth, then kept on to 
Wee|)ing Water, where he rented land for two years. 
He liad previously bought 160 acres of the 
Burlington <fe Missouri River Railroad, in Stove 
Creek Precinct, and in 1874 he moved onto it. 
It was in its primitive condition, but with the help 
of his sons, he has eliminated a fine productive 
farm from the raw prairie, set out six acres 
of forest trees, fenced the land, and Iiuilt a good 
house, barn and other out-buildings, hauling the 
lumber from Nebraska City. He carries on general 



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^V-M^ 



CASS COUNTY. 






farming and stock-raising, having a liercl of fine 
Polled-Angus cattle, liogs of the Poland-China 
breed, and several head of magnificent Norman 
horses. 

The marriage of our subject with Miss Saloma 
Foulstick took place in Lyons, N. Y., June 22, 1846. 
Mrs. Ha^' was born in Alsace, Germany, Nov. 9, 
1826, and came to America with her parents when 
three years of age. Her death occurred at the home- 
stead in Stove Creek Precinct, Aug. 24, 1888. To 
her and her husband were born ten children, namely: 
AV. H., Mary, D. E., George A., C. V., P. E., J. T., 
Luc}-, E. B. and L. A. The eldest son of our sub- 
ject, William H. Hay, was born in Wayne Countj-. 
N. Y., Jan. 31, 1847, and was ten years old when his 
parents moved to Wisconsin. He attended school 
in New York and afterward in AVisconsin. He then 
went with his parents to Illinois, where he managed 
the farm while his father worked at blaeksmi thing. 
.\fter the war bi-oke out AVilliam enlisted regularly 
ever year, but each time was rejected on account 
of his small stature. When finally accepted he en- 
listed in the 11th Illinois Cavahy, but was trans- 
ferred to the 5th Illinois Cavalry, was mustered 
into service at Peoria, and sent to Camp Butler 
under A. J. Smith, and was then ordered to 
Memphis. It being near the close of the war he 
was out skirmishing most of the time. He took 
part in a raid into Arkansas, and was then on de- 
tached dutj^ until honorably discharged in Jul}-, 
1865. He has since then remained with his father 
and been his mainstay, he having set out the groves 
and orchard, and lent great assistance in all the im- 
provements that have been made. The personal 
property on the place he owns in partnership with 
him. He is a broom manufacturer by trade, has a 
machine, and turns out his own brooms. He is 
liighly esteemed for his ability, industry and 
genuine worth, and is a prominent and influential 
citizen, and is now serving his fourth year as School 
Treasurer. He is a mamber of the G. A. R., and 
Past Senior Vice Commander of LaFayette Post 
No. 61, at Weeping Water. In polities he is a 
strong Rspublican, and has b33n delegate to State 
and County Conventions. He was never married. 
Mr. George A. Hay, a merchandise clerk of 
Wabish. Neb., mirried Miss Eliza Cowel; they 



have five children, namely: Adele, Nellie, Hurbert, 
Leo and an infant. C. V. Hay, who clerks for E. 
Da}', in Weeping Water, married Miss Maud 
Church; they have one child, an infant. P. E. H.ay, 
a farmer in Weeiiing Water Precinct, married Mary 
Philpott; they have two children, Frank and Joe. 
Lucy Hay married Ernest Zimmerman, a druggist 
of Morton, 111.; they have three children — Ernest, 
Dora and an infant. J. T. Hay is a grocer in 
Broken Bow, Neb.; E. B. Hav is a farmer in 
Weeping AVater Precinct. The others are at home. 
Our subject is an industrious man who satisfact- 
orily performs the duties falling on him as a law- 
abiding citizen. In political views he coincides 
with the principles promulgated b}' the Republican 
party, and firmly upholds them by voice and vote. 
He has served as Road Supervisor, and takes a 
general interest in precinct affairs. He is a devout 
member of the German Evangelical Church, where 
his wife was also a communicant, and generously 
assists in supporting it. 



^fJACOB VALLERY, Sit., is a prominent and 
influential citizen of Cass County, and it is 
with gi-eat pleasure that we present a review 
_ of his life to the patrons of this work. He 
is e-Ktensively engaged in stock-raising, and in 
other agricultural pursuits in Plattsmouth Town- 
ship, where he has a large and valuable farm of 
1,000 acres. 

Mr. Yallery was born in Bavaria, Germany, in a 
place known as Rhine Falls, Aug. 8, 1813. He was 
well educated in the German and English branches 
under the compulsory educational laws of his na- 
tive land. After leaving school he was appren- 
tice:! to a tailor, and engaged in that trade in his 
native country until he cams to the United Siates 
in 1833 for the laudable purpose to make more of 
his life than he could have done in the Fatherland. 
He lojatecl in Pik3 County, Ohio, and in 1810 was 
there married to Mary Vallery. She has indeed 
bean to him a true helpmate, and of their happy 
wadlad life eight children have baen born, seven 
of w'.iom S'.irvivj, n\i the following is recorded of 



t- 



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824 



CASS COUNTY. 



them: John R. died Nov. 17, 1888; he was a resi- 
dent of this county. Christina is the widow of 
Peter Rummell; Mary is the widow of Charles 
Guthman; Charlotte, who was the wife of Pliilip 
Tritch, died in March, 1875; Louisa is the widow 
of Lewis Baher, her husband dying June 28, 1882; 
she has since married. Dee. 8, 1888, Solomon 
Pitcher; her husband is County Clerk at Sharon, 
Neb. Jacob W.. Peter F. and Conrad are the re- 
maining children. Conrad, Dec. 15, 1888, married 
Louisa Nieman, of Plattsmouth. 

After marriage JSIr. Yallery continued to reside 
in Pike County for sevei'al years, and for a long 
time was engaged in the mercantile business in 
Piketou and Waverly. He was prominent in pub- 
lic life, his well-known abilit}', integrity and lionor- 
able character gaining him the full confidence of 
the people. He was elected Sheriff of Pike County, 
and served until 1844. He was re-elected to that 
responsible position in 1846, and held the office un- 
til 1850. In 1852 he was again elected to the same 
position, and served for two years. He was ap- 
pointed Deputy United States Marshal in the South- 
ern District of Ohio under President Buchanan's 
administration, and was incumbent of that office 
for four years. In the meantime he was County 
Assessor for several terms, and also held minor 
offices. In 1 856 he came to Cass County, Neb., and 
bought some land, and then returned to his home 
in Ohio. He also bought some land here in 1857. 
Notwithstanding the wildness of the surrounding 
country and the thoroughly uncivilized aspect of 
its environments, Jlr. Vallery slirewdly foresaw its 
ultimate destiny as a great and wealthy State, and 
determined to cast in his lot with its early pioneers. 
With that end in view he came here with his fam- 
ily in 1865, to locate permanently, and settled on 
his present farm, which was then an unbroken prai- 
rie. In the years that have followed he has con- 
tributed his full share in developing the great 
agricultural resources of Cass County, and has 
added much to its material prosperity. He built a 
house for the shelter of liis family that season and 
began to break the sod. He has replaced that hum- 
ble dwelling in which he and his family passed 
the first few j-ears of their life here by a most 
substantial structure in the shape of a fine large 



brick house, and be has also built a good barn and 
other needed farm buildings. He has 1,000 acres 
in the home farm, all of which is neatly fenced and 
under excellent tillage, excepting about 300 acres 
which he devotes to pasturage, as he pays much at- 
tention to raising fine stock of good grades, horses, 
hogs and Short-horn cattle, taking particular care 
to have only such as be considers the best. He has 
a good orchard of about 300 trees and also a fine 
vineyard. 

Since taking up his residence in this part of the 
country Mr. Vallery has taken a conspicuous part 
in the management of public affairs. He was a 
member of tiie Constitutional Convention of Ne- 
braska, and has held several responsible county 
offices. His official career, both in this State and 
in Ohio, has been marked by tlie faithful and wise 
discharge of the duties and responsibilities resting 
upon him, with the sole view of furthering the in- 
terests of his adopted country. In politics he has 
been a lifelong Democrat, and has been influential 
in part}' councils. He has served as a delegate to 
National Conventions for perhaps forty consecu- 
tive years. He was present at the one which nomi- 
nated JlcClellan for the Presidency, and he helped 
to nominate G rover Cleveland, and also to elect 
him. Mr. Vallery and his amiable wife are devoted 
members of the German Lutheran Cliurcii, in which 
faith they were reared. 



m ACOB VALLERY, Jr., of Plattsmouth Pre- 
I I cinct, represents a valuable homestead of 320 
I 1 acres, pleasantly located on section 21. of 
^^^ which he took possession in the spring of 1 880. 
He has been a prominent man in this county, to 
which he came several years before Nebraska was 
admitted into ihe Union as a State, and as early as 
1856 served three terms as County Commis- 
sioner. He has also served six terms as Assessor of 
Plattsmouth Precinct, and has frequently held other 
positions of trust and responsiliility. His family 
history is substantially as follows: 

Our subject is the son of Peter and Charlotte 
(Acker) Vallery, and the paternal grandparents 



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Hh-^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



were Valentine and Elizabeth (Kroeliler) V;illeiT. 
These were all natives of the little Kingrlora of 
Bavaria, where the j^randparents spent their entire 
lives. They traced their ancestr3' to Italy. 

The subject of this sketch was born June 12, 
1824, ill the Kingdom of Bavaria, and came to 
the United States with his parents in the year 1833. 
with the three other surviving childrpn of tiie fam- 
ily. They settled in Pike County, Ohio, where the 
father engaged in farming on new land, and where 
he lived a period of twenty-two years, his death 
taking place in April, 1855. The mother remained 
a resident of the Buckeye State nearly ten years after 
the death of her husband, then in February, 1865, 
joined her son in Nebraska, and died at the home 
of her daughter, Mrs. Jacob Vallery, in Platts- 
raouth Precinct, Dee. 19, 1882, aged ninety years. 

Two of the children born to Peter V.allery and 
Lis wife, namely: Peter (1st) and Elizabeth, died in 
their native Germany. Those coming to America 
were: Conrad, Mary, Jacob and Peter (2d). Jacob, 
like his brothers and sisters, was reared in Pike 
County. Ohio, where he lived until the fall of 

1855, then turning his face toward the farther 
West, he crossed the Mississippi and located in 
Glenwood, Iowa, where he engaged in general 
merchandising. In the fall of that same year, go- 
ing to St. Louis, he purchased a stock of goods, 
which he shippecf to Glenwood, then returning to 
Pike County, Ohio, secured unto himself a wife 
and helpmate, being married, Oct. 9, 1885, to Miss 
Magdalena Fcucht. 

Mrs. Vallery is the daughter of Frederick and 
Julia A. (Sohu) Feucht, who, like their daughter, 
were also natives of Germany, born in the Kingdom 
of Wurtemberg, and where they spent their entire 
lives. Mr. and Mrs. Vallery after their marriage 
proceeded at once to Iowa, but a few weeks later 
our subject removed his stock of goods to Platts- 
mouth, and carried on business until the summer of 

1856. He then sold his store and purchased a 
flouring-raill, which he operated for a few j'ears. 
Then resuming merchandising, he thus occupied 
himself until the" year 1877. His career has been 
steadily onward and that of a self-made man, as he 
had no capital to begin with except his persever- 
ing disposition and natural energy of character. 



His huge farm witii its improvements indicntes in an 
admirable manner the success vvith which he has 
labored. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Vallery there were born twelve 
children, the record of whom is .as follows: Char- 
lotte E. became the wife of F. E. White, of Platts- 
mouth; and Anna J. married Prof. W. W. Drum- 
mond; they all live in Plattsmouth. Louisa M. 
died when about thirteen and a half years old; 
George W. lives in Wyoming Territory; Ida M., 
Mrs. D. T. Higginson, is residing in Elmhurst, 111.; 
John F. lives in Denver, Col.; Katie, Amelia, 
Charles A., Maggie, Louis and Tillie are at home 
with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Vallery are 
members in good standing of the German Presby- 
terian Church, and our subject, socially, is identi- 
fied with the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the 
lodge at Plattsmouth. P.jlitieally, he gives his 
support to the Democratic party. 

-^ €-*-^ ^— 

j^^ ILAS E. CLEMMONS is a son of one of the 
^^^ early pioneers of Cass County, who came 
Iti/^ to Nebraska Territory in the fall of 1854i 
and located on a tract of wild land three 
miles west of the present city of Rock Bluff. This 
was prior to the treatj' with the Indians, which 
gave to white men the right to locate claims of 
160 acres of land.- His father, who secured his 
first land from a warrant as a soldier of the Mexi- 
can War, took possession of his property and hired 
a man to settle on another half-section adjoining. 
He thus secured by pre-emption 320 acres as soon 
as it came into market, .and as soon as possible be- 
gan in earnest the struggle with the primitive soil. 
Our subject was then a lad nine years of age, hav- 
ing been born April 18, 1845, in Ohio. He remem- 
bers distinctly the first humble dwelling occupied 
by the family in Nebraska, and which was a cabin 
of round logs with clapboard roof and a puncheon 
floor, and a chimney built outside of sticks and 
clay. 

This cabin was occupied by the pioneers per- 
haps a year, when a more pretentious dwelling was 
constructed of hewn logs and divided into two 
rooms, making quite a stylish residence for those 



•►HI::* 



"•►Hh 



H-i^ 



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<• 



8 20 



CASS COUNTY. 



daj'S. Amid these surroundings Silas E. Clem- 
mons was reared to manliood, and there tlie jjarents 
spent the remainder of their days, each dying when 
about seventy-seven years of age. During the first 
years of their settlement in Nebraska there were 
few white people within the Territory, but Indians 
were plentiful, and uj on one occasion 500 of them 
camped near the house. They offered no violence 
however, and no annoyance except to steal and 
beg. Timber wolves and wildcats were abvtndant. 
Father Clemmons, as he was affectionately called by 
the people around, became one of the most promi- 
ment men in this community, and was greatly re- 
spected and beloved, as was also his estimable wife, 
who for many years was an exemplary member of 
the Christian Church. 

To John and Rutherford ( Peterson ) Clemmons, 
the parents of our subject, there were born thirteen 
children, twelve of whom lived to mature years. 
Of these Silas E. was the twelfth in order of birth, 
and eight of the family are still living. The pa- 
ternal grandfather, John Clemmons, Sr., died at 
the home of his son John, Jr., and there being no 
burying-ground in that vicinity, his remains were 
laid to rest in a quiet spot on the home farm, which 
has since been \ised and kept up as a public ceme- 
tery. John, Jr., and his estimable wife were laid 
by the side of Grandfather Clemmons, whom it is 
believed was the first white citizen of Cass County 
to receive sepulture within its borders. 

Our subject thus spent his boyhood and youth 
amid the wild scenes of pioneer life on the fron- 
tier, and when reaching man's estate began to make 
preparations for the establishment of a home of his 
own. One of the most important steps to this end 
was his marriage with Miss Caroline Gapen, which 
was celebrated at the home of the bride in Rock 
Bluff Township, May 3, 1870. This lady is the 
daughter of John and Matilda (Garlo) Gapen, and 
was born June 12, 1843, in Virginia. The parents 
of Mrs. Clemmons were natives of Pennsylvania 
and are now dead. Their household consisted of 
thirteen children. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Clemmons there have been 
born two children, one of whom died unnamed in 
infancy. Their only child and daughter, Cora A., 
was born on the 7th of March, 1872, and is now at 



home. Mr. Clemmons before his marriage pur- 
chased eighty acres of land on section 27, upon 
which he settled. He has the whole enclosed with 
good fencing, has erected a comfortable set of 
frame buildings, and has brought the land to a 
productive condition, a part being devoted to gen- 
eral farming and quite a large area to pasturage. 
He keeps good grades of cattle and swine and the 
horses necessary for the farm work. Belonging to 
one of the best and most substantial families of 
the countj^, he occupies a good position socially as 
well as on account of his sterling worth of charac- 
ter. Like his father before him, he is an uncom- 
promising Democrat politically, a man decided in 
his views and one whose opinions are generally re- 
spected. 

&h;NRY ROELOFSZ is recognized among the 
) people in the southwestern part of this 
county as one of its most enterprising mer- 
_ chants, and he is one of the \ery first set- 
tlers of Tipton Precinct. He was the second man 
to take up land within its borders, and wiselj' re- 
tains possession of a goodly amount, being now the 
owner of SCO acres, the operations of wliich he su- 
perintends in connection with his mercantile busi- 
ness. 

Of Holland-Dutch ancestrj' and parentage, our 
subject was born near the famous city of Amster- 
dam, June 18, 1844. Of his j)arents, Peter and 
Emley (Phillips) Roelofsz, a sketch will be found 
elsewhere in this volume. The father was a man 
of consequence in his native town, which was llie 
same as that in which his son Henry was born, and 
the owner of a castle surrounded by the traditional 
moat and the other relics of feudal days, many of 
which are still remembered by our sul)ject. 

In the fall of 1859 the Roelofsz family, parents 
and children, emigrated to tlie United States, Henry 
being then a lad fifteen years of age. Thej' embarked 
at Liverpool on a sailing-vessel, and after a voyage 
of six weeks landed in New York Cit}'. Thence they 
proceeded directly westward to Iowa, and the father 
later took up land in Marion County, which in due 
time he transformed into a good homestead, and 
which was familarly known as the Crab Apple Farm. 



I!! ^ <• 



-yf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



827 < i 



They sojourned there a period of five years. In 
the summer of 1862 the family met its first great 
affliction in the ileath of the mother, and the liouse- 
hold was l)rol<en up. 

Mr. R., after tiie deatli of his mother, started out 
for himself, worliiiig (^n a farm I13' the month. He 
hart only attended school about sis months after 
coming to America. After occupying himself as 
we have stated for three months he purchased a 
yoke of oxen and employed himself in teaming four 
months. lie then changed his occupation aiid be- 
gan his initial experience in mercantile business bj' 
engaging as clerk in a ilry -goods store in Pella, 
lona, where he w'asemplo3'ed until the spring of 
1S61. 

Young Roelofsz, a lad thoughtful and ainl)itious 
be3oud his years, desirous of seeing something 
more of the Western country, started out in the 
spring of the 3'ear mentioned, a youth of twenty. 
I'ilh three others, for the Pacific Slope. Their out- 
fit consisteJ of a four-horse team and the various 
accoutrements they would require on an overland 
journey*. After reaching Ft. Laramie the}' "fell 
out," and our subject engaged to drive a team of 
oxen for other parties through to Virginia City, 
Mont. After much labor he finally landed safely at 
liis destination, and subsequently employed himself 
in the hotels there and at various other occupations 
until the spring of 1867. He had in the meantime 
learned the baker's trade, and his western expedi- 
tion had resulted quite satisfactorily- financially. 

In the fall of the year mentioned Mr. Roelofsz 
returned to Marion County, Iowa, where he spent 
the winter following, and in the spring of 1868, a 
youth of twenty-four years, started out once more 
overland with a team, but this time for the young 
Slate of Nebraska. Coming to Tipton Precinct, this 
count}', he pre-empted eighty acres of land on sec- 
tion 14, and kept bachelor's hall one year. In the 
meantime he had begun to make provision for the 
maintenance of a wife and helpmate, and the mar- 
riage of himself an<l MissNnnc}- E. Grove was cele- 
lirated April 24, 1869. Mrs. Roelofsz w.as born in 
Mahaska County, Iowa, in 1851, and is the daugh- 
ter of James and Nancy (Price) Grove, the former 
a native of Pennsylvania and the latter born in 
Virginia, near the Blue Ridge Mountains. The 



Grove family' is of German descent, and the father 
of Mrs. R. was a farmer and teamster combined, 
and while pursuing this latter occupation frequently 
drove six horses. 

The Grove familj' subsequently changed their 
residence from Pennsylvania to Illinois, and located 
in Champaign County. Here the father engaged 
in farming and teaming .as before, but later removed 
to Tazewell County. III., settling near the present 
flourishing city of Peoria. Still not satisfied with 
his surroundings, he pushed on westward across the 
Mississippi, and took up his residence among the 
pioneers of Mahaska County. Iowa. He was one of 
the first settlers of that region, and securing 160 
acres of Government land, battled with the ele- 
ments of a new soil in the Hawkeye State until the 
spring of 1869, when he started on another pilgrim- 
age, coming this time overland with teams to this 
county. He has since been a resident of Tipton 
Precinct, where he has a good homestead of eighty 
acres. A man of more than ordinary' .activity and 
industry, he has effecteil all the improvements which 
we see around him to-;la}', and with his aged part- 
ner, is passing his declining years in ease and com- 
fort. Father Grove is seventy- two years of age, 
and his estimable wife has just rounded up her 
threescore years and ten. Both are members of 
the German Baptist Church. Their children were 
named respectively: Dicie H., John IL, Ollie C, 
Maria, James E., Susan and Nancy E. J. 

Mr. and Mrs. Roelofsz began their wedded life 
at the homestead which they now occupy, in a style 
corresponding to their means and surroundings, 
which were widely different from those of to-day. 
Mr. R. has made good improvements, setting out 
forest and fruit trees, having in groves and his or- 
chard about six acres. The present residence was 
completed in the spring of 1878. The barns and 
out-buildings compare favorably with those of the 
intelligent men around him. In 1882 he added 200 
acres to his first purchase, this latter lying on sec- 
tion 11, and also in a good state of cultivation. 
Later he purchased eighty acres on section 24. 
This also is improved and is operated by a renter. 

Our subject, in the spring of 1880, established a 
store of general merchandise at Sun Light in con- 
nection with the post-office. He put u)) the build- 



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r^*- 



U 828 



CASS COUNTY. 



iiig and still owns the properly; he carried there a 
stock of about $1,000. In the spring of 1887 he 
moved his goods to the young and enterprising 
little town of Eagle, where he also owns his build- 
ing and lot, besides his residence and three other 
lots. He also has a lumber office and lot on Main 
street, lie has increased his stock considerably, 
and enjoys a good patronage from the people of 
this section. 

Among the prominent men of the Republican 
party of this locality Mr. Roelofsz occupies no un- 
important position. He is frequently chosen as a 
delegate to the various conventions, and is an earn- 
est worker for the principles in which he believes. 
Both he and his estimable wife are members of the 
Congregational Church. Mr. R. is no sectarian, hut 
believes in the general establishment of churches, 
and assists others besides his own. He is usually 
connected with the School Board of his district, and 
was Postmaster at Sun Light for a period of seven 
years. 

The household circle of Mr. and Mrs. Roelofsz 
was completed by the birth of six children, who 
were named respectively: Minnie M., James P., 
Cora, Nettie B.. Amanda and Eltie. The eldest 
daughter, a bright and interesting j'oung lady, offi- 
ciates as clerk in her father's store. The others 
make their home with their parents, the younger 
ones attending school. Mr. R. received very little 
schooling in his youthful days, but has been a 
reader and an observer, and has thus secured a use- 
ful fund of information. There are few men with 
whom it is more pleasurable or profitable to con- 
verse. 

Z '.^^ 

"SJOSEPH W. COX. Emerson justly says 
I I that "all history is only the biography of 
men." The troubles, trials and labors of 
one individual are but a specimen of the ef- 
forts of many who have to fight the battle of life 
and go down to their graves unchronicled. In lis- 
tening to the life story of this honored resident of 
Avoca Precinct, the truth of this statement ap- 
pears most forcible, as teaching the discouraged 
hope under the most untoward circumstances, and 



how perseverance under the greatest difficulties 
eventually conquers. 

Mr. Cox came to the Territory of Nebraska as 
earlj' as 1867, and began life as a farmer on rented 
land, which he operated a few years, and was then 
es>.ten out by grasshoppers. He then again worked 
as a renter until he could secure land of his own, 
first selecting 160 acres, upon which he operated a 
term of years, and began to gain a substantial foot- 
ing. Later he added eighty acres to his possessions, 
and has one of the finest farms along the southern 
line of the county. 240 acres in extent, and located 
on sections o and 6. During his operations of nine- 
teen 3-ears upon this farm he has labored early and 
late for its improvement and cultivation, with re- 
sults which should be amply satisfactory. He has 
planted fruit and shade trees, put up substantial 
buildings, and has a fine apple orchard and a 
goodly assortment of live stock. His ideas of prog- 
ress have led him to secure the latest improved 
farm machinery, and his land under careful and 
judicious management is the source of a handsome 
income. 

A native of the Buckeye State, our subject was 
born in Bristol Township, Trumbull County, Sept. 
14, 1838. There he spent his boyhood and youth, 
becoming familiar with farm pursuits and acquir- 
ing a practical education in the common schools. 
He lived there until coming to Nebraska. He is 
the sou of Japheth Cox, a native of the same 
county in Ohio and born in Bristol Township, 
where he spent his entire life on the farm of his 
father, John Cox. The latter settled there in 1805, 
three years after Ohio had been admitted into the 
Union as a State. 

John Cox, the paternal grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was a native of York County, Pa., and of 
English and German ancestry, who were first repre- 
sented in this country during the Colonial times, , 
when John Cox, Sr., crossed the Atlantic and set- 
tled in North Carolina, removing thence to York 
County, Pa., at an earl}^ period in its history. He 

located in York County, and it will be seen that 

* 
the name has been familiar in that section of Penn- 
sylvania for several generations. 

Grandfather John Cox was reared to manhood 
in his native county, where he began life as a far- 



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CASS COUNTY. 



829 



mer. and in early manhood, laying aside for a brief 
time the implements of agriculture, shouldered the 
musket and did good service as a soldier in the 
War of 1812. Prior to the close of this conflict he 
returned to his farm and his famil^y. He married 
Miss Catherine Bower, of York County, who was 
also born and reared there, and was of German 
ancestry. Thej' took up their residence in Bristol 
Township, Trumbull Co., Ohio, in 1805, and con- 
structed a homestead from the unbroken wilderness, 
John Cox felling the timber around his cabin home, 
and his good wife assisting him after the manner 
of the pioneer women of those times. They remained 
in Truiiibull County. Ohio, until they were gath- 
ered to their fathers. Grandfather Cox in 18.57, 
at tlie advanced age of eighty-five j'ears, came to 
his death by being burned, his clothes taking fire 
one night when he had arisen from his bed to pro- 
cure medicine for a slight ailment. Although so 
old he was still hale and hearty, the result of a 
temperate life and correct habits. His aged part- 
ner survived him two years, dying at the age of 
eightj'-seven. She was a very bright and intelli- 
gent old lady, beloved and admired by all wtio 
knew her. 

Japheth Cox, the father of our subject, was one 
of the younger members of a family of ten chil- 
dren, all of whom lived to mature years, were mar- 
ried and reared families of their own. Japheth 
attained to man's estate with well-developed muscles 
and a healthy mind, and continued at the old 
homestead, earing for his parents until his death, 
which occurred in February, 1855. Although the 
child of a long-lived pair, he was cut down in his 
prime, being only forty -one years old. He was a 
skillful farmer and a capable business man, popular 
among his neighbors, and in all respects a worthy 
citizen. 

Mrs. Angeline (Webster) Cox, the mother of 
our subject, was born in March, 1815, in New 
York, and came from old New England stock, 
being the daughter of Joseph Webster, who mar- 
ried a Miss Ackley, the daughter of a Revolution- 
arj' soldier of considerable consequence on account 
of his sturdy patriotism and fidelitj' to duty. The 
Ackleys were of English descent. Joseph Webster 
and his wife spent their last days in Trumbull 



County, Ohio. They were natives of Connecticut, 
whence they emigrated to Chautauqua County, 
N. Y.. at an earl3' day, and from the Empire State 
changed their residence to Ohio. 

Mrs. Cox at the death of her husband was left 
with four children, whom she kept together until 
they had nearly reached years of maturitj'. She 
was then married to E. D. Hiekley, who died twenty 
J'ears later, in 1886, at their home in Ohio, and was 
seventy-six years old. Mrs. Hiekley is still living, 
making her home with one of her younger sons, 
Emerj- F., in Trumbull County, Ohio, and is now 
seventj'-four j'ears old. 

The subject of this sketch was the eldest of the 
four children born to his parents, all sons, and was 
about sixteen years old at the time of his father's 
death. It naturallj- fell to his portion to become the 
support and assistance of his widowed mother, and 
for some jears he discharged these duties in a man- 
ner reflecting great credit upon himself. At the 
age of twentj'-four years, desirous of establishing 
domestic ties of his own, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Ellen L. Gleason, at the home of the 
bride, in Ashtabula Countj', Ohio, April 16, 1862. 

Mrs. Cox was born in Berkshire, Mass., Nov. 16, 
1838, and is, like her husband, the offspring of 
substantial New England ancestry, who made their 
waj' to the j'oung State of Ohio when a large pro- 
portion of its territory was a wilderness. Her par- 
ents, John and Alvira (Hunter) Gleason, were 
natives respectively of Connecticut and Massachu- 
setts. The Gleasons came originallj' from Scotland, 
whence the familj' was driven to the North of Ire- 
land in the general hegira of that period conse- 
quent upon religious persecution. They were a 
people unusuallj' intelligent and enterprising as 
citizens, reliable, honest and industrious, and wher- 
ever thej' settled formed the bone and sinew of 
their community. 

John Gleason, the father of Mrs. Cox, was a 
carpenter bj' trade, and leaving his native State 
when a young man, he went to Massachusetts* 
where he found his bride. In 1854 thej' migrated 
from the Bay State to Ohio, locating in Ashta- 
bula Countj', where his death took place in 1879, 
at the advanced age of seventy-eight j-ears. The 
wife and mother survived her husband until 1882, 



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830 



CASS COUNTY. 



being then sevents'-four j'ears old. Both were for 
many years members in good standing of the Con- 
gregational Church. The father of John Gleason 
did good service as a soldier iu the Revolutionary 
War. 

The wife of our subject was carefully reared by 
her excellent parents, and was quite young when 
tbey made the removal from her native State to 
Ohio. She is the mother now of three children, all 
sons — Hardwood J., Ricliard R. and Frank A. The 
eldest is a .young man of good education, and has 
followed the profession of a teacher considerably. 
Mr. Cox has never entertained any desire for of- 
ficial honors, although he keeps himself well posted 
upon the various questions of the day, and uni- 
forml}' gives his support to the Republican party. 
He has served as Assessor in his precinct, and is a 
man liberal and public-spirited, always to be found 
on the side of those enterprises calculated to ad- 
vance the interests of his community. The family 
comprises a portion of the best element of Cass 
County, and the homestead is one of the most at- 
tractive features iu its landscape. In addition to 
its fertile soil there is a fine rock quarry, the stone 
from which is utilized not only by the proprietor, 
but by the people around to excellent advantage. 



(SI /i^ILLIAM E. LATTA is familiarly known 



\jiJ// ''''0'"0"gliout Rock Bluff Precinct and 
\^/s!i vicinity' as one of its pioneers, and was 
engaged in general merchandising at Mutray until 
recently. He had the monopoly of trade, being the 
sole merchant of tlie village, is a man remarkably 
upriglit in his transactions, and as a natural result 
enjoyed the esteem and confidence of the commun- 
ity. He sold his store to Mr. John Edmonds, and 
gave possession Feb. 1 , 1 889. 

The Latta family is of Scotch ancestry, and 
formed one of the colony of those who were driven 
from their native soil to the North of Ireland on 
account of religious persecution. William Latta, 
the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born 
in the latter country, and when a mere boy emi- 
grated with his parents to the United States, they 
locating in Crawford County, Pa. He was there 



reared to man's estate, married a lady of that re- 
gion. Miss Jane McConnaha, and reared a fine fam- 
ily of sons ami daughters. Among their sons was 
Robert, the father of our subject, who was born in 
Crawford County', Pa., about 1821. Rohert Latta 
was reared to manhood in Cra»vfonl County, and 
after his marriage settled in the vicinity of Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, about 1853, where occurred the birth of 
our subject, William E., July 22, 1854. 

The parents of our subject sojourned in the 
Queen City until about 1«58, then started for the 
West, and crossing the Mississipi)i went down into 
the soutliwestern corner of lovva, and settled in Page 
County. From there tiiey removed to Mills County 
in the same State, and th^noe in 1861 to the Terri- 
tory of Nebraska, locating not long afterward on 
160 acres of new land on section 27 in Rock Bluff 
Precinct. There the niuther, Mrs. Lellitia Latta, 
died Feb. 17, 1870. In the year 1871, Robert Latta 
rented his farm, and afterward proceeded to Chi- 
cago and engaged at his trade of carpenter, which he 
had learned during iiis early manhood. He only 
lived ashort time afterward. <lying in April of that 
same year. The (larental liousehold included seven 
children, six of whom are living. Callsta married 
Sidney Miner, and the}' are residing on their farm 
iu Rock Bluff Precinct, George A. is a resident 
of Webster County, Neb. ; William E.. of our 
sketcli, was the tiiird child ; Lizzie died when a 
little child two years of age; James resides in 
Lincoln, Neb.; Samuel and Elbert are residents of 
Cass County. In the year 1875 our subject 
purchased the interests of the heirs in the home 
farm, and resided upon it until the spring of 1888. 
Then, leaving it in the hands of a tenant he invested 
a part of his capital in a stock of merchandise, and 
established himself in business at Murray. He had 
a good trade among the people surrounding him, 
and being courteous and accommodating, was popu- 
lar among his fellow-citizens. The business was 
first established in 1884 b}' his brother Samuel, and 
his uncle, Samuel G. Latta, of whom he purchased 
stock and property. 

The marriage of William E. Latta and Miss 
Sarah Current was celebrated at the home of the 
bride in Liberty Precinct, Cass Co., Neb., Oct. 1, 
1873. Mrs. Ivatta is the daughter of James A. and ^ 



*► II ^« 



CASS COUNTY. 



831 



'■^ 



Caroline (Colburn) Ciinent.who are natives of Vir- 
ginia anrl Indiana lespeclively. and are now living in 
Elmwood, this countj-." Of this union there have 
been born three children — Letta O., James Oscar 
and Robert Bruce. The latter died Feb. 18. 1885, 
when twenty-two months old. Mr. Latta, politi- 
cally, is an earnest Republican, and his estimable 
wife is a member in good standing of the Methodist 
Eiiiseopal Church. 



^^ ONRAD H. VALLERY was one of the Hrst 
(l[ „ white children born in Cass County, his 
^^{' birth having taken j'lace in Plattsmoutli 
Precinct, April ifi, 1858, his parents having been 
early settlers of this part of Nebraska. lie was 
reared amid the pioneer scenes of the early years of 
the settlement of the State, and in due time look 
his |)lace among those who were developing and 
sustaining its wonderful agricultunil resources. He 
is now the proud possessor of one of the best tilled 
and most productive farms to be found in his na- 
tive town. 

The parents of Conrad V'allerj-, Theobait and 
Wilhcjmina (Mutz) Yallerj'. were born in German}', 
and coming to the United States when j'oung lo- 
cated in Pike County. Ohio. They remained resi- 
dents of that count}' until 1855. and in that 3'car 
sought a new home in the wilds of the Territory of 
Nebraska, and thus became pioneers of Cass County. 
Tbej' continued living liere until death, the father 
dying Oct. 29, 1864, in the prime of life, being but 
forty-two years of age, and the mother following 
him a few 3'ears later, her death occurring Oct. 22, 
J 877, at the age of fifty-eight. Mr. Vallery was 
identified with the agricultural interests of Cass 
Count}' during his few years' residence here, and 
but for his untimely death would j^robably have 
placed himself among the leading farmers of his 
neighborhood, by whom he was greatly respected 
for his many good qualities. The following is the 
record of the eight children born to himself and 
wife: Mary mariied Harry Wright, and is living in 
the Black Hills; Jacob R. is living in this county; 
Catherine, who married Hiram Adams, died April 
16, 1875, aged twenty-flve years and eleven months, 

4 < 



leaving one child; Henry lives in Saunders County, 
Nel). ; Christina married George Sigler, and lives in 
Custer County, Neb. ; Peter is in the Black Hills; 
our subject and Theobait. 

The subject of this sketch was married, Oct. 29. 
1 877, to Miss 1^ ranees Sprague, daughter of Howard 
and Catherine (Spicer) Sprague. This marriage 
has been blessed to them by the birth of five chil- 
dren, all of whoin are living, namely: Myrtle B., 
Alfa M., Jessie H., Albert W. and Blanche. Mrs. 
Vallery's parents were natives of New York and 
Pennsylvania respectively. The father is now liv- 
ing in Montana. The mother died when Mrs. Val- 
lery was a little girl, and she then went to live with 
her elder sister, Martha Barr, in Montana. Iler sis- 
ter's family sofin after returned to Cass County, 
where they still live. an<l where Mrs. V. was mar- 
ried. The mother died in Iowa where Mrs. Val- 
lery was born. 

Mr. Vallery has a farm of 120 acres of exceed- 
ingly fertile land, which, by his own skill and lalior, 
he has improved into a valuable piece of property. 
Our subject having been born during the first dec- 
ade of the settlement of Nebraska, its pioneer days 
had not [jassed away during the years of his boy- 
hood, and he has a distinct remerabranee of the 
times and scenes of those days, and converses very 
interestingly upon them. He has a vivid recollec- 
tion of the Indians, who were then numerous in ihis 
part of the country, coming out in war paint and 
frightening the white settlers from their homes to 
flee to the town of Platlsmouth for protection. He 
remembers well when deer, antelopes and other wild 
animals roamed over the wild, sparsely settled 
country. He says that in those primitive da}s, when 
the necessaries of life were hard to obtain and the 
luxuries were unattainable, the people living so far 
from tlie great centers of civilization cheerfully 
wore the coarsest and plainest ck)thing. The men 
and boys wore coarse cotton jeans, and the boys 
wonld go barefooted excepting in the winter season, 
when they wore shoes of the coarsest material. The 
incongruities of bare feet and paper collars were 
often observed .as features of the Sunday costumes 
of the youngsters in pioneer days. The girls of that 
period wore on Sundays dresses made of coarse 
brown drilling. Our subject has witnessed the evo- 



i 



•►Hl^^ 



832 



CASS COUNTY. 



liition of soeiet}' in this part of tlie countiy from 
its primitive condition to its present liigh status, 
and be is contriljuting to tiie material welfare of 
Cass Count}'. His lionorable course thus far in life 
has won for him the respect and friendship of his 
neighbors. Politically, he affiliates with the Demo- 
crats, being an earnest supporter of that iiarty. 



•► 



J'^OIIN E. ANDRUS. The subject of this 
sketch, and one of the substantial citizens of 
Tipton Precinct, was born near Canton 
Bradford Co., Pa., Nov. 20, 1847. His 
mother died when he was five years old, and he 
then went to live with his sister, Hulda L. Willhelm 
on the farm until he was nine years old. Leaving 
her lie went to live with a gentleman by the name 
of Aaron Barns, and remained with liim until he 
was twelve years old, and then went to Bradford, 
in Pennsylvania, and made liis home with an 
uncle until he was seventeen years old. Then he 
began life for himself by working for others. He 
began by chopping wood for his board and going 
to school. The next spring, in April, he began 
working for Dwight Freeman, wiiere he remained 
for three years. In the spring of 1859 he went to 
Marengo, Iowa Co., Iowa, where he worked on a 
farm, but at the expiration of three 3-ears he de- 
termined to try his luck in this State and secure a 
home of his own. He started by rail to Plattsmouth 
in the fall of 1870. He went on to Tipton Precinct, 
■where he remained over winter with his sister. In 
the spring he purchased a claim of eighty acres of 
land, his present place of residence, for which he 
paid $600. There were no improvements on this 
claim, but he set to work at once with a will to make 
his claim second to none in value in the county; a 
glance over his well-improved acres will attest his 
success in this undertaking. He has three acres of 
grove and an orchard of 200 fine trees. He has the 
advantage of running water on his place, a branch 
of the Nemaha River. He has paid his whole at- 
tention to his farm, improving it in every possible 
direction, so that it is now in a very high state of 
cultivation, and is a continual compliment to the 
energy and skill of its owner. In 1874 he rented 

■^t 



his place and went back to Iowa, where he worked 
during the year 1875, then came back, and in 
November, 1884, purchased 160 acres in Red Wil- 
low County, which he has sold. He improved his 
farm in 1887 by putting up a nice new house, barns 
and other necessary buildings. 

There is a new grove of ash timber which has 
sprung up spontaneously on the place of our sub- 
ject. He takes great pride in his fine herd of 
graded Short-horn cattle and Poland-China hogs, 
which is certainly testified by their appearance, 
which shows the care lavished upon them, and he 
has also seven head of graded horses. 

Our subject was married in Pilot Township, Iowa 
County, .Ian. 28, 1873, to Miss Exona Harbour, 
who was born in Ohio. They are blessed with three 
children: Charles, who is deceased; Norah D., nine 
years old, and Arthur W., four months old. In the 
largeness of their hearts they have taken a child 
from the Home of the Friendless, at Lincoln, and 
named him Charles Andrus; he is five years old. 
Our subject was a member of the School Board for 
five years, has been Superintendent of the Sunday- 
school at Union and Eagle for nine years. He takes 
a lively interest in politics and is an active Repub- 
lican. He is a gentleman who believes in farming 
a little land and farming it well. He owns onl}- 
eighty acres at present, provided with all the 
modern improved implements for properly cultivat- 
ing and caring for the various crops to the best 
advantage. He is a nian who deserves and has the 
respect and confidence of all his neighbors, and 
strict and unswerving integrity- marks all his trans- 
actions. A view of his neat and well-kept home 
appears on another page. 



ACOB J. BAHR. Few men along the south- 



ern line of Cass County are more widely or 



1 

I, favorably known than the subject of this 
^^J/ sketch. During his nine years' residence in 
Tipton Precinct he has been closely identified with 
its growth and prosperity. He represents real es- 
tate to the amount of 320 acres of improved land. 
It is acknowledged by every intelligent individual 
that a good wife exercises a vast influence in the 



-•►Hh 



«► II <• 



CASS COUNTY. 



building up of a home and its general appearance. 
Mrs. Bahr in this respect lias been the most efficient 
helpmate of her husband, and being a lady of fine 
tastes, and believing with St. Paul that •'cleanliness 
is next to godliness," there are few more pleasant 
places as a resort for both friends and neighbors 
than the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bahr, while the 
stranger is treated with the courtesy inseparable 
from good breeding. 

Our subject was born in what was then the Prov- 
ince of Lorraine, France, near the city of Salzburg, 
April 30, 1830, and in that beautiful stretch of coun- 
try of which his parents. Jacob and Sophia (Young) 
Bahr. were also natives. The paternal grandfather, 
Jacob Bahr, Sr.. a native of the same Province, was 
of German ancestry, and a farmer by occupation. 
He was a man highly respected in his communitj', 
active and industrious, of the strictest integritj-, 
and lived to the advanced age of ninety- years. 
Grandfather Nicholas Young, also a native of Lor- 
raine, was a well-to-do farmer, and emigrated to 
America in 1831, locating on a tract of land not far 
from that of the Bahr family, in Jefferson County, 
N. Y. He there spent the remainder of his life, 
dj-ing in 1849, at the advanced age of eighty-three 
jears. His estimable wife. Mrs. Caroline (Marts- 
loff) Young, a native of .Salzburg, died in 18C0, 
aged ninety -three jears. 

The father of our subject carried on farming in 
a modest waj' until 1831, and when his sou Jacob 
J. was an infant of a few months, resolved to seek 
his fortunes in the United States. Gathering to- 
gether his family and personal effects he embarked 
on the long voyage, and arrived safel}' upon ^Vmer- 
ican soil, locating not long afterward upon a farm 
in the vicinity of Lora, Jefferson Co., N. Y. He 
was successful in his labors as a tiller of the soil, and 
moved from there to Fayette County, Iowa, but 
only lived six months after going to Iowa, where 
he died in 1849, at the adv.anced age of seventy- 
three years. He had been a man of large and ripe 
experience, and during his sojourn in his native 
countrj' served as a soldier in the PVench Army un- 
der Xapoleon Bonaparte, being present .at the 
surrender of his army at the close of his last disas- 
trous campaign. His superior officers would gladly- 
have promoted him. but on account of the respon- 



^h-^ 



sibilities in connection therewith he declined the 
proffered honor. He was under fire in many a 
liard-fought battle and upon one occasion was 
saved from being killed by the ball passing through 
his knapsack. He was thrown down by the con- 
cussion, but escaped uninjured. It was not long 
after the close of the war that Jacob Bahr, the 
father of our subject, decided to cross the At- 
lantic. In the meantime he had engaged quite 
extensivelj' in the distillation of oils from vari- 
ous herbs, having his own apparatus. The fam- 
ily after coming to the United States sojourned in 
Jefferson County, N. Y., and the father carried on 
farming and stock-raising, building up a good 
homestead from a tract of indifferently cultivated 
land, and instituting many good iinprovements. In 
the course of years his children all left home to 
start out for themselves, and the father was finally 
persuaded to join his son, our subject, in Iowa, 
selling out his property interests in the Empire 
State. He died in Iowa in the fall of 1849, after 
he had reached liis fourscore years and two. The 
motlier had died in 1842 at the age of forty-four 
years. 

The six children of the parental family of our 
subject were named respectively: Caroline, who died 
when about fortv-four years old; Sophia, Catherine, 
Jacob J., our subject; Julia and Frederick. The lat- 
ter, during tlie Late Civil War, enlisted in the 92d 
Xew York Infantry', which was assigned to the 
Armj^ of the Potomac, was captured by the rebels, 
and finally sent home on parole. He is now living 
in Minnesota. The other surviving children are 
located in various States. 

Jacob J. Bahr, our subject, was reared to man's 
estate in Jefferson County, N. Y., pursuing his first 
studies in tlie district school, and later attending 
the seminary at Grosvenor. He completed his 
studies when about eighteen years old, and then 
began learning the carpenter trade, serving his ap- 
prenticeship and later operating as a journeyman. 
At the age of twent3'-two he started out for himself 
by purchasing a tract of land in New York State, 
the improvement of which he carried on in con- 
nection with his trade, and remained a resident of 
the Empire State until the spring of 1865. 

Mr. Bahr now decided to see what la\- beyond 



f 



*7^ 

4 834 



CASS COUNTY. 



the Mississippi, and migrated to Fayette County, 
Iowa. For two j^ears afterward lie worked at his 
trade in Fayette, but in the meantime secured 380 
acres of raw land in that county. He moved upon 
this and began farming and stock-raising, laboring 
there for a period of fifteen years and effecting good 
improvements. He was, however, not quite satis- 
fied with his condition in the Hawkeye State, and 
in the spring of 1880 disposed of his interest there 
and came to tliis county, locating on section 17, 
which wa^ then a wild and uncultivated tract. The 
first few years of his residence here he experienced 
the hardships and difficulties common to pioneer 
life, but happily possessed unbounded perseverance, 
and being blessed with good health, has come out 
of it all with flying colors. It is difficult to believe 
that the beautiful farm, with its appurtenances, is 
the work of nine years. 

Mr. Bahr completed his present residence in 1880, 
and has set out three acres of forest trees and 300 
apple trees, besides erecting the barn and other out- 
buildings necessary for the storage of grain and the 
shelter of stock. The land is supplied with running 
water — a branch of Camp Creek. Tlie farm is de- 
voted largely to the raising of fine stock, including 
cattle, horses and swine. Three teams are required 
to operate it, and besides tliese Mr. Bahr has ten 
fine horses. His sons labor on the farm while he 
works considerably as a carpenter and builder. 
His mechanical skill has been of good service in the 
construction of his homestead, saving him hundreds 
of dollars, while at the same time he has placed 
around him the various little conveniences whicli 
have so much to do with the liappiness and comfort 
of a home. 

The marriage of our subject with Miss Lucy A. 
Timmerman was celebrated June 9, 1859, at the 
home of the bride in Lora, N. Y. Tliis lady is the 
daughter of Lawrence and Polly [Conle}') Timmer- 
man, and comes of a family thoroughly American- 
ized, her paternal grandfatlier, Henry Timmerman, 
having served in the Revolutionary War. He died 
in New York State about 1834. Grandfather Solo- 
mon Conley was a native of Canada, whence he re- 
moved earlj- in life to New York State, settling in 
Jefferson County, where lie spent the remainder of 
his daj's. Grandmother Margaret (Sheldon) Tim- 

-4« 



merman was a native of Herkimer County, N. Y., 
and died in 1831. The maternal grandmother, 
Elizabeth (Howe) Conley, was of English descent, 
and a native of Brockville. Pi'ovince of Ontario, 
Canada. She was left an orphan at an early age, and 
was reared by Shakers. She also spent her last 
days in Jefferson County, N. Y. 

The father of Mrs. Bahr was born in Herkimer 
County, N. Y., in 1791, and when a youth of nine- 
teen years enlisted in the American Army, serving 
all through tlie War of 1812. He had lived in Jef- 
ferson County from a lad of seven years, at which 
time his parents changed their residence to that 
county. They were among the earliest settlers there, 
locating in tlie forest when there were no signs of 
a white man, but lying around were various Indian 
relics, arrow heads and other implements of savage 
warfare. The father cleared a farm from the wil- 
derness, and after bringing the land to a state of 
cultivation made a specialty of stock-raising. He 
passed away in October, 1883, at a rips old age. 

The mother of Mrs. Bahr was born in the Prov- 
ince of Ontario, Canada, in 1801; she died in May, 
1875, some years prior to the decease of her hus- 
band. They were good people in the strictest sense 
of the word, and members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. The seven children of the household 
were named respectively: Mary A.; Abigail, who 
died when about fifty-nine years old; Caroline, Jane 
and Frederick; Lucy A. and Melissa M. 

Mrs. Lucy A. Bahr was born in Jefferson County, 
N. Y., July 30, 1833, and received a good educa- 
tion, completing her studies in the High School 
at Evans' Mills. She remained a member of her 
father's household until her marriage. Of this union 
there have been born seven children: EvaM. is the 
wife of Mory Alexander, a well-to-do farmer of 
Lincoln County, this State; they have two children 
— Frankie and Freddie. William A. is farming in 
Tipton Precinct, this county; Polly S. married Mr. 
William Selicorp, a grain buyer of Eagle; Ada M., 
Mrs. J. D. Freeman, lives with her husband on a 
farm in Banner County, Neb.; they have one child, 
Orval V. Fred J., Orson K. and Thomas J. are at 
home with their parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. B. are members in good standing 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, attending serv- 



/I**' ■" 'Sts-fl 




•►Hf^^ 



837 



CASS COUNTY. 



•*At 



ices at Eagle, and contributing liberally and cheer- 
fully to the upbuilding of the Master's cause. Mr. 
Bahr was originally a Whig, and later affiliated 
with the Republicans, identified himself for a long 
time with the Greenbaekers. but finally wheeled back 
into the ranks of the old Republican party, which 
he thinks is about the only place of political safety. 
He has been quite prominent in local affairs, offici- 
ated as Justice of the Peace, Postmaster and Super- 
visor, and is usually connected with the School 
Board of his district. Socially, he belongs to the 
Masonic fraternity, being a member of the lodge at 
Greenwood. A man upright and correct in his 
business methods, hospitable and kind in his inter- 
course with his neighbors, he is held in high esteem, 
and amply worthy of representation in a work de- 
signed to commemorate the earh' settlers and 
prominent citizens of Cass County. 

"if? AMES G. ROMINE. The main points in 
the history of this highlj' respected resident 
of South Bend Precinct, whose portrait is 
^ presented on the opposite page, are substan- 
tially as follows: The second son of John and Maria 
(Romine) Romine, he was born in Rappahannock 
County, Va., April 30, 1825, and was one of a 
family of ten children, six sons and four daugh- 
ters, of whom three brothers, one elder and two 
younger than our subject, are deceased. The 
others are residents mostly of Virginia. 

Mr. Romine remained with his father on the 
farm until twenty-five j'ears of age, then entered the 
employ of one Crittendon as an overseer of slaves, 
and with whom he remained two years, at a salary 
of $1.50 per annum. At the expiration of this time 
he returned to his father, with whom he remained 
until the spring of 1852. tie now decided upon a 
change of location, and securing transportation for 
his trunk he started, in company' with others, on 
foot, over the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mount- 
ains to Wheeling, before the days of railroads, and 
at that point embarked on the steamboat •■Rein- 
deer," bound down the Ohio River to Cairo, tiience 
up the Mississippi and Missouri to St. Joseph, Mo., 
where they arrived in the latter part of May. 



From that point Mr. Romine proceeded to Sa- 
vannah, about seventeen miles from St. Joseph, and 
engaged to work with a farmer by the name of 
Kleiser, an old Virginian, with whom he sojourned 
one month for the consideration of $12. Mr. R. 
then formed a partnership with one G. 1). Con- 
nelly, whose acquaintance he had formed on the 
way up the river from St. Louis, and who was en- 
gaged in the leather business. Purchasing a tan- 
nery in Andrew County, Mo., they started in busi- 
ness, also selling boots and shoes, and continued 
together about eighteen months at that point. Then 
selling out they proceeded to the vicinity of Sciola, 
Montgomery Co., Iowa, where they engaged in 
farming and stock-raising, and also carried on a 
grocery and provision store about two years, and 
until the fall of 1856. 

Our subject and his partner now sold out again, 
and still in company came to this countj- and en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising near the then 
unimportant town of Rock Bluff. In the latter 
part of November, 1856, they crossed the Missouri 
River at Plattsmouth with the last of their cattle, 
meeting with great difficulty both in getting them- 
selves and their animals over the river, and land- 
ing about one mile below the regular landing place, 
the river being full of mush ice and exceedingly 
diflScult to cross. Messrs. Romine and Connellj' 
had already purchased of one Abraham Towner a 
claim of 320 acres of land for $2,000, and which 
lay just south of Rock Bluff. This they afterward 
secured by pre-empting each a quarter-section, and 
paying the Government therefor $1.25 per acre. 
The winter which followed was exceedingly severe, 
with deep snows, and in consequence the greater 
portion of their stock perished. In 1859 the part- 
nership was dissolved, and each engaged in busi- 
ness for himself. 

In the spring of 1861 Mr. Romine began freight- 
ing from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mount- 
ains, making his headquarters at Nebraska City, 
and was thus engaged until the fall of 1865. In 
the meantime he had resumed partnership with his 
old friend Mr. Connelly, which now continued un- 
til they were "cleaned out" by the Indians in the 
vicinity of Julesburg, with a loss of about $27,000, 
which claim will probably be paid by the Govern- 



•^' 



•►Hil^-^ 



^Ir 



838 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



ment during the present year ( 1 889). The savages 
made their raid about Jan. 7, 1865, running off a por- 
tion of the stock, and in the meantime Mr. Homiue 
and his men engaged in quite a skirmish with them. 
The night before the overland stage had arrived, 
and reported tiiat they had been attacked by In- 
dians about two miles east. There was a train of 
about fifty wagons owned by Keith & Cook, whose 
men were all well armed, and on the arrival of the 
coach all hands prepared for an attack at early 
dawn. Mr. Komine iunnediatel}' sent two men to 
the post at Ft. Sedgwick, informing the command- 
ing officer of the alarming reports, and received the 
following reply: "We have heard enough of these 
d — d Indian scares, and don't believe anything of 
it." By the time the messengers returned day was 
dawning. Four men volunteered their services, 
and taking some of the best horses went to the point 
where the coach was attacked, where they found 
several hundred Indians, who killed two of the 
brave volunteers outright, and mortally wounded 
the third, who died soon after returning to the 
post. By daylight Romine and company discov- 
ered Indians all around them, and started off 
another messsenger to Ft. Sedgwick, two miles 
west. 

The commanding officer .at this post called out 
the trooi)s, and attacking tlie Indians, followed 
them some three miles, the latter making a grand 
display just out of range of shots until Ihcy de- 
coyed the troops into the bluffs, then turning on 
them, forced them to retreat, witli a loss of twenty- 
three soldiers and citizens, the principal fight oc- 
curring very near the ranch. The wagonmaster of 
the train spoken of went into the fight, leaving or- 
ders that the teams be got in readiness to move at 
once. A portion of them being ready when the 
stampede occurred, the men took the ready teams 
and struck for tlie fort, leaving a portion of their 
train to the mercy of the Indians. Mr. Romine 
and four men remained at the ranch. The Indians 
took possession of the stage station and a large 
amount of provisions. The commanding officer at 
the post rallied his men and opened fire witii two 
mountain howitzers, and succeeded in driving tlie 
savages off for tliat day. 

The Indians troubled tiic ranchmen luwe or less 



for several d.i3's, l)ut the latter finally succeeded in 
getting to the fort, wliere they remained about one 
month, then returned to Nebraska City. The In- 
dians drove off all the stock of Romine <fe Co. on 
tlie south side of the river, about 150 head, and 
near the last of February set fire to the ranch. 
That morning a squad of soldiers volunteered to 
go out as scouts, and about fifteen of Mr. Rotnine's 
men, with himself, repaired to the ranch after some 
hay. Thej' had placed sentinels around, and hear- 
ing a brisk firing up the road w^st, Mr. R. being 
posti'd as a picket, while the men were loading the 
hay, espied a band of Indians coming from the 
southwest, vvith the evident intention to cut off the 
retreat to the post. Both horses, men and foot- 
men now made preparations for flight with tlieir 
horses and ponies, leaving the oxen with the wagons 
partially loaded. By means of a flanking party from 
the post, tliej" managed to save the men on foot 
from death or captnre. The Indians then took pos- 
session of the ranch, taking away with them what- 
ever they desired, driving off the slock and setting 
fire to what was left. 

In the retreat there was one Lieutenant and six 
men who were cut off from the rest, and sought the 
ranch for protection, where the seven men there, by 
careful work and watching, managed to save their 
scalps, Mr. Romine among the rest. After the In- 
dians had taken the provisions from the stage sta- 
tion tliej' tried to burn the ranch, ha}-, and otiier 
material by firing the grass. In the spring of 1 8G5 
Messrs. Romine and Connelly, with some of their 
men and effects, returned to Nebraska City, and re- 
cruiting a few teams, resumed freighting until in 
1807, when the completion of the Union Pacific 
Railroad destroyed the business. Mr. Romine then 
began buying grain and shipping it from Nebraska 
Citv, and was tlius occupied until 1871. Mr. Ro- 
mine tlien established himself at Platlsmoutii, still 
continuing in the grain trade, and following the line 
of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad until 
it was completed to Ashland. He was the first man 
shipping a load from that point, this being a car- 
load of corn. In the fall of 1870 he erected a 
warehouse on the line of this road at Ashland, in 
partnership with S. P. Decker, and which was the 
first grain warehouse put up in the town. They 



CASS COUNTY. 



839 ^ k 



^1- 



operated together until 1874, vvlien Mr. R. disposed 
of liis interests in the business to his p.artner, who 
Is still operating at Ashland, and li.as become very 
wealthy. 

Our subject now coininenced feeding cattle, but 
in the winter of 1874-75 resumed business as a 
grain dealer, also adding swine, in company with 
Mr. Mable, of Ashland, with whom he remained one 
year. In the fall of 187G he moved to the farm 
which he now occupies, one mile and a half south 
of the town of South Bend. Me put up his residence 
and some of the other buildings soon afterward. 
There being a fine spring upon the place, Mr. Ro- 
raine conceived the idea of starting a fish pond, 
built a dam, and secured a quantity of brook trout 
shipped from Wisconsin. He was successful in this 
enterprise from the start, and in the year 1879, find- 
ing in Sarpy County a splendid location for this 
business, purchased a tract of IGO acres of land 
about three miles from his other farm, and on the 
north side of the Platte River. 

In partnership with Ransom Decker, Mr. Romine 
established ponds on a portion of this land, which 
they jointly' owned, stocking these also with brook 
trout, and in the meantime also established a drug 
business at South Bend. Three years later they 
sold their fish interest to the State of Nebraska, to- 
gether with fifty-two acres of land containing the 
ponds. This enterprise, now known as the Nebraska 
State Fishery, is considered one of the best in the 
United States. The ponds are now supplied with 
German carp bj' the Government. The first of 
these Mr. Romine brought from St. Louis about 
1881, together with spawn of the California sal- 
mon to the amount of about 1,000,000, which were 
hatched and distributed in streams and lakes througii- 
out the State. The salmon, however, proved of lit- 
tle or no value. The carp and trout seem to have 
been a success. 

In 1882 Mr. Romine visited Washington City as 
Superintendent of the State Fishery, and secured 
about 5,000 3-oung German carp, which were planted 
in the State ponds. Soon afterward, returning to 
iiis fiirm, he turned his attention largely to stock- 
raising, and for three or four years was highly suc- 
cessful. The hog cholera then m;ide its appearance, 
during which he suffered a loss of about 11,500. 



He tlien returned to his farm in this county, and 
resumed the culture of the German carp in the 
home ponds, which he enlarged to cover about six 
acres, and now has probably about 5,000, which 
vary in size from spring hatchings to eight-pound 
fish, the oldest being three years, and all doing well. 
After giving the particulars of his life to the 
biographer, Mr. Romine says to the rising genera- 
tion : "Now, having lived a bachelor life, and en- 
during all the hardships of such a miserable exist- 
ence for more than forty years, and being now 
sixt3'-three years old. and seeing my folly perhaps 
too late, I advise all young men to seek the com- 
panionship of some worthy member of the gentler 
sex, and strive to live according to the design of 
the Creator, and not wholly for self." Mr. Ro- 
mine is at present living alone on his farm in South 
Bend Precinct, where he is often visited by his old 
friends, and expresses himself as always willing to 
form new ones. He is genial and companionable, 
and a man possessing a large fund of general in- 
formation, the result of an ample experience and 
of keeping his eyes open to what has been going on 
around him in the worhl. 



WjILLIAM murphy, deceased, formerly a 
resident of Mt. Pleasant Precinct, was a 
gentleman held in the highest respect by 
all who knew him. He was born on Staten Island, 
N. Y.. in 1 849, and was the son of John anil Johanna 
. (Demsey) Murphy, who were natives of Ireland. 
The latter, when William was a small boy, emigrated 
to the vicinity of Madison, Wis., where the father 
engaged in farming, and where his death took place 
when his son, the subject of this sketch, was in the 
sixteenth year of his age. The mother died in 188G. 
Mr. Murphy received a fair education, and being 
a youth of more than ordinary intelligence and fore- 
thought, he made good books his companions, and 
thus became well informed upon matters of general 
interest. He was reared to farming pursuits, and 
until a man nearly thirty years of age continued a 
resident of the Hawkeye State. At this period of 
his life he was married at Storm Lake, Iowa, July 
1.3, 1879, to .Miss Ellen Nagle. Mrs. Murphy was 



•^ 



t 

f 840 



■•►Hl--^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



a native of the State of Maine, and born April 24, 
^1856. Her parents, Richard and Maggie (Golden) 
Nagle, were natives of Ireland, and are still living, 
being residents of Storm Lake, Iowa. 

Riehard Nagle emigrated to America when a lad 
of about fourteen 3ears, settling first in the Pine 
Tree State, where he made his own living by the 
honest labor of his hands, and being dependent 
upon his own resources attained to a vigorous and 
healthful manhood. The parents were married in 
Maine, and lived there until after the birth of one 
child. In due time the househijld circle ineludea 
five sons anil four daughters. The survivors, of 
whom Mrs. Murphy is the eldest, are located as 
follows: James, David and Maggie are residents of 
Rock Valley, Iowa; Richard, Mary, Patrick and Gar- 
rett live at Storm Lake. 

Mrs. Murphy was an infant of eight months when 
her parents emigrated to the wilds of Madison 
County, Wis., and she was there reared to woman- 
hood, received a common-school education, and was 
trained by a careful mother to all useful housewifely 
duties. Of her union with our suliject there were 
born two daughters: Maggie J., April 25,1880, 
and Mary K., March 26, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Mur- 
.phy located in Mt. Pleasant Precinct soon after 
their marriage, where Mr. Murphy engaged in farm- 
ing. His sudden death from heart disease occurred 
at Weeping Water, Aug. 9, 1882. Although not a 
long-time resident of this county he had made 
many friends, being recognized as a man of worth, 
intelligence and of the strictest integrit3\ In the 
home circle he was kind and indulgent. He was a 
devout member of the Catholic Church, and, politi- 
cally, voted tiie straight Democratic ticket. 

The Murphy homestead is finely' situated on sec- 
tion 2, and comprises 160 acres of land, with build- 
ings comfortable and convenient, and which compare 
favorabl}' with those of the other intelligent people 
of this section. Mrs. Murph^', since the death of 
her husband, has managed the farm with good 
judgment and ability, and is spoken of highly by 
her neighbors. She also is a member in good stand- 
ing of the Catholic Church. 

The mother of Mr. Murphy was the second wife 
of his father, her first husband having been AVilliam 
Ford, by whom she had two children; Margaret, 



the wife of Martin Omalia, residing near Ma<lison, 
Wis., and one deceased. Of her marriage with John 
Murphy there were born six children; Hannah, the 
wife of Patrick Downey, of Wisconsin; John, who 
died when forty-five years old ; Cornelius, a resident 
of Seward County, this State; Mary, Mrs. Hart, 
living near Madison, Wis.; Elizabeth, Mrs. AVhalen, 
of Seward County, and William, deceased. 



Cass County has 
fffi within its limits numerous enterprising 
young men who have come in ''to lengthen 
her cords and strengthen her stakes," and promi- 
nent among them is the subject of our sketch, who 
is a farmer, leasing and operating a tract of 160 
acres of well-selected land in Sonth Bend Precinct. 
He is the only child of John and Sarah Cremer, and 
was born in Kankakee County, III., at Grant Park. 
He was a boy of ten years of age when his father 
died. At the .age of eighteen his mother died. 

After the death of his father our subject and his 
mother moved to the house of his uncle, Joseph 
Cremer, where he lived until his uncle, with the 
entire family, including our subject, moved to 
Nebraska in 1876, settling in Cass Count}'. Mr. 
Cremer and Miss Sarah Lee were married in 1882. 
This lady is the daughter of John W. and Emma J. 
(White) Lee; both parents wevo born in Maryland, 
(i rand father Frederick Lee was also a native of 
Maryland. Grandfather Dudley was a private in 
the Revolutionary War. The parents of Mrs. 
Cremer moved to Washington Count}', Iowa, in 
1852. She is the second eldest in a family of 
eleven children. The other members of the family 
are named as follows: Martha A., Guavara, LeRoy, 
William, Victor, Charles, Kingsley, Webb, Harry 
aiid Etta. Her parents moved to Maryhind in 
1860, and still reside there. 

The parents of our subject were exceedingly 
fond of their only child, and the father up to the 
time of his death, which occurred in Illinois when 
he was sixty years old, had anticipated a brilliant 
future for his boy; but death intervening, a change 
was necessary, and ho was not able to obtain the 
position ill life which doubtless would have been 



•►Hl-^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•► 



.S4I 



his iiad his father lived. Mr. and Mrs. Cremer arc 
tlie i)arents of two children — Etta E. and an infant, 
John Wesley, now deceased. His neighbors have 
called upon him to serve them in an official capac- 
ity, havingelected him Constable, in which position 
he has served for one term. He is an active mem- 
ber of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a Prel- 
ate. Both himself and vvife are members of tlie 
Calahan Methodist Episcopal Cluircb, in which 
society they take an important and leading part 
in all works of charity and benevolence. 

The politics of onr subject arc Republican to the 
heart's core. He takes a lively interest in his party, 
and attracts considerable attention as a local poli- 
tician. He is ambitious and aspiring, shrewd and 
intelligent, and it would be a matter of surprise if, at 
some time in the not far distant future, he does 
not reach a higldy honorable position in the coun- 
cils of his party. His wife is one of the fair 
daughters of Maryland, that home of beauty, and 
a lady of intelligence. She is kiml, hospitable and 
entertaining, and endeavors to make the stranger in 
their home feel at ease, extending to them a heart}' 
welcome. 



v 



^;ILLIAM M. ROWLAND, a practical far- 
mer of Avoea Precinct, is pleasantl}"^ lo- 
cated on section 30, where he owns a finely 
improved tract of land, nearly a quarter-section in 
length. -and situated about one mile north of the 
village. Although not a long time resident of this 
section of country, coming here in the spring of 
1886, he has fully identified himself with the inter- 
ests of his community, and is numbered among its 
enterprising and public-spirited, liberal citizens. 
He has effected considerable improvement in his 
property since taking possession, and his homestead 
is numbered among those noticeable for the air of 
comfort and plenty which surrounds them. 

Prior to his arrival in Nebraska Mr. Rowland 
had been a resident of Page County, Iowa, for a 
period of sixteen years, and in the meantime had 
improved two farms in Fremont Township. He 
was uniformly successful in his labors in the Hawk- 
eye State, but Nebraska seemed to him the more 
desirable conntrv. A native of Guernse}' Count}', 

■^ ^ <■ 



Ohio, he was born Djc. 14, 18.38. and is the son of 
a very respectable family, IlIs father being .John 
Rowlaml, who married Miss Mary Blazer, a native 
of Ohio. The}' continued residents of the Buckeye 
State until after the birth of most of their family, 
then migrated to Wasiiington County, Iowa, where 
the subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days. 
There also he acquired a practical education and 
attained his majority. The parents died in Iowa in 
middle life. 

Our subject was the eldest son and second child 
of his parents, and is the only survivor of five chil- 
dren. He grew up a practical mechanic, having 
learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked 
considerably until the outbreak of the Rebellion. 
He was among the first to enter the Union Army, 
enlisting in the fall of 1861 in Company K, 13th 
Iowa Infantry, under command of Capt. Woodford 
and Col. Crocker. They were assigned to the 
Army of the Tennessee, and Mr. Rowland endured 
the vicissitudes and hardships of life in the army a 
period of three years. He participated with his 
comrades at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, was 
at the siege and capture of Vicksburg, and through 
all the Atlanta campaign. He was wounded the 
same time that McPherson fell, but only slightly, 
and was one among the nine remaining men of his 
company who reported after the battle, the others 
being either captured or killed. 

At the expiration of his term of enlistment Mr. 
Rowland received his honorable discharge at Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn., and not long afterward returned to 
his old haunts in Iowa. He took up the business 
of farming, and was married, July 31, 1866, to Miss 
Sarah Shearer. This lady was born March 29, 
1835, in Ohio, and emigrated to Iowa with her par- 
ents, Valentine and Mary (Kellenberger) Shearer, 
about 1845. They located in Jefferson County, 
but a few years later left the Hawkeye State, and 
coming to Nebraska, located on land in Weeping 
Water Precinct. The father built up a good farm 
and lived to the ripe old age of eighty years, dying 
at the homestead in 1866. The mother is still liv- 
ing, making her home with her son, Valentine 
Shearer, Jr., and is now ninety-three years old. 

Mrs. Rowland received her education in the com- 
mon schools and lived at home with her parents 



*^h 



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■♦H 



' ^ 842 



CASS COUNTY. 



until her inani;ige. Of licr union with our sul'jet-t 
there were born five children, one of whom, an in- 
fant, flieil unnamed. The survivors are George S., 
John O., Marj' M. and Calvin. The eldest of these 
is twent}'-one years old and the youngest eleven. 
They are all at home with their parents, and form 
an interesting and intelligent family. Mr. Rowland 
since becoming a voter has been a supporter of 
Republican principles. He was the Assessor of his 
township while a resident of Iowa, and is a man of 
sound practical sense and good principles, who is 
held in esteem by his neighbors, and whose opinions 
are generally respected. 



i, I>1LLIAM B. SHRYGCK. In every town 
\rJ/! there are a few active and energetic men 
VtxP who have been instrumental in placing it 
upon its feet and attracting to it an industrious and 
intelligent class of people. One of the most prom- 
inent and influential of these is the subject of this 
sketch, a dealer in drugs and medicines, and the 
successor of Dr. J. A. Hassemeier, who established 
the business in 1878 and withdrew from it in 1882. 
Mr. Shryock carries a full stock of all the merchan- 
dise included in this branch of trade, besides books, 
stationery and jewehy, and enjoj's a generous i)at- 
ronage from tlie intelligent people of this region. 
His upright business methoils and generally reliable 
qualities as a man and a citizen have commended 
him to the confidence and esteem of all who know 
him. 

A native of AVinchester, Va., our subject was 
born Sept. 7, 1851, and is the eldest of five living 
children, the offspring of Thomas and Rachel (Mey- 
ers) Shryock, the latter also a native of the Old l)o- 
minion. The parents were married in their native 
State in 1850, and came to the West in 1864. The 
father is now officiating as Postmaster of Louis- 
ville. The maternal grandparents were Stephen 
and Joanna G. Meyers. After mairiagc the parents 
of our subject lived in the city of Baltimore, Md., 
a number of years, where the father was engaged 
as a cabinet-maker and also dealt in furniture. 

The paternal grandparents of our subject were 
Frederick S. and Anna E. (Sheppard) Shryock, and 



Thomas was their third son. He remained a resi- 
dent of his native .State until reaching maidiood. in 
the meantime learning bis trade of cabinet-maker. 
To him and his excellent wife there were born 
eight children, five of whom are living, namely: 
William B., the subject of this sketch; Louita A., 
Mrs. K. D. Siever; Edith F., Mary L. and Susan. 
The last three are at home with their ])arents. 
Three died in infancy. The famil3' came to the 
West in 1864, settling at Plaltsmouth, where they 
lived a period of twent}' j'ears, then changed their 
residence to Louisville in 1885, where the father, 
in October of that year, entered upon his duties as 
Postmaster, being the successor of Mrs. Alma C. 
Glover, and a supporter of Mr. Cleveland's admin- 
istration. 

William B. Shryock spent his boyhood years 
mostly in the city of Baltimore, but completed his 
education in the schools of Plattsmouth. this county. 
He commenced his apprenticeship at the printer's 
trade in tiie office of the Plattsmouth Herald, which 
was then under the management of H. D. Hathaway, 
with whom he remained a period of seven years. 
Subsequently he traveled considerably over the 
Western country through most of the Stales and 
Territories. After returning to Plattsmouth he 
became quite prominent in local affairs, and in 1880 
was appointed Deputy County Treasurer, a position 
which he held until 1882. He had before this served 
two years, from 1876 to 1878, as Deputj' County 
Treasurer. He then took a business trip to Lead- 
ville. Col., and in the spring of that year was mar- 
ried to Mrs. C. V. Irwin, an amiable and accom- 
plished lady, by whom he became the father of two 
interesting children, a son and daughter — Albert 
W. and Lillian J. They occupy a snug home in 
the southern part of the town, and enjoy the friend- 
ship of the best people. 

Mr. Shryock, politicallj', is a stanch Democrat, 
and has served as City Treasurer since his residence 
in Louisville. He was a member of the School 
Board four j'ears and of the City Council fivej'ears. 
He is Secretary of the Cass County Central Com- 
mittee, and a member of the Slate Democratic Cen- 
tral Committee. He is a man highly respected in 
business circles, being President of the Nebraska 
State Pharmaceutical Association, and otherwise 



•►^h-^ 



iT^ 



CASS COUNTY. 






ideiilitied with the pioiiiineiit druggists of this sec- 
tion of couiiti'}'. Socially, ho belongs to Platts- 
inoiith Lodge, I. O. O. F., and in Masonry is a 
ineuiljer of Plattsuiouth Lodge No. C, als<j Jit. Zion 
Comniandeiy No. 5, K. T. 



\f: OHN McCONNAIIA, M. D., is one of those 
men endowed by nature with reBned and 
cultivated tastes, and having an ardent love 
^0fj for the quiet of countr}' life. Consequently 
we find iiim, although a practicing [)h3'sician, in the 
possession of a good farm lying on section 20, in 
Rocli Bluff Precinct, of which he has been a resi- 
dent for man}' years. He comes of excellent an- 
cestr}', the main points of his family history being 
as follows: 

Robert McConnaha, the father of our subject, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, and the son of Rob- 
ert McConnaha, Sr., who was born among the Scot- 
tish Highlands. The name in the early days was 
spelled McConaughey. The paternal great-grand- 
father, wliose name cannot be recalled by our sub- 
ject, served with his five brothers under King 
William in the war between the Protestants and 
Catht)lics of Scotland and Knglaud. and probably 
spent his last years in Scotland. His son, Robert, 
Sr., emigrated to the United States soon after the 
independence of the Colonists had been established, 
and located on a farm in Crawford County, Pa., 
which is still owned by his son, Robert, Jr. There 
the latter and his son John, our subject, were born. 
Grandfather McConnaha married Miss Margaret 
Story, and they became the parents of eight chil- 
dren, seven of whom lived to mature years and 
were married. Hut three of these now survive. 
Robert, the father of our subject, chose for his life 
companion Miss Margaret Lackey, a native of his 
own county, and the daughter of Robert and Mary 
(Kelley) Lackej'. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 
three children — John, Mary and Margaret. Mary 
became tlie wife of R. E. Countryman, a resident of 
Rock Bluff Precinct, this county; Margaret vvas 
married to G. C. Edson, of this township, and she 
died in 1873, leaving three children; John, of our 



sketch was reared in his native county, andjafter 
leaving the district school attended college in New 
Wilmington. After being graduated with honors 
he taught one term of school near Georgetown. Pa., 
and thus earned money enough to bring him to Ne- 
braska. Of this he became a resident in Novem- 
ber, 18.59. while it was still a Territory, landing 
this side of the Missouri Iliver with a capital of ten 
cents. 

Our subject possessed all the courage of his sub- 
stantial .Scotch ancestry, and was not disma\ed by 
the circumstances surrounding him as long as he 
|)ossessed his health and strength. He at once se- 
cured employment with Mr. Joseph P. Moore, at 
$13 per month, and was occupied at farming until 
the spring following. He then joined a wagon train 
being fitted out to cross the plains with provisions 
for the various posts of the frontier, and in this 
wild sort of life spent the time until December, 
1861. In the spring of 1862 he returned to his 
native State to settle up the business of his uncle, 
William Story, and, this accomplished, came back 
to this county. On the 2oth of September, 1862, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Latta, 
and journeyed to Penns\'lvania on a wedding tour, 
remaining in the Keystone State until the year 
1866. The Doctor and his wife then returned to 
this county for permanent settlement. 

The household circle of Dr. and Mrs. McConnaha 
was completed by the birth of ten children, namely : 
Elmer; Jennie and Jessie (twins), who died when 
twenty-two months old; Ernest, Mabel, Robert; 
Evert, who died at the age of ten years; Lulu, 
Mary and Earl. The parents of Mrs. McConnaha, 
John and Mary (McConnaha) Latta, were also na- 
tives of Crawford County, Pa., and the parents of 
seven children: The Doctor during his excursions 
across the plains deteriorated somewhat in his medi- 
cal knowledge, and consequently afterward took a 
course of lectures in Oakland, Cal. After these 
were completed he entered upon the regular prac- 
tice of his profession in this township. He cnjojs 
a fine patronage throughout Rock Bluff Precinct and 
the country adjoining, and has been remarkably 
successful. He has also frequently been called into 
Iowa for consultation in important cases. He has 
not only made money, but hosts of friends. He 



•► II <• 



844 



CASS COUNTY. 



*Hh 



^ 



puifliiised liis piefcnt farm of IGO ncres in 1869. 
It is pk-asniitiy Ideated on section 20. and bears all 
the evidences of tjirift and judicious manajiement. 
Ulrs. McConnalia and two of her children are 
members in good standing of tiie United Brethren 
Church, while the Doctor is partial to the Presby- 
terian doctrines in which he was reared. Politi- 
cally, he is a sound Republican, maintaining the 
l)rinci|iles handed down to him from his sturdy 
Scotch ancestrj-. 



<S^ DMUND E. WILLIAMS. The agricultural 
|IU) and business interests of Cass County are 
ylLl^ worthily represented by the subject of this 
biography, who was one of the earliest settlers of 
Southern Nebraska, and who is now the owner of 
a beautiful and valuable farm property lying on 
section G of Weeping Water Precunei. Coming to 
Nebraska in the Aiiril of 1860, seven years before 
it had l)een transformed from a Territory into a 
Slate. Mr. Williams has been a privileged witness 
of its remarkable growth and development, and has 
conlribuled no small share in bringing it to the po- 
sition of one of the most important commonwealths 
west of the Mississippi. A view of his place is 
shown on another page of this work. 

Mr. Williams first made his stopping place on 
Nebraska soil near the site of the present city of 
Lincoln, which was then unmarked by a single 
building, and settled on a tract of land in the basin 
of Salt Creek. His principal mail station and Irad- 
ing-posl was Wallingford, a ranch located upon the 
present site of Ashland, and his neighbors were few 
and far between. His first shelter was a dugout, 
and after staying here a few months he proceeded 
to Denver, Col., spending there the following year 
at the time of the gold excitement, and engaged 
mostly in freighting. In the spring of 1861, re- 
turning to Nebraska, he began freighting with teams 
from Nebraska City to Denver and other points, a 
business which he followed successfully for a period 
of six years, employing three months in making the 
round trip. He thus made four trips a year, two 
with oxen and two with mules. 

The plains at that period were little more than a 



barren desert, for which our subject would not have 
paid ten cents per acre for all he could see. After 
a time there was visible a ranch here and there, but 
it was not until al>out 1864 that the country began 
to settle up. With Edmund E. there came his two 
brothers, Charles and George Williams, but the two 
latter were so disgusted with the outlook that they 
soon sought tiieir ohl haunts in Iowa. Edmund E., 
however, resolved not to he beaten, persevered in 
his reolution to carry out what was meant in the 
advice of Horace Greeley, " Go West, young man, 
go West," and having come here <letermined to 
staj". Although the first few j-ears formed a period 
of many hardships and much toil, in looking upon 
his surroundings to-day it would seem that he must 
have reason to feel satisfied with the result. 

In the April of 1869 Mr. Williams homesteaded 
•eight}' acres of wild land on section 6, in Weeping 
AVater Precinct, which is included in his piesent 
homestead, and after his freigiiting business had 
been abandoned he entered industriously upon its 
cultivation. Beginning from first principles he 
broke the sod and put in bis first crops before fenc- 
ing. Soon afterward he began the planting of trees, 
both forest and fruit, and one by one erected the 
buildings necessarj' for his convenience and com- 
fort. The residence is a substantial two-story frame 
structure, which was completed in 1879. Theyeai- 
following he put up the first large barn, which was 
then the best structure of its kind within a radius 
of ten miles, and is still capable of many years' serv- 
ice. He has always kept good live stock, and 
gradually gathered the machinery necessary for the 
thorough cultivation of the soil. A fine windmill 
pumps water from a a living spring, which is con- 
veyed wherever needed, and all about the premises 
are the numberless little contrivances which have so 
much to do with the comfort and enjoyment of the 
modern farmer and his family. 

Mr. Williams avers that he has been " too 
busy to dabble in politics," although he has kept 
himself fully informed as to the course of National 
events, and uniformly casts his vote with the 
" grand old Republican party." He has, however, 
consented to serve as an oflBcer of the School Board, 
being Treasurer in his school district a period of 
nine years, and holding other unsalaried positions 



Ht^4^ 



•^l-^^ 



•►Hl-^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



845 



of trust. Witli his estimable wife .and his son he 
is a member in goo(1 standing of the Free-Will 
liaptist Church, in which lie has officiated as Deacon 
a number of years. 

Tlie subject of this skelch was born in Hancock 
County, Ohio, Aug. 5; 1839, and when a lad of 
thirteen years his parents removed to Jackson 
County, Iowa. There the father died three years 
later, in 1855. Edmund K. being the second eldest 
son assumed charge of the homestead until his 
younger brothers were old enough to take his place. 
In the meantime his mother was married a second 
lime, and lived in Iowa until 1860. She is now in 
California. 

Mr. Williams after abandoning his freighting 
enterprise was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary 
(Davidson) West, Jan. 18, 18(35, in Iowa. Mrs. 
Williams was born in Washington Count}', Ohio, 
Nov. II, 1837, and is the daughter of Lucius and 
Catharine West, the former born in New York and 
the latter in Ohio. Leaving the Buckeye State 
al)ont 1852 tliey emigrated to Iowa, settling in 
Jackson County, where the father carried on farm- 
ing a few seasons, then going to California remained 
on the Pacific Slope until his death about 1880. 
The mother died in Ohio, in 1850. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Williams there have been born eight children, six 
of whom are living, namely: Thomas A., Willard, 
Nellie, Wesley, Emma and FIddie. The deceased 
children were two little sons, Charley and Ray, who 
each died about the age of one and one-half years. 
The survivors are all at home with their parents, 
and are being given first-class educational advan- 
tages. The eldest, Thomas A., has already been 
graduated from the Lincoln State University as B. 
S. Mr. Williams was enabled to acquire' only a 
limited education, and is determined that his chil- 
dren shall not be called upon to undergo the dis- 
advantages with which he has battled on a like ac- 
count. 

Thomas Williams, the father of our subject, was 
born in Virginia, in 1810, and there lived until 
reaching manhood. He then emigrated to Ohio, 
and settled among the earliest pioneers of Hancock 
County. Taking up a tract of timber land he 
constiucted a home in the wilderness. He sold 
his first purchase a few j-ears later and performed 



-4^ 



as before upon another piece of wild laud, then, 
finally selling out. left the Buckeye State alto- 
gether, aid moved to Iowa with his family. Settling 
there in Jackson County he battled again with the 
elements of a new soil, and died at this latter home- 
stead about 1 850. 

The mother of our subject, Mrs. Margaret (Shur- 
Icy) Williams, was born, reared, and married to Mr. 
AVilliams in Ohio. Her union with the father of 
our subject resulted in the birth of tight children, 
all of whom lived to mature j'ears, and seven are 
still living. The deceased son, Charley, died at 
Pittsburg Landing, just after the battle at that 
place. 

At the time of the Indian outbreak of 1863 .Mr. 
Williams, in i)ursuance of his freighting business, 
was encamped about sixty miles southeast of Denver 
with a herd of nearly 600 head of work cattle for 
Majors & Russell, of Nebraska City, having with 
him three men. The outbreak occurred only three 
miles from them, and two of the men atanother camp 
were killed. Mr. Williams with his men succeeded 
in "rounding up" his cattle, and started on the 
forced march toward Denver, reaching there by 2 
o'clock next morning. At sunrise the next morn- 
ing he was back with sixty cavalry men and four 
guns. They started on the trail of the savages, ran 
a portion of them across the Platte River, and dis- 
covered their encampment opposite Rising Sun 
Ranch. Crossing in the darkness seven miles below 
the}- came up to within three-fourths of a mile of 
them, and lying in Sand Gulch until dawn, com- 
menced work, cleaning them out and recovering 
eighty he.ad of horses and mules, together with all 
except eighty head of their cattle which the red- 
skins had taken. In this skirmish seven men were 
killed, five soldiers and two herders, and a number 
of others wounded. Mr. Williams during his 
freighting experience often met with the Indians, 
frequently engaging in skirmishes with them. " Old 
Bob Williams' " ranch, about 400 miles west of 
Nebraska City, was the scene of one of his live- 
liest encounters. The Indians had made a raid 
on a train of nine emigrant wagons, killing all of 
the people with the exception of one man, this 
being done only two hours before our subject and 
his men overtook them. Mr. Williams and his men 



f 



•►Hl^ 



846 



CASS COUNTY. 



formed a corral of the wagons, putting tlieir cattle 
therein, and thus made a lireastwork. from which 
the3' fired at the Indians, and after a long and hard- 
fought battle and killing many, finally drove them 
aw.a^'. His adventures during his travels on the 
frontier would make a good sized volume, highly 
interesting to peruse. 



H3- 



R. ANSON I.. HOOT. Prominent among 
the medical fraternity and business men of 
Cass County stands the gentleman whose 
name appears at the head of this sketch. 
He lias been a resident of, and practitioner in 
Weeping Water since 1873, and in that time has 
built up an extensive practice, and won hosts of 
friends among all classes of people. He is a native 
of Trumbull C'ount3% Ohio, born Feb. 5, 1831. His 
father, Dr. Anson Root, was the son of a physician, 
with whom he read medicine, afterward attending 
lectures, and then practicing in Ohio and Indiana 
the forty j'ears before his death. The maiden name 
of his wife, the mother of our subject, was Sally 
Brooks, who was the daughter of an officer in the 
Continental Army during the Revolution. To her 
and her husband were born thirteen children, six 
of whom grew to maturity. One of them gave his 
life to his country', having died while in service 
during the late Rebellion. The subject of our 
sketch went South to nurse and care for him, but 
found on his arrival that he had died nine daj^s 
previously. 

Ur. Root, of whom we write, remained at home 
until twent3'-one j-ears of age, receiving a good 
education in his native town, and studying medi- 
cine with his father, thus having superior advan- 
tages over most bo\-s in those days. The death 
of his father occurred when our subject was sev- 
enteen years of age, and he afterward read medi- 
cine with Dr. Bradley, of Johnstown, Ohio, for 
a period of two years, taking also a course of 
lectures at Cincinnati, and in 1851 commenced the 
practii-e of medicine. He first located in Ohio, then 
established himself in Indiana, but desiring still 
newer country for practice, went to Galien, Ber- 
rien Co.. Jlich.. thence to Newaygo, in the same 



State, where he remained several j-ears. having set- 
tled there before the war, and staying there until 
coming to Nebraska. He had an extensive prac- 
tice there, and now has man^^ applications for pen- 
sion certificates from that State. Associated with 
him in his profession while in Newaj'go'was his 
nephew, Dr. H. D. Root, now of Lincoln, Neb., and 
the amount of business done bj' them may be in- 
ferred from the fact that besides the cash practice 
in the oflSce the3' averaged a book practice of 
$4,200 a year, this showing the large territory' 
over which the3^ must have ridden. 

In March, 1873, Dr. Root came to Nebraska, and 
settled at Eight Mile Grove, where he was soon 
appointed Postmaster 133' Postmaster-GeneralJames, 
and held that office until forced to resign on ac- 
count of sickness. His official duties, in connection 
with his professional ones, were too great for his 
pli3'sical strength, his medical practice having grown 
rapidl3-. He had the majority of cases of sickness 
in the settled countrv southwest of his place, but 
was obliged for a time to give up all work. At the 
end of eight 3'ears the Doctor came to Weeping 
Water, and lived on a farm four miles west of the 
city limits for a 3'ear. He then bought out the 
two drug-stores at South Bend, and consolidating 
them, took in as partner C. L. Bates, who the fol- 
lowing 3'ear disposed of his interest to the son-in- 
law of our subject, Edward Parish. They moved 
the store to Weeping Water, and it is now doing a 
successful business under the firm name of Root 
& Parish. Besides this store. Dr. Root is the owner 
of another store and lot on I street, Weeping Water, 
and of two building lots and two residences, and 
also of land in Julesburg, Col. The drug building 
and two residences in the cit3' are owned jointly 
by Dr. Root jind his son-in-law, Edward Parish. 
The Doctor has been very successful in all his 
undertakings, and has ample wealth for his re- 
maining vears, which we sincerel3' hope may be 
man3", and is graduall3' giving up his practice to 
younger and stronger hands, attending only to a 
few of his old patrons who hesitate to place them- 
selves under the care of a strange doctor. His 
reputation as a skillful ph3'sician is well known 
throughout the State, and is recognized by his pro- 
fessional brethren evervwljere. and he is a valued 



•►H»-«f 




>► I I <• 



CASS COUNTY. 



847 



member of the State Medical Association. During 
his bus3' career he has seen many of the hard sides 
of a practitioner's life, but he can look back upon 
his past with genuine satisfaction, feeling that he 
has well earned the right to a few years of free- 
dom from care and hard lalior. 

The maiden name of Dr. Root's wife was Eliza- 
beth Robe, .and she is a native of Ohio. She became 
acquainted with the Doctor when quite a 3'oung 
lad\', in ludiana, while nursing him through a fit 
of sickness, and thej' became mutually attached. 
The friendship thus formed ripened into love, and 
a most happy marriage was the result. To them 
were born five children, four of whom are still 
living: Bj'ron A., Russell D., Ella, Dora P. and 
Ida. Byron has charge of a farm comprising 
1,200 acres of land in Cheyenne County (recently 
changed to Deuel Countj-), Neb., and also owns 
320 acres there; he married Miss Eliza Alton, of 
Michigan, who died in Nebr.aska, in February, 
1887, leaving one child, Benjamin. Russell is a 
successful physician in Big Springs, Deuel Co., 
Neb.; he married Miss Ella Cone, and to them 
have been born five children — Allie, Loren. Albert, 
Madge and Ida F. Ella, formerly a teacher of 
much note, married Rev. Charles Cary; siie died 
at Eight Mile C^rove, leaving a daughter, a bright, 
interesting child, now twelve years old, iind who is 
living with a sister of Dr. Root, Mrs. Peck, of 
Weeping Water Precinct. Dora is the wife of 
George Shirley, of Deuel County; they are the 
parents of one child, R.alph. Ida is the wife of 
Edward Parish, the partner of our subject. 

l|L_^ON. JAMES W. THOMAS, M. D. This 
,i[jj] gentleman, who is widely known throughout 
(■y^ Cass CoHnt3-, 'oears the distinction of being 
i^) the oldest practicing plysician and surgeon 
of Weeping Water, being the first to locate here of 
those now remaining. He took up his al)ode within 
its precincts in December, 1867, within a year after 
Nebraska had been admitted into the Union as a 
State. It is hardl3' necessar3' to state that during 
his long residence, which has been marked by an 
honorable and upright course, he hiis drawn around 



him hosts of friends and is numbered among tlie 
most prominent and reliai)le men of the count3'. 

Belmont Count3', Ohio, w.as the earl3' tramping 
ground of our subject, and where his birth took 
place Aug. G. 1842. Five 3-ears later his parents 
removed to Monroe County, where they lived until 
the outbreak of the Rebellion, and in the meantime 
young Tliomas completed iiis education in the Higli 
School at WoodsBeld. the count3' seat. He enlisted 
.as a Union soldier when a youth of nineteen years, 
in Company I, 77th Ohio Infantr3', on the 2;Hh of 
November, I 861. entering the ranks as a private. 
His regitnent vv.as assigned to the Arm3' of llie 
Tennessee, and was under the command of both 
Gens. Grant and Sherman, participating in many 
of the important battles of tiie war. Young Thomas 
during the fierce conflict at Shiioh was shot twice, 
one hall nearl3' paralyzing his left arm, and this he 
still carries in his shoulder. The other wound was 
in the right hip. He .also received two saber cuts, 
one on his he.ad and one in the left hip, the former 
leaving a scar four inches long. He w.as confined 
in the Fourtli .Street Hospital, St. Louis, where by 
careful nursing he managed to recover enough to 
return home with his father, who came after him. 

Gov. Todd, of Ohio, about that time issued an 
order for all piroled and convalescent soldiers to 
report at Camp Chase, and our subject accordingl3' 
repaired thither, reaching camp on the Gth of Au- 
gust. On the 16th of September following he re- 
ceived an honorable discharge, and returned home. 
Although quite feeble he taught sciiool that winter 
and every winter succeeding, until entering upon 
the practice of his profession, with the exception of 
the time when he attended medical lectures. He 
began reading medicine under the instruction of 
Dr. William Martin, one of the most promising 
physicians and surgeons of Harriettsville, Ohio. 
He remained with him three years, in the meantime 
employing his winters in te.aching and taking lec- 
tures at Miami College. Cincinnati. On coming to 
Nebraska he entered upon the pr.actice of his profes- 
sion at Weeping Water, which then bore little in- 
dication of its present importance, the town property 
being not even laid out, although the ground had 
been platted by E. L. Reed. The 3'ear following a 
few more buildings were added to the six or seven 



••-nr 



«^ 






"•►Hh 



CASS COUNTY. 



originally occupying the present town site, and Dr. 
Tliornas enjoyed a monopoly of tlie business, being 
the only i)hysician here for a period of seven or 
eight years. The profession then received an ad- 
ditional representative in the person of Dr. Gibbon, 
and later came Dr. Butler. 

During this time our subject rode long distances, 
and when needing counsel he was obliged to seek it 
at Plittsin )uth or Nehr.uk i City. Hi has always 
paid especial attention to surgery, in which he is 
particularly skillful. H^ enjoys the reputation of 
a faithful and conscientious practitioner, and al- 
thougli practically retired from active service is 
frequently called upon by his old patrons, who dis- 
like to tru-it thiiir cases to strangers' hands. He 
has a finely equipped office on I street, and a 
good residence on Eldora avenue. Since with- 
drawing from his regular practice Dr. Thomas has 
become consider.ibly interested in the loaning of 
money, opsrating largely as an agent for an Eastern 
capitalist. 

The p3ople of this county were not slow in rec- 
ognizing the more than ordinary abilities of Dr. 
Thomas, and he has alw.ays been prominent in the 
councils of his fellow-citizens in regard to the 
matters affecting the general welfare of the com- 
munity. In 1884 he was elected by the Repub- 
licans of the Seventh District to represent them in 
the Nineteenth Legislative Assembly, ami in the 
pursuance of the duties of this office was connected 
with many of the important committees, including 
that of Ways and Means, Schools, and other subjects 
requiring unremitting attention. In his school dis- 
trict he has been a Director for a number of years, 
has also otfljiated as Treasurer, and was a member 
of the Village Bjard eight years. Socially, he be- 
longs to tlie I. O. O. F. and the G. A. R. During 
the campaign of 1880 he was Chairman of the Re- 
publican County Committee, later, in 1888, operated 
offijiently at various points as a stump speaker. 

For the last twenty years the question of remov- 
ing the county seat to Weeping Water has been 
agitated, an 1 Dr. Tliomis has always favored the 
scheme, believing that for the capital of the county 
this is the proper place in point of location, sur- 
roundings, and the character of the people. He is 
one of those men who seldom relinquish an idea' 



and who has in his whole career illustrated the re- 
sults of perseverance. Whether this trait of char- 
acter applied in this cliannel will result as favorably 
as it has in connection with his private interests 
remains to be seen. 

Miss Rachel McVea, a native of Washington 
County, Ohio, became the wife of our subject Nov. 
9, 1864. This lady was born July 6, 1844, and was 
the daughter of Samuel and Mary (Martin) McVea, 
who were natives of Ohio, and the father a farmer 
by occupation. The latter moved to Kansas about 
1871, where he died. The mother had preceded 
her husband to the silent land, her death taking 
place about 1856, in Ohio. They were the parents 
of six children, four of whom are living. 

Four children completed the household circle of 
our subject and his estimable wife, all of whom are 
living. The wife and mother departed the life at 
her home in Weeping Water, March 21. 1884. She 
was an affectionate wife, loving mother and kind 
neiglibor, and in her death the community lost one 
of its most valued members. The children are 
named respectively: Marion U., William M., Leola 
and Winnifred. The three youngest are at home 
with their father, where they are subjected to care- 
ful training, and are being given an education in 
keeping with their means and station in life. The 
eldest son married Miss Edna Upton, a resident of 
Dana, Kan., and is the father of one child, a son 
James. 

The father of our subject was Abram Thomas, a 
native of Pennsylvania, and born Nov. 9, 1814. 
When but a boy he removed with his father's fam- 
ily to Ohio, they settling among the pioneers of 
Guernsey County. Upon reaching man's estate he 
was married to Miss Plioebe Lindcr. and they be- 
came the parents of eight children, seven sons and 
one daughter, who are all living and all making their 
homes in the West. Abram Thomas cleared a farm 
in the wilderness of Monroe County, Ohio, upon 
which he lived until 186G, then turning his face 
westward to Nebraska Territory, crossed the Mis- 
sissippi, and coming into this county, settled on 
what was known as Livingston Ranch, a few miles 
west of Plattsmouth. This property he purchased, 
but only lived there a short time after the death of 
the wife and mother, which occurred in the fall of 



•► 



*t 



*► I I <•• 



-^ 



4 



CASS COUNTY. 



849 



1 867. Subsequently he removed to Hillsdale, Iowa, 
where he is now engaged in mercantile business, al- 
though having attained to the advanced age of 
seventy-four years. He is the owner of a good 
property embracing three farms, and has therefore 
sufficient of this world's goods for his declining 
years. The paternal grandfather. Thomas Thomas, 
cleared quite an extent of land in the Buckeye 
State during the pioneer days, and there spent bis 
last years. 



^3= 



=E>- 



(^s^ YLVESTER TORllENCE. Ovcrseventy- 
^^^ nine years ago the subject of this sketch 
(Vj/iJl Ijegan life, March 2, 1810, six miles from 
the town of Penn Yan, in Yates Countj', N. 
Y. Forty years later he started out to explore the 
West, and in the fall of 1857 found himself the 
other side of the Mississipi)i, and on the soil of 
Nebraska Territory. Later he took up his resi- 
dence in this county, and is now living retired 
from active labor at a pleasant home in Weeping 
Water. He has a good farm on section 27 in the 
same precinct, and has been the owner of other 
land which he has given to one of his sons. 

Mr. Torrence spent the first fortj' years of his 
life in his native State, engaged mostly in agri- 
cultural pursuits. He received careful home train- 
ing, and a practical education in the district schools. 
Upon leaving the county which gave him l)irtli ho 
migrated to Lake County, 111., settled upon a tract 
of new land, and farmed in that locality aI)out 
tlii-ee years. Thence he removed to Marquette 
County, in the northern part of Wisconsin, which 
had but recently been transformed from a Ter- 
ritory into a State, and while Indians were still 
plentiful in that region. 

Mr. Torrence took up new land in Marquette 
Countj-, upon which he operated five years, and 
then sold out to good advantage. He now de- 
termined to find out what lay on the other side of 
the Father of Waters, and starting out on the 26th of 
April, 1857, arrived in Nebraska City, Otoe Count}', 
later. It being a hard matter to find emplo^'ment, 
he returned to Iowa, and was occupied the follow- 
ing summer as a farm laborer. In the fall of 1857 
4 » 



we find him again in Nebraska City, but he soon 
traced his steps eastward again as far as South Bend, 
Iowa, where he took up a tract of new land, im- 
proved .another farm, and put up good buildings. 
He was not destined to be contented, however, 
until he had given Nebraska another trial, so com- 
ing to this count}' once more, in the spring of 1871, 
j he purchased a tract of wild land on section 27, 
in Centre Precinct. Upon this tliere was not even 
a bush to be seen, and not a furrow had been 
turned toward its cultivation. He sheltered him- 
self for a time with his son, and as soon as possible 
gathered together the necessary implements, and 
began again the construction of a homestead. He 
was content to remain and labor a series of years. 
He in the meantime effected a vast change in the 
condition of the property, putting out a large grove 
of forest trees, a good apple orchard and the smaller 
fruits, besides erecting the buildings necessary for 
the successful prosecution of agriculture. As far 
as anything can be created from nothing by mortal 
man, Mr. Torrence brought into existence a valua- 
ble farm from it. In the fall of 1888, feeling 
that he had performed his duty among the active 
labors of life, he moved into Weeping Water, and 
is now living in the ease and comfort which he has so 
justly earned by years of early iudustr}'. 

Our subject was married in his native State, Jan. 
12, 1836, to Miss Jane Smith, and they have now 
lived together for a period of fifty-three years. 
Four of the six children born to them arc still liv- 
ing. One son, George, a promising young man. 
enlisted as a soldier in the Union Army during 
the late war, received a fatal wound at the bat- 
tle of Resaca, and died there in 1863. Another 
child died when nineteen years old. Their eldest 
daughter, Eugenia, became the wife of Charles 
Thorngate, of New York, who departed this life at 
his home in Nebraska about 1884; they were the 
parents of four children — Ida, Ella, Jennie and 
Ethel. They are all living with their mother in 
Weeping Water. Barnum S. married Miss Harriet 
Smith, and they have five children, namel}': Louise, 
James, Roy, Laura and Berenice; they are resi- 
dents of this county. Susan, Mrs. Rexford, is the 
mother of four chililren — Herbert (now deceased), 
Willis, Ada and Charles; she lives in Centre Pre- 



•^K 



■*►^l- 



850 



CASS COUNTY. 



cinct. Oscar married Miss Marcia Speer. is a resi- 
dent of Centre Precinct, and the fatlier of five 
cbildren — William, George, Eugenia, Walter and 
Bessie. 

Mrs. Jane (Smith) Torrence was born in New 
Jerse3', Feb. 20, 1810, being consequently ten days 
ol<ler than her husband. When she was a little girl 
of seven years her parents removed to Ontario 
County, N. Y., wnere she was reared to woman- 
hood and married to our subject. Her father, John 
Smith, was also a native of New Jersey, and married 
Miss Catherine Benson, of the same State. He was 
a boy during the progress of the Revoliitionarj' 
War, and rememliers man}' of the incidents in con- 
nection therewith, which transpired during that 
period of his life, especially the first anniversary of 
July 4. He spent his last years in New York, 
d^'ing about 1845. He had been occupied most of 
his life as a farmer. The parental household in- 
cluiled nine chihlren. 

William Torrence, the father of our subject, was 
born in Massachusetts in 1 773, and when approaching 
manliood migrated to Ontario County, N. Y. He oc- 
cupied himself in agricultural pursuits, and was mar- 
ried to Miss Salome Danes. The}' settled in Ontario 
County, N. Y., where the}- spent the remainder of 
their days, and became the parenlsof nine children, 
all of whom lived to mature j'ears. William Torrence 
was drafted into the army during the War of 1812, 
and repaired with his regiment to the front, but 
whether he engaged in any active fighting the rec- 
ords do not indicate. He only lived a few years 
thereafter, his death taking place in 1818, when he was 
corai)aratively a young man. The wife and mother 
survived her husband a period of fifty-six j'ears, 
remaining a widow, and died at her home in Nevv 
Y'ork, in February, 1874. Mr. Torrence cast his 
first Presidential vote for a Whig can<lidate, being 
first a niember of the old Whig part}-, but upon its 
disbandment identified himself with the Repub- 
licans, the [)rinciples of which party he has uni- 
formly supported. He has been a member in good 
standing of the Congregational Church for a period 
of more than fort}' years. Many and great have 
been the changes which he has witnessed in the 
land of his birth, and especially in the Great West. 
He has done his part in developing a portion of its 



•► 



-4»- 



territory, and has acquitteil himself as a peaceable 
and law-abiding citizen, a kind and indulgent father 
and husband, and a hospita'ble neighbor. There 
will be quite a number to perpetuate his name, he 
being the grandfather of seventeen children, and 
the great-grandfather of four. 



Ti_^ORACE W. GLEASOX, Postmaster of Man- 
[1)1) ley Village, is looked upon as the father of 
^1^ the place, he having ably promoted every 
(^)) public enterprise undertaken for its advance- 
ment. He was the pioneer merchant of the village, 
as well as the first grain dealer, and still carries the 
best and largest assortment of goods to be found in 
any general and grocery store in this vicinity. He 
came to Nebraska in 1883, and settled in Manley, 
which was then a place of ilo importance, being 
merely a side track on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, 
with a few shanties for the workmen. He was then 
acting in the capacity of man.iger of Spear & Hurl- 
burt's grain business, and he attended to the eleva- 
tor here for four years. He soon established- him- 
self in business on his own account, and was nearly 
the first merchant here, only one before him, who 
staid only a few weeks, so that our subject was 
practically the pioneer merchant of Manley. He 
established his first store near where the elevator 
now is, and as the demands of his trade increased, 
and his need of a more commodious building was 
apparent, he erected his present store, with residence 
above it, and moved into it in 1884, it then being 
one of the two largest buildings in the village, the 
hotel being the other one, the inhabitants for the 
most part still being housed in rude shanties. With 
increaseil facilities for doing business, Mr. Gleason 
enlarged his slock, and has since built up an exten- 
sive trade. He was appointed Postmaster in Janu- 
ary, 1884, he being the second Postmaster here, 
and the only one in fact to hold the office any length 
of time, his predecessor having been an incumbent 
but a short time. He and his family have a charm- 
ing home, as he built and added to a pleasant cot- 
tage house, a few rods north of his store, in 1887, 
and the same year moved into it. 

Our subject derives his ability and force of char- 
■> 



•► II <• 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•»* 



851 



acter in a great degree from a sliirriy New England 
ancestry. His father, H. N. Gleason, was l-.orn in 
Ilartforrl Connty. Conn., April 17, 1800, and was a 
resident of that State nntil about twenty-five years 
of age. Then, after first marrying Miss Sarali L. 
Root, he moved to Chautauqna County, N. Y.. of 
which he became a prominent pioneer, being an 
early settler of the town of Sherman, wlien it was a 
little settlement in the deptiis of the great wilder- 
ness, with only five persons. He was one of tlie 
leading citizens of the town for forty 3'ears, and 
lived to see it change from dense forest to a fine 
farming community, well settled. He was a leader 
in the Presbyterian Cliurch, of which his wife was 
also a valued member. A man of his high stand- 
ing and ehiiracter, he was not permitted by his ad- 
miring fellow-townsmen to live in retirement, but 
his counsel was needed in public affairs, and he 
nearly always held some office or offices. He im- 
proved a fine farm, and became comfortably well 
off, and he and his wife continued to live in Sher- 
man until death called them hence, he dying at tiie 
age of seventy-two, and she at the age of sixty. 
They were the parents of seven children, all of whom 
died unmarried, excepting our subject. 

Horace Gleason was born in Sherman, Chaulau- 
qua Co., N. Y., Feb. .5, 1829, and there lived until 
1857, and in the meantime was the recii)ient of a 
good education, which was completed by an excel- 
lent course of study at the Westville Academy. 
After leaving school he continued on the home 
place until his marriage with Miss Anna Whitehill, 
in February, 1855. She was born June 23, 1830, 
in Erie Count}', Pa., of which her father, James 
Whitehill, was a pioneer. She lived at home until 
the time of her marriage. In the winter of 1857 
our subject moved with his family to Missouri, and 
made that his home until coming here. There the 
shadow of a great grief fell upon him in the loss of 
his devoted wife, and the children who had been 
born to them, with the exception of an infant son 
named Hubert W., who is now ten years of age, 
and has made his home with his aunt, Mrs. E. W. 
Butt, of Hiawatha. Kan. Through the tryingtimes 
of their life in that State, during the Rebellion, she 
had assisted and encouraged him as onl}' a true 
'' woman and a loving companion could, as she was 



♦iit^ 



possessed of an elevated character and a (lositive 
nature. Mrs. G. departed this life Feb. 28, 1879, 
the children having preceded her to the better land. 

The present wife of our subject was formerl}' 
Mrs. Whitely, who was living in Penns^'lvania at 
the time of their marriage. She is a native of Tioga 
County, N. Y., and a daughter of William Brecse. 
This union has resulted in the birth of one child, a 
son Eugene H., a bright chdd of one and a half 
years. 

Mr. Gle.ason enjoys the reputation of being a 
first-class business man. systematic in his methods. 
promi)t and fair in his dealings, and of good finan- 
cial ability and standing. His public spirit and 
liberality are too well known to need comment; he 
has ever been active in furthering the interes".s of 
the village, and no scheme for its improvement is 
completed without his counsel and aid. He is 
prominent in church, in societ}-, and in business cir- 
cles. He was formerly a member of the Presb}"- 
terian Church, and still clings to that faith, but 
with true religious zeal, there being no church of 
that denomination here, he has identified himself 
with the Methodist Church, helped to organize a 
society in this town, and with his family worships 
at that sanctuary. He takes an active interest in 
the Sunday-school, and is the present Superintend- 
ent. Mr. Gleason is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity. In politics he is a stalwart Republican. 

R. NOAH R. IIOBBS, physician and sur- 
1 geon, of Elm wood, who is one of the most 
fi^^ prominent and widely known citizens in 
■ — the western jiart of Cass County, came to 

Nebraska with his parents in 1860, when he was 
but eight years old, and is essentiall}' and in all re- 
spects a true native of the State. He was born in 
Livingston County, Mo., Feb. 16, 1852, and lived on 
the farm with his parents during his youth, attend- 
ing the common schools of the neighborhood, fit- 
ting himself for college and ultimately for the 
profession he adopted for a life calling. 

After a two-years course of study at Naomi In- 
stitute at Rock Bluff, our subject went to Missouri 
Valley, Iowa, and began the study of medicine un- 



•^h 



•^f* 



'►^'r* 



852 



CASS COUNTY. 



-t 



der the tutelage of E. J. Chapman, M. D., where 
he remained three .years. In the fall of 1873 he 
went to Chicago, and entered the Rush Medical Col- 
lege for a thorough professional training. During 
the summer he studied with his preceptor, Dr. Chap- 
man, attending college in the winter, until he was 
graduated with full honors from Rush Medical Col- 
lege, in the class of '75-76, Februarj' 16. In August, 
1875, he located in Elmwood, the field chosen for 
his professional labors. "By close attention to busi- 
ness, strictl}' upright dealings and fair treatment to 
all, he has acquired a large and lucrative practice 
in three counties, Lancaster, Cass and Otoe. In the 
autumn of 1876 he bought 200 acres of excellently 
located and well-watered land adjoining sections 
15 and 16, which was partly improved. He has 
also made further great improvements, setting out 
groves, planting orchards, building new houses and 
other improvements. He superintends the opera- 
tion of the farm himself, looking after all details. 

The Doctor is largely interested in real estate in 
Lincoln, and has laid out an addition of twenty 
acres to the town of Elmwood, reserving a block 
of lots for his own use. He is one of the five pub- 
lic-spirited citizens who gave the undivided half of 
160 acres to the Missouri Pacific Railway to locate 
their railway through Elmwood. The other four 
men who joined him in that enterprise were C. D. 
Clapp, John Clements, John Hart and Cyrus Alton. 
They were successful in their undertaking, the 
route was changed, and the road completed through 
Elmwood in 1886, thus crowning their united efforts 
with deserved success, and bringing prosperity to 
the entire communit\\ 

Our subject is the second born in a family of 
eight children, John being older, and Joseph, Kate, 
Flora, Emma, Gilbert and William, being younger. 
His brother John served in the army against the 
Indians, and was also in the volunteer service and 
passed through the late Civil War, at the close of 
which he was honorably discharged. His father, 
William L.. was a farmer in Indiana, and removed 
to Missouri with his parents, who were among the 
pioneers of that State, where they bought and im- 
proved land. In 1860 he moved to near Plattsmouth, 
Neb., where he owned a large tract of land, which 
he improved and leased to a number of tenants. 



living on a farm himself until he was elected to 
the office of County Treasurer, wliich he held for 
four years, during which period he made his home 
in Plattsmouth. 

In the spring of 1876 Mr. Ilobbs removed to Wy- 
oming Territory, having sold all his property in 
Plattsmouth, making his home in Rapids Citj-, where 
he was one of the first settlers. Here he began min- 
ing and prospecting, and has continued in that busi- 
ness ever since, and is now secretary for a stock 
and mining company in Wyoming. He is now the 
owner of several mines and a large ranch devoted 
to stock-raising near Lusk, in Wyoming Territory. 
He was born in Indiana and is now sixty-two years 
of age. His wife was Catherine Foreman, who was 
born in Virginia and is now sixty years of age. 

Grandfather Noah R. Hobbs was born in Vir- 
ginia. During his later 3rears he lived with our 
subject in Elmwood, and was eighty-one years old 
when he died. His wife. Grandmother Hobbs, is 
now living with our subject in Elmwood. Grand- 
father Joseph Foreman was born in Virginia, and 
moved to Missouri in 1850. where he remained until 
his death. 

Dr. Hobbs was married in Lincoln, Neb., to Misa 
Anna E. Stacey, May 28, 1878. This lady was 
born in New York, in Onondaga County, and she 
attended the Normal School at Peru. One child, 
Grace, has been born to them. His wife is an ac- 
complished and lovable lady; the Doctor is proud 
of her and adores her. She studies his interests in 
all respects, and without doubt his success in life 
may be attributed largely to her. 

Our subject is truly a representative man among 
his fellows; educated, refined and ambitious, he pos- 
sesses all the elements necessary to make an emi- 
nentl3f successful career; thoroughly posted in all 
that pertains to his chosen profession, and possessing 
a business ability of no common order, he ranks 
first among men. Professionally, he is Medical Ex- 
aminer of the New York Life Insurance Compan}', 
Local Surgeon for the Missouri Pacific Railway, at 
Elmwood. Countj' Physician at Elmwood, also Sur- 
geon for the A. O. U. W. He is a leading member of 
the I. O. O. F., of Elmwood Lodge, is high in the 
councils of Elmwood Lodge, Knights of Pythias, 
as well as those of the A. O. L'. W., of Elmwood, 



-•►HI- 



i 




' (7 



1//. JC ^d-,. 



•^f^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



■*^l 



855 



and is also an active and influential member of the 
Cit\- Council. In politics lie is a strong Republican, 
representing his district in the conventions of that 
party. 

!| ji> H. SCHILDKNKCirr, M. U., a piactic- 
\sJ/' ''^§' pliysic'aii of good standing in the city 

W'^ of Piattsiiiouth, Neb., was bom twelve 
miles from Dayton, Montgoraei'3' Co., Ohio. May 
28, 1836. His father, John Schildknecht, was a 
native of Mar3land, while tlie paternal grandfather 
was born in Germany, whence he emigrated with 
his family to America, and locating in Mar}dand, 
resided there until his death. 

The father of our subject was reared to niauhooil 
in Maryland, where he lived until about 1835, and 
then changed his residence to the Buckeye State, 
taking with him his family, and making the journej- 
overland with teams. He purchased an improved 
farm, upon which he operated a period of fifteen 
3'eais, selling out in 1850, and removing to Henry 
Count}', Ind. There also he purchased land and 
labored a number of years, making it his home until 
his death, which occurred in tlie spring of 1883. 
He had married, in Maryland, Miss Susan Durr, 
who was a native of that State, and who died in 
Ohio about 1858. The parental family included 
four children. 

The subject of this sketch pursued his earl}- stud- 
ies in the district school, and commenced reading 
medicine at the age of eighteen, under the instruc- 
tion of Dr. Brewster, a well-known physician of 
Dayton, Ohio, and began the practice of his pro- 
fession in Henry County. Ind., where iie continued 
until the spring of 1861. In the spring of that 
year he resolved to cast his lot among the people of 
Nebraska Territory, and, making his way hither, 
established himself in the city of Plattsraouth, of 
which he has since been a resident. He is now the 
oldest estahlisheil physician in the place, and one of 
the oldest in tlie State. He has been uniformly 
successful, enjoying in a marked degree the esteem 
and confidence of his pitrons, and accumulating a 
comfortable propert}'. 

Dr. Schildknecht, vvhile a resident of Henry 
County. Ind., was united in marriage with Miss Mary 



*^ 



4l^ 



Adams, in the spring of 1850. This lady was born in 
North Carolina, and was the daughterof William and 
Rachel .4.dams, natives of that State. Slie became 
the mother of three children, and departed this life 
at her home in Plattsmouth, Feb. 12, 1865. Their 
eldest daughter, Annie, is the wife of Stephen 
Smith, a resident of Andrew County, Mo.; Eliza- 
beth married Frank Davis, and lives in Beaver 
City, this State; Etta is at home with her father. 

The Doctor contracted a second matrimonial 
alliance in October, 1873, with Mrs. Jennie (Mc- 
Cormack) F'ox, who was born in the State of Ken- 
tuck}'. To Mr. and Mrs. Fox there was born one 
child, a son, William Kelley Fox, who is now re- 
siding in Plittsmouth. Mrs. S. is a very estima- 
ble lady, and is a member in good standing of the 
Christian Cliurch. The family occupy a snug 
home on the corner of Main and Seventh streets in 
the city, and the Doctor has his ofBce in the same 
place. Socially, he is identified witli the Masonic 
fraternity, belonging to Plattsmouth Lodge No. 6, 
A. F. & A. M. Politically, he is a stanch Repub- 
lican. 

The portrait of this old resident of Plattsmouth, 
and well-known physician, which we present here- 
with, will be viewed with pleasure, especially by 
the large number to whom his kind and skillful 
ministrations have brought restored health. 

^^EORGE TRAVER. Among the well-to-do 
(|[ ,^=7 f*"*^ successful farmers of Cass County, who 
^^5) have accumulated a competency through 
their own efforts, economy and energy, is the gen- 
tleman of whom we write. He resides on the north- 
east half of section 13, Greenwood Precinct, where 
he has a highly improved farm of 240 acres, which 
he devotes to the business of general farming and 
dairying. He is a son of William Traver, who was 
born in Defiance, N. .!., where he followed tlie 
occupation of a "bloomer" in one of the many iron 
furnaces in that State. During the AV^ar of 1812 he 
was a drummer boy, and recalls many of the 
adventures and dangers of that time, which he 
describes in a very graphic manner. When he was 
twenty-one years old he married Miss Marah Oliver, 



■•►■ 



^1^ 



■•►Hlr 



S.iG 



CASS COUNTY. 



^t. 



wlio flieri Ht the ripe old age of ninety-one j'ears. in 
F'alls C'itj', Neb. The father of our subject died in 
187C. aged sevenl3'-two jcars. leaving a family of 
tliree children: CaroJine, Jane, and George, our 
subject. Caroline was born at Fullerville, Jefferson 
Co., N. Y.. in 1821 ; George was liorn in the game 
place May 3, 1836. When he was three years old 
his maternal grandfather removed to Michigan, 
and look our subject wiih him, wiiere he settled on 
a farm. 

When Mr. Traver had reached the age of seven- 
teen years he had earned sufficient money to pur- 
chase an outfit, which he did, and started for Cali- 
fornia, embarking at a port in New Jersey on board 
the "Get>rge Law," and sailed for Aspinwall. He 
arrived there in due time. Leaving the vessel he 
took i)asfage on tiie railroad, then completed, a dis- 
tance of twelve miles. The fare on this road was 
§1 per mile; reaching the end of the railroad, on tiie 
banks of the Chagres River, he purchased a boat, 
and procecdeil up the river for a distance of eight 
miles, and landed at CrnyuaNov. 1, 18o2, where he 
secured a j)ack mule, and joining a train lie went on 
to Panama, wiiere lie staid for seventeen d.ays, 
working in a iiotel at S4 per day, $3 of which he 
paid for bpard. 

When the steamer was ready to sail our subject 
had secured his passage, and the '-Uncle Sam" 
sailed for San Francisco, where thej- landed on the 
3d of December, 1852. He proceeded up the Sac- 
ramento River to the city of that name, on the 
steamer '-New World." He secured emplo3-ment on 
a farm with an old friend whom he found, for $30 
per month. He remained here but a short time 
when he went d(iwn to Petaluma City, in Sonoma 
Count3', where he contracted to work for a farmer 
for three years. At the expiration of four months 
of this time tlie firm was discovered to he insolvent, 
when he left their service. He then engaged with 
the Pacific Dairy and Cheese Factor}-, where he 
worked for three j-ears, beginning on a salary of 
850 per month, which was advanced to $100, which 
sura he was receiving at the time he left their em- 
ploj-ment. He engaged in the same business on his 
own account, and followed it successfully for three 
_vears. He renteil cows at $2 per mouth per cow, 
and hired two men and an Indian to assist liim. He 



made cheese twice a da}-, the capacit}- of his factory 
being 100 pounds per daj'. He marketed his prod- 
uct in San Francisco at thirty cents per pound. 

Mr. Traver purchased a section of land under the 
"Rabolie" title, which proved valueless. The "Me- 
randa" title overshadowed that under which he 
bought, and he consequently lost what he had paid. 
He operated the factory for two years after this, when 
he gave it up, and went to Grand Island, and en- 
gaged in the stock business. He took the Indian, 
"Hell-go-Rocky," who had been with him in the 
dairj', and employed him as a herder. He left the 
cattle in charge of the Indian, and went back to 
Sacramento, where he entered the Monongahela 
House as steward, receiving a salary of |15 per 
week. Here he remained for five weeks, when the 
rainy season began, and fearing tiiat Grand Island 
would be flooded, he returned there to look after 
his cattle interests. When he arrived there he 
found the water rising rapidl}-; he rescued his cat- 
tle, and started for the foothills and the Beckwith 
Vallej'. U|>on the subsidence of the flood. Grand 
Island was found to be destro^-ed. 

While in the Beckwith Vallej' our subject's funds 
became exhausted, and he secured eraploj'ment in 
a quartz mill at Virginia City, receiving a salary of 
$8 per day. After he had been working here but 
a short time he was attacked with erysipelas. It 
required all the money he had saved to pay his 
doctor bill, and when he recovered he had $14.75 
left. He walked back, and went to work in the 
valley with a Dr. AVeber. in the dairy business, which 
he followed for three years. Virginia City, Nev., 
was the market for their product, which brought 
them fiftj' cents per pound for butter and thirty-five 
cents for cheese. Severing his business relations 
with Dr. Weber, he closed up his affairs and re- 
turned to the States, landing in Fullerville, N. Y., 
where he remained but a few days when he went to 
Kankakee. 111., arriving there in March, 18G2. 
Shortly after his ai-rival in Kankakee he returned to 
California the second time, and landed in the Beck- 
with Valley in April of the same year. There he 
engaged in business for three years, when he came 
back a second time to the States, visiting his mother 
in Wisconsin, from which place he went to Red Oak, 
Iowa. 



•►Hf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



857 



•► 






Duiing his sta}- in Red Oak our subject was mar- 
ried to Miss Maggie W. Lownes, May 9, 1867. Siie 
is a daughter of Isaac C. Lovvnes. a car[)enter and 
builder, and a resident of Red Oal<, Iowa. This 
lady's father was born Sept. 13, 1810, and died 
March 14. 1870, at the residence of his daughter, 
the wife of our subject, in I'liiladeliihia. Pa. Her 
mother was Ann Elizabeth (Williamson) Lownes. 
She died March 16, 1853, leaving a family of seven 
children, named: Maggie W., Robert W., Isaac 
C, Jr., Elizabeth K., Elenor F., Thomas AV. and 
David. 

Mr. Travcr settled in Montgomery County, Iowa, 
where he operated farms varying from eighty to 
200 acres. Leaving Iowa he came to Neljraska on 
the 19th of April, 1880, where lie settled on section 
2, and engaged in farming and dairying on eight}- 
acres, which he sold in 1885, and then purchased 
160 on section 13, where lie now has iiis home. Mr. 
and Sirs. Traver are the parents of a large number 
of children, the surviving members of whom are all 
at home. Their names are as follows: Lee A., 
Charles P., William J., Edward P. and Elizalieth 
E. The deceased children were named : Warren 
O., Ines J., Herbert and Lucie A. 

This gentleman takes a great pride in his Cali- 
fornia experiences, and saj's, that in all his wander- 
ings he has never found a country that can compare 
in natural advantages with the State of Nebraska. 
He has improved his farm in a very sulistantial 
manner, the various barns and other buildings are 
convenientl}- located, and are in good condition and 
admiral)ly adapted to the purposes for which they 
were built. His residence is a new house, and is as 
neatl}^ and tastefully designed asanj' in the precinct, 
and contains all available improved domestic appli- 
ances. He has a splendid orchard, which contains 
the best varieties of fruit adapted to the soil and 
climate. 

Our suliject believes in feeding the grain raised 
on the farm to the best advantage, and his idea is 
to feed it to stock for the general market. In pur- 
suance of this plan he has a large number of cattle 
and hogs. The prosperity which has come to him 
in his farming life certainly justifies the corn ctncss 
of his position. Both himself and wife arc ad- 
vanced thinkers, and are extremely liljeral in their 



views; they are well informed on all general sub- 
jects of the da}'; she is a lady of good culture and 
refinement, and is the light of the home circle. The 
children are bright and intelligent in every respect. 
Mr. Traver has served his friends and neighbors as 
School Treasurer for eight j'ears, and has been 
Supervisor of the town, the duties of which he dis- 
charged acceptal)ly to his friends, and with credit to 
himself. He has been Assessor, was School Director 
for four years, and Judge of Election at different 
times. He is an earnest and consistent member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. His politics arc 
unswervingly Prohibitionist. 



■S) AMES O. McCLAIN is one of the thriving. 
I energetic farmers who have contributed so 
^.^ I largely to the present prosjierous condition 
(^^7/ of the young State of Nebraska. Helms by 
his industry and application brought to a high 
state of cultivation a valuable farm located on sec- 
tion 30, Eight Mile Grove Precinct. He is a na- 
tive of Illinois, where he was born May 14, 1854. 
At the earl}- age of ten years he lost his father by 
death, and when fifteen years old he assumed tiie 
entire responsibility of the liome farm, contributing 
materially to the support of his mother and the re- 
maining children of the family. 

The |)resent splendid free public school system 
of that State had not then been introduced, hence 
the educational o|)i>ortunities of our subject were 
verj' meagre and limited in extent, and he did not 
have the advantages possessed b}' the rising genera- 
tion of to-day, but being naturall}' studious and ob- 
serving, he is novv one of the best informed men in 
the precinct, having a general practical knowledge, 
which can only come from experience All his life 
has been devoted to the busiiiess of farming, which 
he has made very successful. 

Our subject w.as married to Miss Elizabeth Sykes, 
April 11, 1876. The lady was born in Adams 
County, III., Oct. 28, 1851. She is a daughter of 
James and Mary Sykes. Her father was a native 
of JIngland, and emigrated to America with his 
parL-nts when about two years old. He is now liv- 
ing in Pike County, III., at the advanced age of 



•►Hl^^^ 



858 



CASS COUNTY. 



-W 



seventj' j'eavs. Her mother was a native of New 
Jersey, and died April 1, 1872. Her parents reared 
a family of eleven children, five of whom are liv- 
ing, named : Hannah ; Elizabeth, wife of onr sub- 
ject; Joseph, Emma and Frank. Hannah is the 
wife of Wilson Cunningham, and resides in Green- 
wood; Joseph resides in Colorado; Emma is the 
wife of Mark Huffman, and resides in Adams 
County, III.; Frank also resides in that county. 
Mr. and Mrs. McClain are the parents of five chil- 
dren, one of whom is deceased. Those living are 
named: Clyde, born Nov. 1 1. 1879; Harry O., Dee. 
25, 1881 ; Fred, April 26, 1881; Hattie, March 18. 
1886; and Ralph C. was born April 11, 1878, and 
died Jan. 4, 187 'J. 

Mr. McClain is a son of David H. and Marj- E. 
IMcClain. Both parents were natives of Tennessee. 
His father's family were early settlers in Adams 
County, 111., having located there about 1840. His 
paternal ancestors were Scotch, and his maternal 
grandfather was a l\[r. Lane, a native of Tennessee. 
Our subject is the third son in his family. He 
came to Nebraska ami settled in Cass County, in 
the fall of 1876, purchasing the quarter-section of 
land on which he now resides. At the time he ac- 
quired the land it was in an absolutely wild con- 
dition; all of' the substantial improvements and 
conveniences now on the place have been put there 
by the efforts of our subject. The years in which 
he has been the owner of tliis property have been 
devoted to hard and persistent labor, to such an 
extent as to make it one of the best cultivated and 
most productive farms in the neighborhood. He 
has been pros|)ered in his undertakings, and he has 
added to his original purchase at different times, 
until lie is now the owner of 320 acres of good 
land. 

Taking into consideration the fact that when our 
subject came to Nebraska he possessed but little 
means, having but slender resources, aside from 
strong hands and a willing heart, backed by a de- 
termination to win, he may be considered in all re- 
spects a truly self-made man. and has richlj' earned 
the prosperity and comfort he now enjoys. In the 
accumulation of this splendid property his wife has 
borne no unimportant part; all her efforts and life 
in Nebraska have been devoted to lier husband's 



interests, and the acquirement of a home. The 
stranger visiting their home is most hos|)ilably re- 
ceived anil cared for. The house is large, roomy 
and nicely furnished, a fit reward for the wife .ind 
molher's devotion. The barns, sheds and other 
out-buildings are conveniently located, and admir- 
abl3' designed for the purposes for which they were 
intended. Our subject and his wife are both mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church. He has persistently 
refused [lolitical iirefermeut, accepting onlj' a place 
on the School Board where he felt his services 
would be of iiermanent value. In politics he is 
a Republican, large-hearted and public-spirited. He 
is an earnest supporter of any measure tending to 
the general good and welfare of the comniunily in 
which he lives. 

'^AMES CHRISTENSON. Here and there, 
in the farming region of Nebraska, may be 
found neat, well-tilled and well-stocked 
farms, vvilh fine groves of trees, good bear- 
ing orchards, commodious dwellings, with large 
barns and the necessaiy buildings, which have been 
brought to their present productive condition under 
the supervision of skilled agriculturists, who came 
here from a foreign countr}' — men wiio have left 
their native soil, and. coming to the United States, 
have in a few 3ears. by their industry, thrift, and 
good business princi|)lcs, placed themselves among 
the representative farmers of this county. On such 
a farm is the subject of our sketch, who resides on 
section 24, Stove Creek Precinct. 

Mr. Christcnson is a native of Denmark, born 
in Jutland. March 3, 1854. His father. Christian 
Anderson, was a native of the same place, and 
there spent his entire life, dying in 1871, at the 
age of sixty years. He owned an extensive farm, 
and was always engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
accumulating a good property. He was well edu- 
cated, and a prominent man, who took much in- 
terest in public affairs, serving as collector and 
secretary for many years. The maiden name of 
his wife, the mother of our subject, was Mary Ann 
Walsted. who was also born in Jutland, and died 
•^ 



•►Hh-^- 



>•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



85!) 



there in 186-1. at tlie age of fort\--eiglit 3'ears. Slie 
wasa member of tlie Lutheran Church. Her father, 
Nelse Walsted, fought with tlie Frencli in the war 
against the English, from 1808 until 1812. To her 
anrl her husband were born nine children, six of 
whom grew to maturity, namely: Andrew, who 
served about two years against the Germans, hav- 
ing enlisted in 1864; Hannah, deceased; Mona; 
Nelse, deceased ; Christian and James. 

The subject of our sketch received good edu- 
cational advantages, and at the age of fourteen 
years was confirmed. He remained at home until 
sixteen years of age, assisting his father when he 
concluded to try life in the New World. Accord- 
ingly, in corapan}' with a brother and a sister, he 
left Copenhagen in the steamer "Racing," and after 
a voj'age of eighteen days landed in New York 
City. He then went bj- rail to Council Bluffs, 
thence to Ashland, which was the terminus of the 
railroad. The following two years our subject was 
engaged in herding cattle. He then leased a farm 
near Greenwood, Neb., for three years, and suc- 
ceeded well. From 1875 until the spring of 1877 
Mr. Christenson worked out, and then bought the 
farm which he now occupies. It contains eighty 
acres, a part of which was improved at the time he 
purchased it. He has spent much time and money 
on the remainder, has set out forest trees and an 
orchard of sevent^'-five fruit trees, and erected a 
windmill and tank. In 1884 our subject buiit his 
present residence, a convenient house, well adapted 
to his needs, and his barns and other buildings. He 
raises hay and the usual cereal products of the 
countrj', feeding out most of it to the cattle and hogs, 
of which he has large numbei's. His fine graded 
horses are of much value, and he takes pride in 
caring for them. 

August 28, 1879, Mr. Christenson was united 
in marriage to Miss .Susan Uranscom, a native of 
Tennessee, born in Jonesboro, Greene Count3', 
Aug. 13, 1859. She received a fine education, and 
previous to her marriage taught school in North 
Carolina. Her parents, Reuben and Hannah (Cog- 
gins) Branscom, were natives of Virginia and Ten- 
nessee respectively. Her paternal grandfather, 
Edmund Branscom, who was born in Ireland, emi- 
grated to America, and located on a farm in Vir- 



ginia, where he remained several ^'ears, afterward 
removing to his present residence in Washington 
Count}', Tenn. Reuben Branscom, her father, came 
to Tennessee with his parents when a young man. 
He married and established himself on a farm there, 
but subsequently sold that property, and, removing 
to North Carolina, remained there nine years, 
engaged in farming and milling. In 1878 he emi- 
grated with his family to Nebraska, and the ensu- 
ing years worked at carpentering in Syracuse. In 
1866 he took up a homestead claim of 160 acres in 
Frontier County, where he now resides. He has 
bought more land since then, and is now busily at 
work improving the farm. He is fifty years of 
age, and his wife fifty-five years old. Joshua Cog- 
gins, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Christen- 
son. was of Irish descent, and formerly owned a 
plantation in Tennessee. Mr. aud Mrs. Branscom 
were the parents of eight children, namely: Mar- 
garet (deceased), Susan, Sarah, Hannah, Ida, Lu- 
cius, Edmond and Alice. 

Our subject and his wife have a pleasant, well- 
kept home, which li.as been brightened by the birth 
of three children — Mary, Maud and Andrew. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Christenson are members of the 
Methodist Episcoiial Church, and contribute largely 
toward its support. In politics he is a stanch 
Republican, and a strong advocate of the principles 
promulgated bj' that party. 



^^s^ TEPIIEN W. ORTON. The Empire State 
^^^ parted with one of her most worthy sons 
1|[/^ when the subject of this sketch, withdraw- 
ing from her borders, turned his steps 
toward the newly-made State of Nebraska. He 
arrived in this county in July, 1867, and soon 
thereafter took up a tract of wild land on ssation 
28, in Elmwood Precinct. After several years 
spent in farming he decided to retire from its 
arduous labors, and accordingly invested a portion 
of his capital in the drug business, changed his 
residence to Weeping Water, and is now one of 
the leading men in this branch of trade in the 
southern part of the county. He possesses first-class 
ba5ln33? tilent, hi, a-3q[iiitte1 himsslf uniformly as a 



•►-n^ 



•►:li-^ 



t. 



t 



*► . 1 1 ^ « 



8U0 



CAf^S COUNTY. 



I' 



liberal-minded and public-spirited citizen and forms 
no unimportant factor among the leading interests 
of Cass County. 

Our subject was born in AVasliington County, 
N. Y., June 2, 1844, and five years later his par- 
ents removed to Fulton County, where they 
spent the remainder of their lives, our subject 
being orphaned by their death -when a lad of fifteen 
years. He was ambitious to obtain an education, 
and managed to pursue his studies in the Hudson 
River Institute at Claverack three years, employing 
himself in the meantime also as a teacher in order 
to augment his income, and at tlie expiration of 
this time the progress of the Civil War arrested his 
pliins. and he was induced to enlist as a Union sol- 
dier in Company F, 13th Xew Yorlt Artillery. His 
regiment was assigned first to the 18th Army 
Corps, and subsequently to the 24th Corps, in the 
Army of the Potomac and the Army of the 
James, and he participated in many active engage- 
ments, being at the siege of Suffolk in March and 
April, in 1863, and overhauling guerrillas in South- 
eastern Virginia. In the spring of 1864 he served 
under Gen. Butler in the several engagements in 
front of Richmond, and later joined Grant's army 
in time to be present at the battle of Cold Harbor. 
After this he went with the 18th Corps, under 
command of Gen. Baldy Smith, to Petersburg, and 
thereafter remained with the Army of the Potomac 
until the close of the war. In the meantime he par- 
ticipated in the various engagements which fol- 
lowed during that campaign. He was at the front 
in the fight at Petersburg most of tlie time, and 
was wounded later at the taking of Ft. Harrison. 
In consequence of this he was confined in the hos- 
pital at Portsmouth, Ya., a period of six weeks, 
after which he rejoined his comr.ides. He was with 
the Ft. Fisher expedition, and remained in South- 
eastern Virginia until the final surrender. His 
command was then sent to Norfolk, Va., after the 
war. and Mr. Orton became a member of the police 
force, with which he remained until receiving his 
honorable discharge. Sept. 4, 1865. 

Upon leaving the army Mr. Orton returned to 
his old haunts in Fulton County, N. Y., where he 
emploved himself as a teacher and otherwise until 
April, 1867, and then started for the West. He 



stopped in Bureau County, 111., until July of that 
year, then pushed on further westward, crossed the 
Missouri River at Omaha, July 28, and later made 
his way to Elmwood Precinct, this county, and se- 
lected his claim. He then entered the emplov of 
the Union Pacific Railroad Company, for which he 
worked a few months, then engaged on a farm in 
the vicinity of Bellevue until March, 1869. 

Mr. Orton now located on his own land, which 
was a raw prairie, being sheltered for a time in a 
plank house. AVhen he assumed ownership of this 
property there had been only three men before him 
to take up land in Elmwood Precinct. The only 
settlers here were ISIcCaig brothers, John Gyger, 
Carter Aiken and his father. Our subject expe- 
rienced the usual hardships and difficulties of life 
in a new settlement, with a far-away market and 
trading-post. He had come to stay, however, and 
persevered in this resolution, and after a few sea- 
sons began to realize the reward of his labors. 
After fencing his land and erecting the buildings 
most needed he put out fifteen acres of forest trees, 
with a fine apple orchard and trees of the smaller 
fruits, and gradually gathered around himself and 
family those conveniences which would insure tlieir 
comfort and welfare. In due time he found him- 
self possessor of one of the most valuable farms in 
the precinct, which during these 3-ears has been 
settled up with a class of enterprising and intelli- 
gent people. After his land had been subjected to 
a thorough course of cidture he turned his atten- 
tion largely to stock-raising, and was very success- 
ful. In looking upon his possessions to-day it 
must be remembered that he came to this region 
without means, and with no resources but his own 
indomitable will and his strong hands. He now 
represents one of the finest estates in the county. 

Mr. Orton, in the fall of 1881, leaving his farm 
moved to Weeping Water, and engaged in the 
drug business with Dr. J. \V. Thomas. They 
started out with a fine stock, and operated together 
five j^ears. Mr. Orton then purchased the interest of 
his partner, and has since controlled the business. 
He has a good trade, which is steadilj' increasing. 
He was a school teacher for twenty-one years of his 
life, and after coming to this county followed this 
profession in Elmwood for a period of nine years. 



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CASS COUNTY. 



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80 1 



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He has watched over the eihuational interests of 
the county with fatherly care, and given liis influ- 
ence toward the enterprises calculated gsnerally 
for the best good of his community. 

Mr. Orton, politically, is a stanch Rapublican. 
He has served as Sshool Director in District No. 
44 for some time, and was Assessor of Elmwood 
Precinct for a psriod of four years, and has offi- 
ciated in the same office in Weeping Water Precinct 
two years. For two years also he officiated as 
Chairman of the Republican Central Committee of 
Cass County, and has had no small influence among 
the councils of his part}^ in this section. 

Miss Sarah Burrows becam3 the wife of our sub- 
ject Dec. 31, 1868, the wedding taking place at the 
home of the bride in Bsllevue, Neb. This lady was 
born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, Feb. 17, 
1847, and when an infant of six months was taken 
by her parents to Kalamazoo County, Mich. She was 
there reared to womanhood, and the family, in the 
spring of 1867, came to the new State of Nebraska, 
settling in the vicinity of Bellevue, where Mrs. Or- 
ton lived until her marriage. Her parents, Zacha- 
riah and Hannah M. (Wood?.rd) Burrows, were 
natives respectivel}' of Norfolk County, England, 
and New York. Mr. Burrows was born in 1817, 
and emigrated to America in 1836, settling in 
Canada, where he lived until 1847. He then re- 
moved to Kalamazoo, Mich., and sojourned there 
a period of twenty years. He spent his last days 
in the vicinity of Plattsmauth, Neb., parsing awa^- 
in November, 1871, at the age of fifty-four j'ears. 
Mrs. Burrows later was married to T. W. Warrant, 
of Ashland, Wis., where she is now living. 

Luther M. Orton, the father of our subject, was 
born at Luzerne, Warren Co., N. Y., March 31, 
1820, and lived there until a young man of twenty 
years. In 1839 he was married to Miss Sarah A. 
Ward, and the j'ear following they removed to 
Fair Haven, Vt., where they resided until 1844, 
and thence migrated to New York State, settling in 
AVashington County. From there, in 1850, the}' 
changed their residence to Fulton County, where 
the death of the father took place Jan. 18, 1859. 
During his earl}' manhood Mr. Orton had been en- 
gaged in the lumber business considerabl}', while 
he always operated more or less as a farmer. The 



parental family included six children, four of whom 
lived to mature years. The others are residents 
of New York and Michigan. Mr. O. and his esti- 
mable wife were both members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, in which the father officiated as 
Class-Leader from the earliest recollection of his 
son Stephen W. The mother was an invalid for 
many years, but survived her husband some time, 
and passed away at her home in New York, July 
21, 1865. 

Samuel Orton, the paternal grandfather of our 
subject, was, it is supposed, a native of Wales. He 
spent the last years of his life in Warren County, 
N. Y., dying in 1 853, at the advanced age of eighty- 
live years. He was a farmer by occupation, and 
the father of ten children. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Orton there were born three 
children, one of whom, a daughter, AUie, died 
Feb. 26, 1886, at the age of thirteen years. The 
survivors are: Mary A., who was born Jan. 29, 
1871, and Chauncey, July 9, 1880. These children 
are being given good educational advantages. 
When Mr. Orton came to Weeping Water it had 
just begun to assume the semblance of a village. 
He has been a useful factor in its growth and de- 
velopment, and is a man in whom his fellow-citi- 
zens repose entire confidence. Socially, he belongs 
to the G. A. R., holding the post of Quartermaster; 
he is also connected with the I. O. O. F. as a Past 
Grand, and hi the A. F. & A. M. is Senior Warden. 
He is also a Knight of Pythias, P. C, and has 
represented the fraternity in the Grand Lodge. 



|t/ INWOOD E. SKINNER, of the firm of 
11 (^ Skinner & Ritchie, is, with his partner, doing 
Jl!;;^ a good business in loans and abstracts of 
titles, making of the latter a specialtj'. They also 
are the agents for some of the best fire insurance 
companies. He has alreadj- a thorough business 
experience, although still a young man, having been 
born Jan. 12, 1860. His native place was Susque- 
hanna County, Pa., his childhood home being in 
the town of Jackson. His father. Nelson Skinner, 
was also a native of the Keystone State. He was 

■» J P 



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862 



CASS COUNTY. 



engaged for a number of j-ears in mercantile pur- 
suits in Susquehanna C'ountj-, but died when his 
son, our" subject, was but a 3'ear old. 

Mrs. Louisa (Br\'ant) Skinner, the mother of 
Linwood E., also a native of Susquehanna County, 
Pa., was born in Jackson Township, and was the 
daughter of David Br3-ant, a native of A'ermont, 
who left New England and settled in Susquehanna 
County, Pa., in the early times. He purchased 
largely of timber land in different parts of the 
county, and felling the forest trees opened up a 
good farm, where he carried on agriculture success- 
fully and attained to the ripe old age of eighty- 
four years, passing away at the homestead which 
he had built up, and where from his sterling worth 
of character he had gathered around him hosts of 
friends. 

After the death of her husband Mrs. Skinner 
with her onl^y child went to live with her parents, 
with whom she remained until her second marriage, 
with A. J. Price, of that county. The3^ continued 
residents of Pennsylvania until the spring of 1880, 
then bidding adieu to the associations of years, 
crossed the Mississippi and settled in Juniata, Neb., 
and in 1881 moved to Plattsmouth, where they 
still I'eside. They have two children — Abbie and 
Roland M. Linwood E. pursued his early studies 
in his native county, and later spent a year in a 
school at Scran ton, Pa. Afterward he was placed in 
school in Boston, Mass., and upon completing his 
studies was employed as clerk in a store of general 
merchandise in his native county and other places 
about four years. 

In the spring of 1878 \'Oung Skinner, leaving 
his native State once more, this time started to the 
"West, aud spent one year in Boone, Iowa. In 
March of 1879 he came to Nebraska, and estab- 
lishing himself at Plattsmouth, began learning the 
trade of brickmaker, at which he worked three 
seasons. This, however, not being entirely con- 
genial to his tastes, he in the fall of 1882 secured a 
position in the County Clerk's office, where he re- 
mained until the spring of 1883, and the summer 
following was one of a Government surveying 
party operating in the northwestern part of the 
State. This contract ended he resumed his clerk- 
ship in the court-house, operating mostly as Deputj' 



Clerk until January. 1886. Then forming a part- 
nership with J. AV. Jennings and H. C. Ritchie, lie 
began operating in real estate, the tirm name being 
J. AV. Jennings & Co. They continued in partner- 
ship until December, 1886, when our subject and 
Mr. Ritchie purchased the interest of Mr. Jennings, 
and the firm assumed the title of Skinner & Ritchie, 
as at present. 

Mr. Skinner was married, in November, 1881, to 
Miss Susan, daughter of Christian Mockenhaupt. 
Mrs. Skinner was born in Plattsmouth, Neb., where 
she was reared and educated. Her parents were 
among the earliest pioneers of Nebraska, settling 
in Plattsmouth when it was a mere hamlet. The 
mother died in 1878. The father is still a resident 
of Plattsmouth. Of this union there have been 
born three children — Nelson C, Maggie ^lay and 
Bernice J. ^Ir. Skinner, politieall}', is a stanch 
Republican. 



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NT^i'LI J. PITTISIAN. Among the substantial 
lp«j and enterprising agriculturists of Cass Coun- 
IV — ^ ty, of whom lirief biographical notices are 
given in this volume, no one is more worthy of 
mention than the subject of this biographical sketch. 
He has an extensive farm, consisting of 200 acres 
on section 9, and 160 acres more on section 16, 
Liberty Precinct, which he bought in 1872, and 
moved onto November 28 of that year. It was 
then but slightly improved, but by hard labor and 
skillful management it has been transformed from 
the wild, unbroken prairie to a veritable garden 
spot, blossoming and yielding abundantly of the 
numerous cereals entrusted to its soil. On his 
homestead, which lies on section 9, Mr. Pittman 
has erected a handsome dwelling, which is one of 
the most commodious and convenientlj^ arranged in 
the precinct, it being well heated and ventilated, 
and with water carried throughout the house. The 
barn and other farm buildings are also of modern 
construction and in keeping with the dwelling, 
water for the stock being carried by means of pipes 
and a windmill pump to the barn and feed lots. 
The house is situated on a rising knoll, and com- 



■► Hj» 



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Residence or Peter Vallery,5ec.28.Plattsmouth Prect.Cass Co. 




Residence of E.J. Pittman,Sec.9.(io,13) Liberty Prect.Cass Co. 



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CASS COUNTY. 



865 



h 



mands an extensive view of the surrounding coun- 
try, Nebraska Cit^-, seventeen miles distant, being 
often clearly perceptible. Hardly such another 
fine natural location can be found in Cass County, 
and Mr. Pittnian has taken advantage of all the 
facilities for improving and beautifying his home- 
stead. Besides general farming our subject is much 
interested in stock-raising, and has large herds of 
fine cattle and many good horses, lie is a mem- 
ber of the Factoryville Stock Company, which 
was formed in 1887, with ten charter members, for 
the purpose of introducing the English Shire 
draught horses into the country, making a specialty 
of that breed. The head of that herd. Young Sam- 
son, was sired in England, and imported by O. O. 
Heffner. of Nebraska City. He is a fine specimen 
of that stock, being coal black in color, about five 
years of age, and weighs upward of 1,700 pounds. 

The subject of our sketch was born in Harrison 
County, Ind., March 9, 1845, and is the j-oungest 
child of the second marriage of David Pittman. 
The maiden name of the mother of our subject was 
Mary E. Young. She was a native of North Caro- 
lina, and her husband of Virginia. After their 
marriage they lived many years in Indiana, but 
subsequently moved to Nebraska, and died at the 
home of our subject in Liberty Precinct, the father 
dying June 23, 1881, aged seventy-four years, one 
mouth and seventeen days, and the motlier Dec. 26, 
188r, at the age of seventy-four years. He was a 
Democrat in his political views, and a communi- 
cant of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, while 
Mrs. Pittman held to the faith of the United Breth- 
ren Church. 

E. J. Pittman, of our sketch, was reared in his 
native county, and in early life became familiarly 
acquainted with the duties devolving upon the son 
of a farmer. When the time came for him to decide 
upon the way in which he should earn his liveli- 
hood, he concluded to become a tiller of the soil, 
and therefore purchased a farm in his native State. 
Before settling on it he was united in marriage, in 
Harrison County, Ind., Oct. 30, 1866, to Miss Anna 
McBride. She was also a native of Harrison 
County, born April 12, 1849, and is the second 
daughter and third child born to George W. and 
Eliza (McCoy) McBride, who were natives respect- 



ively of Tennessee and Indiana. Mr. and Sirs. 
IMcBride began their wedded life on his farm in 
Harrison County, and there she died while yet in 
the prime of life, leaving three sons and two daugh- 
ters, Mrs. Pittman being at that time five j'ears old. 
Her father married for his second wife Adeline 
Neel}', of Indiana, and they continued living in 
that State until the spring of 1888, when they came 
to Nebraska and settled on the farm in Liberty 
Precinct which they still occupy. Mr. McBride 
is an active man of fifty-six years, while his wife 
is twelve years younger. Both are consistent mem- 
bers of the United Brethren Church. The pater- 
nal grandfather of Mrs. Pittman, Edward McBride, 
was a native of North Carolina, of Scotch descent, 
as is indicated by the name. He died in Indiana, 
past fourscore years of age. The maternal grand- 
father of Mrs. Pittman, John McCoy, was born and 
reared in Pennsjlvania, but after his marriage lo- 
cated on a farm in Indiana, where he spent his last 
years. Jlrs. Pittman was reared on a farm, receiv- 
ing a good common-school education, and instruc- 
tions in domestic duties that have rendered her an 
invaluable help to her husband in the building up 
of their beautiful home. She is one of those women 
of whom \Ye can truly say the heart of her husband 
doth safely trust in her, and her children rise up 
and call her blessed. To our subject and his wife 
have been born two children — Benjamin Wallace 
and John W. The former, who has attained his 
majority^ was well educated in Nebraska City Col- 
lege, and is now at home. John W. also attended 
school at Nebraska City. Mrs. Pittman is a mem- 
ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. 
Pittman affiliates with the Democratic party, which 
finds in him one of its most earnest and intelligent 
supporters. A view of their elegant residence and 
fine surroundings is shown on an accompanying 
page in tliis volume. 



ETER VALLERY, whose farm on sec- 
tion 28, Plattsmouth Township, is consid- 
ered one of the best managed estates in this 
vicinity, is a young man who has a good, 
practical knowledge of agriculture, and an intelli- 



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A 866 



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CASS COUNTY. 



gent compreheusioii of the most approved methods 
of cultivating the land and maliiug it yield to the 
uttermost. He is a son of the well-known Jacob 
Vallerj', Sr., a sketch of whose life al.<o appears in 
this biographical work. 

Our subject was born in Pike County, Ohio, 
Oct. 16, 1857, and there the first years of liis life 
were spent. He was eight j-ears of age when his 
parents brought him to Nebraska, and he received 
his education in this district, the first school that 
he attended here being of the most primitive style 
of architecture, consisting of a dug-out surmounted 
by a frame shanty. He received a sound, practical 
training from his parents, that well fitted him to 
battle with life, and he grew to an energetic and 
self-reliant manhood under the pioneer influences 
that obtained in his youth. He- had a natural 
aptitude for agricultural pursuits, for which his 
life on his father's farm had well fitted him, and he 
chose to become a farmer. His father set apart for 
liim 160 acres of land from his large estate, and it 
has been his pleasure to improve it. It is now 
under an admirable state of cultivation, and yields 
a good income in repayment of his care. It is pro- 
vided with a neat and well-appointed set of farm 
buildings, including a substantial and comfortable 
brick house, a commodious fr.<ime barn, corn cribs, 
etc. 

Mr. ^'allery was married to Miss Eva Schlander 
March 6, 1878. In her he finds a companion and 
helper who is devoted to the interests of her fam- 
ily'. iShe is an earnest aud consistent member of 
the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Vallery is a daughter 
of Jacob and Mary (Horn) Schlander, Our sub- 
ject and his wife have one of the brightest and 
coziest homes in this community, whose generous 
hospitality is well known to hosts of friends. Willie 
and Lottie are the names of the two children who 
have blessed their wedded life. 

Our subject is a man of prompt and decisive 
action, and is well endowed with the keenness and 
foresight essential to complete success in any pur- 
suit. He is exemplary in his conduct, being guided 
by honest and truthful principles, and he exerts 
his influence to promote the moral, as well as the 
material, interests of this precinct. As Road Over- 
seer, which position he has held for two years. 



he is doing his share toward providing good high- 
ways for the convenience of the people.^ He strongly 
sympathizes with the Democratic party, and sup- 
ports its men and measures whenever the occasion 
offers. 

The comfortable home of Mr. Vallery is well 
illustrated in a view printed on another page. 

LMON BOLIVER JL DKIN.S, of Engle, is 
numbered among its substantial citizens, 
who, after a life of active industry, is now 
relieved from its sterner labors, and is en- 
joying his declining j'cars amid the comforts of a 
pleasant home, located aliout a quarter of a mile 
from Eagle. A goodly portion of his life has been 
spent in Dane County, Wis., where he ranked among 
the leading farmers of that section. His children 
having come to Nebraska, lie disposed of his inter- 
ests in the Badger State in the spring of 1884, and 
joined them in this county. His propertj^ here con- 
sists of four acres of ground and a fine residence 
handsomely furnished, and wliich, with its surround- 
ings, forms one of the attractive homes of Eagle and 
its environs. Within it presides one of the most 
estimable of ladies, wiio is intelligent and accom- 
plisheil, and like her husband, extends a hospitality 
both to friend and stranger which is agreeable in 
tiie extreme, and is indicative of birth and breeding. 
Of New England ancestry and parentage, our sub- 
ject was born in Palmyra, in Somerset County, Mo., 
Aug. 6, 1828, and is the son of Benjamin F. and 
Suljmit (Taj'lor) Judkins, who were natives of the 
same county' as their son. The paternal grand- 
father, Hills Judkins, a native of New Hampshire, 
moved into the Maine forests when a young man, 
where he cleared a farm, and worked at his trade of 
carpenter as he had opportunity'. He traced his 
forefathers to England, the records showing that 
they came over in the "Mayflower," and were there- 
after among the prominent members of the Ply- 
mouth community. Later some of them fought in 
the War of 1812, as did also Grandfather Taylor. 
Both grandfatiiers spent their last years in the 
Pine Tree State. 

Benjamin F. Judkins also learned the carpenter 



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.>-Ht^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 

867 4 



Iraiie, and was a resident for some j^ears of botli 
Oldtown and Bangor, where he was prominent in 
public affairs, and hehl the various offices. He also 
erected many of the public buildings, including 
court-houses and academies. In the springof 1849 
he resolved to seek the P"ar West, and after a long 
and tedious journey after the manner of that time, 
established himself in Milwaukee, Wis. He contin- 
ued his business as a carpenter, putting u)) in the 
Cream City many of its first important buildings. 
In 1852 he purchased land in Dane County, and 
later became owner of valuable city property-. He 
built the old water course on the Assembly grounds 
and the first Baptist Church, and continued a resi- 
dent there until after the close of the Civil War. 
Later he took up his residence on the farm in Madi- 
son Township, where he spent his last days, passing 
away in 1883. at the advanced age of eighty years. 
The mother survived her husband about four years, 
dying Oct. 10, 1887. in Van Buren County. Ark., 
at the age of eighty- nine years. Both were mem- 
bers of tlie Baptist Churcii. Their six children 
were named respectively: Louisa, who died when 
young; Christian; S. Boliver. our subject; Elisha 
and Emily (twins), and Martha, deceased. 

The early education of Mr. Judkins was exceed- 
ingly limited, he having to make iiimself useful 
around the homestead as soon as his age and 
strength would permit. When fifteen ^ears old he 
commenced his apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, 
which be followed continuously a period of twelve 
3-ears. In 1848. at the age of twenty, he accom|)a- 
uied the family from his native Maine to Milwaukee, 
Wis., where he soon began operating as a contractor, 
and resided three years. In the s|)ring of 1851 he 
changed the scene of his operations to the growing 
town of Madison, purchasing property there, and 
living there until the spring of 1854. He now 
thought best to invest in farm property, and pur- 
chased eighty acres of land in Fitchburg Township, 
Dane County', upon which he moved, and began in 
earnest its cultivati<m and improvement. Not long 
afterward, however, he sold out, and after return- 
ing East on a visit, purchased, in the fall of 1863, a 
farm of 160 acres on the Waterloo Creek, in Me- 
dina Township, Dane County. This he devoted 
} r mostly to stock-raising, with excellent results. In 



the meantime he had been married and become the 
father of a family, and his boys were desirous of 
locating further West. His first visit to Nebraska 
was made overland with teams, when the boys 
selected their location in this county, and Mr. Jud- 
kins in due time disposed of his interests in the 
Badger .State, joining them here in the fall of 1884. 
He lived ujjon the place which they had purchased 
four 3ears. then secured his present snug property. 
He has already effected man\' improvements, put- 
ting up a good residence and barn, with other build- 
ings, and planting an ap|)le orchard with trees, and 
the smaller fruits and shrubbery. 

Mr. Judkins was married in his native Maine on 
Thursday, Oct. 15, 1848, to JHss Martha O., daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Abigail (Norton) Butler. Mr. 
and Mis. Butler were both natives of Maine, the 
former born in Franklin County, and the latter in 
Kennebec Couiitj'. The paternal grandfather of 
Mrs. Judkins was also a native of Maine, and the 
records show that his ancestry, like that of the Jud- 
kins, crossed the Atlantic in the •'Mayflower." land- 
ing with the Puritans at Plymouth Rock. Later he 
served in the Revolutionary War. Grandfather 
Zachariah Norton was also a native of Maine. 
Sturdy Ben Butler, of Massachusetts, and so closely 
connected with the history of the late war, is an 
offspring of one of the branches of this family. The 
father of Mrs. Judkins was a shoemaker by trade, 
which he followed all his life in his native State. 
Both parents spent their last years in Farniington, 
the father dying in 1861, at the age of sixty years, 
and the mother in 1865, at the same age as her hus- 
band. Both were members of the Regular Baptist 
Church. 

To the parents of Mrs. Judkins there were born 
eight children, namely: The eldest, who died in 
infancy; Martha J., the wife of our subject; Han- 
nah, deceased; Sophronia, a resident of Massachu- 
setts; Abbie and William, deceased; and Irene and 
Edwin. The latter died after marriage. Mrs. Jud- 
kins vvas born in .Strong, Franklin Co., Me., May 
25, 1826, and received a good education, being 
graduated from the Phillips High School, and after- 
ward was employed as a teacher. She left New 
England in 1849, joining her husband in Milwaukee, 
Wis., whither he had migrated to prepare their home. 



f 



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868 



CASS COUNTY. 



^ 



She is one of the heirs of tlie Spoliiilion claim lost 
by lehabod Norton during the time of the French 
and Indian War. and although a bill to restore the 
pro|)erty was passed bj' Congress, the restoration 
iiever occurred. 

To JMr. and Mrs. Judkins tiiere have been born 
five children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, Julia 
A., is the wife of Henr^' Clark; they are residents 
of Grant County, Neb., and the parents of seven 
children. Earl B. is occupied at faru)ing in Eagle 
Precinct, this county; Benjamin F. lives on a farm 
in Tipton Precinct; Abbie L. is the wife of H. J. 
Edson, of Eagle, a;nd they are the parents of two 
children — Howard J. and Mollie E. ; Loantha, a 
dressmaker by trade, is at home with her parents. 
The family attend the Congregational Church. Mr. 
J., politically, is a sound Republican, and has been 
quite prominent in local politics, having been sent 
frequently as a delegate to the various conventions. 
Me has held the various township offices, and while 
a resident of Marshall, Wis., identified himself with 
the 1. O. O. F. He is also a member of the A. F. 
& A. M. 



ON. ORLANDO TEFFT. The Album of 
Cass County would in nowise be complete 
i^ without a sketch of the life of this gentle- 
man, who has been one of its most promi- 
nent and useful citizens. He was one of the earliest 
settlers of Avoca Precinct, and many years ago be- 
came intimately identified with its agricultural and 
business interests. He performed his part in the 
development of a portion of its land, and has uni- 
forml}- lent his aid to the enterprises calculated for 
the best good of its people. He is now a resident 
of Avoca Village, which was platted by himself 
and his father, Amos Tefft, in February, 1882, and 
who are the possessors of a large amount of real 
estate in the precinct. 

Mr. Tefft is now engaged in the lo.aning of 
money, and the various real-estate interests con- 
nected with the development and building up of 
the village. He owns projierty also in the city of 
Omaha, and has invested considerably in land 



further west, mostly in Cheyenne County, where 
he originally purchased twenty sections of land. 
About 1885 he made a large addition to the town 
of Potter, now one of the most thriving villages in 
that count}-, and laying on the main line of the 
Union Pacific Railroad. The town of Avoca com- 
prises now about 250 population, and the plant 
includes about 100 acres of land. The school build- 
ing is one of the finest of tlie kind in the county, 
and evinces the interest of the projectors of the 
town in that most important item, education. 

Up to sixteen years ago our subject, from 1866, 
operated a large farm on section 33, in Avoca Pi-e- 
cinct, and during those years developed more than 
ordinary capacities as a business man and citizen, 
and was chosen, after having occupied minor posi- 
tions of trust and responsibility, to represent the 
people of this county in the State Legislature, be- 
ing elected on the Republican ticket in the fall of 
1879. So well did he acquit himself that he was 
re-elected to a second term, being a member of the 
Senate, and interested himself largely in the Slo- 
cum Bill, a measure having for its object the regu- 
lation and sale of liquor, and which was passed in 
1881. Mr. Tefft was appointed Chairman of the 
Finance Committee, and in fact there were few 
questions of local interest to his county in which 
he did not have a leading voice. Mr. Tefft, in the 
Senate as elsewhere, was an incessant worker, and 
exhibited the same qualities of resolution and en- 
ergy which have characterized him all through life. 

The subject of this sketch crossed the Missouri 
as early as 1857, eleven years before Nebraska be- 
came a State. Since that time he has been a resident 
of Avoca Precinct. He is essentially a Western 
man, having been born in Elgin, 111., Dec. 26, 1843. 
He comes of a highly respected familj', of English 
descent, and which was probably first represented 
in America during the Colonial days. His father, 
Amos Tefft, a native of New York State, was born 
and reared to manhood in Madison County, and 
came of Rhode Island parentage, his parents hav- 
ing settled in that State in the latter part of the 
eighteenth century. Later they removed to the 
Empire State. The Teffts are quite numerous 
throughout New England, and people generally 
well-to-do. Jonathan Tefft, the paternal grand- ^ 



-f 



M* 



I 



•►Hl-^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



-afri 



8G9 



father of our subject, married jNIiss Elizabetli Col- 
lins, of an old New England fainil3\ and thej' in 
due time migrated to New York State, locating on 
a farm in Madison County. Grandfather Tefft in 
middle life changed his residence from New York 
State to Illinois, settling near the present site of 
Elgin as early as 1835. at a time when that town 
gave little indication of its present importance, 
where they spent their last days, and passed away 
when nearly fourscore years of age. Grandmother 
Tefft came of Orthodox Quaker stock, and adhered 
closely to the religious faith in which she had been 
reared. 

Amos Tefft, the father of our subject, was the 
third in order of birth of a familj' of seven sons 
and live daughters. Two of the sons became promi- 
nent and successful physicians, and most. of them 
being men of more than ordinary intelligence, 
turned their attention to the professions. Amos 
Tefft was born in Madison County, N. Y., Aug. 
29, 1815, and spent his childhood and youth at his 
father's farm, receiving his education in the com- 
mon school. He was yet a single man when his 
family removed to Kane County. 111. He was mar- 
ried in the Prairie .State to Miss Margaret Calvert. 
This lady was born on the other side of the Atlan- 
tic, in the well-known city of Greenock, Scotland, 
and was of pure Scotch ancestry. Her father, 
Thomas Calvert, emigrated to the United States, 
and settled in the vicinit}- of Ithaca, N. Y., but 
later removed to Illinois, locating in Elgin, where 
he and his estimable wife spent the remainder of 
their days, both passing awa\' wlien about seventy- 
seven years old. 

In the spring of 1850 Amos Tefft, with a com- 
pany of other men, left Elgin, 111., and set out 
•across tlie plains for the gold fields of California. 
They made the journe}' overland, and a few weeks 
later landed in Hangtown, where they began the 
search for the yellow ore with varied success, so- 
journing in that region about one year. The re- 
turn trip was made via the Isthmus to New York 
Citj', and thence to Illinois. Although it did not 
result in a fortune to Mr. T., he traveled over a 
country which he had never seen before, and ob- 
tained much useful information in regard to the 
regions lying west of the Mississippi. In passing 



through Nebraska Territory he was greatly pleased 
with the face of the country, and from that time 
never gave up the idea of making it his home. 

The father of our subject is still living, and has 
arrived at the advanced age of seventy -three years. 
He is still the bright and kindly man which he has 
always been during the years of a long and useful 
life. He identified himself entirelj' with the inter- 
ests of his adopted State, and after filling other po- 
sitions of trust was, in 1862, elected by the 
Republicans of Cass County to represent them in 
the Territorial Legislature. He has been a sound 
Republican since the organization of the partv, and 
cast his vote for old Tippecanoe in the election of 
1840. It is hardly' necessary to say that he sup- 
ported the grandson, Benjamin Harrison, with 
equal enthusiasm in the late election (1888). Mrs. 
Margaret Tefft, the wife and mother, accompanied 
her family to Nebraska, and with true devotedness 
did her full share in the building up of a home. 
Her death took place in Avoca Village, at the age 
of sixty-seven years. She was a descendant of old 
Presbyterian stock, and united with the Congrega- 
tional Church in early life, remaining under its 
wing until the end. Orlando, our subject, is the 
only survivor of the two children of the parental 
family, his brother Randolph having died in in- 
fancy. 

The subject of this sketch was reared in his na- 
tive town of Elgin, 111., and received a good prac- 
tical education, completing his studies in the acad- 
emy at that place. He has always been a reader, 
and like iiis father before him keeps himself well 
posted upon matters of general interest. After a 
residence of a few years in Avoca Precinct, during 
whicli lie assisted liis parents in the building of the 
homestead, lie was married, July 4, 1867, to Miss 
E. H. Kirkpatrick. This lady was born Jan. 3, 
.1850, in Wapello County, Iowa, and was quite 
young when her parents came to Nebraska. 
Thereafter she returned to the Hawkeye State and 
completed her studies in the college at Tabor. She 
made her home with her parents imtil her mar- 
riage. Her father, S. ^I. Kirkpatrick, whose sketch 
appears elsewhere in this volume, is one of the 
most prominent men in this county, and a resident 
of Liberty Precinct. 



•> II <• 



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87 



CASS COUNTY. 



To Mr. and Mrs. Tefift there have been born two 
children, one of whom, Roland, died in infancy; 
Clarence E. is pursuing his studies in the State 
University at Lincoln, being now a piomising lad 
of seventeen years. Mr. Tefift, politically, is a 
stanch Repiiblican, and both he and iiis excellent 
wife are members in good standing of the Congre- 
gational Church. Socially, Mr. T. belongs to the 
1. O. O. F., Lodge No. 29, of Avoca. He takes a 
genuine interest in everything pertaining to the 
welfare of Cass County, is a man of decided views, 
and one whose opinions are generally- respected. 

/^EORGE W. NORTON, Mayor of Weeping 
III g— , Water, has been closely identified with its 
^^1 most important interests for a period of 
eight years, and is consequently well qualified to 
discharge the duties of his responsible position. A 
native of the Empire State, he was born in the vi- 
cinity of Richfield Springs, Otsego County, Nov. 
29, 1831, and there spent the opening years of his 
life, removing thence with his parents when a lad 
nine j-ears of age. They at that time took u|) their 
residence on a farm in Springville Townsliip, Erie 
County, where they lived until 1844, and where 
George W. entered upon the rudiments of a practi- 
cal education. 

Young Norton began his business career as an 
apprentice to the cabinet-maker's tr.ade, and contin- 
ued a resident of his native State until the fall of 
1852. Then desiring to see something of the Great 
AVest, he migrated to Northern Illinois, and for a 
period of six years was a resident of Chicago. Two 
years of this time he conducted a grocery at the 
corner of Clark and Adams streets, in a building 
widely dissimilar from the handsome blocks which 
now occupy tiiat site and of which the post-oinee is 
a conspicuous feature. The city fathers were at 
that time raisiug the grade, and Mr. Norton finally 
abandoned the grocery trade and resumed his work 
as a cabinet-maker. 

In Chicago our subject made the acquaintance of 
Miss Alibie Sawyer, to whom he was marries! Oct. 
IG, 1850. Providence blessed this union vvith a 



famil3' of six children, two sons and four daughters, 
five of whom are living; .Jennie M. is the wife of 
E. E. Day, of Weeping Water, a sketch of whom 
appears elsewhere in this work, and they have two 
children; Luella I. married Walter Cole, a mer- 
chant of Weeping Water; Elizabeth A., Edwin K. 
and Robert R., are at home with their parents. 
They are a bright and intelligent group, and have 
been given the educational advantages in keeping 
with their station in life. 

Mr. Norton upon leaving Chicago in 1858 went 
to Lal^Xvette, Ind., and was employed by the New 
Albanj' Railroad Company, to superintend the build- 
ing of their roundhouse and other structures along 
the line of their road. This occupied most of his 
time until 1862. In the meantime, the Civil War 
being in progress, he entered the ranks of the State 
Militia, and finally became a member of Wilson's 
Cavalry at Chicago, where, with his comrades, he en- 
camped and drilled a year, in the meantime fur- 
nishing their own horses and equipments. They 
desired to enter the regular service, but not being 
needed, disbanded and returned home. 

We nest find Mr. Norton a member of Companj- D 
in the 3d Wisconsin Infantry, which was assigned 
to the Department of the West, being first a portion 
of the 12th Army Corps and afterward with the 
20th. Mr. Norton had the satisfaction of partici- 
pating in the Atlanta campaign under Gen. Sher- 
man, and met the enemy in the battles of Dalton, 
Resaua, Peachtree* Creek, and the siege of Atlanta. 
At this latter place he was wounded, July 22, and 
sent to Kingston, Ga., where he was confined in the 
hospital until November. He then joineil his regi- 
ment at Atlanta and marched to the sea. Upon 
entering the ranks of the regular army he was 
made First Sergeant. At Savannah he w.as pro-' 
moted to .Second Lietenant. On the 14th of March, 
18G5, near Averasboro, N. C, he was again 
wounded, and obliged to ride six days before he 
could be relieved, and when reaching Gohlsboro, N. 
C, was in such bad shape that it was impossible to 
give him proper treatment. He still carries the 
ball in his limb. 

From Goldsboro our subject, with his regiment, 
was taken to New York by boat, where he was con- 
fined in the hospital until the close of the war. when 



■•►Hi 



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CASS COUNTY. 



871 



he was mustered put and received his honorable 
discharge, after two years of hard service. In tlie 
meantime liis family iiad been left in Marquette 
County, AVis., and after a brief sojourn there Mr. 
Norton made arrangements to settle at Atlantic, 
Iowa, and engage in the grain business. He put up 
an elevator and a mill, and was one of the first set- 
tlers in the town, being ahead of the railroad. This 
enterprise of Mr. Norton proved at lirst very re- 
munerative. Later botii mill and elevator were 
destroyed by fire, and he thus lost the greater part 
of his property. He. however, did not '"desert the 
ship," but remained at Atlantic, and was one of the 
leading men in the various enterprises wiiich resulted 
in the building up of a flourishing and important 
citj'. He officiated on the School Boards, and was 
a member continuously of the City Council and 
finally elected Mayor, serving two terms. He as- 
sisted in the erection of the school buildings and 
the establishment of the Congregational Church, 
being one of the seven who assisted in the organi- 
zation of the society and the erection of the church 
edifice, at a cost of $2,500. 

Mr. Norton remained a resident of the city of 
his fostering care and of which he vvas practically 
the founder, until 1880. His attention then became 
attracted to this county and especially South Bend 
Precinct, where he established himself in the grain 
business, and the following year came to Weeping 
Water. His fine business capacities were at once 
recognized, and he was welcomed to the community 
as a man very likelj' to be of value to its best inter- 
ests. Upon the organization of the town as a city 
he was elected its first Mayor. He has always voted 
the Re|)ublican ticket, becoming a member of the 
party upon its organization, and casting his first 
Presidential vote for John C. Fremont, its first nomi- 
nee, in 1856. He is treasurer of the Building Com- 
mittee of the new Congregational Church, and is 
connected with various other enterprises having for 
their object the general progress of the town. He 
is prominent in the G. A. 11., being a member of 
the Lafayette Post No. 61, at Weeping Water, 
and still maintains the patriotic principles which 
have actuated him since his early manhood. 

Mrs. Norton was born in Portland, Me., Nov. 6, 
1838, and came West with her parents in 1854, when 



a maiden of sixteen years, the}' locating in Waupon, 
Wis., where she was married subsequently to our 
subject. Her parents were Josiah B. and Elizabeth 
S. (Barnes) Sawyer, who were natives of Maine, and 
the father a farmer by occupation. Thej- lived in 
Wisconsin about two years, then removed to At- 
lantic. Iowa. They are still living, and make their 
home with their daughter, Mrs. Norton. 

Burroughs Norton, the father of our subject, was 
born in AVorcester, Mass., in June. 1800, and re- 
moved with his parents when a little lad of eight 
3"ears to Richfiehi Springs, N. Y., where soon after- 
ward he was left an orphan by the death of both 
parents, He became the apprentice of a tanner and 
currier, a trade which he learned in all its details, 
and subsequently established in business for himself 
at Richfield Springs. He married Miss Margaret 
Weber, and they became the parents of sixteen 
children, eleven of whom lived to mature j'ears. 

About 11S42 the Norton family changed their 
residence to Erie Connty, N. Y., whence they re- 
moved about 1852 to Marquette County, AVis. The 
death of the mother took place at Kewanee, 111., in 
1864. The father later removed to St. Joseph, 
Mo., and now makes his home with his youngest 
daughter at that place. He was a very active and 
industrious man during his prime and a strong Abo- 
litionist. Being a man of fine capabilities he was 
at one time quite prominent in public affairs, and 
was sent as a delegate to the National Convention 
at the cit}' of Buffalo, which nominated John Van 
Buren for President on the Free-Soil ticket in 1844. 
He is a member of the Congregational Church, and 
although quite well advanced in years, enjoys good 
health and is quite active. 

<jf}OHN iAI. NEELY, M. D. Too few men in 
I I the medical profession have a proper sense of 
the responsibilities connected therewith; too 
few realize the magnitude of the trusts com- 
mitted to their care. AA'hen therefore there comes 
into a community a man of thorough intelligence 
as connected with his calling, one who has made a 
deep and patient study of his art, he obtains that 
recognition of his services which can only be 



l)e ' ' 



t 



•^i^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



gained by fidelity to duty and knowledge of the 
important things connected therewith. These 
thoughts aie suggested in reviewing tlie career of 
the suhjeet of this sketch. A man of tliorough edu- 
cation and an extensive experience as army sur- 
geon in the late war, Dr. Neely occupies a position 
in tlie front ranks of the medical profession in 
Southeastern Nebraska. 

Our subji'ct in the autumn of 1884 came to Busli- 
bury, this county, and after practicing there two 
j'ears changed his residence to Wabash, soon after 
it had been laid out as a town. lie has thus prac- 
tically grown up with the village and become fully 
identified with the various interests jjertaining to 
its growth and prosperity. The only son of Dr. 
Josepli and Lydia (Montgomery) Neely, he was 
born at Newbnrg, Warrick Co.. Ind., Feb. 20, 1836, 
the home of his parents at that time being near the 
banks of the Ohio River. When an infant of six 
weeks old, his i)arents changed their location to 
Cynthiana, Posey County, that State, where the 
father thereafter practiced his profession for a period 
of twenty years. The family, besides our subject, in- 
cluded six daughters, one of whom is living, and 
making her home in Mississi|)pi. 

Young Neely began his education in the district 
school, and at an early age had decided to adopt 
the practice of medicine as his life calling. When 
a youth of sixteen years he entered the Baptist 
College at Franklin, Ind.. of which ho was a student 
one year, then he attended the academy at New- 
burg one and one-half years, completing the aca- 
demic course. He entered upon the study of medi- 
cine at the age of nilieteen. under the instruction of 
his father, who enjoyed a very extensive practice 
and was eminently successful. After three years 
of close attention to the best medical works pub- 
lished, he entered the Eclectic College of Medicine 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated 
with honors in Februar}', 18.i8. 

Young Dr. Neely began the practice of his pro- 
fession in his native town, but a little over two 
years later removed, Jan. 1, 1862, to Owensville, 
Ind., becoming one of the many [)hysicians and 
surgeons giving their attention to the sick and 
wounded Union soldiers after the battle of Pitts- 
burg Landing, leceiving his commission from 



Gov. Morton. Dr. Neely vvas assigned to the 
7th Illinois Cavalry, and attended upon his pa- 
tients during their sojourn at the hospital in the 
field. In September. 1863, he received the regu- 
lar commission of Assistant Surgeon of the 120th 
Indiana Infantry, and was soon promoted to Sur- 
geon, Sept. 1, 18G4. In January, 186.5. after 
the battle of Nashville, he was sent to North Caro- 
lina, where he became Medical Director of the gen- 
eral hospital at Rileigh, and was retained in the 
Government service until January, 1866. During 
this [leriod he gathered valuable knowledge from a 
varied experience, which has done him gtjod service 
for more than twenty years. 

In April, 1866. Dr. Neely returned to Owens- 
ville, Ind., aijd oti the 17th day of that month was 
united in marriage with Miss Ellen Smith. This 
lady was born near Vincennes, Ind., Nov. 6, 1844, 
and was finely eilucated, following the profession 
of a teacher three or four years before her marriage. 
Dr. Neely, at Owensville, entered upon a very 
large and lucrative practice, receiving the bulk of 
the patronage in his county, where his conscien- 
tious attention to dutj* served to gather around 
him hosts of friemls. With the natural desire of 
mankind, however, for ciiange, he finally decide! to 
cast his lot with the people of the farther West, and 
accordingl}' pitched his tent in the young and 
growing State of Nebraska. He met with a severe 
affliction in the death of his wife, in October, 1882, 
when she was but thirty-eight years old. There 
had been born to them six interesting children, 
namely: Mary, who died in infancy; Joseph, John 
M., Charles, William S. and Otis. Joseph is an ex- 
pert, telegraph operator, and makes his home in 
Wabash. The other children are with their father. 
The parents of Dr. Neely were natives of Ken- 
tucky, ami are now deceased. He comes of hon- 
orable ancestry, and his paternal great-grandfather 
distinguished himself as a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary War, invested with the rank of Major. His 
uncle. Gen. John I. Neely, was an aid-de-camp, 
under Gen. Harrison, in the War of 1812. Spring- 
ing thus from a patriotic source and in sympathy 
with the Union and freedom, it is hardly necessary 
to saj' that our subject is one of the stanchest sup- 
porters of the Republican party. Socially, he be- 



<»■ 



^ 



<• 



h 



CASS COUNTY. 



longs to Kenesaw Post, G. A. R., atEImwood. He 
has Iteen a close stmlent and an extensive reader, 
and in the ranits of his profession has aimed to ex- 
cel. The fact that his practice is constantly 
increasing, being a third more the ]>ast year 
(1888) than heretofore, gives sutflcient indication 
of his standing among tlie people of this county. 

^l^'RANXIS R. GUTHMANN, a capitalist of 
jlMfei Flattsmouth, is numbered among the wealthy 
U^ and substantial citizens of Cass County. He 
has now practically retired from business, although 
he still supervises his extensive interests. He has 
contributed largely to the upbuilding of the city, 
and has a great deal of property here, including a 
handsome residence, the best hotel of the place, and 
two smaller ones, besides stores and other buildings. 
Mr. Guthmann was born in the village of Wald- 
hausen, near Buchen, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, 
Germany. July 2, 1841. His parents. Francis and 
Anna Maria (Gramlich) Guthmann, were natives of 
the same place, as were also their parents. The 
paternal grandfather of our subject owned a farm 
there and was a lifelong resident of that place. His 
father, Francis Guthaiann, was reared to agricult- 
ure, which he pursued in his native land until his 
death, Nov. 2o, 1875. His wife, Anna Maria, was 
born in a village near her husband's birthplace, and 
spent her last years in the home where all of her 
married life was passed. She died Dec. 11, 1860. 
There were fourteen children born to her and her 
husband, and ten of them grew to maturity. Caro- 
line married Peter Rauen; Helen married Valentine 
Egenberger; Charles, wboserved in the 3d Missouri 
Regiment under Gen. Sigel for four years, and 
afterward settled in Lancaster County, Neb., died 
at the home of our subject in 1882; Maria L. 
married Benjamin Hempel; William, who served in 
the German Armj', died in Plattsmouth in 1884; 
our subject was the next in order of birth ; then 
Maria Catherine, who married J. V. Weckbach, of 
whom see sketch on another page of this book; 
John F. M. died in his native village; Fred and 
Oswald are the youngest members of the family. 
Seven of these are living in Nebraska, and all in 



Cass County, with the exception of Fred, who is a 
resident of Seward County. 

Francis R. received an excellent education in the 
Fatherland, attending school prettj' steadily in his 
boyhood until he was fourteen years of age. He 
then assisted his father in the labors of the farm 
until the month of December, 1856, when he and 
one of his sisters set sail from London, and landed 
in New York F'eb. 9, 1857. Another brother and 
sister had preceded them, and they joined them in 
Davenport, Iowa, where they had settled. Our sub- 
ject had come to America with but little means, 
and he immediately set about procuring work that 
he might better his financial condition. The first 
3'ear of his stay in this country he was emplo3'cd 
at the saddler's traile. In 1859 be started with a 
party bound for Pike's Peak in search of gold. 
Going from Davenport with teams, they traversed 
the wild prairies of Iowa, and crossing the Missouri 
Kiver at Plattsmouth, then an insignificant hamlet, 
they pusheil on across the plains through the Ter- 
ritory' of Nebraska to near Ft. Kearney, where they 
were stayed in their course by meeting man3' weary 
and disappointed emigrants returning from Pike's 
Peak with very discouraging reports, so the party 
concluded to abandon their purpose. Our subject's 
brother decided to take up a claim in Nehr.aska, and 
selected a tract of land in Lancaster County, about 
ten miles east of the present site of Lincoln, which 
was then a wild, open prairie, owned by the Gov- 
ernment, and for sale at 81.25 an acre. Indians 
still lingered in that part of the country, and deer, 
elks and wolves roamed at will over the plains. Our 
subject was then too young to make a claim to some 
land, so he returned to civilization. He spent two 
months in St. Louis, and then went to St. Joseph 
and worked in a bakery. After thoroughly mas- 
tering that trade, he eng.aged in pantry work in the 
Pacific House in tliat city, remaining there until 
1863. He then crossed the plains to Denver, and 
there engaged as pastry' cook in the Planters' 
Hotel, then the leading hotel in Denver. Ten 
months later he left that place, in Februarj-, 1864, 
and, with others, started with six wagons for that 
part of Idaho now included in the Territory of 
Montana. While traveling in the mountains the 
parly encountered severe storms and nearly perished. 



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876 



CASS COUNTY. 



i= 



In one place they were five clays niaking seven 
miles, and one night the wolves iiillerl' and de- 
voured one of the mules. On the 1.5th of INIay the 
p.arty arrived at Virginia City, and there learned 
that it had been reported that they had all perished 
in the mountains. Mr. Guthuiann opened a bake 
shop and boarding-house in that city, but his resi- 
dence in that part of the country' was of short du- 
ration, as in the fall of 1864 he came to Platts- 
mouth to invest his money in city property, and 
made arrangements to erect a store building. In 
1865 be returned to the mountains and established 
a bakery and boarding-house in Blackfoot City, 
Deer Lodge Co., Mont., conducting both with good 
financial success until 1868, when he again came to 
Plattsmouth. He engaged in the bakery business 
here, and the following year added packing pork. 
In 1870 he opened a billiard hall, and in 1871 a 
grocery store, giving bis personal attention to these 
varied enterprises until 1874, all the while carrying 
on bis bakery. He then sold the grocery store, 
but continued to manage the billiard hall until 
1881. Since that time he has not lieen engaged in 
any actual business, but devotes himself to the 
supervision of iiis mnltipMcity of interests, from 
wiiich he derives an ample income. Mr. Guthmann 
is a man of great enterprise ; he has a clear head 
for business, and display's much tact and shrewd- 
ness in his various undertakings. He has done 
much toward building up Plattsmouth, having 
erected two dwelling-houses and three stores, be- 
sides other buildings. The brick house which he 
occupies with his famil}' is one of the finest in the 
city, and was erected in 1886. Mr. Guthmann is a 
stockholder in the Citizens' Bank, also in the Bank 
of Cass County, and also in the Plattsmouth Can- 
ning Factory, of which he is President. He has 
taken an honorable part in public affairs, having 
been a member of the City Council. He has al- 
wa3's been identified with the Democrats in his po- 
litical affiliations. 

Mr. Guthmann was united in marriage to Anna 
M. Pankratz, Jan. 10, 1878, and to them have been 
born four children — Nellie, Charles F. M.. Henry 
A. J. and Minnie T. They have also an adopted 
daughter, Annie. Mrs. Guthmann was born in Mani- 
towoc County. \Vi.«.. Nov. '24. 1 860. and isa daughter 



of Joseph and Katrina (Bruner) Pankratz. natives of 
Bavaria. Thej' were reared and married in that 
country, and resided there until 1853. In that 
year they crossed the water to the United States, 
and located in Manitowoc Countj', Wis., being early 
settlers of that part of the country. Mr. Pankratz 
bought a tract of timber land, and first erected a 
round log house to shelter his family, and then 
commenced to clear a farm from the wilderness. 
Later he erected a substantial, two-story, hewed log 
house, and other necessary farm buildings, and re- 
sided there until his death in 1863. His widow is 
still living on the old homestead. There were 
eight children in their familj\ as follows: Anton, 
who died at the old home in 1888; Mary, who 
married Joseph Lemberger, is now deceased ; Kat- 
rina, who married John Steiner, and lives in Mani- 
towoc Countj', Wis. ; Theresa, who married Henry 
Fetzer, and lives in Lancaster County, Neb.: Fran- 
ces, who mah-ied Fabian Heitzmann, and lives in 
Gage County, Neb. : Joseph, who lives in Manito- 
woc County; Mrs. Guthmann; MaggTe, who married 
John Smith, and lives in Manitowoc County, Wis. 
The life of Mr. Guthmann has been an active one, 
full of enterprise and stirring incident, and through 
all he preserved the cool headedness and good 
judgment which enabled him to acquire the fortune 
he is now enjoying. On an adjoining page appears 
an excellent portrait of this nell-known*iesideut. 



^^ 



<^^' MSDEL SHELDON, a practical and well- 
( jPytj| to-do farmer of Avoca Precinct, owns a 

■'fnii good homestead property on section 19, 
f^l and has within the precinct, all told, 480 

acres. The land is fertile and valuable, and in ad- 
dition to this Mr. Sheldon has 279 acres in Berlin 
Precinct, Otoe County. The whole is well devel- 
oped and supplied with good improvements. The 
homestead buildings are more than ordinarily taste- 
ful and substantial, and the Sheldon family occupies 
no unimportant position among the intelligent 
people in good circumstances along the southern 
line of the countj'. 

Mr. Sheldon has been a resident of Avoca only 
since 1884, removing to this place from Berlin Pre- 

*^ 



^T^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



cinct, Otoe County, where he had resided a period 
of flfleen years. He settled in that countj' in the 
spring of 186D, and built up a good homestead 
from the uncultivated prairie. His arrival in Ne- 
braska was the completion of a long journey fioui 
New England and the Green Mountain State, where 
he was born in Windsor County, Sept. 27, 1839. 
His father, Joel Sheldon, was a rt-ell-to-do Windsor 
County farmer, who later migrated to Michigan in 
1830, where he spent a few )-ears, then returned to 
Ills native haunts, and in 1869 came to Nebraska 
with his two sons, and died here in March, 1875, 
at the age of seventy-four years. He was born in 
February, 1801, and was the son of Jacob Sheldon, 
a native of either Vermont or New Hampshire, and 
who married a Miss Lovejoy. They afterward 
lived in both Windham and Rutland Counties, Vt., 
and passed their last daj's in the latter county. 
Joel Sheldon, the fathei' of our subject, upon reach- 
ing manhood was married in Windsor Count}-, Vt., 
to Miss Fidelia Peltigrew, who was born and reared 
there. She is yet living, and makes her home with 
her son, Lawson Sheldon, in Nehawka Village, this 
counlj', and is now arrived at the advanced age of 
eightj'-three years. 

The subject of this sketch is one of twins, 
the two 3-oungest of six children born to his parents, 
and he lived with them until reaching his majorit}-. 
He was a single man upon coming to Nebraska, 
but found a bride in Otoe County, being married 
Sept. 3, ] 874, to Miss Celia Ellis. This lady was 
born in Fond du Lac, Wis., Sept. 5, 1852, and came 
to Nebraska with her parents in her girlhood. The 
latter were Lathrop and Elmeria (Ward) Ellis, who 
settled in Otoe County about 186C. The father is 
still living on a farm there, and is now past his 
threescore years and ten. The mother died in 
middle life in 1862. 

Mrs. Sheldon received a very good education in 
the schools of her native county, pursuing her 
studies for a time in Oshkosh, Wis. Later she de- 
veloped into a teacher, and followed this profession 
in Wisconsin and Nebraska City before her mar- 
riage. Of her union with our subject there are three 
children— Carrie 1., Esther C. and Lucian A. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sheldon are favorites in the social circles 
of their community, and their home forms one of 



its most pleasant places of resort. Mrs. Sheldon is 
a member in good standing of the Congregational 
Church, attending services at Avoca. Mr. Sheldon, 
politically, is a solid Republican, giving his undi- 
vided support to the princiijles of his p.irty. He 
has officiated as Assessor of Avoca Precinct, and 
socially, belongs to Lodge No. 29, I. O. O. F. 



^ ANIEL D. ANDRUS isextensively iden- 
tified vvith the agricultural interests of 
Cass Count}-, owning one of the largest 
and best managed farms in Centre Pre- 
cinct. Its 600 broad and fertile acres, lying on 
sections 15, 16, 21 and 22, are all under good 
tillage, yielding abundant harvests, and the fine 
l)astures support large henis of well-graded stock. 
The subject of this biographical notice was born 
in Orleans County. N. Y.. Nov. 13, 1835. His 
father, A. B. Andrus, was born in the same State 
in 1811, and lived there until 1852, when he went to 
California by steamer, and staid there until 1856. 
During his sojourn in that Eldorado he made good 
use of his time and secured a good share of gold dust. 
After his return to his old home he went to Iowa 
and lived for several years. He subsequently came 
to the home of our subject, and died here in 1885. 
His widow is still living in Iowa. Her maiden 
name was Olive Brad way, and to her and her hus- 
band were born five children, two of whom are 
living. 

Daniel Andrus was reared in his native county 
to a stalwart and vigorous manhood, remaining an 
inmate of his old home until he was twenty years 
old. At that age he went to'^'Jones County, Iowa, 
arriving there in January. 185(j. He there engaged 
in farming anil stock dealing quite extensively. 
While a resident of Iowa Mr. Andrus met and 
married Miss Louisa Ewing, and to them have come 
six children, five of whom are still living, namely: 
Charles B., Clifton M., Daniel D., Jr., Fred W. and 
Olive E. All are at home. They have been given 
excellent opportunities to secure an education, and 
have been trained to good and honorable lives. 
Mrs. Andrus was bor i in Pennsylvania, June 1, 
1840, and lived there until about 1859, when she 



.ne 



•►-Hl^-* 



CASS COUNTY. 



accompanied her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel 
Evving, to Jackson Connij-, Iowa, and from there to 
Bowen's Prairie, Jones Co., Iowa, where she lived 
until her marriage. 

Mr. Andriis came to Nebraska in 1864, and 
spent the ensuing years in Omaha and Grand Island. 
In 18C8 he came to Cass County and bought a farm 
in Eight Mile Grove Precinct, and made his home 
on that for a short time. Finally, after several 
changes, he came here in 1875, and bought the land 
included in his present place, which was then mostly 
wild prairie. He has since added to it until he 
now owns one of the largest farms in the county. 
He has set out a fine grove, embracing about eight 
acres, including a good orchard. In 1876-77 he 
erected a substantial residence, and has made many 
other valuable improvements. The farm is well 
cultivated and is devoted to raising stock and 
grain. 

As Mr. Andrus has been a powerful factor in 
developing the agricultural resources of this pre- 
cinct, he is naturally a man of weight and influence 
in its public affairs, and he has often lieen called 
upon to hold both precinct and school offices, his 
fellow-citizens gladly availing themselves of his 
counsel and wisdom in carrying out schemes for the 
improvement of the township, or for the advance- 
ment of education within its limits. He is a n)an 
of far-reaching foresight, with business talents of a 
high order, and superior powers of judgment. He 
is independent in his political views, but generally 
casts his vote with the Republicans. 



(^^HOMAS MITCHELL, who worthily repre- 
m^^ seiits the industrial interests of Plattsmouth 
^^^ as a carpenter, was a pioneer of this city and 
county, and has contributed his share in develop- 
ing them from the wild, sparsely settled prairie 
that he found on his arrival here in the days of 
1 857. He was born near Xenia, Greene Co., Ohio, 
Aug. 27, 1811. His father, .James Mitchell, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, but it is not known where 
his grandfather, David Mitchell, was born, only 
that he was of foreign parentage. He was for sev- 
eral years engaged in his occupation of farmer in 



Penns3ivania, but in 1792 he removed from there 
to Kentucky, and was one of the pioneers of Fay- 
ette County in the time of Daniel Boone's resi- 
dence there. The Indians were then numerous and 
hostile, and at one time, while Mr. Mitchell was out 
with a scouting party, in quest of a party of sav- 
ages who had stolen some horses, the latter lay in 
ambush, surprised the white men, and killed some 
of them. Mr. Mitchell was severely wounded, but 
managed to escape alive. He moved with his fam- 
ilj' to Ohio in 1802, and was an early settler there. 
He took up a tract of timber land, from which 
he commenced to develop a farm, and continued to 
reside there until his death, June 10, 1817, in his 
eightieth j-ear. jMargaret JMitchell, his wife, died 
Feb. 4, 1825, and they now lie peacefully sleeping 
in Massie's Creek Cemetery, near Xenia. 

The father of our subject went to Kentucky at 
the same time that his parents did, and also accom- 
panied them to Ohio a few years later. He bought 
a tract of timber land near Xenia, and built a 
log house thereon for the shelter of his familj', 
and in that humble dwelling our subject was after- 
ward born. Mr. Mitchell cleared a farm and lived 
on it some years, when he had an opportunity to 
trade it for one nearer to his father's land, and 
there he made his home until his death in 1 850. He 
had gone to Greene County as a pioneer in the 
early days of its settlement, and in the forty -eight 
years that he passed there, years fraught w-itli labor 
and hardships at first, wherein he had won a com- 
fortable competence, he witnessed great changes, 
and was himself one of the factors in bringing 
them about. In the early days there were no mar- 
kets anywhere in that section, and after the com- 
pletion of the canal Daj'ton was the nearest market 
for some j'ears. The maiden name of the mother 
of our subject was Martha Espy, and she was born 
in Pennsylvania. Her father, Josiah Espy, was, it 
is thought, a native of Pennsylvania. He moved 
from there at the same time the Mitchell family 
did to Kentucky, and there died in November, 
1801. His wife, Elizabeth Epsy,.died in Ohio, 
Nov. 19, 1809. The mother of our subject resided 
with her parents until her marriage, and was care- 
fully trained in the art of spinning flax and wool. 
She was an excellent housewife, and in the days 






«► 11 M» 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



879 



when stoves were almost unknown did her cooking 
b^' the fire in the huge, okl-fasliioned fireplace. She 
died at the horns of a daughter in Xenia, Ohio, in 
1863, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. 
There were thirteen children born to her and her 
husband, all of whom grew up and eleven of them 
are married. Their names are Margaret, David, 
Eliza. Ann, Maria, James E., Josiah, Martha, 
Thomas, Sarah, Robert A., Francis P. and Samuel K. 

Thomas Mitchell was reared in his native county, 
and there learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, 
following it in different parts of Ohio, Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Mississippi and New York. In 1839 he 
located in AVarren County, Ohio, and resided there 
until 1850. From there he went to Loveland, 
Clermont Co., Ohio, and at the expiration of 
four j'ears' residence there went to Cincinnati, 
where he was activelj^ engaged at his trade until 
1857. Shrewdly foreseeing that in a newly settled 
Territory like Nebraska his work as a carpenter 
would be in great demand, he resolved to locate 
here, and in the month of May came to Platts- 
mouth, with his family, by way of the Ohio, 
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The land here 
was at that time nearly all owned by the Govern- 
ment and for sale at 11.25 an acre. There were but 
few inhabitants here, and only a short distance to 
the westward deer, antelopes and other wild game 
roamed the prairies. He immediately entered land 
from the Government, but he never resided on it, 
as he commenced to work at carpentering that 
summer in Plattsmouth, and has been a continuous 
resident here since; and thus he has witnessed the 
entire growth of the city, and has aided it not a 
little, as he was considered a verj- skillful and 
faithful workman, and his services were in con- 
stant demand as a builder. By his industrj- and 
the judicious management of his monetary af- 
fairs he has been enabled to lay up a competence, 
so that his declining years may be spent free from 
care. 

Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage to Jane 
Clendenin, Aug. 12, 1841, and for twenty years 
they faithfully shared life's burdens, and were then 
called to part, she dying in 1861. She was a native 
of Warren County, Ohio, and was a daughter of 
Samuel and Cvnthia Clendenin. She was an exem- 



plary woman, and her death was felt far beyond the 
family circle by the many friends who had been at- 
tracted to her by her genial disposition. Ten chil- 
dren blessed her union with her husband, seven of 
whom grew to maturity, three dying in infancy. 
The names of the former are Cordelia, James, Mar- 
tha, Francis L., Cynthia, George W. and Charles. 
Mr. Mitchell is a straightforward man, whose 
word is considered as good as a bond, and in him 
the Presbyterian Church finds a valued member, 
who cheerfully aids all schemes for the moral ele- 
vation of society. He is a thorough believer in the 
policy of the Republican party, of which he has 
been a member since its formation. Before that 
time he was a AA'hig, and cast his first vote for 
Gen. Harrison, of Tippecanoe fame, in 1840, and 
after a lapse of forty-eight years voted for that 
illustrious President's grandson, the Gen. Harrison 
of the present day. 

_ .^^ ^ 



^TnVENJAMIN F. LANG, M. D.. the only 
'^i homeopathic physician in Weeping Water< 
enjoys an extensive and lucrative business, 
and bears the reputation of being a consci- 
entious practitioner and valuable as a memher of 
the community. He was born thirty-three years 
ago on the rugged New England Coast in Somerset 
County. Me., Dec. 12, 1855, and lived there until 
reaching man's estate. Upon leaving the primary 
schools he entered tlie Friends' Classical School in 
Providence, R. L, where he was a student four 
years, taking the full course, and acquitting himself 
with great honor. Suon after leaving school he be- 
came private tutor in the family of Moses Bailey, 
of Winthrop, Me., and a 3-ear later entered upon 
the study of medicine under the instruction of Dr. 
Byron Porter, one of the most prominent and suc- 
cessful physicians of Newport, Me. He remained a 
resident of his native State some time thereafter, 
and took lectures in Bowdoin Medical Institute and 
the Cincinnati Medical College, from which latter 
institution he was graduated in 1883. 

Dr. Lang, when leaving New England and after 
completing his medical studies, began the regidar 
practice of his profession in Bainbridge, Ross Co., 



.^l-<^ 



i^hM* 



•^--it^ 



••► 



880 



CA8S COUNTY. 



Oliio. of which he remainerl a resirlenl until coming 
to Nebraska in Sejiternber of 1H86. In his intro- 
duction of tiie homcopalliic system of practice, lie 
finils many adiierents and a generally favorable 
feeling toward the simple methoils of this school. 
His success has naturally been largely influential in 
building up this feeling among the people in the 
central and southern portions of the county, where 
he numbers a large list of patrons. Although his 
jesidence here lias been comparatively brief, his 
labors have met with a most generous respon.se. 
His main office is located in the new Gibson Block, 
on 1 street, and he has an elegant home, a very 
large two-story residence, wliieh he has built since 
coming here, and which is the result of his two 
j-ears' work — a showing which he may justly look 
ui)on with pride. 

Dr. Laug was married in Shreve, Wayne Co.. 
Ohio, Dee. 6, 1883, to Miss Clara Hughes, who was 
horn at Morel.and, Oiiio. Dec. 6, 185.5, being mar- 
ried on her birthday. They have had two children, 
but only one is living, Edith May, wiio was born 
Nov. 13, 1885. Mrs. Lang received a good educa- 
tion, being graduated from the High School in iier 
native town, and thereafter followed the profession 
of a teacher for a period of thirteen years. Her 
parents were John and Susan (Caveny) Hughes, 
the former a native of Wayne County. Ohio. They 
are both living, making their home in Shreve, of 
which place the father is at present the Mayor. He 
was for many years engaged as a merciiant, but is 
now retired from active labor. Both parents are 
members in good standing of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. Their son James is Judge of the Cir- 
cuit Court at Mattoon, 111., and another son is a 
successful practicing attorney of David Cit}', this 
State. 

Dr. Lang and his estimable wife are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church in Weeping Water, 
in which the Doctor officiates as chorister of the 
church and Sunday-school. He is a solid Repub- 
lican politically, although carefully avoiding the 
cares and responsibilities of official honors, prefer- 
ring to give his time and attention to his profession. 
He is prominently connected with the Homeopathic 
State Medical Society of Nebraska. 

Hon. Peter H. Lang, the father of our subject, 



was born in Palmyra, Me., March 4, 1828, and has 
lived there all iiis life, engaged mostly in farming 
and stock-raising and also in general merchandising. 
He was married to Miss Nancy E. Earnham, in 1852. 
and they became the parents of five children. The 
parents in religious matters belong to the Society 
of Friends. Peter Lang was elected to the Maine 
Legislature in 1881, serving his term acceptabl3', 
and has held various offices in his county, officiat- 
ing as Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, and in other po- 
sitions of trust. Samuel S. Lang, tiie grandfather 
of our subject, was a native of Bath, N. IL, and 
spent his life from the age of twenty in Maine. 



#^ 

In the career of 
this gentleman we find an excellent example 
for j'oung men just embarking in the field 
of active life, of what maj' be accomplished 
by a man beginning with modest means, but hon- 
est, prudent and industrious. He came to Ne- 
braska in June, 1869, two years after it had been 
admitted into the Union as a State, and settling on 
section 12, Weeping Water Precinct, proceeded to 
construct a farm from the elements of the primi- 
tive soil. It required no small amount of energy 
and perseverance during the first years of his resi- 
dence here to combat the various difficulties which 
beset him, in common with his neighbors, but he 
has come out of the strife with flying colors. He 
now has one of the best regulated farms in the pre- 
cinct, the improvements of which he has brought 
about niostl3' through his own jiersonal efforts, and 
which consist of a good set of buildings, a flourish- 
ing apple orchard four acres in extent, a grove of 
forest trees of his own planting, substantial fenc- 
ing, a goodly assortment of live stock, and the farm 
machinery indispensable to the progressive agri- 
culturist. The present residence was completed 
in the summer of 1888, and is in modern style of 
architecture, forming, with its surroundings, one of 
the attractive homes along the southern line of the 
county. His farming operations include the breed- 
ing of cattle, including blooded Holsteins and 
Short-horns, and he also h.as some first-class horses, 
both roadsters and for farm purposes. The prera- 



>► I t^ 



H^l-^ 



•►HH-^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 






^t^ 



ises form a scene delightful to the eye, and as au 
illustration of industry and perseverance most pleas- 
ing to contemplate. 

William Asliraun, the father of our subject, lived 
for raanj- j-ears on a farm northeast of what was 
called Talmage Center, Talniage Township, Sum- 
rait Co., Ohio, and at this homestead the subject of 
our sketch was born, Sept. 25, 1847. He pursued 
his first studies in the little school-house at the 
"Four Corners," and later attended the academy 
at the '"Center," coinpleting a practical education. 
He remained at the homestead until a young man 
twenty -two j'ears of age, then turned his face to- 
ward the farther West, and .across the Father of 
Waters, resolving to cast his lot among the pioneers 
of Nebraska. Here also he found his bride, being 
married, Nov. 20, 1872, to Miss Ella Weaver. Mrs. 
Ashmun is also a native of Ohio, and was born 
Feb. 5, 1853. in Tuscarawas County'. She lived 
there until about tliree years old, and then refnoved 
with her adopted parents to Missouri, from there to 
Iowa, where she lived until the fall of 1870, when 
they took up their residence in Weeping Water 
Precinct, this county'. Her adopted parents are 
.lacob and Emily (Weaver) Walter, natives of 
Ohio, and the father a harness-maker by occupa- 
tion. They are residents of Denver, Colo. Of this 
union there have been born eight children, six of 
whom arc living, namely: Edward. Frank, Charles, 
Royal, Walter and Sterling H.; In the sketch of 
Henry Ashmun, a brother of our subject, and which 
will be found (jii another page, is noted the parental 
history. The Ashmun family is widely and favor- 
ably known throughout the northeastern part of 
Ohio as belonging to the best element of that sec- 
tion, being generally people well-to-do, highly in- 
telligent, and prominent in theii' community. 

J/OHN M. FOWLER. Tht subject of this 
biography, as a son of one of the earliest 
I pioneers of Cass County, and one who has 
borne worthily the mantle of his honored 
sire, deserves more than passing mention. , He is 
pleasantly located on a good farm of 160 acres on 
.section 6, one .and one-half miles east of Weeping 



Water. This land was secured by his father as a 
pre-emption claim in 1858, nine years before Ne- 
braska was admitted into the Union as a State. 

Charles Fowler, the father of our subject, here 
began life as a pioneer, giving to his homestead his 
best efforts, and remaining upon it until his death, 
which took place April 21, 1884. He was born in 
Cattaraugus County, N. Y., in 1825, and traced his 
ancestry to the Empire of Germany. When he 
was a mere boy his parents removed from New Y'ork 
State to Pennsylvania, settling in Mercer County, 
where Charles was reared to manhood and married 
Miss Esther A. Brsikeman. This lady, the mother 
of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
of Holland-Dutch descent. 

After their marriage Charles Fowler and his 
young wife began life together on a farm in the 
Keystone State, having little besides their coura- 
geous hearts and strong hands with which to labor. 
After the birth of three children, the father, desir- 
ous of bettering his financial condition, resolved 
upon seeking the Far West. Disposing of his in- 
terests in Mercer County, Pa., he started overland 
with his little family to Nebraska, which became 
the field of his future operations through life. He 
w.as prospered in his labors as a pioneer and an 
agriculturist, securing a competency for his old age, 
and retired from active labor about six 3'ears before 
his death, leaving the farm and taking up his abode 
in Weeping Water. There the mother is still liv- 
ing, occupying a comfortable home in Park addi- 
tion, and is now fifty-nine years old. She is a lady 
widely respected, and a member in good standing 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Charles Fow- 
ler, politically, was a lifelong Democrat, a man of 
decided views, and one who kept himself well in- 
formed upon matters of interest to the intelligent 
citizen. 

The subject of this sketch, the third child of the 
parental family, was born in Mercer Count}-, Pa., 
June 14, 1856. He came with his parents to Ne- 
braska Territory when but a lad, and was reared to 
manhood in this county. He became at an early 
age familiar with the various employments of farm 
life, and has been content to make of agriculture 
his independent vocation. He found his wife in 
Avo?a Precinct, beinir married Dee. 10. 1877. t 






•►Hl-^*' 



-•► 



<t 



882 



CA88 COUNTY. 



Miss Laura J. Compton. one of its most estimable 
j-oung ladies. Mrs. Fowler is a native of Tama 
County', Iowa, where her birth took place March 
15, 1858. She came with her parents to Nebraska 
in the spring of 1875. The latter, Elias and Nancy 
A. (Jenkins) Compton, are now living on a farm 
in Avoca Precinct, of which they have been resi- 
dents for the last thirteen years. They are natives 
of Ohio, and are numbered among the highly re- 
spected citizens of this county. 

Mrs. Fowler was educated in the Hawkeye State, 
and received careful home training from an excel- 
lent mother. She remained under the parental roof 
until her marriage. The household circle of Mr. 
and Mrs. Fowler was completed by the birth of six 
children, namely: George L., Alice M., Eddie L., 
Mabel A., Myrtle M. and Charles. The home- 
stead with its appurtenances suggests the idea of 
plenty and comfort, and is noticeable among the 
other well-regulated farms along the southern line 
of the county. Mr. Fowler uniformly votes the 
straight Democratic ticket, but further from this 
takes no part in politics, preferring to give his un- 
divided attention to his farming interests. 



J JOHN B. HOLMES. Tlie snhject of this 
I sketch has built up one of the finest estates 
[ in Rock Bluff Precinct, which comprises one 
/ of the most valuable farms within its borders, 
embellished with substantial buildings, including a 
very handsome and commodious two-story brick 
residence, constructed in modern style of architect- 
ure. There is probably not a more attractive home 
along the eastern line of the county, and its inmates 
are people of more than ordinary intelligence. 
There are four children at present under the home 
roof, namely: Willie A., John H., Alvin A, and 
E;iizabeth. The eldest daughter, Christina, is the 
wife of C. W. Nix, and lives in Custer County, this 
State. 

Our subject traces his ancestry to Scotland, of 
which his paternal grandfather, John Holmes, was 
a native, and was born near the city of Glasgow. 
When reaching man's estate he married a lady of 
that city, and they emigrated to the United States 



about 1805, locating in Delaware County. N.Y.. in 
the midst of a timber tract, from which the hardy 
Scotch pioneer built up a good liomesiead, and 
there with his estimable wife spent the remainder of 
his days. They were the parents of five children, 
of whom the eldest, a daughter, Marv, remained in 
Scotland, and as far as known is still living. When 
quite young she was adopted by a wealthy aunt, a 
Mrs. Jliller, from whom she inherited a large prop- 
erty. One of the sons, Robert, lived in Scotland 
until he became the father of grown sons, Ilnrr}' and 
Robert, Jr., whom he subsequently accompanied to 
the United States. They are living in New York, 
but the father returned to Scotland, looking his 
last upon tlie scenes of earth in his native countrj-, 
where his bones were laid to rest. The other son, 
Walter, the father of our subject, was a lad six 
years of age when he came with his parents to 
America. He was reared to manhood on the farm 
in Delaware County', N. Y., and married Miss 
Elizabeth Blair. He took his bride to the old home- 
stead, where they lived until after the death of the 
wife and mother. Of their children, thirteen in 
number. John B. was the fourth in order of birth, 
and of that large family only five survive. Three 
brothers, Thomas, Archibald M. and John B., reside 
in this county. The two sisters still live in Dela- 
ware County, N. Y. R. Elizabeth is the wife of 
William Blair, and lives inHamden; and Agnes is 
the wife of Samuel Terry, living in Walton. 

A few j'ears after the settlement of the Holmes 
family in New York State our subject began to 
assist his father in the various employments of the 
pioneer farm, and upon reaching man's estate was 
married, Jan. 3, 1855, to Miss Mary A., daughter 
of Samuel and Pauline (Holmes) Law. Mrs. Holmes 
was born Dec. 18, 1830, in Greene Connty, N. Y., 
and spent the years of her childhood and youth 
under the parental roof, acquiring her education in 
the district schools. Her parents were natives of 
New York. Her father died in 1888. Her mother 
is still living. Their family consisted of nine chil- 
dren, five of whom are j'et living, three in Nebraska 
and two in New York State. 

Mr. Holmes in the spring of 1865, leaving the 
Empire State, came to Nebraska Territory, and the 
year following purchased 160 acres of land on 



*¥^y^ 



^►^•-^ 




Residenceof Louis Poltz^SecsS. M^. Pleasant Prect. Ca55 Co. 




Residence of J. B. Holme5,Sec.18.(ii.= i4.) Rock Bluff Prect. Cass Co. 



•►Hl^ 



••»■ 



CASS COUNTY. 



885 



secliun 18, in Uot-k Bluff Pi-et-iiict, whicli lie has 
since ad'led to his e.-tate, and it now c-ompiises 510 
acres, and there, he has since been a resi<lent. His 
father joined him in tiie spring of I8G7, remaining 
with him two years, then returned to the old home 
in New York State, where his death look |)laee in 
the year 1871, when he was sixtj'-lhree years old. 
For a period of fifteen 3'ears he had voted with the 
llepublican part3', of which our subject is also a 
most decided adherent. The family, except John 
B., as far back as is known, belonged to the Presby- 
terian Churcli. The Holmes family comprise a por- 
tion of the solid element of Cass County, an<l have 
contributed their full quota in building up its 
present enviable reputation and advancing its pros- 
perity and welfare. On his extensive farm Mr. 
Holmes usually feeds from 200 to 300 head of 
cattle. He is also engaged in breeding high-grade 
Norman and Clydesdale horses, some of which are 
full blood, and eligible to be registered in the 
American herd book. His cattle run from thorough- 
bred Short-horns down to grades. 

We invite the reader's attention to a fine view of 
tlie elegant home of Mr. Holmes on an accompa- 
nying |)age of this work. 



OUIS FOLTZ, a representative citizen and 
thorough-going farmer, resides on his highly 
improved farm on section 33 of Mt. Pleas- 
ant Pret-'inct. He was born Feb. 23, 1840, in Holmes 
County, Ohio, where he lived, dividing his time be- 
tween labor on the farm and attending public school, 
until he enlisted in the Union Army, May 2, 1861 , in 
Company G, 16th Ohio Infantry, as a private sol- 
dier. The regiment of which he was a member 
formed a part of the corps commanded by Gen. 
Morrison. Their field of operation was in Virginia 
and West Virginia. He took an active part in 
many skirmishes and engagements, but the largest 
portion of his duty was confined to the garrison 
and guarding property. He was honorably dis- 
charged in September, 1861. when he returned to 
Holmes County, Ohio. 

Mr. Foltz was married, on the 4th of December, 
1862, to Miss Susan Stucker, a native of Holmes 



County, where she was born April 3, 1838. She is 
a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Stucker, who 
were natives of Pennsylvania. Her parental an- 
cestors were of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. 
Foltz have an interesting famil}' of four children, 
namely: William J.; Mary R., now the wife of 
H. Munson, residing in Mt. Pleasant Precinct; 
Andrew J., deceased, and David. After his mar- 
riage, our subject with his family resided in 
Holmes County until the spring of 1876, when he 
removed to Cass County, Neb. In the fall of the 
same year he settled on his present farm, which now 
embraces 440 acres of land, a large portion of which 
is under a high state of cultivation. He also owns 
160 acres in Stove Creek Precinct, in all, 600 
acres of valuable land. 

Mr. Foltz is a son of Solomon and Rebecca 
Foltz. Both parents were natives of Pennsylvania, 
who removed from their native State and settled 
in Holmes County, Ohio, at a very early date, 
nearlj' a half-century ago. They resided tliere until 
1862, when they migrated to Cass County, Neb., 
and settled in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, where the 
mother died in 1882. The father now resides with 
our subject, and is past seventy years of age, in 
splendid health, bidding fair to live for many 
years. His paternal ancestors were German; his 
grandfather, David Foltz, served as a soldier in the 
American Army during the War of 1812. 

A large family of children, ten in number, were 
born to the parents of our subject, nine of whom 
are living, namely: Louis, who was the eldest; 
Louisa, now the wife of Mr. Jolm Shelton, residing 
in Weeping Water; David resides in Cheyenne 
County; Frederick resides in Elmwood Precinct; 
Barbara E. is the wife of Samuel Bergen, and re- 
sides in Kansas; Catherine is the wife of Robert 
Lockston, and resides in Fillmore County, Neb.; 
Susan, now Mrs. Brant, resides in Nebraska; Mary 
is the wife of Caye Wright, and resides in Nebraska; 
Joseph resides in Stove Creek Precinct, this count}', 
and Rose A. is deceased. The parents of Mrs. Foltz 
had a family of six children, namelj': Catherine, 
who resides in Wayne County, Ohio; Mary A. is 
the wife of George McElroy, and resides in Greene 
Count}', Ind.; Christina is the wife of S. J. Cutter, 
and resides in Holmes County, Ohio; Susan is the 



>► I L ^ 



*r^»- 






»► II <• 



CASS COUNTY. 



wife of our subject; George resides in Clinton 
County, Mo., and Ohio Stucker resides in Mt. 
Pleasant Precinct. 

Mr. Foltz is a level-headed, clear-thinking man, 
thoroughl_y well posted in all matters pertaining to 
successful farming, and is a self-made man "in all 
respects. The elegant property which he has ac- 
cumulated is the direct result of his own applica- 
tion and energy. Coming to Nebraska at an early 
day, with means very limited in amount, he has 
applied himself so closely to the business in which 
he is engaged that he has acquired the fine property 
with which he is now surrounded. He is in politics 
a thorough-going Democrat, and has served his 
friends and neighbors in various official capacities. 
In 1884 he was elected as one of the County Com- 
missioners of Cass County, and was re-elected to 
the same office in the fall of 1887, from a district 
which usually gave a handsome Republican major- 
ity. He is a member of LaFa^^ette Post No. 60, 
G. A. R., at Weeping Water, and takes an active 
interest in all that pertains to the educational, 
political or religious benefit of the precinct. Both 
himself and wife are active members of society, in 
which they fill a conspicuous place. They are both 
open hearted and generous, and their home is the 
abode of peace and comfort. They are both well 
known throughout Cass County, and they take 
rank among its foremost citizens. 

The home of Mr. Foltz and family, one of the 
most comfortable in Mt. Pleasant, is shown on 
another page of this Album. 



\f, ENRY L. ME8SNER. Those who suppose 
|l|jlj that there is required in the prosecution of 
~^^ farming little skill and no education, are 
(^J vastly mistaken, as they will find upon ex- 
])erience and observation. The biographer in ob- 
taining a record of the events which have trans- 
pired during the early settlement of Cass County, 
finds among its successful agriculturists the most 
intelligent element of this region. Among these 
the subject of this sketch occupies no secondary 
position. His industry and enterprise are prover- 
bial in the community where he has operated with 



results of which he has reason to be proud. His 
property lies on section 25, South Bend Precinct, 
and comprises 800 acres of land, which produce in 
abundance the rich crops of Nebraska. He com- 
menced in a modest manner his operations as an 
agriculturist in this section of country, and battled 
with the difficulties experienced by the pioneer of 
I twenty years ago, suffering from the ravages of 
grasshoppers two years in succession, and fighting 
his way through the other disadvantages common 
to that time. Besides the home farm, he purchased 
land in Louisville and Elmwood Precincts, his 
whole estate at one time comprising 1,280 acres. 
This was largely devoted to stock-raising, Mr. 
Messner finding this industry the most profitable, 
and perhaps carried on with less of labor than the 
tilling of the soil, although he raises grain in suf- 
ficient quantities to feed his stock. 

We find in the career of Mr. Messner a man es- 
sentially the architect of his own fortune. Upon 
coming to Cass County, in the fall of 1869, he set- 
tled at a point on Cedar Creek, and employed him- 
self by the day or month as he could secure work,_ 
while his winters were occupied in teaching school. 
He was the first pedagogue in Cedar Creek district, 
and a favorite alike with pupils and parents. He 
was born in Monroe County, Ohio, near the little 
village of Lebanon, Feb. 6, 1849, and was the 
fourth in a family of five children, two sons and 
three daughters, comprising the offspring of Adam 
and Elizabeth (Smith) Messner. The parents were 
both natives of the Province of Alsace, now in 
Germany, whence they emigrated to the United 
States after their marriage, settling first in Wash- 
ington County, Pa., where the father carried on 
farming for a time, and tlien changed his residence 
to Monroe County, Ohio. In the latter he built 
up a good homestead, where, with his excellent 
wife, he still resides. They took up their residence 
in the Buckeye State in 1847, and are now quite 
aged, the fatlier being in his seventy^second year 
and the mother nearing her sixty-eighth birthday. 

The maternal grandfather of our subject was 
Philip Smith, also a native of the Fatherland, who 
served under Napoleon Bonaparte, and was taken a " 
prisoner at the battle of Waterloo. He li ved to attain 
the advanced age of one hundred and eight years. 



-•►Hl-^ 



* ► 1 1 < •' 



CASS COUNTY. 



887 



His wife was. in her girlhood, Elizabeth Rodhon. 
Our subject was reared at the farm in jMoiiroe 
County, Ohio, and acquired a practical education in 
the common schools. He was bright and ambitious 
beyond his years, and when a lad of fouri.een 
started out for himself, entering the employ of the 
Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad Company, which 
was then operating between Parkersburg and Cin- 
cinnati. A year later he returned to the old roof- 
tree, and fortified himself for life's future duties by 
a further attendance at school, finally developing 
into a teacher, which profession he followed in the 
Buckeye State for several terms. 

Before his departure for the West Mr. Messner 
provided himself with a wife and heli^mate, being 
married in 1869, to Miss Lydia Hane3', a native of 
his own county, and the daughter of Evan Ilaney. 
He arrived upon the soil of Nebraska with two 
suits of clothes and $51 in money, and spent the 
winter following with his wife's brother, Mr. 
Nicholas Haney, who had settled on Cedar Creek. 
The following spring he homesteaded forty acres 
of land, upon which he made some improvements, 
and sold four years later for the snug sum of $750. 
This seemed quite a bonanza in those days, and he 
iuvested the proceeds in 160 acres in the same pre- 
cinct, which he occupied two years, at the expira- 
tion of which time he received a visitation from 
the grasshoppers two years in succession. The 
siege being more than he could cheerfully with- 
stand, he sold out, and purchased eighty acres in 
Elmwood Precinct, upon which he lived nine years, 
having good crops almost every year. He invested 
his surplus capital in additional land from time to 
time, and his large property is mostly included in 
South Bend Precinct. A part of this, however, 
heafterward disposed of, and has now 800 acres, all 
in one bod3^ In his live-stock operations he makes 
a specialty of cattle and swine, having usually of 
the former 270 head, and ships frequently three 
carloads of the latter a 3'ear. 

Our subject and his estimable wife are the par- 
ents of the following living children: Eliza, Nancy 
B.; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Albert Keller, of this 
county; Henry, .James and Charles, all at home with 
their parents. Two are deceased. Mr. Messner, 
politically, is a solid Democrat, but otherwise than 



-4^ 



■— -!^;^-- 



i 



serving as a member of the School Board for the 
last six years, has declined becoming an office- 
holder. He maintains that to make a success of anj' 
business a man must give to it his whole attention, 
and not be meddling too much with outside mat- 
ters. The theory adhered to has doubtless been the 
secret of his success. 



OHN TURNER, an enterprising farmer anil 
slock-raiser on section 20. Stove Creek Pre- 
cinct, where he has 120 acres of well-im- 
proved, arable land, is of Virginian birth, 
born in Randolph County, Dec. 26, 1841. William 
Turner, his paternal grandfather, a native of Penn- 
sylvania, was of German descent. He 'noved from 
his native State to Virginia, and there purchased a 
farm, on which he spent- his last years. 

James Turner, father of our subject, was born in 
Randolph County, Va.. in 1H16, and married Miss 
INIartiia Abernathy, in Hampshire County, the same 
State, where she was born in 1819. He was a 
farmer, and after his marriage returned to Randolph 
County, where he worked at farming during the 
summers, and at shoemaking in the winter seasons. 
In 1844 he solil his farm of 190 acres in that .State. 
and moved to Alleglianj' Count}', Md., but nine 
years later returned to Virginia and bought a farm 
of 200 acres in Barbour County. He improved it 
well, and in 1865 sold out and moved to Iowa, 
wliere he bought 230 acres of land, lying nearGijin- 
ville, Mahaska County, where he remained until his 
death in October, 1882. Mrs. Turner preceded 
him to tlie better land, liaving died in Iowa some 
}ears before. Both were active members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, where he had been 
Class-Leader for .several years. Of their union 
twelve children were born, as follows: E. S., Aaron 
(deceased). John, James, Mary M., Sarah E. (de- 
ceased, Lucy A., Daniel (deceased), an infant (de- 
ceased), Theodore, Laura B. and LaFayette S. John 
Abernath}', maternal grandfather of our subject, 
was born in Ireland. In earlj' life he emigrated to 
the United States, and settled in Hampshire County 
Va., where he bought a large farm. His eyesight 



<• 



»^l-M» 



•►Hl^ 



888 



CASS COUNTY. 



failed rliiiing the last part of liis life, and before his 
death he became entire!}' blind. He was a man of 
great statnre and vigorons intellect. 

The subject of our sketch was only three years 
old when his parents moved to Maryland, and there 
he received the greater part of his education, at- 
tending a pay school during the time he was there. 
After the removal of his parents to Barbour Countyi 
"Va., he had only one term's schooling, being obliged 
to assist his father on the farm from that time 
until twenty years of age. In 18G1 our subject 
went into the war as teamster, continuing thus en- 
gaged f<jr some months. He then returned home 
and worked on the farm six months, and in 1863 
started a lumber business in Maryland. The fol- 
lowing year Mr. Turner went to Ohio, and that 
summer pushed on further West, and in Mahaska 
County, Iowa, rented a farm on which he lived six 
}-ears. Then, deciding that it was time that he was 
establishing a home of his own. our subject went to 
Lancaster Countj', Neb., where he took up a home- 
stead claijn in Rjck Creek. Three years later he 
sold out his improvements and claim, and in 1874 
moved to Stove Creek Precinct, and bought his 
present farm of eighty acres. There were no trees 
on the place, and only thirty-six acres had been 
broken. He has toiled unceasingly for its improve- 
ment, and has novv over forty acres iu grain, the 
farm fenced and cross-fenced, and a good bearing 
orchard. He has also purchased forty acres in ad- 
dition, which he has under cultivation, and he car- 
ries on general farming and stock-raising, having 
fine cattle, good graded horses, and twelve or fifteen 
head of ponies. 

The marriage of Mr. Turner with Miss Ann M. 
Squires was solemnized in Granville, Mahaska Co., 
Iowa, Nov. 22, 1866. She is a daughter of Nehe- 
raiah and Olive (Fortney) Squires, natives of 
Preston County, Va., born in 1815 and 1820 re- 
spectively. Thomas Squires, Nehemiah's father, 
was a native of Virginia, of German descent. By 
trade he was a blacksmith. Henry Fortney, maternal 
grandfather of Mrs. Turner, was a native of Vir- 
ginia, engaged in agricultural pursuits. The father 
of Mrs. Turner was a blacksmith in his native State, 
and carried on a good business. In 1856 he re- 
moved to Davis County, Iowa, where he put up a 



blacksmith-shop, and also rented the adjoining farm, 
continuing there until 1863, when he removed to 
Lineville, the same State, and engaged in black- 
smithing. In 1864 he removed to Schuyler County, 
Mo., where he purchased a farm of 120 acres, and 
there he still lives, engaged in farming and black- 
smithing. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and is a devout Christian. His 
worthy wife de[)arted this life in 1861. To them 
had been born eight children, namely : Cornelius, 
Ann Matihla, Ellen, Hatlie, Henry, .lerome, Georgi, 
Olive. Jerome is deceased ; Corneliusserved in de- 
fense of his country during the late Civil War, en- 
listing in Company E, 3d Iowa Cavalry, and joined 
the army in 1861. He was mustered out at Ar- 
kansas, and honorably discharged in 1864. Mrs. 
Turner was born during the residence of her parents 
in Birbuur County, Va., Jan. 17, 1843. She at- 
tended a pay school there until twelve years of age, 
and then a free school. She afterward moved with 
her parents to lovva, remaining in her home until 
her marriage. Of her union with our subject there 
have been four children, namely; Oscar S., Melvin 
T., James L., and an infant deceased. 

Mr. Turner is an industrious man, highly re- 
spected throughout the communitj" for his many ad- 
mirable traits of character. In all local affairs he 
takes an intelligent interest, and has served with 
ability as Supervisor and School Trustee. Sjcially, 
he is a member of the A. O. U. W., and in politics 
is a stanch Republican. Mrs. Turner is a pleasant, 
hospitable woman, and a sincere member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 



LBERT U. MAYFIELD, of Elmwood, ed- 

a -i^ v itor of the Elmwood Echo, is a native of 
II Hi this State, being born near Louisville, Neb., 
^ March 14, 1865. He prepared himself for 

future usefulness by attending the common schools 
where he lived, and a course in the High School at 
Plattsmouth, which latter he completed in 1881, 
shortly after which he went into the newspaper 
business as assistant in the office of the Louisville 
Observer. In 1885, in companj' with his brother, 
he edited the Hnwkeye in Greenwood. This part- 



*► I I M* 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•»* 



889 



^ 



^ 



nership was dissolved in 1886, when our sub- 
ject settled in Elmwood and began the publication 
of the Echo, which was a six-coluniu folio. In the 
fall of 1887 the paper was enlarged to a six-column 
quarto. The success of the paper was assured from 
the start, having an ever-increasing subscription 
list, and a handsome advertising patronage. This 
success is due exclusively to the energy and knowl- 
edge of the business possessed by its able editor. 
The prospects are very bright that in a short time 
the Echo will be one of, if not the, leading paper 
of the county. 

The subject of our sketch is one of a family of 
eight children, Clarence G., Eugene O. and Win- 
nefred being older, and Leroy J., Kosa M., George 
A. and Olin M., being younger. He was married, 
in Burlington, Iowa, to Miss Milly Volkmer, Feb. 
13, 1887. His wife was born in Berlin, Ger- 
many; she is highly educated and refined, and 
is at heart a thorough American. They have one 
child, Moyne. 

Mr. Mayfield is identified with the order of the 
Knights of Pythias, Master of Exchequer; at pres- 
ent Warden of the I. O. O. F.; Inside Guard of 
the A. O. U. W.; and a member of the Christian 
Church. 

The father of our subject, George W. Ma}'- 
fleld, was born in Indiana, and is a minister in the 
Christian Church. In 1857 he removed from In- 
diana to Plattsmouth, Neb. During the war he 
freighted between Plattsmouth and Denver with an 
ox-team. He entered a homestead claim near 
Louisville, which he improved. He sold it and re- 
moved to Salt Creek, being one of the first settlers 
in that section, acquiring 160 acres of wild land, 
which he fully improved. During this time he 
served in the Christian ministry, having a charge to 
which he preached every Sunda}-, at Loader school- 
house. In 1875 he sold his land and went into the 
mercantile business, opening the second store in 
Greenwood, where he did a successful business. He 
continued this four years, then removed to Platts- 
mouth, and formed a connection with the Herald in 
that city. 

In 1882 the father of our subject removed to 
Louisville, where he establislied the Weekly Observer 
in companj' with his son Eugene O. At the end of 



two j'ears the son went to Greenwood, and is now 
in Omaha, Neb., in the job printing business. The 
father continues editing the Observer, and preach- 
ing in the Christian Church at Louisville. 

The mother of our subject, Emeline E. Todd, 
was born in Jamestown, N. Y. Grandfather Thomas 
J. Todd was a contractor and builder in New York, 
and removed to Plattsmouth in 1857, and entered a 
homestead on Four ]\Iile Creek, near that town. 
In 1880 he retired to Plattsmouth, where he had 
built one of the handsomest residences on Chicago 
avenue. He died there in 1881. 

Grandfather George W. Mayfield served in the 
"War of 1812 against England. He was of English 
descent, and could trace his ancestry back to the 
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. 

ENRY ASHMUN, senior member of the firm 
of Henry Ashinun & Co.. is, with his part- 
ners, conducting one of the most flourishing 
hardware establishments in the city of 
Weeping Water. They built and now occupy the 
fine brick structure on the corner of I and Elm 
streets, known as the Ashnuin Block, and which is 
one of the most attractive features of the business 
portion of the city. It is constructed of fine 
pressed brick, the building being 22x100 feet in 
dimensions, with plnte-glass front, and in height 
two stories, with basement. In the near future the 
whole of it will be occupied by the firm, and when 
completed it will be the finest hardware store along 
the southern line of Cass County. Mr. Ashraun oc- 
cupies with his family a beautiful residence in the 
northeastern part of town. 

Our subject first crossed the Mississippi in May 
of 1869, coming direct to Weeping Water Precinct, 
and purchasing a quarter of section 36, school 
land, in Centre I'recinet. There had then been no 
attempt at improvement, the land having just 
come into the market that year, and was then val- 
ued at $8.50 per acre. Mr. Ashmun enclosed it wiih 
a substantial fence, set out a grove of forest trees, 
together with an apple oichard and the smaller 
fruits, besides putting up a good house and barn 
In the meantime he proceeded with the cultivation 



>► 1 1^ 



on A 



9 890 



CASS COUNTY. 



•►Hh-«»- 



of the land, flevoting it at first almost entirely to 
the raising of grain; later he discovered that stock 
growing would prove remunerative, and accord- 
ingly turned his attention to this industry, keeping 
good grades of cattle, horses and swine. He con- 
structed thus out of a wild tract of uncultivated 
land a fine farm, which he sold at a goodprice in 
April of 1888. 

Mr. Ashmun has been interested in the hardware 
business for the past eight years, being first asso- 
ciated with the firm of Schermerhorn & Asiimun, 
at Weeping Water, which partnership continued one 
year. He then became junior member of the firm 
of Kitciiie & Ashmun, which conducted the luisiness 
at Weeping AVater three years. Mr. Fitchie then 
withdrew, and G. A. Ashmun assumed proprietor- 
ship of his interest in the business. The firm then 
became Ashmun Bros., and later, upon the admis- 
sion of other partners, Henry Ashmun & Co. Mr. 
Ashmun, although a thorough young business man, 
and popular in his community, has avoided politics, 
excepting attending to his duty as a voter upon 
occasions of election, when lie gives his support to 
the Republican party. Socially, he belongs to the 
Modern Woodmen of America, and in religious 
matters is, with hisfamil}'. prominently connected 
with the Congregational Church. He takes a warm 
interest in Sunday-school work, and has held dif- 
ferent official positions in the church. 

Mr. Ashmun was born in Tallmadge, Summit Co., 
Ohio, Nov. 29, 1843, and lived there until a young 
man twenty-six years of age. He completed his 
education in Tallmadge Academy, and employed 
himself on his father's farm, and as a civil engi- 
neer, until 18G9, with the exception of the time 
spent in the army. At Tallmadge. in 1864. be en- 
listed in Companj' H, 164th Ohio Infantry, serving 
out bis time and receiving his honorable discharge. 
After leaving the army he returned to the home of his 
boyhood, remaining there engaged in engineering 
until coming to Nebraska, as we have already 
stated. 

Our subject was married at LaGrange. Sept. 13, 
1870, to Miss Ida Burton. This lady was born in 
Collanier, Ohio, Dec. 14, 1847. Her parents were 
natives of Ohio, and are now deceased. Mrs. 
Ashmun received a liberal education, completing her 



studies in Lake Erie Seminary, in Painesville, Ohio. 
Her father died when she was quite young, and her 
mother was married the second lime, and removed 
to Lagrange County, Ind, Miss Ida accompanying 
them and engaging as a teacher until her marriage. 
Mrs. Burton died in Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Ashmun there have been born four children, namely : 
Louis, Ernest, Flora and Beth. They are all at 
home with their parents, and are being given first- 
class educational advantages. 

William B. Ashmun, the father of our subject, 
was born in Russell Township, St. Lawrence Co., 
N. Y., July 5, 181.5, and lived there until the 
eighteenth j'ear of his age. He received a gond 
practical education, and in 1833 removed with his 
parents to Ohio, settling in what was then Portage, 
but what afterward became Summit County, seven 
miles from Akron. The family had been preceded 
to this place by one of the elder sons. William B. 
removed, in 1837, from the Bucke^'e State to White- 
side County, III., where he lived one year, then 
returned to Ohio. In 1842, April 27, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Fenn, and they be- 
came the parents of six children, all of whom are 
living, and of whom Henry, the subject of this 
sketch, is the eldest. The others were: Julia, now 
Mrs. A. O. Asblej-, of Weeping Water; George, 
who also lives here; Russell A., located on a farm 
south of town; Edward, a Luinister of the Con- 
gregational Church, of Denver, Col.; and Helen, 
of Weeping Water. 

The father is still living, and is now retired from 
active business. He makes his home in Weeping 
AYater. He has held the various township offices, 
serving as School Director and Justice of the Peace, 
and with his wife and family, belongs to the Con- 
gregational Church. 

Mrs. Sarah E. (Fenn) Ashmun was born in Mil- 
ford, New Haven Co.. Conn., Jan. 3, 1815. and 
when three years old emigrated with her parents to 
Ohio. She is the daughter of Richard and Mabel 
(Piatt) Fenn, and lived at home until her marriage. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ashmun afterward lived with the par- 
ents of the latter, and took care of them for twenty- 
five years. Richard Fenn and his wife were na- 
tives of Connecticut, the former born in 1818. 
He emigrated to Ohio in the pioneer days, taking 



-•►HI 



CASS COUNTY. 



up a tract of land in Summit County, and building 
uj) a homestead from tiie wilderness. There he 
spent the remainder of his life, passing away ahout 
1867. Tlie mother had died several years before. 
Keuiien Ashraun, the paternal grandfather of our 
subject, was born in Massachusetts, IMay 23, 1780. 
He lived there until after his marriage with Miss 
Hulda Upson, then emigrating to St. Lawrence 
County, N. Y., settled on a farm there, where he 
lived until pushing farther westward, in 1833, to 
Summit County, Ohio. In the latter his death 
took place in 1848. He was one of the earliest 
settlers in that region, a prominent man in his com- 
munitj% a successful farmer, and formanj' years a 
Justice of the Peace. His wife died about 1841. 
Bolli were members of the Kpiscopnl Church, in Con- 
necticut. During his early manhood Mr. Ashmun 
had learned the trade of hatter. 



-€-^B-- 



(m 



%j 



HRIST STOEHR. Among the reliable Ger- 
man citizens of Eight Mile Grove Precinct 
none are held in kindlier regard than the 
subject of this sketch. He was born in the Prov- 
ince of Hesse-Darmstadt, Aug. 6, 1S28, and is the 
son of Nicholas and Elizalieth Stoehr. who were also 
of German biith and ancestry. The mother passed 
from earth when herson Christ w.is a boy of twelve or 
thirteen years. He lived with his father until reach- 
ing his majority, and then the two, believing there 
were better opportunities for them in America, de- 
cided to emigrate hither. Making their way to the 
city of Bremen they engaged passage on a sailing- 
vessel bound for New York City, and after an ocean 
voyage of forty-seven days arrived at their destina- 
tion. 

Our travelers sojourned onl^- a very brief time in 
the metropolis but proceeded at once to Tazewell 
County, 111., where Christ employed himself as a 
farm laborer, and the father also farmed. The lat- 
ter spent his last 3'ears in Tazewell County. Our 
subject the j-ear following his arrival in the Prairie 
State, having foimed the acquaintance of one of the 
most estimable of his 30ung country-women. Miss 
Elizabeth Ehrhart, was married to that lady in Taze- 
well Count}-; III., in April, 1850. Mrs. Stoehr was 



891 f 



•4« 



born in German^', May 6, 1831, and was the daughter 
of Leonard and Margaret Ehrhart, who all came 
to America in the same ship with j'oung Stoehr. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stoehr began their wedded life to- 
gether in T-izewell County, III., coming to Ne- 
braska in the spring of 1882. In due time there 
were born to them a family of eight children, 
namely: George, Oct. 28, 1854; Philip, Sept. 30, 
185C; Conrad, Oct. 25, 1862; Maggie, Feb. 5, 1866 
(this daughter is the wife of George P. Heil) ; Alice, 
March 19, 1870; Catherine, Feb. 3, 1872; Louisa, 
July 28, 1874, and Adam, June 11, 1877. Mr. 
Stoehr operated for a time on rented land in Illi- 
nois, then became the owner of a farm. His pro])- 
erty in this county consisted of 160 acres, which 
has been finely developed and is supplied with good 
buildings. In his labors and successes be acknowl- 
edges that he has had in his wife a most efficient 
helpmate, one who has stood bravelj' by his side 
and borne with him the heat and burden of the day. 
To her efforts as much as his own belongs the credit 
of accumulating a property and establisliing the 
reputation of the family in a good social as well as 
financial position. Mr. S.. politically, votes the 
Democratic ticket, and both he and his wife belong 
to the German Lutheran Church. Our subject served 
as Commissioner in Tazewell County. III., for a pe- 
riod of nine years, being three years of this time 
Treasurer of the board. He was also for a number 
of years a member of the School Board of his dis- 
trict. 

''^^' 

AVID S. HALVERSTADT. Few mem- 
bers of the farming community of Cass 
County have been more successful in their 
vocations, or secured better results by the 
expenditure of energetic and persistent labor, than 
has the suliject of this notice, who is one of the 
leading agriculturists of Weeping Water Precinct. 
His farm on section 14, with its carefully tilled 
acres, neatl}' hedged and fenced, its beautiful grove 
and orchard, its tasty and comfortable buildings, 
and the tine and well-kept specimens of cattle and 
horses roaming over the fields, is considered one of 
the most desirable and best managed farms in the 
whole precinct, and with all its various improve- 



•► 1 ^^ 



ve- Y 

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892 



CASS COUNTY. 



ments, indicates the presence of an intelligent mind 
and a skillful hand. 

Mr. Ilalverstadt inherited from a good old Ger- 
man stock the traits of sobriety, honesty and in- 
dustry that have made him successful in life. He 
was born in Columbiana County. Ohio, Dec. 6, 
1848, to Henry and Mary (Supers) Halverstadt. 
His father was born in Maryland, Jan. 26, 1808, a 
son of David Halverstadt. The latter was a na- 
tive of Germany, who, coming to this countr}' when 
six years of age, was bound out until he was twenty- 
five years of age to pay for his passage over, and 
in the same manner his parents were sold for a 
number of years to p.\y for their passage, and from 
this humble beginning have the Halverstadts in 
America risen to their present prominence. The 
grandfather settled in Maryland, and there married. 
He afterward moved to Ohio with his wife and 
children, and in the primeval forests of Colum- 
biana County took up a homestead, and with the 
aid of his boys cleared a farm. He be?ame pros- 
perous, and accumulated quite a large property, and 
when his four sons were ready to start in life for 
themselves, he gave them each over a hundred 
acres of land. 

The father of our subject was a boy when his 
parents moved to Ohio, and he there assisted his 
father in the pioneer task of hewing trees and up- 
rooting stumps, to prepare the land for cultivation. 
He remained on the homestead until his marriage, 
at twenty-eight j^ears of age, and then took his 
share of his father's land. He was more than ordi- 
narily successful in his vocation, and from time to 
time added more land to his homestead, and be- 
came quite wealthy. Of his happj- wedded life 
with the mother of our subject eleven children 
were born, two d^ing in infancy. When his chil- 
dren were ready to go out into the world, he sold 
off his land and gave them each a good start, it 
having baen his intention to give them each a home 
near him, but they chose to go West, so he unself- 
ishly gave up his own wishes, and furthered theirs, 
by giving them money instead of the land. He 
continued to live on the old homestead until he 
passed away from the scenes of earth, in Ma^^, 1888, 
at the ripe old age of eighty years. He was held 
in reverence and honor by his townspeople for 



his noble and manl}' qualities. He was a man of 
unquestioned integrity, whose word was equal to 
his bond. He was a stanch member of the Lu- 
theran Church, and was liberal in his contributions 
toward its support. His widow survives him, and 
is still vigorous in mind and body, and has just re- 
turned to the old home from a visit to her son. 

David S. Halverstadt lived in the home of his 
birth until he was of age, obtaining in the mean- 
time a substantial education, and a practical train- 
ing in all kinds of farm work under his father's 
tuition. He came to Nebraska in 1869 and located 
on Elk Creek, in Johnson County, where he lived 
until 1870. In the spring of that year he purchased 
his present place, which was then but slightly im- 
proved, a few acres having been broken, and a small 
house erected. From that wild state our subject 
has brought it up to its present high condition. He 
has fenced the laud and set out five acres of forest, 
and a large orchard, three acres of which are in 
bearing. The land is very productive, and nearly 
every pasture has been sowed to tame grass. Mr. 
Halverstadt has also built himself a house, which is 
a good, comfortable, convenient home. He feeds 
the most of his grain, as he pays especial attention 
to raising draft horses, high-graded Short-horn 
cattle, and full-blooded Poland-China hogs. 

After coming to this place our subject was mar- 
ried, Nov. 15, 1875, to Miss Lucy Failor, and to 
them have come seven children, of whom the fol- 
lowing six are living: Florence, Birdena, Clinton, 
Lilly, Clara and Hattie. Their daughter Clemen- 
tine died Oct. 2. 1888, aged ten years. Mrs. Hal- 
verstadt was born at Lebanon, Ohio, in 1852. Her 
parents. Christian and Sarah (Misseldine) Failor, 
moved to Centreville, Ind., about 1869, and there 
she lived with them until her marriage. She has 
proved an efficient helpm.ate and a wise mother. 
Her father was a native of Ohio, and was there en- 
gaged in the milling business, but when he removed 
to Indiana he entered into business as a grocer, and 
was carrying on that trade at the time of his death 
in 1886, aged eighty years. 

In our subject are found all the characteristics of 
a good citizen, such as loyalty to his country, 
straightforward .and manly conduct in the everj-- 
day affairs of life, and kindness and helpfulness 





Ca^-'Z^^^ 




^ > ^ ^^^/^^'W 




^ 



6r2yi4^ 






— ^Ot-tj?^^,. 3^ ^V^^^-^ 






CASS COUNTY. 



895 i^ 



where his neighbors are concerned. He is one of the 
msmbers of the Congregational Church of Weeping 
AVater, and is also connected with the Sunday-school 
held in the Cascade school-house on the opposite 
corner, and in his capacity as Superintendent of 
said Sunday-school he has been instrumental in 
building it up and making it a success. He is 
identified with the Royal Arcanum and Farmers' 
Alliance. He has served as School Director and as 
Constable, but does not care for office, preferring 
the quiets and comforts of home. He is in sympa- 
thy with the Republican party in his political views, 
but exercises his judgment in voting for men and 
measures. 



-f3= 



A A 



€>- 



J^ DDISON P. WESTON is one of the most 
* !p/'-J| i prosperous and progressive citizens of Lib- 

/// I!) erty, and for many years was closelj' iden- 
(^ tified with the farming and stock-raising 

interests of Cass County, owning an extensive farm 
on section 21, this precinct. By hard labor and 
thrift he has amassed a handsome fortune, and soon 
. intends to leave the farm and retire from the active 
duties of a busy life to spend his declining years 
with Ills good wife in one of the most comfortable 
and well-appointed homes in the village of Ne- 
hawka. 

Mr. Weston is a native of Vermont, his birth- 
place being tiie town of Plymouth, among the beau- 
tiful hills of Windsor County, where he first opened 
his eyes to the light of day Aug. 13, 1825. Both 
oahis mother's and his father's side be is descended 
from respectable old New England families. His 
father, Stephen Weston, was born either in Massa- 
chusetts or New Hampshire, and went to Win<lsor 
County, Vt., most likely a single man, in 1802. 
He was married to Lydia Boynton, wlio came of 
hardy, long-lived stock. After marriage Mr. Wes- 
ton begun farming in a small way among the bills 
of Plymouth, Windsor County, and there his wife 
died when our subject was little less than six years 
old. The father afterward married Mrs. Burnap, 
who subsequently died without issue by her second 
marriage. The father spent his last days with his 



children, our subject, with the others, contributing 
liberally to his support and comfort after he became 
enfeebled by age. His life was prolonged to the 
unusual length of ninety-two years. 

He of whom we write, after the death of his 
mother lived with an aunt and uncle for three years, 
after which he lived with an elder brother until 
seventeen years old. In the vigorous air of his na- 
tive hills he grew to be a sturdy youth, and at seven- 
teen years of age was allowed to go foi'th to earn 
his own living. For four years he worked for the 
sum of $100 and his board and clothes, and thus 
got his first start in life, which he later added 
to by working out by the day. He was ambitious 
to obtain an education, and attended school when- 
ever opportunity offered. In 1852 lie struck out 
into the world with characteristic enterprise and 
pluck, and with a flock of sheep, which he drove 
and shipped from point to |)oint, he made his way to 
Racine Cininty, Wis., finally stopping at Waterfcnd. 
Those were among the first fine wool Spanish and 
French Merinos ever intro<luced into that part of 
Wisconsin, and his venture proved very successful. 
In 1864 he came to Nebraska, biinging with him 
225 fine wool sheep, and embarked in the busi- 
ness of sheep-raising here. He carried it on until 
the spring of 1860, when he abandoned it to pay 
attention more exclusively to general stock crowin" 
and feeding, in which he was extensivel3' enwao-ed 
until his recent I'etirement. His farm, beautifully 
located on section 21, on either side of Weepinu- 
Water Creek, embraces one of the best and most 
valuable strips of land in Libert}- Precinct. Mr. 
Weston bought his first land in Cass County in 
18C3, it being located in Avoca Precinct, and he 
resided on it two years, owning 240 acres, and 
making considerable improvements. In 1866 he 
purchased his homestead on section 21, Liberty 
Precinct, with a view of getting stone, wood and 
water, with which it is well supplied, and it has 
proved a very valuable farm for making money. It 
embraces 320 acres of land, most of which is 
under cultivation, and has been improved to a very 
high point l)y a judicious espemliture of labor and 
money. It has a fine bearing orchard of 1,200 fruit 
trees. He has erected on it a fine set of the most 
modern farm buildings; one barn is 66x60 feet in 

«» 



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896 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



dimensions, with a lean-to and an L attached, mak- 
ing it very commodious; and another large stock 
and grain harn, 24x64 feet, is also a fine structure. 
These buildings are well constructed, and after the 
most approved and convenientlj' arranged plans. 
The house that Mr. Weston formcrlj' occupied is a 
pleasant frame dwelling, but the home to which 
he will soon retire, in Nehawka, is a fine brick edi- 
fice, two stories in height, with basement, all the 
modern appliances for comfort and conveniencei 
and in its exterior is an ornament to the village. 

During his residence in Racine County, Wis., INIr. 
Weston was married, Aug. 24, 1856, to Miss Ame- 
lia BCTit, who was born in the town of Wendell, 
Franklin Co.. Mass., March 24, 1839. She is a 
daughter of William L. and Lucinda (Armstrong) 
Bent, both of whom are deceased, the mother dying 
in Wendell when her daughter of whom we write 
was only three years old. She was a native of Mas- 
sachusetts, and was a daughter of Timothy Arm- 
strong, likewise a native of the old Bay State, and 
a farmer of Franklin County. William Bent sur- 
vived his first wife twelve years, and was a second 
time wedded, Maria Woodbury liecoming his wife, 
and she survived him. Mr. Bent was a farmer, 
and prosecuted his calling in Franklin County. He 
subsequently removed to Wisconsin, and died in 
Racine Couuty. He was a son of Joel Bent, a native 
of Barry, M."iss. Mrs. Weston was reared b}' her 
father until his death, and then her step-mother 
had charge of her until she attained womanhood, 
and she continued to live with her until her 
marriage, having accompanied her parents to Ra- 
cine County, Wis., when a child of ten years. She 
is broad and liberal minded, a woman whose large 
heart is full of womanly love and neighborly kind- 
ness. 

Mr. AVeston has acquired his entire fortune since 
leaving his native hills, and by the exercise of 
habits of indefatigable industry, prudence and 
economy. He inherited a full share of those fine 
traits of character that maik the New ICngland 
stock and make them valuable citizens wherever 
they may settle, lie has not only been a hard- 
working man all his life until recent!}', but his labors 
have been directed by a mind of more than ordi- 
nary acutenoss, and he has always displayed an in- 



telligent enterprise, and has been quick to seize 
every opportunity or advantage that would conduce 
to his material prosperity. He is a Republican in 
his politics, and gives his party earnest sup[)ort. He 
has borne an honorable part in public affairs as As- 
sessor of the precinct, which office he has twice held. 
The portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Weston adjoining, 
are a valuable acquisition to this Album, and will 
be regarded with much pleasure by their many 
friends. 

|TniF:NJAMIN F. LAUGHLIN. Both the per- 
l^^ sonal and ancestral history of the subject of 
(^fenjlj this sketch, an enterprising business man of 
%sf' Greenwood, \,s worth}' of more than a pass- 
ing mention. A son of one of the earliest pioneers 
of AVashington County, Iowa, he was born there 
Aug. 25, 1841, and grew up amid its primitive 
scenes, at the lime when the Indians had not long 
been removed from the western limits of the State. 
John Laughlin, the father of our subject, was 
born in Randolph County, N. C.,and married Miss 
Marj- Tucker, a native of the same State. Both 
were the offspring of prominent old families, who 
had emigrated to America during the Colonial 
days. John Laughlin after his marriage migrated 
across the Mississippi about 1S35, and was one of 
the earliest settlers of Henry County, Iowa. A 
man of great energy and more than ordinary abili- 
ties, he by his own labors furnished an incentive to 
the men around him, and that part of Henry 
County in which he settled sensibly outgrew its 
neighbors. He was held by his fellow-citizens in 
high esteem, occupied the various local offices, 
and accumulated a good property. He personally 
assisted in removing the Indians from Henry 
County to their reservation in Iowa, and was fore- 
most in inaugurating the various enterprises which 
gradually grow up witliin the preciftcts of a new set- 
tlement. His death took place June 10, 1865,atthe 
old homestead, and that of the mother, December 7 
of the same year. The latter was six years younger 
than her husband, and he was about fifty-two years 
old at the time of his decease. To John and Mary 
Laughlin there were born eleven children, namely 




CASS COUNTY. 



897 



William J., McKenzie G., Louisa, Cbaiity, John RI., 
Nancj', Benjamin F. (our subject), Ephiaim D., 
Jesse Payne. Alvin Tliomas and Mary Lizzie. 

Benjamin F. Laiiglilin was reared to manhood in 
Washington County, Iowa, acquiring a practical 
education in the common .schools. His bo3'hood 
and youth were spent after the manner of the sons 
of pioneer farmers, he also receiving careful home 
training, and being taught those liabits of industry 
and principles of honor wliich have made liim a 
worthy and reliable member of the communitj-. 
At tlie death of his father, being among the eldest 
of the bo3-s, he naturally assumed much of the re- 
sponsibility of carrying on the homestead, until the 
outbreak of the Civil War. A year later, when onh' 
twenty-one years old, he proffered his services in 
behalf of the Union b}' enlisting in Company B, 
25th Iowa Infantry, for three years or during the 
war, in response to the call of President Lincoln for 
300,000 troops. 

Company B spent some time drilling at Jit. 
Pleasant, Iowa, in which they made good progress, 
and were also well equipped with the necessary 
arms when starting for the South on the 1st of 
November, 1862. Their destination was Helena, 
Ark., to which they journeyed via Burlington, St. 
Louis and Memphis, by steamer. They first saw 
the smoke of battle at Chickasaw Baj-ou, and soon 
afterward followed the first attack of Vicksburg, 
the day before Christmas, 1 8C2. Being repulsed 
there they took boats up the river to Arkansas Post, 
surrounding the rebel works and capturing tlie 
place Jan. 11, 1863, after a lengthy and hotly con- 
tested engagement. Retiring to Young's Point, 
they sojourned there until the middle of April, and 
then began the campaign which included the bat- 
tles of Raymond, Canton. Miss., and Champion 
Hills. They drove the enemy into their works at 
Vicksburg, then surrounded the city, and on the 
22d of May commenced an assault in which the 
2oth Iowa lost heavily. 

Soon afterward began the actual siege of Vicks- 
burg, which finally ended in glorious victory for the 
Union troops, the Confederates surrendering July 
4, 1863. On the morning of the 5th they were 
ordered to Jackson, Miss., to follow up Joe John- 
ston's army, fighting at Clinton and then returning 



to Vicksburg. At the latter place they remained in 
camp until October, when they were ordered to assist 
the Army of the Cumberland. Later they fought 
at Cherokee Station, driving the rebels to Tuscum- 
bia on the Tuscumbia River. Afterward returning 
to Cherokee Station, the^' encamped there one 
week, then started for Chattanooga. At that place, 
under command of Gen. Hooker, they soon moved 
upon Lookout Mountain. Mission Ridge and Ring- 
gold, and after dislodging the enemy from these 
places went into camp at WoodviUe, Ala. They 
remained there the greater portion of the winter. 

The campaign of 1864 found our subject and his 
comrades opening up the campaign in Georgia, un- 
der the command of Gen. Sherman, 1st Division, 
15th Army Corps. The princi|)al battles which 
followed in this region were Big Shanty, Kenesaw 
Mountain, Marietta, the siege of Atlanta Juh- 22 
and 28, and afterward Jonesboro. Then followed 
the famous march to sea. Their business ended in 
this section of country, they returned up through 
the Carolinas, being at Raleigh, N. C, when news 
was received of the surrender of Lee. A few days 
later found them in AVashington at the grand review, 
when our subject, with his comrades, was mustered 
out, and repairing to Davenport. Iowa, received his 
honorable discharge June 14. 1865. 

After returning home Mr. Laughlin began to real- 
ize the fact that whether in time of peace or time of 
war it was not well for man to live alone. It is 
probable that his heart had already been captured 
by the young lady, Miss Susan Reeves, to whom he 
was married in Washington County, Iowa, Jan. 25, 
1866. Mrs. Laughlin was also the daughter of a 
pioneer of the Hawkeye State, who settled there as 
early as 1836. There later Miss Susan was born, 
Sept. 20, 1846. The young people commenced 
their wedded life together on a farm in Washington 
County, and resided there until the spring of 1883, 
when they changed their residence to this county. 

Mr. Laughlin is now conducting a thriving livery 
stable in the suburbs of Greenwood, in connection 
with which he also operates a farm. He is recog- 
nized as a useful and worthy citizen, having in- 
herited in a marked degree the enterjjrise and 
industry of his honored father, which were among 
the notable characteristics of their substantial Ger- 



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•►Hl^^ 



■♦■ 



898 



CASS COUNTY. 



man ancestry. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Laugh- 
lin is pleasant in the extreme, and has been briglitened 
bj- the birth of seven ciiiidren. These were named 
respectively: Anna L., Alvah Thomas, William F. 
and Kpiiraim (twins), Katie deceased, Cliarita. and 
E. D. deceased. The survivors are all at home 
with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. L. are members 
in good standing of the Ciiristian Church, and our 
subject, politically, is an uncompromising Democrat. 
Socially, he belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and 
offlciates as Junior Deacon of Unit}' Lodge No. 
103, at Greenwood. He is also a member of the G. 
A. R., belonging to Mission Ridge Post No. 149, at 
Greenwood. 

Mr. Laughlin purchased his liverj' business in 
1888. and is gradually gathering together the 
equipments which will in due time make it one of 
the most complete establishments of the kind in this 
part of the county. He is a man prompt to meet 
his obligations, is courteous and obliging, and one 
who naturally gathers around him many friends. 



D 



ELSON McREYNOLDS, a retired farmer, is 
1/ an old settler and a representative citizen of 

\,^ Cass County. His large farm of 240 acres, 
pleasantly located on section 8 of Liberty Precinct, 
is finely improved and well adapted to the raising 
of cereals or to stock-raising, to which lie has al- 
ways paid much ailention. He is a native of Vir- 
ginia, born in Abingdon, Washington County, June 
G, 1808, of Scotch-Irish parentage. His parents, 
John and Sarah (Scott) McReynolds, were born and 
reared in the same country. After establishing them- 
selves in a home oftheirown in their native county, 
they remained there until after the birth of two of 
their children, and then they removed to Warren 
County. Tenn. Mr. McReynoMs there purch.ased 
300 acres of land, on which he farmed and carried 
on blacksmithing until his death, when about fifty 
years of age. Mrs. McReynolds survived her hus- 
band and married again, finally dying in Tennessee 
of cholera. 

The subject of our sketch was veiy young when 
his parents moved to Tennessee, where he was edu- 
cated and grew to manhood. Being nearlj- nine- 



teen years of age when his father died, our subject 
soon after set out to seek his fortune, going first to 
Saline County, Mo., wliere he secured work by the 
da}'. He sul)sequently purchased a piece of land in 
that county, but later bought 500 acres in Carroll 
County, the same State, which he afterward dis- 
posed of at $5 an acre, it having been flooded by 
the high water of 1844. Mr. McReynolds then went 
to Holt County, where he farmed for some years. 
In 18G.T he came to this State, and for a few months 
lived in Nebraska City, when, desiring to establish 
himself permanently in a home, he purchased 200 
acres of land, to which he later added another 200 
acres, and began the improvement of his farm. He 
labored judiciouslj' and succeeded in eliminating a 
fine farm from the unbroken prairie, and has now 
as comfortable a home as one could wish for. He 
has given 160 acres of land to his sons, thus reduc- 
ing the number of acres in his original homestead, 
but it is still large enough to suppl}' all of his wants. 

Mr. McReynolds has been twice married. His 
first wife, Anna Ciegg, to whom he was united in 
Saline County, Mo., was born in Virginia, and 
moved to Missouri when quite young with her par- 
ents, making her home with them until her mar- 
riage. She remained in Carroll County until her 
death, which occurred while she was in the prime of 
life. She left four children, of whom only one, 
William, now living with his father, survives. One 
daughter, Mollie, and a son Hugh died after mar- 
riage, the former leaving one child and the latter 
two. The second marri.age of our subject took place 
in Carroll County, Mo., where he married Martha 
Henderson ; her Srst husband's name was Grover 
Brinker. Mrs. McRej'nolds was the daughter of 
George Washington and Mary (Miller) Henderson, 
who silent their lives in Kentucky, both dying at a 
ripe old age. Their daughter Martha was reared 
and educated in that State, and there married her 
first husband, who, after a few j-ears of happy mar- 
ried life, died, leaving her with one child, now de- 
ceased. She subsequently went to Missouri and 
met our subject, whom she afterward married, as 
before mentioned. 

The household circle of Mr. and Mi's. McRey- 
nolds has been brightened bj' the birth of four chil- 
dren, of whom one, Robert, is dead. Of the others 



■•►Hi 



-Il-^*- 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



8!)9 



the following is vecorded: George, a farmer of Lib- 
erty, inarriert Miss Nanna Alforrl; Charles is living 
in the AVest; RloUie is the wife of John Berger, a 
farmer and merchant of Fleming. Butte Co., Neb. 
Mr. McReynolds has always lived an honorable life, 
and is respected every where for his upright dealings 
and fair business transactions. In politics he is an 
uncompromising Democrat, ami never fails to vote 
with that party when opportunit}' offers. 



-I-+ 



^-^ 



THOMAS THOMAS, deceased. Among the 
pioneers of this county none have been held 
in greater respect than |he subject of this 
sketch, who rested from his earthly labors Xov. 
22, 1884. He was born in Monongahela, Pa., Oct. 
20, 1812, and was the son of Samuel Thomas, a 
native of Xew Jersey. His paternal grandfather, 
also Thomas Thomas, was likewise born in New 
Jerse}', and was the son of a native-born Welsli- 
m,an, who crossed the Atlantic about 1750. in com- 
pany with two brothers, lauding in New Jersey. 
One brother settled in Virginia, and the other in 
South Carolina. The great-grandfather of our 
subject remained in New Jersey, and it is supposed 
spent the remainder of his life there. 

Grandfather Thomas enlisted in the Kevolution- 
arj' Army under the direct command of Gen. 
Washington, at the age of fifteen years, and for a 
time was emplo^'ed in cutting out sheets of Conti- 
nental currency. Later, greatly to his delight he 
was mustered into a light horse company, in which 
he served valiantly until the close of the war. 
Afterward he was married to Miss Mar}- N. Grimes, 
who was of American birth but Irish descent, and 
after becoming the parents of two sons, Benjamin 
and Samuel, and one daughter, they migrated west 
of the Alleghany Mountains with pack horses, 
there being then no wagon roads. They carried 
with them what few goods they could load upon 
their horses, and the grandmother with her daugh- 
ter in her arms rode one horse, the two boys rode 
another, and the grandfather led the waj' on foot 
with his gun on his shoulder. 

Arriving in Pennsylvania Grandfather Thomas 
took up a tract of timber land in the valley of 



the Monongahela. where he improved a large area, 
and there spent the remainder of his life, becoming 
quite wealthy for those days. Of this family- 
Samuel Thomas, the father of our subject, prolia- 
bly remained a resident of Painsylvania until his 
marriage. His bride. Miss Elizabeth LaRue, was 
of American birth, init French ancestry. Her 
father, Abraham LaRue, was .also a soldier in the 
Revolutionary War. In 1817 thej- started west- 
ward to Guernsey County, Ohio, and located upon 
a tract of timber land near the embryo village 
of Fairview. This land had been given Mr. 
Thomas by his father, ."lild he remained upon it 
until his death in 1830, a period of thirteen years. 
In the year 1830 our subject purchased the in- 
terest of the other heirs in the propert}-. Of this he 
retained possession until 1837, then selling out he 
started for Indiana, accompanied by his wife and 
son Samuel, making the journey overland with a 
one-horse wagon, and taking such goods as could be 
transported by this limited means of conveyance. 

Mr. Thomas, selecting his location in Grant 
Countj', Ind., purchased 160 acres of timber land 
five miles from Macon, the count}' seat, which 
w.as then but a village of a few houses. It was 
several years before a railroad was built to the 
place. Mr. T. put up a log house 16x14 feet in 
area, the floor being of puncheon and the roof cov- 
ered with rived boards. The chimney was con- 
structed of earth and sticks on the outside, and 
the fireplace occupied nearly one side of the 
building, Mrs. Thomas had no stove for some 
years, doing her cooking by the fireplace. She also 
manufactured the clothing for the family, spinning 
and weaving wool and fltix. She, like her husband, 
was verj' industrious .and energetic, and one year 
spun enough yarn fo)' 100 yards of cloth. 

Mr. Thomas improved quite a tract of his land, 
and this it must be remembered, covered with tim- 
ber, was no small task. After felling the trees he 
was assisted by his good wife in rolling the logs 
together, so they could be burned and thus got 
out of the way, then before the crops could be put 
in the stumps must be dug out of the ground and 
likewise piled and burned. He thus labored on this 
land a period of ten j-ears, then selling out re- 
moved with his f.amily to Wabash County, purehas- 



*► 1 1^ 



t^t-M» 



•►Hl^ 



•<• 



900 



CASS COUNTY. 



ing there also 160 acres of timber land, and 
repeating the labors of clearing and bringing the 
soil to a state of cultivation. 

On the 6th of April, 1856, Mr. Tliomas, leaving 
Indiana started on another migratory tour, this 
time landing in Nebraska Territorj'. The entire 
journe}% as bad been his other peregrinations, was 
made overland with teams, but on his arrival in 
the vicinity of what is now Glenwood, Iowa, he 
halted and purchased a house and four acres of 
land, where he ensconced his family, and then dur- 
ing the summer following took up his line of 
march for Nebraska. Arriving in this county he 
purchased a claim four miles northwest of the pres- 
ent city of Plattsmouth, and in September of that 
year removed to it with his family. Their first 
shelter was a frame shanty 10x22 feet in area, and 
their nearest neighbor on the west was ten miles 
away, on the east settlers joined their farm. The 
consequence was many travelers called to stop over 
night, and they were never turned away. Deer 
were plentiful at that time, but the winter of 
1856-57 was very severe, and it is supposed that 
many of them must have perished, as they were 
never seen in such numbers afterward. 

Among other visitors to the home of this pioneer 
family were Indians, who frequently called at the 
house, but further than creating a natural feeling of 
distrust did not molest the inmates, except to beg 
for something to eat, or some article which attracted 
their fancy. At one time the Thomas family were 
visited by a delegation of 200 Indians. Life thus 
passed with the Thomas famih^ until the settlers 
began to take up land around them, which greatly 
relieved the solitude of their existence. Our sub- 
ject proceeded with the improvement of his purchase 
while his children grew up around him. and in 1874, 
retiring from active labor he left his two youngest 
sons in charge of the farm, and moved with his 
wife to Plattsmouth. 

Prior to this Mr. Thornas had purchased the 
place where liis widow now resides, on Wintersteen 
Hill. Thereafter he devoted his time to the beauti- 
fying of his home and gathering together the little 
conveniences and comforts which he loved. His 
death took place here Nov. 22, 1884. He and his 
estimable wife had li^ed together for a period of 



nearly fifty years, having been married Oct. 15, 
1835. The bride was Miss Susannah Carrothers, 
and she was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, 
Feb. 15, 1815. Her father, James Carrothers, was 
a native of Scotland and of pure Scotch ancestry.. 
He emigrated to America at an early day, settling 
first in Guernsey County, Ohio, whence he removed 
later to Morrow County, where he lived many 
years, passing away at the advanced age of eighty- 
seven. He had married in early manhood Miss 
Ann Blakcly, also a native of County Fermanagh, 
and the daughter of Robert and Ellen Blakely, 
who, it is supposed, were natives of Scotland. 

The paternal grandfather of Jlrs. Thomas, James 
Carrothers by name, was a farmer by occupation, 
and spent his last years in County Fermanagh, Ire- 
land. He married Miss Margaret Beatty. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Thomas there were born nine children, 
viz: Samuel L.; Ann Eliza, who died when five 
years old; James W., a resident of Plattsmouth 
Precinct, this county; Margaret Ann, who died at 
the age of seven years; Mary E., the wife of E. R. 
Todd, whose biography appears on another page; 
Eliza Ann, who died when five years old; Cin- 
derella, the wife of O. M. Carter, of Omaha; 
Thomas J., living in Plattsmouth Precinct, residing 
on the old homestead, and George W., living in the 
city. 

Prior to the war Mr. Thomas was a Democrat, 
after that he became a Republican. At the age of 
twenty-two lie became a member of the Methodist 
Church, and Mrs. Thomas, at the age of sixteen, 
became a member of the same church. 



•^^s^ 



-^K* 



>«f»«f- 



^.ElIEMIAH LIVINGSTON. At lliis day 



I 



and age the pioneer settlers are looked upon 
with more than ordinary- respectand venera- 
tion, for they are passing away. Their works, how- 
ever, in the language of Scripture, '-do follow 
them," and their descendants fur generations will 
'•rise up to call them blessed." Under the present 
sj'stem of preserving the records of the lives of 
those men, it is becoming a matter held in great 
consideration as years advance, for the iiistory of 



•►^h-^ 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



men's lives is ;i history of the couiurv. The Ameri- 
can people are learning to hold in greater estima- 
tion the resources of their native land, which re- 
sources could only have lieen developed b3' those 
who pushed their way into the wilderness in the 
face of what seemed almost insurmountable ob- 
stacles, but whose perseverance enabled them to 
come off victors in the struggle. 

The subject of this sketch, a pioneer of Cass 
County, came to Nebraska Territory in 1857, and 
tiled a tract of Government land on section 6, Mt. 
Pleasant Precinct. This land did not come into 
the market until the fall following, and then, not 
having the means to purchase, it reverted again to 
Uncle Sam. Mr. Livingston, however, a short time 
later was enabled to buy a small tract of fortj' 
acres from George W. Mayfield, which he was suc- 
cessful in improving, and in adding to later by a 
like amount. Upon he this labored until the spring 
of 1H74, when he wisely determined to retire, and 
is now taking life easy in the comfortable home of 
bis own building. 

Our subject was born in Renssehier County, N. 
Y., April 22, 1809, and is the son of Nehemiah, 
!Sr., and Elizabeth (McMillen) Livingston, the 
father a native of New Yoik, and the mother of 
Bennington, Vt. The latter left her native State 
wlien a little girl of nine years, settling with her 
parents in Washington County, N. Y. Here, upon 
reaching womanhood, she made the acquaintance 
of her future husband, who was stricken down in 
his prime, d3-ing before the birth of our suliject. 
He was a skilled mechanic .'ind millwright, an hon- 
est, hard-working man, who enjoj'ed the esteem 
and respect of all who knew him. 

After the death of her husband the mother of 
our subject took up her residence in Washington 
County, N. Y., wiiere Nehemiah. Jr., attended the 
common school, and assisted his mother until her 
second marriage. He then left home, and began in 
earnest the struggle of life on his own account. 
He worked at farming and carpentering, and con- 
tinued a resident of his native State until 1856. 
when he migrated to Ohio, and sojourned a brief 
season in Sandusky County. Next we find hira in 
Henry County, 111., and later in Fremont County, 
Iowa. In the spring of 1857 he first set foot upon 



the soil of Nebraska, and his subsequent oi)erations 
we have already indicated. 

In the year 1857 Mr. Livingston met witii an 
accident which destro3'ed the sight of one eye. He 
was prying a glass from a window sash, which, 
breaking, threw a piece of glass into his eye, and 
from which he suffered greatlj' for some time. 
Later he also met with additional misfortune by the 
loss of a good ox, which was killed by the Indians, 
which left him without a team. His neighbors 
were few and far between, there being for some 
time after his settlement in this countj' onl}' two 
hous.es between his property and Plattsmouth. Kis 
first dwelling was formed by sticking poles in 
the ground, and tlien weatherboard ing these, and 
he succeeded in making quite a comfortable habi- 
tation. 

There had accompanied our subject to the Far 
West his faithful wife and companion, who in her 
girlhood was Miss Indiana Foster, and to whom he 
had been married, in 1 8.32. in New York. This ladj' 
was born in Caj-iiga County, N. Y., and was the third 
daugiiterofS.imueland Elizabeth (Patterson) Foster. 
Mr. and Mrs. Livingston are the parents of five sons 
and six daughters ; three of these are deceased. James 
A., the second sou, during the late Civil War, en- 
listed in Company A, 4th Iowa Cavalry, was 
wounded and taken prisoner, and after great suf- 
fering died iu the hospital at Jackson, Miss. The 
others were named respectivel3^: Samuel V., Charles 
E., Levi H., Lewis H. L. ; Eliza, deceased; Frances, 
the wife of Jackson Barker; Mary M., Mrs. Isaac 
M. Goodspeed ; and Sarah E., the wife of Benon 
Teodorski. 

Mr. Livingston has served his township in var- 
ious capacities, officiating as School Director many 
years; he operated as lioad .Supervisor four years, 
and as Judge of Elections four3'ears. He uniformly 
votes the Democratic ticket, and is a member 
of the Knights of Labor. Upon reaching his ma- 
jority he cast his first Presidential vote for Andrew 
Jackson. He is now in the eightieth year of his 
age, hale and heart3', the result of temperance and 
correct habits. In religious matters he is liberal, 
but has sought throughout a long career to do good 
as he has had opportunit3-, never turning a hungry 
man from liis door, and giving his intiuence to the 



■► II ^" 



♦r^"- 



•►Hh-^*- 



■•► 



902 



CASS COUNTY. 



])rojec-ts cnlculatcil for the nioial Tvplfaic of s<:cie1j-. 
Ill his native State, riiiiing his ( aily maiilic< d. he 
belonoed to ilic mililia. holding the rank of Sicond 
Lieutenant. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject was a 
native of Scotland, whence he emigrated to En- 
gland early in life, serving as a soldier, and being 
under the command of Gen. Wool in the battle of 
Quebec, in which he received an honorable wound. 



\T?AMES JOHNSON, The subject of this 
sketch was the fourth of five children born 
in Seilkeborg, Denmark, Feb. 10, 1853. He 
remained at home twenty years, attending the 
common schools until fourteen, then attended the 
High School at the city of Hammel one year, thor- 
oughly mastering his mother tongue. He remained 
with his father until 1873. in which year he took 
an extended tour through Germany, England, Scot- 
land and Ireland, after which he concluded to come 
to America, leaving Londonderry on the steamer 
"Atlantic," and landing in Portland, Me., after a 
twelve days' voyage, There he remaine'd but a 
short time, leaving there for Union Cit}^, Branch 
Co., Mich., where he began working ou a farm, and 
continued to remain there five years, when became 
to Nebraska to buy laud, going by rail to Platts- 
mouth, thence to Weeping Water, where he rented 
his present place for a period of two years, when 
in 1880 he bought it. There were no improvements, 
and only 100 acres were broken. He at once pro- 
ceeded to build up a home and the necessary out- 
buildings, continued breaking the soil until the 
whole tract was under plow, and set out a grove of 
eight acres, an orchard of 400 trees, and a vineyard 
of 200 vines. The farm is well fenced with wire 
fence, and is watered by the Cascade Creek, which 
gives the farm its name as the Cascade Stock Farm. 
It is admirably adapted to the raising and feed- 
ing of stock, and is situated within less than one 
mile from the stockyards of Weeping AVater. He 
devotes his attention to the raising of thorough- 
bred Herefords, of which he has now a herd of four- 
teen choice head, also a fine herd of thoroughbred 
Poland-China and Chester-White hogs, and twenty- 



four head of horses, including three thoroughbred 
Hambletohians. One is "Lamont," a famous trot- 
ter, and he has likewise a number of Normans. 
This branch of the business is the especial pride of 
the gentleman, and he is certainly justified in exer- 
cising it in the way he has. All his animals show 
the great care expended on them. There are herds 
having a larger number, but few, if siny, present a 
finer appearance. In addition to stock-raising he 
buys and feeds from 100 to 125 head of cattle each 
year, and buys and ships stock of all kinds to Omaha, 
and also raises 150 to 200 head of hogs per yeair 
for the general market, which he ships to the best 
market available. 

Our subject's father was Jens J., born in Seilke- 
borg, Denmark. His mother, Mattie M. Juergen- 
sen, was born in the same Province, where they 
were married. Grandfather Nils J. Johnson served 
in the army during the war against Germany in 
1848, was a farmer, and died at the ripe old age of 
ninety-six years. The father of our subject was 
a farmer in his native Province, and also served 
in the war of 1864 against Germany. He owned 
200 acres of land, and was considered quite wealth}' ; 
be died in 1880, fift\'-nine years old. The mother 
is still living in Denmark, and is seventy-four years 
old. Of their children, of whom James is the 
fourth, Carl and Nils are in Denmark, and Elsie is 
in America. 

Mr. Johnson superintends all the labor and man- 
agement of the farm himself, and is an example of 
what thrift and intelligently directed labor can ac- 
complish. He was married, March 17, 1880, to 
Miss Eliza Murfin, daughter of Henry and Jane 
(Windt) Murfln, both born in Carroll County, Ohio. 
Grandfather ^lurfin came from England and set- 
tled and farmed in Ohio, and was in easy circum- 
stances. Grandfather Windt was a German, who 
came to America and settled in Ohio, where he was 
a shoemaker and farmer. The father and mother 
of Mrs. Johnson were married in Carroll County, 
Ohio. Her father was a farmer, and enlisted in the 
Ohio Infantr}' with his two brothers. The father 
went South and served until the close of the war, 
when he was honorably discharged, and returned to 
his home in Ohio and farmed there for several 
years, removing thence to Branch County, Mich., 



»► 1 1^ 





Residence OF R. K. Leyda,5ec.29.MTPlea3antPrect.Cass Co 




Residence OF James Johnson, 5Ec.n., weeping Water Precinct.Cass Co. 



•►HF^ 



•>-H::4 



CASS COUNTY. 



•«»> 



905 



where he bought forty acres of land, and continued 
farming and raising fruit until 1873, when he sold 
out and removed to Wabash, Neb., where he now 
liasj an elogant farm of 160 acres, well improved 
and thoroughly equipped with modern appliances, 
which make farming a source of pleasure, as well 
as- of profit. He is a strong Republican in politics, 
and takes a great interest in the success of his party. 
He is fifty-seven years of age, and the mother the 
same. The lady is the eldest of five children, was 
horn in Carroll County, Ohio, Jan. 26, 1860, emi- 
grated to ilichigan with her parents, and was there 
married. They have one child, Leo, born March 
a, 1882. She is a very kind, companionable lady, 
devoting herself to the comfort and pleasure of her 
family and friends. Our subject is a member of 
the A. F. & A. M. at AVeeping AV^ater, Lodge No. 
97, has been through all the Chairs, and Master for 
two years. He served one term on the School 
Board, and at present is Assessor. 

During his spare hours Mr. Johnson has studied 
the English language, until he has mastered it so 
well that he would not be taken for a foreigner, 
judging from his language. He says that America 
has given him chances he would not have had in 
his mother country, consequently he is an Ameri- 
can through and through. On another page is 
shown a view of Mr. Johnson's comfortable resi- 
dence. 

- OOP - 

Ip^EUBEN K. LEYDA and liis excellent wife, 
'It^ir who in her girlhood was Miss Catherine 
'*\ \\\ Shoup. are numbered among the well-known 
^P" people of Mt. Pleasant Precinct who have 
built up for themselves a good homestead, and 
whose course has been such as to coiijmend them to 
their neighbors. Their property is pleasantly situ- 
ated on section 29, and fulfills, in the air of plenty 
and comfort which surrounds it, the modern idea 
of the well-regulated rural home, where peace and 
plenty abound. The farm is 160 acres in extent, 
and since settling upon it in March of 1881 many 
improvements have been effected by Mr. Leyda, 
who has gradually gathered together the litttle 
comforts and conveniences which have so much to 
do with the happiness of a household. Mr. and 



Mrs. Leyda are people in the prime of life, and 
after years of arduous labor are now enabled to 
rest upon their oars, taking satisfaction in watching 
the growth and development of the country around 
them, looking after the comfort and well-being of 
their children, and doing good unto their neighbors 
as they have opportunity. 

The birth of our subject took place in Clinton 
'J'ownsliip, Wayne Co., Oiiio, March 6, 1834. His 
father, James Leyda, was a native of Washington 
County', Pa., and in earl}' manhood married Miss 
Ilulda vSanford, who was born on Long Island. The 
Leyda family trace their ancestry to Ireland, while 
from his mother our subject has inherited some of 
the best qualities of New England stock. James 
Leyda was occupied mostly in farming during his 
lifetime, and spent his last years in Ohio, departing 
tills life in March, 1880. He was one of the earliest 
settlers of Wayne County, Ohio, locating in a log 
cabin in the wilderness, and in common with the 
pioneers around him experiencing the hnrdships 
and privations incident to the time and place. The 
mother is still living in Wayne Count}', Ohio. 

Our subject was the second son and third child 
in a family of nine children, and was reared to 
man's estate in his native county, assisting in the 
development of the pioneer farm, and receiving a 
limited education in the |)riniitive school. His par- 
ents realized the advantage of a good education, 
and did what they could for their children in this 
direction. Reuben, after leaving the district school, 
was given instruction by a teacher of a select 
school, and made such good progress that he him- 
self developed in lime into a pedagogue. He fol- 
lowed teaching briefly in his native county. 

Mr. Leyda in leaving his native State was accom- 
panied by the estimable lady who now bears his 
name, and to whom he was married March 25, 
1858. Mrs. Catherine (Shouj)) Leyda was born 
in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, May 2, 1836, and is 
the daughter of John and Nancy (Foreman) 
Shoup, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter 
of Pennsylvania. The paternal ancestors originated 
•in Germany, and the family was represented in the 
United States probably 150 j'ears ago. When Cath- 
erine was a little girl of seven years her parents 
removed from Tuscarawas to Holmes Countj", dur- 



ur- w 



•<• 



t. 



•►Hl^ 



906 



CASS COUNTY. 



•►Hi::^ 



ing the earlj' settlement of the latter, where they 
spent the remainder of their lives. The father was 
a farmer by occupation, and looked his last upon 
the scenes of earth Jan. 14, 1885. The mother sur- 
vived her husband a little over two years, dying in 
August, 1887.. 

Mrs. Ley da was the eldest daughter of her par- 
ents, and was reared and married in Holmes County, 
Ohio. Of her union with our subject there have 
been born five children, four of whom are living: 
The eldest son, James E., a young man of more 
than ordinary abilities, occupies himself as a teacher 
in the public schools of this county; John M., also 
making his mark in the world, is Deputy Recorder 
of this county ; Wilbur S. is engaged in the real- 
estate business at Weeping Water ; Otis T. remains 
at home with his parents. Albert died in infancy. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Leyda resided 
in various parts of Ohio until March of 1881, 
when they crossed the Mississippi, and sought a 
home in the farther West. Providence has kindly 
smiled upon their labors, and they have had little 
reason to regret their decision. Both were care- 
full3' trained morally anil religiously, and are mem- 
bers in good standing of the Regular Baptist Church, 
in which Mr. Leyda officiates as Deacon and 
Trustee, attending services at Weeping Water. 
They have uniformly been the supporters and en- 
couragers of those worthy enterprises having for 
their object the best good of the community, and 
tending to elevate society. The spacious and com- 
fortable iiorae is well illustrated by a view on an- 
other page. 

-J^^- 

/^^ HARLES H. KING, of Weeping AVater, is 
(If known far and wide as one of the earliest 

^^^' pioneers of Cass County, and a man closely 
identified with its early history. His has been a 
career at once busy and honorable, and in which 
he has been accorded b}' his fellow-citizens all the 
positions of trust and responsibility within their 
gift. He is at present Police Judge and Justice of 
the Peace, and is also carrying on a lucrative in- 
surance business. He owns and occupies a good 
home at the corner of I and Commercial streets. 
Mr. King first settled upon the soil of Nebraska 



Territory in 18,09, eight years before it was admit- 
ted iiito the" I'nion as a State. He took up his 
abode in Plattsmovith, on the eastern line of the 
county, when it had a population of about 250. He 
sojourned with the people of that region a number 
of j'ears, operating as a contractor and builder, and 
putting up some of its earliest business houses .and 
better class of residences. In the meantime lie in- 
terested himself in its improvement generally, and 
gave indications of more th.an ordinary business 
ability. In the year 1860 he was elected Sheriff of 
Cass County by the Democratic party, and bears 
the honor of having been the onl3' Democratic 
Sheriff elected in this county. He served two years 
with credit to himself and satisfaction to his con- 
stituents, and at the expiration of this time the 
Civil War directed his thoughts and interests in 
another channel. 

On tlie 17th of October, 1862, Mr. King prof- 
fered his services as a L^nion soldier, enlisting in 
Company H, 2d Nebraska Cavalry, and was given 
the post of Commissary Sergeant, in which capac- 
ity he served until the 1st of December, 1863. 
Tliis being the expiration of his terra of enlist- 
ment, he was honorably discharged. His regiment 
had operated mostly with tlie Northern Indiana 
army in the vicinit3- of the Whitestone Hills in 
the State of Dakota. 

L^pon retiring from the service Mr. King re- 
turned to Plattsmouth, and resumed his business as 
a contractor and builder. Not long afterward he 
was elected a City Councilman, a post which he 
held for a number of years. At Plattsmouth he 
was one of the pillars of the Christian Church, was 
Deacon, and filled other positions of trust. He 
was especiall}' interested in the religious training 
of the young and the establishment and mainten- 
ance of Sunday-schools. In the spring of 1868, 
deciding upon a change of occupation, he removed 
with his family to a farm in the vicinity of Eight 
Mile Grove, and which he had partially improved 
from a wild and uncultivated tract of land. He 
now vigorously entered upon the pursuit of agri- 
culture and carrying on the improvement of his 
farm, setting out trees, putting up the necessary 
buildings, and gathering together the machinery 
and live stock which complete the details of a coun- 



» ► II M* 



^*^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



try homestead. In the meantime he Vas appointed 
the Postmaster of the town. In the winter of 1871 
he left his farm and put up a dwelling near the 
church building and school-house, which he occu- 
pied until coming to Weeping Water. He was in 
effect the first Postmaster of Eight Mile Grove, 
and held the office for a period of more than eleven 
years, receiving his appointment from Postmaster- 
General David M. Ke3's. After his removal to the 
town he established a grocery and drug business, 
the first in that neighborhood. He was during his 
entire residence at Eight Mile Grove a member of 
the School Board, serving as Secretarj', and also 
held the various other township offices. Upon the 
incorporation of the town lie was Magistrate for a 
peried of eight years. 

When Mr. King entered upon his duties as Post- 
master of Eight Mile Grove, the office was pay- 
ing the muniflcent salar3' of ^12 a year. When 
he left it in 1831 it was worth $75. His main busi- 
ness as magistrate was in the matrimonial line, he 
frequently joining several couples in a day. Upon 
coming to AVeeping Water in the spring of 1881, 
having sold his interests at Eight Mile Grove, Mr. 
King resumed business as a builder and contractor, 
and also operated as mine Irost of the King's Hotel 
until 1885. In the fall of that year he was elected 
Justice of the Peace, and controlled the bulk of the 
business in this line, doing also considerable in the 
way of conveyancing, collecting and other legal 
business. 

Mr. King assisted in the organization of the 
Baptist Church at Weeping W.ater, of which he has 
been twice elected as Deacon and still serves in 
this capacity. He is usually the man selected by 
the brethren as a. delegate to the various church 
assemblies in the county and State. In 1860 he 
was elected Sheriff of Cass County, being the third 
man to hold this position. At that time the county- 
had only 400 voters. 

Charles H. King is a native of Montgomer}^ 
County, X. Y., born March 3, 1818, and lived 
there until reaching his majority, completing his 
studies at Watertown Academy. Upon leaving 
school he was engaged several terms as a teacher. 
Upon leaving the Empire State, about 1839, he mi- 
grated to Quincy. 111., where he lived six months, 



and then moved on across the Mississippi into Van 
Buren Counfy, Iowa, where he followed the profes- 
sion of a teacher for a number of 3^ears. His rare 
courage and good business capacities commended 
him to the people of that county as suitable ma- 
terial for Sheriff, which office he first held by ap- 
pointment. At the close of the term he was regu- 
larh' elected, and held the office b^- re-election for 
a period of eleven years. He also olflciated con- 
siderably' as County Collector. In the meantime he 
still pursued teaching during the winter season, 
and in summer operated likewise as a contractor 
and builder. 

Mr. King cast his first Presidential vote in the 
Hawkeye State, in 1840, for Martin Van Buren. 
Here also his first experience as a magistrate began. 
He likewise found in that county one of the most 
estimable of young ladies. Miss Almira King (no 
connection), to whom he was married in Iowa. 
July 12, 1844. This lady became the mother of 
two children, and died in July, 1849, five short 
years after their marriage. Their elder' son, Omer 
J., is married and living on a farm in Rock Bluff 
Precinct, this county ; he is the father of one child. 
The other child, Orson D., died when quite young. 

Mr. King remained in Iowa until 1859. in the 
meantime having contracted a second marriage, 
with Miss Janetta K. Root, then of Orleans Count}-, 
N. Y. Mrs. King was born in Madison Count}-, 
N. Y., and was the daughter of E. K. Root, a well- 
to-do farmer of Orleans County. Mrs. Janetta 
King died in Iowa, April 11, 1865. Our subject 
was the third time married, March 25, 1878, to 
Mrs. Frances J. Greenfield. The latter was born 
Aug. 7, 1833, in Connecticut, and is the daughter 
of Stodard and Sarah J. Leech, who were natives 
of England, and are now deceased. 

Sylvester King, the father of our subject, was 
born in Hartford, Conn., in 1 793. He lived there 
until reaching man's estate, and then migrated to 
Montgomery County, N. Y., during tlie pioneer 
days. He was there married to Miss Lydia Stew- 
art, of Balston Springs, Saratoga County, and who 
was born Oct. 31, 1800. The}- became the parents 
of eight children, four of whom lived to mature 
years, Ciiarles II. being the eldest. 

After his marriage the father of our subject en- 



•►Ht:^ 



I 



t 



11^ 



908 



CASS COUNTY. 



gaged in mercantile business in Johnstown, N. Y. 
A few j'ears later be removed to Adams, Jefferson 
Count3r, and taking up a tract of new land, con- 
structed a homestead, where he remained until 
about 1841. His father died about that time, and 
he then removed to the old homestead in Orleans 
C'ountj', where his death occurred about 1867. He 
had been a prominent man in his community, hold- 
ing the offices of Township Supervisor and Justice 
of the Peace, and taking a lively interest in poli- 
tics. He voted for Martin Van Buren, and worked 
for his election. He and his family were identified 
with the Christian Church. The mother is still 
living in Orleans County, N. Y., continuing on the 
old homestead. The paternal grandfather was Paul 
King, a farmer bj^ occupation, who spent his last 
years in New York State. 



1F__^ ON. EUGENE L. REED. The subject of 
Ijjl', this sketch occupies a prominent position 
s^^ in the history of this county, being the 
(^) oldest surviving settler of importance now 
living here, and of which he has been a resident 
since the spring of 1857. The chief events in a 
career of more tlian ordinary interest are substan- 
tially as follows: A native of Trumbull County. 
Ohio, Mr. Reed wa^ born May 23, 1841, living 
there with his parents until a little lad five j-ears 
of age. His father then decided to try the experi- 
ment of life in the Far West, and accordingly made 
his way with his little family across the Mississippi 
to AVashington County, Iowa, settling in Clay 
Township, where Eugene L. pursued his early 
studies in the common schools. Afterward he re- 
mained with his father on the farm, and working 
in the sawmill thereon until coming to Weeping 
Water, this count}-. 

Eugene L. is the son of William H. Reed, who 
was born in Hartland, Conn., in 1808, and in his 
boyhood removed to New Connecticut on the 
Western Reserve in Ohio. William Reed, Sr., the 
grandfather of our subject, was one of the earliest 
pioneers in that section of country. He settled in 
the wilderness and felled a portion of the heavy 
timber around him. building up a comfortalile 



homestead, where he lived to be an old man. 
Later he went to Iowa, to his son AYilliam H., Jr. 
He had married in early manhood Miss Lucy Hyde, 
of Connecticut. They became the parents of six 
children, all of whom lived to mature years. One 
died at the age of twenty-two, in Mississippi. The 
others lived to a ripe old age. AYilliam H. Reed, 
Sr., and his wife, spent their last years in Iowa. 
The grandmother for the last twelve years of her 
life was an invalid, but most tenderly cared for by 
her husband, who gave to her his whole attention 
until her death, after which he came to AA^eeping 
Water. Each traced their ancestry to the Puritans 
who came over in the "Ma^'tlower" in 1620, and 
were, like their forefathers, Congregationalists in re- 
ligious belief. Politically, grandfather Reed was a 
AA^hig and Abolitionist, and one of the first members 
of the Free-Soil party. In Iowa their' farm was a 
station ol the "underground railroad," and Eugene 
L. remembers that when a little lad of eight years 
lie assisted in the rescue of a fugitive slave, get- 
ting him to a place of safetj' only fifteen minutes 
ahead of his pursuers. 

AA'"illiam H. Rs?:!. Jr., the faUier of our subject, 
in earlj' manhood married Miss Sophronia Clinton, 
who bscams the mother of one son and died. He 
was a second time married, to Miss Adelia Fuller, 
who. like the first wife, was at the time a resident of 
Ohio. Of this union there were born three chil- 
dren: Eugene L., of our sketch; Lucius F., who 
was his partner in business, and Ellen, the wife of 
P. E. Beardsley, of Lincoln, this State. 

After his marriage and the birth of his sons Mr. 
Reed moved to Washington County, Iowa, where 
he took up a tract of raw land, and later built a 
mill on the Skunk River Bottoms. He remained 
in that locality a period of twelve years, and in the 
fall of 1856 changed his operations to Nebraska 
Territory, coming to the present site of AYeeping 
AA^ater, and obtained an interest in a mill and land 
which comprises the present town site of AV^eeping 
AYater. Then, returning to lowa.'he settled up his 
interests in that section with the intention of trans- 
ferring them to this count}'. 

Mr. Reed, the owner of two sections of land and 
a good mill in Iowa, had unfortunately placed his 
name to a note for $2,700 with the usual result. 



*f 



-^ 



•►-Hl-^^ 



-•»- 



CASS COUNTY. 



909 



and to meet this was obliged to turn over most 
of liis property, having left only a team and his 
household furniture. This necessitated a beginning 
again at the foot of the ladder. In company with 
his son Eugene he put up a small mill in what was 
then the Far West, the (irst of its kind in that lo- 
cality, and the farthest mill toward the setting 
sun until reaching the coast. It was completed 
and opened up for business in the fall of 1861. 
Father and son operated this until their construc- 
tion of what was afterward long familiarly known 
as Reed's Mill, in 186.5, and which is still standing. 
After the completion of this mill our subject re- 
mained here until 1866. He then moved to Mil- 
ford, having become interested in a mill site stt 
that place. In the meantime, however, at the 
outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Burt felt that he 
could not do otherwise than hasten to the defense 
of the Union, and in June, 1861, he enlisted 
in Company A, 1st Nebraska Infantry, which was 
called Thayer's Regiment, and which afterward was 
under comm.ind of Gen. Livingston. Mr. Reed 
went in as a private and came out a non-commis- 
sioned officer. This regiment operated mostly with 
the Western Division of the arm}-, and participated 
in the battles of Independence, Mo., Springfield 
and Ft. Donelson, and went with the campaign of 
Gen. Fremont throughout the Southwest. Those 
acquainted with the history of that time will recall 
the fact that Missouri was no unimportant battle- 
ground during the war, the guerrillas and bush- 
whackers being peculiarly destructive in their 
operations. At the hard-fought battle of Ft. Don- 
elson, where Floj'd sought to escape with 10,000 
troops, the regiment was in Gen. Lew AVallace's di- 
vision, and stood the brunt of Floyd's charge alone. 
Mr. Reed about this time was seized with pneu- 
monia and confined in the hospital at Cincinnati, 
Ohio. At the expiration of his terra of enlistment 
he received his honorable discharge, in October, 
1862, and returning to this county resumed, as soon 
as able, his former operations in Weeping Water. 
He had in the spring of 1859 purchased an interest 
in the original town site, and later owned all the 
ground upon which it now stands. He has since 
made three additions, one being East Riverside and 
another Park Addition, which embraces about 1 40 



acres. He conducted his milling business until 
1868, then sold out and became one of the firm of 
Reed Bros., who opened one of the first general 
stores to be established in Weeping Water. It is 
now Reed Bros. & Co. Lucius ¥. died in January, 
1880. The firm comprised Eugene L. and Lu- 
cius F. 

The father of our subject sold his mill in 1872, 
and the year following returned to Weeping Water, 
where he lived retired from active business until 
passing away about 188.5. His second wife had 
died in 1854. He was subsequently married, and 
his last wife is still living. William H. Reed was 
the first man to make any move toward establish- 
ing the town of Weeping Water, securing the land 
before it had come into market, his claim being 
"jumped." He lived to see a fine and flourishing 
city built up from the spot which, when he first 
looked upon it, was little more than a wilderness. 
He purchased the land, a quarter-section, of Elam 
Flower, and attended personally to laying out a 
large portion of the town. It naturally followed 
that he was thereafter chosen by the people who 
came in and settled to fill the various offices, which 
became necessary as the community^ enlarged. 

The subject of this sketch, like his father before 
him, developed at an early age more than ordinary 
abilities, and after having served in various other 
positions of trust and responsibility, was elected in 
1868 to the State Senate on the Republican ticket. 
While in the Legislature he was associated with 
many of the important committees, and distin- 
guished himself as a safe adviser and temperate 
counselor in matters of moment. He believes in 
compulsory education, and has taken a warm inter- 
est in the establishment and maintenance of schools, 
being usually connected with the School Board of 
his district. Although no office-seeker, he has been 
active in the councils of his party, and keeps him- 
self well informed upon current events. 

Mr. Reed was the first Republican Postmaster 
appointed by President Lincoln. He assumed charge 
of the office in 1862, discharging its duties con- 
scientiously until the incoming of the Democr.atic 
administration in the spring of 1885. He was sent 
from Nebraska to the National Republican Con- 
vention which nominated Blaine, although he had 



» ► 1 1^ 



ad Y 



910 



CASS COUNTY. 



been strongly in favor of renominating Arthur. 
He was frequentlj^ appointed a delegate to tlie 
County and State Conventions, being uniformly 
active and efficient in connection therewith. 

Mr. Reed reserved one block of the original 
town site for the establishment of Weeping Water 
Academy, which, in addition to this gift of land, 
he has also endowed, and has been largely instru- 
mental in bringing it to its present prosperous con- 
dition. It is now the favorite institution of learn- 
ing in Southern Nebraska. He also holds in reserve 
two blocks for the campus when the new building 
is erected. He was the founder of the Weeping 
Water Bank, the first institution of the kind in the 
place, and was elected its first President. He is 
also President of the Weeping Water Lime and 
Stone Company, who have their headquarters south 
of town, and which ship a hundred cars per day of 
crushed rock and 250 barrels of lime, besides rub- 
ble stones of all dimensions. This latter enterprise 
was established in 1885, and now gives employment 
to 200 men. Mr. Reed has an interest in the Pressed 
Brick Company of Weeping Water, of wtiicb he is 
also a Director, and which was established in 1888. 
He was one of the founders of the Weeping Water 
Creamer3% and is President of the Town Company, 
in fact there have been few enterprises in which he 
has not been interested and in which he has not 
been called upon to exercise his uniform good 
judgment in their conduct and establishment. 

The marriage of Hon. Eugene L. Reed and Miss 
Anna Bellows, of Weeping Water, was celebrated 
at the home of the bride in this place, Nov. 11, 
1865. This union resulted in the birth of two sons 
and two daughters, the eldest of whom, Will E., 
is a student of Dartmouth College, in his junior 
year. Estella, Clinton and Lucile are at home with 
their parents, wlio purpose to give them also the 
advantages of a first-class education. 

Mrs. Reed was liorn in Ashtabula County, Ohio, 
in 1849, and is the daughter of Josiah Bellows, a na- 
tive also of the Buckeye State, where he lived until 
1857, then coming to Nebraska Territory he settled 
on a tract of new land west of the present site of 
AVeeping Water, before it had assumed even the 
dignity of a village. He there commenced farm- 
ing in true pioneer style, but was permitted to labor 



a brief time onl^', dying the j^ear after his arrival, 
and leaving a widow who was the mother of three 
children, and who gave birth to a fourth child after 
the death of her husband. The eldest, a son, B. 
F. Bellows, is now in business in the city of Cleve- 
land, Ohio. The others are True and J. H. Bellows. 
The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Reed was 
Celestia Mills. She died in. 1862. 

Mr. Reed was the first merchant in Weeping 
Water to have a cash carrier placed in his store, 
and which for some time was regarded with a great 
deal of curiosity, being quite an innovation upon 
the old system. The store building is located at 
the corner of I and Randolph streets, and was 
erected in 1868. 



ji^JREDERICK D. LEHNHOFF, of wide repu- 
F^© Nation in connection with the brick and tile 
^ " manufactories of Plattsmoulh, was born 
near the city of Hanover, in the Province of that 
name in German3', on the 11th of August, 1831. 
Tiiat was the home of the Lehnlioff family for many 
generations. He is the son of Frederick and Caro- 
line (Ahlswede) Lelinlioff. His father, like his grand- 
father, Christopher Lehniioff, followed agricultural 
I)ursuits and trained our subject in the same. 

Accompanied b\- his wife and seven children, the 
father of our subject emigrated to America in the 
year 1847, taking jiass.ige at Bremen, and landing in 
the city of New York on the 3d of July. From New 
York they journeyed up the Hudson River and the 
canal to Buffalo. From there they went via the lakes 
t« Milwaukee, then a small and comparatively 
unimportant place. After making all necessary 
provision for their comfort, he left his wife and 
family for a time, and with four others hired a team 
the belter to explore the wilderness. Each took a 
tract of land, Mr. Lehnhoff selecting his in Jeffer- 
son County, about thirt^y-two miles almost due west 
from Milwaukee. There was about five acres of 
land cleared and a fair log cabin on the place, and 
the family took immediate possession. There was 
no railroad in the district, and Milwaukee was their 
nearest market. The region abounded in all kinds 
of wild game, of which he was not slow to take full 



■•►HI 



*► II M» 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



911 



advantage. A fine farm speed i I j- became an ac- 
complished fact, and there the family continued to 
live until 1879; then removal was made to Plafts- 
mouth, where the father spent liis last days with his 
children, dying in the year 1 882. aged eighty j-ears. 

There were nine children born to the parents of 
our subject. Tiieir names are as follows: Freder- 
ick D., Henry; Dorothj', who is the wife of G. 
Schnasse, of Rapid City, Dak.; Caroline, who is 
married to A. Tartsch ; Minnie, now Mrs. Chares 
Buskirke; Louise, the wife of G. Bonty; August, 
William and Charles. William and Charles were 
born in the United States, the others in the old 
country. 

Our subject attended school quite regularl^^ in 
his native land, and was sixteen years of age when 
he came to America with his parents, and continued 
to reside wit!) his father until 1859, when, with a 
number of others, his companions, he started with a 
four-horse team and wagon for Pike's Peak. The 
time occupied en route was five weeks; they crossed 
the Missouri River at Plattsmouth on the 8th of 
May, 1859. They verj' soon met large numbers 
returning from the mountains, by very far the 
large majority being without means, discouraged, 
and so far as that venture was conccrneil broken- 
spirited. The effect upon our subject and his com- 
panions was such as to deter Ihera from their orig- 
inal purpose, and they determined to return. 

The subject of our sketch and brother Henry 
took up a claim of ItJO acres in Centre Precinct, 
Cass County, and at once built a small house and 
took possession. Tliey traded their horses for a 
land warrant and entered the land from the Govern- 
ment at the Nebraska City office. This was truly 
frontier life, and provided them with an interesting 
and by no means unprofitable experience. Our 
subject continued farming there until 18G4, and 
then sold his interest in the farm to his brotlier, and 
came to Platlsmouth. 

Since his settlement in Plattsmouth our subject 
has been engaged in various branches of business, 
including general mercantile, grain, wood and coal. 
When the Plattsmouth Brick and Tile Manufactur- 
ing Company- was started he became a- large stock- 
holder, and indeed was one of the prime movers in 
the enterprise. For the past three years he has 



•►HK-^*- 



been manager of the company. The com pan}' has 
a kiln with a capacity of 10,000 per day, and it is 
of the pattern known as the continuous kiln, built 
under the Bochnke patent, and was the second 
of the kind constructed in the United States. 

On Oct. 27, 18G1, our subject was united in mar- 
riage with Katie Reichert, a native of Bavaria, wiio 
came to America with her parents, George and 
Katie Reichert, when about seven years of age, to 
Ohio, and on the death of her parents lived with 
her uncle, and subsequently removed with his 
farail}' to Nebraska. There have been born of this 
union three children, viz.: Matilda, George and 
Frederick. Our subject and family are held in high 
regard in the town, and are worthy members of 
society. Politically, Mr. Lehnhoff is a Democrat, 
and fully appreciates the liberty of franchise and 
Republican government, and is thoroughlj' imbued 
with the American spirit. 



/^ HARLKS PHILPO 
ill n I'esentative farmer 
^^iJ(^ ant Precinct, and i 



^\ HARLKS PHIL POT is a prosperous and rep- 
and citizen of Mt. Pleas- 
resides on his magnificent 
farm located on section-23. He is a native of Jo 
Daviess Countj'. 111., where he was born Feb. 10, 
1847. He is a son of John and Sarah (May) Phil- 
pot. Our subject from his earliest years was ac- 
customed to the privations and toils of pioneer life, 
both in his native county and his present home. 
His means of acquiring an education was confined 
to the (lublic schools of tlie neighborhood, which 
had not then acquired the perfection they have to- 
day ; but having naturally a studious mind, he con- 
tinued his course of study, reading all available 
books and pa|)er.s, and stud3Mng bj' observation the 
events of the times as they transpired about him, 
he now [vossesses a well-stored mind and an emi- 
nenll}' practical education. 

The father of our subject, John Pliilpot, was a 
native of Kent Count}', England, and his mother a 
native of Illinois. He emigrated to America when 
quite a young man, and after extended tours through 
the country, both North and South, he finally located 
in Jo Daviess County. 111., where he lived for many 
years. He was married twice; the first wife bore 



<0 



♦^1 



I 



912 



CASS COUNTY. 



•»-^ 



him no chiklren, but his second anfl present wife 
lias Ijoi'ne him eigiit, five of whom are living: 
Charles, our sniiject; John and James live in Mt. 
Pleasant Preeinet; Alfred is in Jo Daviess County, 
111., and Mary is the wife of E. P. Ilaj', and resides 
in Cass County, Neh. In 1872 the father removed 
from his home in Illinois to Carroll County', Mo., 
where he resided hut a short time, when became to 
Nebraska, and located in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, 
where he has resided ever since. He is well .along 
in yeiirs, and is enjoying the comforts which he has 
so richly earned. A cousin of the mother of our 
subject, named James Drousdie, look an active part 
in the Black Hawk War. 

Our subject and Miss Cerelia L. Barrett were 
married Nov. 19, 1868. The lad}' was born in Jo 
Daviess County. III., May 30, 1852, and is a daugh- 
ter of Lockhart and Nancy J. (Carter) Barrett. 
Her father was born in York Stale, and her mother 
is supposed to be a native of Rock Island County', 
111., but it is not positively known to be true, as the 
records of her family were lost. Her parents were 
early settlers in Jo Daviess County, and reared a 
faniilj' of eight children, four of whom are living: 
Cerelia L., the wife of our subject; William L., 
a resident of Cass County; Prince A. resides in 
South Omaha. Neb., and Benj:unin F., a resident of 
Valparaiso, Neb. 

Mr. and Mrs. Philpot with two children emi- 
grated to Cass Count}', Neb., in 1872. coming over- 
land in a wagon. They had one team of horses and 
a few cattle. They camped out wherever night 
overtook tiiem, and after a wearisome journey of 
five weeks, they arrived atan<l settled on their pres- 
ent farm, which was in a wild condition, but by 
dint of energj', perseverance and good management, 
by both himself and wife, they have improved it, 
and gathered about them so many conveniences that 
they now possess one of the most valuable farms in 
the county. These good people have become the 
parents of a family of eleven children; eight are liv- 
ing, namely: James W., Wallace M., John W., 
Charles K., May E., Bertie L., Lottie E. anil Cyn- 
thia J. The three who are deail were named: Julia 
L., Albert W. and Benjamin E. 

In the accumulation of the estate of which he is 
the owner our subject has been ably assisted b}' the 



counsels and good offices of his wife. Coming as 
she did to a new and wild country, she accepted 
the condition, and has left nothing undone to make 
their venture a permanent success, which they have 
admirably accomplished, as is evidenced by the 
snug and comfortably arranged home, and the well 
designed and located buildings, necessary to shelter 
the stock and care for the crops raised on their 
farm. 

Mr. Philpot has been repeatedly solicited to ac- 
cept public office from the hands of his neighbors, 
which he has steadily refused, only accepting some 
position connected with the advancement of the 
educational interests of the precinct, in which he 
takes an especial pride. He is now serving as Treas- 
urer of the district, and has been connecteil with 
the School Board for a number of years. He is 
public-spirited, and is an ardent supporter of any 
plan having for its object the general good. Him- 
self and wife are active members of society, and 
they fill a prominent position in a highly creditable 
manner. In politics he is strictly Republican. 



iILLIAM R. LEWIS, a wide-awake farmer, 
rhty acres of choice land on 
Elmwood Precinct, was born in 
LaSalle County, 111., Aug. 31, 1847. He enlisted in 
the Union Army in 1862, but was rejected on ac- 
count of his age, being considered too j^oung, as he 
was then but sixteen years of age. As soon as he 
was old enough to handle a plow he was obliged to 
earn his own living. As a result his facilities for 
obtaining an education by attending school were of 
the most limited extent, but being possessed of a nat- 
urally quick, observing turn of mind, he has over- 
come that deficiency to such an extent that he is now 
a well-informed man. 

Mr. Lewis was married, Jan. 16, 1877, to Miss 
Flora B. Hite, the daughter of David Hite, whose 
biography will be found on another page in this 
volume. In 1880 they came to Nebraska. They 
are the parents of two children: Viola Maude was 
born in Illinois, and AUie E. was born on their 
*►- 



1^ living on eigl 
W section 31, Elr 



•^f^ 



CASS COUNTY. 




present homestead. The}' are verj' intelligent, fine 
appearing children, obedient and lovable. 

The mother of our subject, Eliza Ann Lewis, 
and his father, William, settled in Illinois in 1838. 
The mother's parents were killed bj' the Indians in 
tlie Black Hawk War, thus leaving her an orphan. 
She was taken into the family and raised to woman- 
hood by Mr. Holman. For further information 
relative to the parents see the biography of Albert 
J>. Lewis, given elsewhere in this work. 

Mr. Lewis has a nice, comfortable home, contain- 
ing man}' of the comforts and conveniences of 
life. He has a handsome and affectionate wife and 
is the father of two intelligent children. His po- 
litical affiliations are with the Democratic party. 



^L^ON. EVANDER W. BARNUM. Promi- 
(Ifjl) nent among the early settlers of Cass County 
JW^ stands the gentleman whose name appears 
C^J at the head of this sketch, and few men are 
better or more favorably known throughout the 
county than he. Coming here witii a younger 
brother. Tliomas J., in the spring of 1857, each pre- 
empted 160 acres of land, he on section 27, and his 
brother on section 22, of Liberty Precinct, both 
quarters being no<v owned and occupied by our 
subject. It was then raw prairie land, but with 
untiring diligence Mr. Barnum labored with much 
skill and wisdom in his management, and he now 
has a magnificent farm, nearly all under cultivation, 
well watered, and to the original homestead he has 
added by purchase until his realty consists of 640 
acres of land, well adapted for tillage or stock-rais- 
ing. He has erected a comfortable house, and has 
a fine set of farm buildings, with all the modern 
conveniences for the prosecution of his chosen vo- 
cation. He takes especial pride in his superior 
grades of stock, and is the President and Treasurer 
of a live-stock association, consisting of ten mem- 
bers, of Factoryville. The head of their fine herd 
of horses is Young Samson, a black, imported En- 
glish Shire horse, six years of age. 

Thomas J. Barnum, who came here witli our sub- 
ject, remained on his claim until the fall of 1859, 
when he went to New Mexico, where he remained 



•►4H^ 



for a few years. He was afterward connected with 
the Kansas City and Santa Fe stage route, but sub- 
sequently disposed of his interest in that, and lo- 
cated in St. Louis, where he died after a residence 
of two j'ears. He was a man of wide experience 
in the vicissitudes of frontier life, and his deatii in 
1880, while yet in the prime of life, was the sud- 
den ending of vvhat promised to be a brilliant career, 
he having been a man of excellent business capac- 
ity and sound judgment. 

Our subject was born in Middlefield, Otsego Co., 
N. Y., Sept. 28, 1826. He came of substatitial 
New England stock, his grandfather, Ahijah Bar- 
num, having been a native of Connecticut. In 
earl}' life he moved from there to Otsego Count}', 
N. Y., and subsequently married tliere. Some years 
afterward he moved to Seneca County, where he 
spent his last years, dying at a ripe old age. He 
was twice married, Lewis Barnum, father of our 
subject, having been a son by his first wife. He 
was born Oct. 22, 1790, in Otsego County, where 
he spent his entire life. He was also twice married. 
The maiden name of his first wife was Lucy Jones, 
and she was a native of New York State, born Feb. 
12, 1790. She was a daughter of Thomas Jones, a 
farmer of Otsego County, who died there after a 
long and useful life. She died Oct. 26, 1830, and 
Mr. Barnum married a second time, taking for a 
wife Catherine Huff, of Seneca County, who sur- 
vived him some years. Both died at an advanced 
age in Otsego County, Mr. Barnum's death occur- 
ring Feb. 7, 1 843. Of the first marriage seven chil- 
dren were born, and of the second marriage five 
children were born. 

Evander W. Barnum, of our sketch, was the fifth 
child and third son of the first marriage. He was 
reared and educated in his native county, and after 
arriving at man's estate was married, in .Springfield, 
to Miss Eliza Gilchrist, who was born in Otsego 
County, Feb. 28. 1832. William Gilchrist, the pa- 
ternal grandfatiier of l\[rs. Barnum, was born in 
Lanarkshire. Scotland, and when a young man emi- 
grated to America, and settled in Dutchess County, 
N. Y. He subsequently married Miss Mary Frazer, 
a native of the parish, of Cromdell. Inverness, Scot- 
land, and a lineal descendant of the family of Lord 
Lovell, a family of whom Scotch i)eople have been 




•►Hl^^^ 



yiG 



CASS COUNTY. 



very proud. After their inarriage they lived on a 
farm in Dutchess Count}', then moved to Schoharie 
Count}', and finally settled in Springfield. Otsego 
County, where they died April 9, 1819, and Sept. 
11, 1S29, respective!}'. Tliey had nine children, 
six sons and three daughters. The parents of Mrs. 
Barnum, Peter and Sylvia (Dutcher) Gilchrist, 
were born respectively in DuanesLurg, N. Y., Sept. 
30, 1788, and in Springfield, June 3, 1804. They 
were married in the latter place March 14, 1822, 
and settled on the farm, where they passed the re- 
mainder of their lives, Mr. Gilchrist dying March 
2. 1838, and Mrs. Gilchrist April 26. 1884. They 
were intelligent, worth}' people, highly respected 
1)}' all who know Ijiem. Peter Gilchrist was a far- 
mer and leading stockman of his day in that sec- 
tion of the State. They were the parents of seven 
children, of vvi)om the following is a record : Martha, 
the eldest child, who married Mr. G. Shaw, died 
leaving a family of four cliilJren; Mary, widow of 
the late Philip Rice, lives in Springfield, N. Y., 
aged sixty-four years; Christopher, a dealer in 
lailies' hair goods, in Ft. Wayne. Ind., married 
Melissa Harwick; Jane is the wife of John ScoUard, 
a farmer of Springfield, N. Y. ; Daniel, a farmer in 
S[)ringfield, N. Y., married Hannah "Walradt; Eliza 
is tlie wife of our subject; Margaret is the wife of 
Dexter Matison, of Newark, N. J. 

After their marriage our subject and his wife 
started immediately for their new home in Ne- 
braska, becoming pioneers of Cass County. They 
set to work energetically to build a home for them- 
selves, and in doing that have contributed largely 
to the growth of the precinct and county, and have 
added their full quota to its progress, aiding by 
every possible means all things calculated for its 
moral, social or intellectual development. To peo- 
ple of like calibre is Cass County indebted for its 
high rank among the adjacent counties of Nebraska. 
Mr. and Mrs. Barnum are social and hospitable peo- 
ple in every sense implied by the words, held in the 
highest respect, and are esteemed members of the 
Episcopal Church, of Wyoming. In his political 
views Mr. Barnum is a Republican, and in 1860 
and 1862 represented his county in the Territorial 
Legislature, and in 1873 was a member of the State 
Senate. He is now an incumbent of the office of 



Justice of the Peace. Mr. and Mrs. Barnum are 
the parents of one child, Thomas G., who still lives 
on the old homestead. He married Miss Ilatlie, 
daughter of Isaac Pollardvan extensive farmer of 
Liberty Precinct. They have one child, Vernie. A 
portrait of Mr. Barnum appears on another page. 



■^^ 



% OHN D. SIMPSON, who has often been a 
prominent figure in the civic life of Platts- 
mouth. his present place of residence, was an 
early pioneer of Cass County. He holds a 
responsible position in the office of the Burlington 
& Missouri River Railroad Company in this city, 
as clerk in the supply department. He was born in 
Huntingdon, Huntingdon Co., Pa., Sept. 12. 1826. 
His grandfather was JMatthew Simpson, a Scotchman 
by birth, living on an estate in the iSorth of Ireland, 
which had come into the possession of the family at 
the time of the Conquest by William of Orange. 
In 1783 he was married to Catherine Moore, a na- 
tive of Ireland, born in 1757. On Oct. 19, 1784, 
their only child was born; this was William, father 
of our subject. When he was in his fourth year his 
parents came to America, landing May 8. 1788. 
Directly after landing they went to Huntingdon 
County, Pa., where Matthew Simpson died, in July 
1810, at the age of seventy-three, leaving a large 
fortune to his son William, who became a leading 
man in the community, and was subsequently con- 
nected with a large iron foundry in that county. 
His connection with this enterprise was a costly 
one, as he lost $50,000 in it directly, and in a finan- 
cial panic shortly after lost another ^50,000 by the 
failure of the "Citizens' Bank" of that place. He 
was yet in comfortable circumstances, however, but 
by becoming security for friends he lost heavily, 
and became quite reduced in circumstances. He 
had held many positions of trust and responsibility. 
In 1827 he was elected Sherifi! of Huntingdon 
County, serving four years with much credit to 
himself and greatly to the satisfaction of the citi- 
zens of the county. In 1836 he removed to Delphi. 
Ind.. where he also became a conspicuous figure in 
public life. In 1839 he was api)oiiited Postmas- 
ter uf that place, and in 1841 was elected Treasurer 
of the county (Carrull), serving two terms in that 



'-i^^ 






CASS COUNTY. 



9i; 



4 



office. After retiring to private life he did not en- 
gage in any private business. In 1850 he died tliere, 
at the age of sixty-five, leaving behind an unsullied 
name and the pleasant memory of one who in life 
was an eminent]3" kind and companionable man, who 
was widelj' re.spected not only for his abilit}', but 
for his virtues. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Jane Dean, was born in Pliiladelphia, and died in 
Delphi also. Aug. 20, 1838. She was a true wife 
and mother, and had borne beside her husband 
the vicissitudes of life with uncomplaining fortitude. 
They were married May 1, 1810. Their cliildren 
were: Catlierine, born March 23, 181 1 ; Maria, May 

23, 1813; Matthew, July 1, 1816; Jane Dean, Feb. 

24, 1819; Debora, April 27, 1821 ; Eliza Ann.Nov. 
5, 1823, and John Dean, Sept. 12, 1826. Two of 
these are now deceased : Maria died in November, 
1857, and Jane Dean in April, 184.S. 

On the maternal side Mr. Simpson's ancestors 
came from Holland, and were settled in Philadel- 
phia, Pa. His grandmother's maiden name was 
Debora Johnston, who was married to John Dean, 
after whom our subject was named. He came from 
England, but about the time of the Indian depre- 
dations there moved to Huntingdon County, Pa., 
where he became a leatler in the warfare with the 
savages. He died comparatively young, leaving 
two children, Jane and William, the former the 
mother of our subject. William became a soldier 
in the War of 1812, and died soon after its close. 
John Dean liad one brother, named Alexander, who 
became administrator of his estate, and soon became 
its owner. Debora, widow of John Dean, removed 
to Delphi, Ind., where she died in 1838. Her 
mother, who had removed from Pennsylvania to 
the Western Reserve, died in Mansfield, Ohio, at 
the extreme age of one hundred and ten years. 

The subject of this biographical notice was the 
youngest child of his parents, and was twelve years 
old when they moved to Indiana. Two years later, 
in 1840, he became self-supporting, being a lad of 
great self-reliance, and blessed with health and a 
vigorous mind. He went to Galena, 111., to reside 
with Richard Crocker, and clerked in his store. He 
acted in that capacitj' until 1843, when he went to 
Belvidere, in the same State, to take advantage of 
the excellent school in that town to complete his 



education, and he had as classmate there Bishop 
Nealej'. In the spring of 1844 our subject returned 
to Indiana, and was a clerk in a general store until 
1856. During that time his fine business qualifica- 
tions brought him into public notice, and he was 
made Deputy' Treasurer, and subsequently Clerk 
of the county. While acting in the latter capacity 
he made a numerical index of the records of deeds 
for tlie county. In September, 1856. he decided to 
try life on the wild Western plains, and started by 
rail for Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, then the western ter- 
minus of the railway, and from there took the stage 
to Plattsmouth. This was quite a small place at 
the time, with but three stores and not many dwell- 
ing-houses. Mr. Simpson commenced clerking in a 
general store, the trade being mostlj' confined to 
the emigrants who had come in and taken up claims. 
When emigration across the plains set in tlie mer- 
chants did a large business. In a newly settled 
country the men of brains come to the front, as 
their assistance is needed to carry out the affairs of 
State, and the fellow-citizens of our subject were 
not long in selecting him as worlhy of their suffrage, 
and in the fall of 1857 they elected him to the posi- 
tion of County Treasurer. His discharge of the 
onerous duties of that office was so pleasing to his 
constituenc3' that they re-elected him to the same 
position in 1H59, and he thus served two full terms 
with great honor. 

In 1861 our subject crossed the plains to Denver, 
and there kept books for the Rocky Mountain News 
Companj' for one year. He then accepted a posi- 
tion in the Quartermaster's department, having 
charge of mustering the soldiers in and out of the 
service of the Territory of Colorado. He returned 
to Plattsmouth in 1S64, and the following year was 
engaged in keeping books for a mercantile house 
there. In 1866 he formed a partnership with Sharp 
& Micelwait to carry on the lumber and grocery 
business. He remained a member of that company 
until 1869, and also acted during that time as agent 
for the American Express Company. In 1869 he 
was appointed agent for the Burlington & Missouri 
River Railroad, which in that yeai' had put its line 
through this city, the first shovel-full of dirt having 
been thrown up in the month of July, and in the 
fall of that year the railroad was in operation, Mr. 



J. 



"^ 



918 



■•►Hl--^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



Simpson lieing its first agent liere. He acted in 
that capacity six montlis, but continiierl bis agency 
for tiie American Express Company until 1873. He 
then went to Omaha as Secretary for the Brewer & 
Berais Brewing Company, staying with them until 
1874. In tlie spring of that year he visiter] Chey- 
enne, but spent only a few months there, and in the 
fall of that year we again find hin) in Plattsmouth, 
he having accepted the position of express messen- 
ger for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, 
holding it until 1880. From that time until 1886 
the American and Wells-Fargo Kxpress Companies 
claimed his services as their agent in Plattsmouth. 
He resigned in the latter year to become clerk in 
the supply department of the Burlington & Missouri 
River Railroad Company, the duties of whicii posi- 
tion he discharges with characteristic fidclit3^ look- 
ing carefully after the interests of his employers. 

Mr. Simpson was married, .July 6, 1853, to Cathe- 
rine Klepser, a native of Salem, Ohio, and a daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Elizabeth Klepser. of whom see 
sketch on another page of this volume. She fills 
the perfect measure of wife, mother, friend, and her 
many noble qualities of mind and heart endear her 
to a large circle of friends. Two amiable and ac- 
complished daughters, Lelia and ICdith Luella, com- 
plete the happy household grou[)of our subject and 
his wife. Mrs. Simpson has acquired an enviable 
reput.ation as a music teacher of rare merit. She 
first gave music lessons in Delphi, Ind., and com- 
menced teaching in Plattsmouth in 1858, and was 
one of the first music teachers in the Territory of 
Nebraska. Her children have inherited her talent 
in a marked degree, and her d.aughter Lelia was 
considered a musical prodig}' at tvvelve 3'ears of 
age. 

Mrs. Simpson on her mother's side is a grand- 
daughter of Tunis William Yancleve, a pioneei- of 
Ohio, who died in South Arlington in that State, 
Oct. 18, 187'J, in his ninetieth j'ear. He was born 
in New Jersey, in 1790, and emigrated to Warren 
County, Ohio, in 1818, shortly afterward removing 
to Montgomery County, Ohio, where the rest of 
his life was passed. His ancestors were Holland- 
Dutch, and both his father and grandfather had 
fought in the Revolutionary War, on the patriot 
side. T. AV. Yancleve was a soldier in the War of 



1812, for which he received a pension. A brother 
served in the .navy in the same war. One of his 
uncles was killed by Indians in the forest where 
Cincinnati now stands, and the first white child 
born in Dayton, Ohio, was his cousin, John Van- 
cleve, a lifelong resident of that place. 

Tunis W. Vancleve was a blacksmith by trade, 
working at it both in New Jersey and Ohio, and 
until advancing age warned him Ih.at his days of 
active labor were drawing to a close. During his 
long life he had witnessed many changes — States 
and Empires had risen and fallen, confedeiacies or- 
ganized and overthrown, ocean steamships, railways, 
telegraphs and telephones had sprung into existence, 
and the face of the map of the world had been 
changed by recent discoveries. His first vote had 
been cast for President Monroe, and he subsequently 
voted for all the AVhig candidates until the formar 
tion of the Republican partj-, with which he acted 
until his death. He w.as four times married, his last 
wife surviving him. He left four children, several 
grandchildren, thirty-two great-grandchildren and 
six great-great-giandchildren, all of whom attended 
a family re-union, at which he presided a short time 
before his death. 

Mr. Simpson's wise counsel and clear, candid 
judgment have been used effectually in the guid- 
ance of municipal affairs, and while holding office 
he always made his private interests subservient 
to those of the public. Under his administra- 
tion ES Maj'or of Plattsmouth, in which office he 
served two 3'ears, the city was well governed, and 
prospered accordingly. He was Cit3' Clerk from 
1875 to 1883, and retired from that office with an 
honorable record for cHiciency and fidelit3-. 



.:.^^>^ 



^^. 



OIIN M. LEIS, a thrift3r German-American 
citizen, who operates a splendid farm of 160 
acres in Elmwood Precinct, was born in Hox- 
'^^li el, Prussia, where he lived and worked with 
his father, who was a farmer and merch.ant. He 
educated himself by attending the splendid schools 
of his native town. At the age of nineteen he 
undertook to learn the trade of cabinet-maker. 



■<• 



•►Hl^ 



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CASS COUNTY. 



919 



which, proving uncongenial to his taste, he and his 
brother JIatthew sailed for America from Bremen, 
March 27, 1851, landing in New York Ma}^ 11, 

1 85 1. The first _years of their life in the New World 
was passed in various employments in different 
places. Mr. L. spent two years at labor in a 
sugar refinery in New York City. He then 
journe3'ed in Pennsj^lvania and Maryland for two 
or three years, where he worked at farming and in 
an iron foundry until 1859, when he migrated to 
Canton, Fulton Co., 111. 

It was in this year, 1859, our .subject met and 
married Miss Kate Vogt, a native of Baden, 
Germany, born near the Black Forest, where 
she lived until she was fourteen years old, when, in 
companj^ with her mother and three brothers and 
sisters, she came to America, landing in New York in 

1852, where she went immediatelj' to work by the 
week. After his marriage with this lady Mr. L. 
worked as a stonemason, they living in Illinois for 
the ensuing twenty years, when in 1876 they came 
to Nebraska. By hard labor and strict economy 
the}' had saved the sum of $900, and with this monej' 
and their family they settled on and proceeded to 
improve their home farm. Their children are: 
Fannie Louisa, now the wife of Mr. Horn, residing 
in Wabash, Neb.; John Z., residing in Holt County, 
Neb.; .Stephen, Peter and Charles are living in 
Holt County, near their brother John; Calvin and 
the twins, George and Henry, are at home with their 
parents. 

By the thrift and industry peculiar to the people 
of which our subject is one, he has accumulated a 
handsome property. In addition to the home farm 
he owns 160 acres in Holt County, Neb., and in 
company with his three sons has an ownership of 
1,100 acres of land in that count}'. The improve- 
ments on the home farm are not at this date exten- 
sive, but those which are made are of the most solid 
and substantial character, designed with the view of 
ultimatel}' extending them largely; but the condi- 
tion and appearance of his farm are not excelled by 
any in the precinct. 

The father of Mr. Leis, John B. Leis, was a farmer 
and merchant and also hotel-keeper in the mother 
country ; his mother was Anna Mary Proesch. Both 
parents are dead. They were the parents of five 



children: Stephen and Catherine are dead ; Susannah ; 
John M., our subject, and Mathew. Susannah is in 
Germany; Mathew is a tailor in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
where he is conducting a prosperous and lucrative 
business. 

The scholastic education of our subject was en- 
tirely in the German language. Upon his arrival 
in America he applied himself assiduously' to the 
stud}' of the English language, until he has attained 
a considerable efficiency. He is a student and close 
observer of events, and as a means of assisting him- 
self he has kept a complete, careful record of events 
as they have transpired since 1863, adopting a sys- 
tem of making a note dail}' of the occurrences of 
that da}', and he now possesses a record which is 
particularly valuable, as it relates in a great meas- 
ure to local occurrences. 

The wife of our subject is a large, portly, good- 
natured lady, an excellent housekeeper, and a lady 
•who is worthy the respect of all her neighbors. She 
is a consistent member of the Lutheran Church, and 
her husband is a member of the Catholic Church. In 
politics the gentleman is a Republican; he has held 
no public office except that of Road Supervisor. As 
an indication of the bent of his mind it will suffice 
to say that he regularly receives eight newspapers 
and periodicals, and studies them all very carefully. 



<S^LIAS M. COMPTON. Nebraska has drawn 
!«] within her borders men from all sections of 
/ I — ^ the United States, and among her citizens 
the "Ohio man" has acquitted himself in a manner 
wortliy the reputation of the Buckeye State. The 
subject of this sketch, a native of that State, and at 
present a resident of Avoca Precinct, was born in 
Montgomery County. Sept. 23, 1830, and is conse- 
quently fast approaching his threescore years. 

The Compton family is essentially a good one, 
and William, the father of our subject, was one of 
its most honored representatives, who, settling in 
Montgomery County, Ohio, when beginning his 
career as a farmer on his own account, there spent 
the remainder of his life, making for himself a rec- 
ord which his children may look upon with reason- 
able pride. William Compton was born Feb. 18, 



■► n^ 



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4 



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920 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1798. in South Carolina, and after becoming a resi- 
dent of Ohio, was mairied to Mi.*s Snsaniia Frost, 
of Miami County, that Slate. The mother of our 
subject, a most excellent and worthy lady, traces 
her ancestry to Wales. She was not permitted to 
spend a long and useful life by the side of her hon- 
ored husband, she passing away in the prime of life, 
he living to a ripe old age. They were the patents 
of seven children, four of whom are living and 
making their homes mostly in the United States. 

The subject of this sketch was reared and edu- 
cated in his native county, which he left when a little 
past twenty years of age, going into Miami County, 
in the same State, where he labored as a carpenter 
for some years. In Miami County also he was 
united in marriage with Bliss Nancy Jenkins, who 
was born and reared there, and who was the daugh- 
ter of Isaac and Mary (.lay) Jenkins. The Jenkins 
family were Quakers in leligious belief, and pos- 
sessed all the peculiar and praiseworthy cliaracter- 
istics of that pcaeealile sect. The parents of Mrs. 
Comiiton spent the greater part of their lives in 
Ohio, dying there at an advanced age. Such had 
been tiieir lives among the people of their com- 
munity that their names are held in kindly rcmem- 
l)rance by a large number of friends and acquaint- 
ances. 

Mrs. Corapton vvas carefully reared, and received 
a common-school education, remaining under tiie 
pai'ental roof until her marri.age. As the wife of 
oursuliject she became the mother of nine children, 
two of whom, a little daughter Ellen, and an infant 
unnamed, are deceased. Of the survivors the rec- 
ord is as follows: Samuel married Miss Jerusha 
Grubbs, and is living in Weeping Water, engaged 
as a brick and stone mason; William is farming in 
Colorado; Frank and KoUin I. are at home with 
their parents; Lora J. is the wife of John Fowler, an 
esteemed citizen of Cass County, whose biography 
appears elsewhere in this work; Minnie K. is the 
wife of Frank P. Parker, a farmer of Sarpy County, 
this State; Ida M. is at home. 

Mr. Compton, politically, is a sound Republican, 
and in religious matters, with his estimable wife, 
adheres to the doctrines of the United Brethren 
Church. Upon leaving his native State he was 
thereafter a resident of Tama County, Iowa, for a 



period of eighteen years, a part of the time living 
in Benton County. He came to Avoca Precinct in 
the spring of 1875, purchasing his present home- 
stead of 160 acres on section 17. His buildings 
compare favorablj' with those of the industrious 
men around him, and he has made for himself the 
reputation of a peacealde and law-abiding citizen, 
one who is creditably filling his niche in a com- 
munity of intelligent people. 



|IL_. ENRY C. CUTLER. Among the promi- 
If )) fPot fill'' successful farmers and enterpris- 
/^^' ing men within the limits of Cass County, 
(^) the name of our subject holds a proud 
place. His handsome home is situated on the west 
half of section 16, in Greenwood Precinct, and con- 
sists of 320 acres, all under a high state of cultiva- 
tion. He is a husbandman of no small ability, 
keeps his home in the best condition, and makes 
agriculture a science. This gentleman was born in 
Cass County, Neb., Aug. 16, 1864, and as a speci- 
men of a native-born Nebraskian, he does his native 
State full honor. He is the son of Martin B. Cut- 
ler, who was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., Dec. 
2, 1835. He came to Nebraska thirty-three years 
ago, when he was twenty years old, and settled on 
a farm in Greenwood Precinct. He 25'i'chased 
one-half of section 16 from the State ten j'ears ago, 
when he moved onto it. 

The father of our subject was married to Miss 
Caroline McIIerron, April 12, 1858. This lady was 
born in Keokuk County, Iowa, in 1841. They 
were the p.arents of two children — George H. and 
Henry C. George H. was born June 24, 1860, in 
Cass Count3', Neb. The father died at the age of 
fifty-three. Henry C. Cutler was married, Nov. 14, 
1888, to Miss Lillian Walker, a daughter of George 
Walker, residing on section 8, in Greenwood Pre- 
cinct. Her father came to Nebraska in 1887, from 
Sidney, P^remont Co., Iowa, where Miss Lillian 
was born, and settled on their present homeetead. 
The grandmother of our subject, Mrs. Axenia Cut- 
ler, was born Dec. 17, 1810, in Cayuga County, N. 
Y., and was the wife of L. H. Cutler, who was born 
in Guilford, Vt., Aug. 20, 1805, where he was en- 



■► It^ 



-^1^ 



"► 11 <•• 



CASS COUNTY. 



921 



gageil in tlie mercantile business until tlie time of 
his death. She was the mother of six children, 
named: Martha R., Axenia; Martin B., the father 
of our subject; Elizabeth R., Charles J. and Frank L. 

The father of our subject, Martin B. Cutler, was 
married to Miss Gertrude Border in 1877. She 
now survives him, and lives in the village of Green- 
wood. Our subject's father enlisted for a period of 
nine months for service against the Indians in the 
West. At the expiration of this term of service he 
organized a company of scouts, of which he was 
elected First Lieutenant. After his discharge from 
this service, and on his return home, he was elected 
to the office of Sheriff of Cass County, which he 
filled most acceptably for a period of four years. 
After this he retired to his farm, where he died 
March 29, 18S;j. Our subject and brother George 
H. went into the business of raising thoroughbred 
cattle, horses and hogs, on what is well known 
throughout the northwestern part of the count}' 
as the "Highland Stock Farm." 

A tour of inspection of the farm of our subject 
and his brother, cannot fail to be of interest to the 
admirer of thoroughbred stock, of the differ- 
ent species handled by these gentlemen. The 
horses in comfortably designed and roomy box- 
stalls, the cattle sleek and contented in their quar- 
ters, and the hogs with their various fine points 
displayed to the best advantage, in their clean, 
well-lighted pens, convey an idea of comfort and 
animal contentment seldom witnessed. These same 
animals, when roaming over tbe pastures, present a 
scene calculated to inspire the brush of a Rosa Bou- 
heur. The owners of these fine animals possess a 
complete knowledge of the business in which they 
are engaged ; they bring to it science and the skill 
derived from their own experience, as well as avail- 
ing themselves of the knowledge gained by years 
of patient study and practice by men who have 
grown old and gray in its pursuit. The result is 
they have a stock farm second to none in value 
in the West. 

Our subject and his brother George received a 
first-class education, first in the common schools in 
the neighborhood, and afterward attending the High 
School in Plattsmouth, where they were graduated 
with honors, since which time they have been en- 



gaged in active business. George is in the employ 
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, as 
locomotive engineer, having entered their service 
since the time of the great strike, which occurred 
Feb. 22, 1888. 

In his domestic relations our subject is an excep- 
tionally well-favored man. He has just brought to 
his home a handsome young wife, n splendidly 
formed, handsome, blonde lady, of medium height. 
She is well educated and refined, and is capable of 
adorning any position in life in which she may be 
placed. In securing this lady for a life partner- 
ship our subject has undoubtedly made the most 
successful venture of his life, an'l in the coming 
years, when time has tried their affection, as fire 
tries pure gold, he can turn his thoughts backward, 
and say that the 14th of November, 1888, was the 
most fortunate day of his life. His grandmother, 
who is still living, hale and hearty, is one of the 
representative ladies of the old school. No one 
can be in her presence without feeling the Ijenefi- 
cent influence of her kindly and happy disposition. 
The father partook largely of the characteristics of 
his mother, and during his lifetime intercourse with 
him was a benefit to all his friends. George H. 
Cutler was married to ]Miss Annie Hansen, of Cass 
County, Dec;. 25, 1880. 

^^ R. URBAN II. NORRIS, phjsician and sur- 
geon, ami an esteemed resident of Green- 
wood, was born near Findlay, Ohio, and 
grew up on a farm on which his father had 
settled in 1832. His early life, in common with 
other farmers' sons of that time, was spent alter- 
nately working and' attending the common schools 
in the town of Findlaj', which were unusually- good. 
His parents had a proper conception of the value of 
a good education, and as a consequence insisted 
that our subject should have every facility within 
their reach for acquiring complete and through- 
going instruction. At the age of fourteen he en- 
tered the High School in Findlay, from which he 
was graduated with honors. At a very early period 
in life he conceived the idea of becoming a physi- 
cian and surgeon, and devoted all his energies to 



• > II <•• 



>^h 



••► 



922 



CASS COUNTY. 



.>-Hl::4 



acquiring a knowledge which would facilitate his 
attaining to the object of his ambition. 

The mother of our subject died, and it almost 
broke the hearts of her children and husband; the 
latter was getting well along in _v ears and thought 
a change to the golden South would be beneficial 
to his health. In pursuance of this decision, he re- 
moved with his entire family soon after the 
mother's death to Southwestern Kansas. After 
living there several months he went to Oskaloosa, 
. Iowa, where our subject began studj'ing for the 
medical profession under the censorship of ])r. 
Crowder. After studying with the Doctor for 
three years, at the age of twenty he entered the 
University of Iowa, at Iowa City, attending one 
course of lectures. He began the practice of medi- 
cine with his former preceptor, where he remained 
a period of two years. At the expiration of this 
time he removed to Ashland, Neb., and completed 
his studies under the direction of Dr. Mansfield, 
and finally, as a completion and rounding out of a 
full course, he attended the Medical College at 
Omaha, where he attained a high position in his 
class, and was graduated in the spring of 1882. 

Tlie long practical experience of our subject, 
capped by the thorough course of his study at 
Western medical colleges, insured his immediate 
success upon coming to Greenwood in 1880. He 
is as well and favorably known as any ph_ysician in 
Southeastern Nebraska, and his practice has been 
crowned with unusually successful results. He is 
a self-made man, having paid his own way through 
the various colleges, and his whole expenses while 
studj^ng under his preceptors, by the fruits of his 
own labor. His practice engages his entire atten- 
tion, and he devotes himself most assiduously to 
his loved profession, studying all the latest litera- 
ture pertaining to his chosen walk in life, losing no 
opportunity of informing himself of the best meth- 
ods and remedies, and in all ways keeping thor- 
oughly abreast of the times. 

The Doctor w.is married in Kansas to Miss 
Angeline Bell, in 1882. This ladj^ was born in 
Knox County', Ohio, and is the daughter of Albert 
and Areboa Bell. Her home in Ohio was near that 
of our subject in his early days, and in his youth 
the Doctor was smitten with one of Cupid's darts. 



and after preparing himself for a life of useful- 
ness, he took to his heart his first love, and now 
the Doctor and his lovable wife are happy and con- 
tent in their new and elegant home, and the}-, in 
comp.iny with their two children, Ethel M. and 
Ralph W., present a picture of contentment that is 
seldom beheld. During the summer of 1885 the 
Doctor built a commodious residence, two full 
stories high, located on one of the most beautiful 
building sites in Greenwood. The whole house is 
most conveniently arranged, possessing all the mod- 
ern improvements which can add to the comfort 
and well-being of his little family. His office and 
laborator}', complete in all the equipments for the 
successful practice of his profession, is in a wing of 
his residence. His practice is verj' satisfactory, and 
is extending daily. 

Our subject's father was John Norris, born in 
AVayne Count}'. Ohio; his mother was Marj- Lavina 
Hartman, born in Richland County, in the same 
State. The father is now residing in Dallas, Tex., 
and is the proprietoi- of a large cattle ranch in Den- 
ton County, that State. He has attained the rijje old 
age of eighty-six years, and is still active and 
hearty. The mother died Sept. 2, 1875, aged fifty- 
one years. The Doctor is the youngest of three 
children. The other two children were Ambrose 
and Semilda. His brother Ambrose resides in 
Dallas, Tex., as does also his sister Semilda, now 
Mrs. Alfred Alerd, and is the mother of two chil- 
dren. Grandfather Norris was born in England, as 
was his wife. The maternal grandfather and grand- 
mother of our subject wei'e born in Germany. 
Prof. Norris, of the University of Pennsylvania, 
is a distant relative of the Doctor. 

The neighbors of the Doctor have succeeded in 
inducing him to serve them as a member of the 
Board of Education of Greenwood, for a period of 
three j-ears. He is also a member of the Nebraska 
State Medical Association, and is a very prominent 
member of the Masonic fraternity, being connected 
with the local lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Greenwood. 
He is also a member of Greenwood Lodge, I. O. O. 
F. In politics he is a thorough-going Republican. 

V7hile the Doctor has succeeded in working his 
way up to the position he now holds, it is due to 
his great force of character and his disposition to 



=?=f- 



•^^f^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



925 



•^t: 



attain to the highest in the profession to which he 
is giving his tima, life and might to attain. He is a 
gentleman of more than ordinar}- ability, and his 
snccess professionally and socially may be attrib- 
uted to his strictly straightforward, upright life. 
He is genial, generous and public spirited, the poor 
among his patients being treated as efficiently and 
with as much courtesy as the rich. He is a citizen 
that Greenwood vasLV well be proud to own. 



||7^EV. T. J. CARNEY, the Pastor in charge 
Ip;^ of St. John the Baptist's Catholic Church of 
/fc \y, Plattsmouth, is too widely and favorably 
^^known to need an introduction to the readers 
of this volume, nevertheless, tiiey may appreciate 
tlie elfoit to present succincti3' the chief points of 
interest in his life. He was Itorn in County Ros- 
common, Ireland. Dec. 25, 1851, and was brought 
up principally in New York State. He came to the 
United States when quite j'oung with his parents, 
Patrick and Bridget (IMcDonongh) Carney. They 
are both living, and still residents of the State of 
New York. His education was received in the 
Seminarj- of Our Lady of Angels at Niagara, N. \ ., 
from which he was graduated in the year 1880, and 
was ordained to tiie priesthood. 

The first vvork of our subject after taking holy 
orders was the mission at West Point, Neb., where he 
remained as an assistant for about one month, after 
which lie was transferred to Norfolk, Madison Co., 
Neb., to take charge of the mission there, having 
five churches in his care, which he continued to hold 
until 1884, when he went to Plattsmouth, since 
which time he has had full charge here, also having 
charge of the church near Louisville, Neb. 

The Plattsmouth Mission was established in 1861, 
and during the war perioil a small brick church 
was erected on South Hill. This building, although 
quite small, was nevertheless large enough for all 
requirements for several years, but under the con- 
stant, vigilant care of its several pastors, the society 
has grown and flourislied in a most gratifying man- 
ner. In 1875 the present handsome structure was 

4* 



erected upon a commanding site on Oak street, be- 
tween Fifth and Sixth. 

An important feature of the work as it has grown 
under the care of Father Carney is that connected 
with the schools. In the year 1887 a fine brick 
school building was put up; this stands 50x55 feet, 
and is two stories in height. It was opened in Sep- 
tember, 1888, and given in charge of tiie Dominican 
Sisters, with 200 children enrolled. There are in 
all about eighty families connected with the church, 
and under the pastoral care of our subject. 

Father Carney is a man of culture and education, 
an able and popular clergyman, enthusiastic to a 
degree, and very popular. He is vcr3' highly es- 
teemed l)y the members of liis flock and in the com- 
munity at large, taking an active interest in all 
matters that look to the advancement of the relig- 
ious, as well as general interests of the people. 

As showing what has been accomplished by this 
zealous priest during his comparatively short resi- 
dence in Plattsmouth, we give in tliis connection an 
excellent view of the church and the fine brick 
school-house, erected through his efforts, and also 
the parsonage. 



''-•'^JULC.'^i-^" 



t^^^)/^nyfft^'\/^.'v 



f ACOB TRITSCH. There was added to the 
I 
I population of Nebraska Territory, in 1866, 

^.^^ I the subject of this sketch, with his brother, 
(^// his stepfather, iiis mother, and besides other 
members of the family, one Frederick Guentlier, the 
whole making quite a company with their outfit of 
two wagons and seven horses. It was the month 
of January, and they were eighteen days on the 
journey from Pekin, 111. They had been delayed 
two days by a snowstorm. They generally were 
fortunate enough to be in the vicinity' of a town 
when night overtook them, but otherwise when not 
able to put up at a hotel, were given shelter over- 
night in a primitive dwelling of some settler who 
had preceded them to this region. Thej' brought 
witli them tiieir household goods, a stock of provis- 
ions, and a limited number of farming implements. 
The Tritsch family took up their residence on a 
tract of land in Plattsmouth Precinct, and our sub- 
ject, who was then a youth of seventeen years, amid 



•►Hl^^ 



926 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 



pioneer scenes was rearerl to sturdy miinhoofl, ami 
there were (leveloi)ed in bim those qualities which 
have resulted in making him one of the most indus- 
trious and reliable men of his county. His indus- 
tr3' and eeonorai' have also served to gather about 
bim a snug propcrt}', together with all the comforts 
of life. He is now the owner of a good farm in 
Eight Mile Grove Precinct, embracing 240 acres of 
land on section 24. This be built up from the un- 
cultivated soil, fenced the fields, planted groves 
and fruit trees, erected the necessary buildings, and 
is now quite largely engaged in stock-raising. 

The early home of our subject was in Germany, 
and bis birth took place June 17, 1849. His father, 
Philip Tritsch, died in his native Germany, and the 
mother two years later emigrated with her little fam- 
ily of two sons and a daughter to America. Jacob 
was tlien a lad nine years of age. He still remembers 
many of the incidents of preparation and the two 
weeks' voyage across the Atlantic, at tlie expiration 
of which they arrived safely in New York City. 
Thence they proceeded at once to Tazewell County, 
111., settling on land in the vicinity of Pekin, where 
the mother labored industriously to keep her chil- 
dren together; in due time she married again, and 
became the wife of Philip Horn, of that county. 

Mr. Tritscb bad attended school considerably in 
his native Germany, but after coming to America 
his education was mostly confined to a few weeks 
during the winter season. He attained bis majority 
in Plattsmouth Precinct, then, having a desire to re- 
visit the scenes of his younger years in Illinois, 
returned to Tazewell County, and remained there 
one season. Upon coming back to Nebraska, be 
concb'dcd to locate in this county, and of this has 
accordingl}' been a resident since 1872. At the 
age of twenty-three years be was married, in Illinois, 
Jan. 18, 1872, to Miss lilizabeth, daughter of Nich- 
olas and Margaret (Urich) Volk, of Tazewell 
County, 111. Mr. and Mrs. Volk were natives of 
Germany, whence they emigrated to America early 
in life, settling in Illinois, where they still live. 

Mrs. Tritsch was born Feb. 2, 1852, and remained 
under the parental roof until her marriage, receiv- 
ing a fair education in the common schools. The 
young people began life together on a tract of 
rented land in Plattsmouth Precinct, whence the}- 



■^•- 



removed to their present home about 1875. Tiiis 
bad undergone but little improvement at the time 
of their taking possession, artd the fact that the sub- 
stantial buildings with their appurtenances have been 
the result of the labors and industry of our subject, is 
sufficient proof that he has spent few idle hours 
since coming here. When we reflect that he was 
dependent ujion his own resources from the start, 
too much credit cannot be given bim for the good 
judgment which has marked his operations, be hav- 
ing been wise in his investments. and in bis farming 
operations seeming to have the faculty of utilizing 
ever^' acre, so that none have been allowed to run 
to waste. 

Upon becoming a naturalized citizen and a voter 
Mr. Tritscb allied himself with the Democratic party, 
to which he has since given his undivided support. 
He has been no unimportant factor among the 
counsels of bis fellow-citizens, and has served with 
credit in various positions of trust and responsi- 
bility. He is now closing his fifth term as Assessor 
of Eight Mile Grove Precinct. Both be and bis 
estimable wife are members in good standing of the 
German Lutheran Church. They have three chil- 
dren, all sons: Michael, Jacob and Philip, the eldest 
sixteen years of age and the youngest eleven. 



#-# 



-5— 




ICHARD LEWIS is an old settler and pros- 
perous farmer, owning and operating over 
480 acres of land in Eight Mile Grove Pre- 
cinct. His residence is located on section 
32. He was born in Pennsylvania, Dec. 24, 1818. 
When be was five years old his parents migrated 
with their familj- to Monongalia County, W. Va., 
which was at that time a comparatively new country, 
and as a consequence the familj' encountered all the 
troubles and privations incident to the life of the 
pioneer. His opportunities for securing an edu- 
cation were limited to the subscription schools of 
the time, and having a natural inclination to study, 
he improved bis opportunities to the fullest extent, 
and, since he has attained to years of manhood, be 
has lost no opportunity of adding to bis store of 
knowledge. 

Our subject is the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth 



h 



CASS COUNTY. 



927 



I 



Lewis; both parents were born in Marylan<i. flis 
paternal ancestors were English, and those on tiie 
motlier's side were of German descent. His parents 
had a large number of children, of wliom only four 
survive, named as follows: Richard ; Abraiiani. who 
resides in West Virginia; John, who lives in Tipton 
Precinct. Cass County, and Elizabeth, now Mrs. 
Cline, who resides in Ohio. Our subject was married, 
April 7, 1846, to Margaret Wells, a native of West 
Virginia. She is the daughter of Richard an<l 
Xancy Wells. Bj' this union there has been a 
family of eight children, four sons and four daugh- 
ters, six of vvhom are living, namely : Simon, San- 
ford C Gilly, Adeline. Gertrude an<l George. 
Those deceased are Rebecca and John. Simon re- 
sides in Lincoln; Sanford C. resides in Hayes 
County, this State; Gilly is now the wife of Ben- 
jamin Ward, and resides in Colorado; Adeline is 
the wife of M. L. Thomas, the editor of the Dundy 
County Pioneer, at Benkleman, Neb. ; Gertrude is 
the wife of George Laverty, and resides in Mc- 
Cook, Neb. : George also resides in McCook. 

After the marriage of our subject he settled in 
Virginia, where he farmed for many years. In 1868 
he migrated to Cass County with his family, tak- 
ing a steamer at Wheeling, coming down the Ohio 
to its confluence with the Mississippi, thence up the 
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers as far as Platts- 
mouth. The first year he was in Nebraska he 
rented land. He then purchased eightj' acres in 
Eight Mile Grove Precinct, settled on it, and began 
its improvement, in regular pioneer st^de. The 
land had twenty-seven .acres plowed, which was all 
the improvement he had to begin on. By energy, 
perseverance and good management, he has brought 
it up to a good slate of cultivation. He now 
owns 480 acres of good land, which he has pro- 
cured by purchase from time to time, and which is 
second to none in value in the county. 

The improvements which our subject has made 
on his farm are very substantial in their character, 
and are in accordance with a well-defined plan. The 
barns and various other buildings are well located 
and conveniently arranged for the purposes for 
which they were intended. His dwelling-house is 
finely located, and contains all the conveniences 
obtainable. It is roomy and nicely furnished. He 

^ 



has planted a good orchard, which is a source of 
handsome (jrofit, and presents a fine appearance. 

The wife of our subject during her life was an 
able coadjutor to her husband in all his efforts and 
plans, and studied his interests carefully, and much 
of his success is due to her wise counsels and valu- 
able assistance, which she cheerfully rendered to 
the day of her death, which occurred .Sept. 7, 1873. 
.She left behind her a wealth of love and affection, 
and a large circle of loving friends and acquaint- 
ances. The place she filled in the home circle can 
never be fully supplied. Her memory will ever be 
a green spot in the lives of her husband and chil- 
dren. She w.as identified with the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and endeavored to live what she 
thought to be the earnest, consistent life of a Chris- 
tian. 

When Mr. Lewis settled in Nebr.aska he w.as with- 
out means or any influential friends. He could 
look to no one for assistance, and depended entirely 
on his own energy and perseverance for success. 
How well he has accomplished his purpose is mani- 
fested by the present condition in which he finds 
himself. He is kind-hearted and generous to a 
fault. He is public-spiritel. thinking that the 
greatest good for the greatest number should 
be the prevailing sentiment among the people. He 
is always found heartly supporting any measure 
that may be proposed which will have that result, 
oftentimes to his serious inconvenience. In politics 
he is a Democrat, but has filled no public office ex- 
cept a position on the School Board, where he felt 
that his services would be of permanent value. 



ENRY D. BARR is a valued citizen of Weep- 
ijj ing Water (a resident of the First Ward), 
where he is engaged in business as a fire 
insurance and real-estate agent, and as col- 
lector and conveyancer, and holds the offices of 
Justice of the Peace and Notary Public. 

Mr. Barr WHS born in Greene County, Ohio, July 
15, 1849. His father, John W. Barr, was born in Vir- 
ginia or Pennsylvania, and went to Ohio when a 
young man, and as a pioneer of Allen Count}-, 



•►Hlr^ 



■•► 



928 



CASS COUNTY. 



hewed out a farm for himself in the wililerness. He 
alwaj-s lived in that part of the eoiintry after his 
removal to it until deatli called him hence, in 1875. 
He was an upright, conscientious man, and a con- 
sistent member of the Baptist Church, as was also 
his good wife, whose maiden name was Phoebe 
Snodgrass. She was the mother of eight children, 
all of whom lived to maturity, namely: John C, 
Joseph M., James V. B., Robert H., Henry D., 
Elizabeth, Minerva J. and Sally A. The four old- 
est boys served in the array, and two of them never 
came back alive. Robert 11. was killed while gallan- 
tly" fighting at Atlanta, Cxa. ; .Joseph was wounded 
at Harper's Ferry. Va., and was transferred to the 
invalid corps at Columbus, Ohio, in Camp Chase, 
and there died from the effects of his wound April 
5, 1864, Sally married C. C. Hadsell, of Waterloo, 
Ind., and they are now living there; Minerva is in 
Waterloo, Ind.; John C. is in Ottawa, Ohio; James 
lives atCreston, Iowa, where he is engaged in the 
mercantile business; Elizabeth died in Allen County', 
Ohio. The mother of this family was born in Vir- 
ginia in 1812, and accompanied her father, Daniel 
S. Snodgrass, to Ohio when young, and there lived 
until her marriage. She died in Weeping Water, 
Jan. 23, 1883. 

The subject of this sketch was but a babe when 
his parents moved to Allen County, and he was 
there reared amid pioneer influences. In 1861 he 
left the parental home and entered the printing- 
office of the Auglaize County Democrat, serving an 
apprenticeship of one year; from there he went to 
Lima, Ohio, and again entered a printing office, 
that of the Gazette, and was employed there a year 
and a half. In 1863 he was called home to stay 
with his parents, his older brothers having joined 
the array. He assisted in the management of the 
old homestead until 1865, when, the war being 
over, two of his brothers came back and relieved 
him from further dutj'. Thus gaining a thorough, 
practical knowledge of the art preservative, he next 
went into the office of the Allen County Democrat. 
Eighteen months later he was elected Assessor of 
his home ward, being then but twenty-five or 
twent3'-six years of age. He discharged the oner- 
ous duties of that responsible office in a manner to 
call forth the warm praise of his fellow-citizens. 



He subsequently engaged in teaching, a vocation 
to which he was well adapted both by temperament 
and education. At one time he was appointed de- 
linquent tax collector for the city of Lima, which 
office he filled satisfactorily. After his term of 
office expired he came West, abandoning the pro- 
fession of teacher, he having taught nine terms. He 
also read law one year with Judge McBride. When 
he first came to Cass County he stopped in Centre 
Precinct for a few months, and then spent the fol- 
lowing winter in Iowa. He came back in the fall 
of 1880, and engaged on various papers, and was 
local writer and editor of the Republican, of Weep- 
ing Water, for a year, and he was also on the staff 
of the Cass County Eagle for two or three years. 
He subsequently went to Talmage and purchased 
the Tribune, of which paper he was editor and pub- 
isher until the spring of 1885. He then returned 
to this place, and was engaged on the Republican 
for a year. He was thus engaged when he received 
the appointment of Justice of the Peace, and re- 
signed his connection with the paper to accept it, 
having been appointed to fill an unexpired term. 
In the fall of 1887, so satisfactory was his adminis- 
tration of the affairs of his office, he was elected for 
a full term, and qualified Jan. 1, 1888. 

Mr. Barr is a candid, sincere man. of unblemished 
character, whose intelligent, well-informed mind 
amply fits him for any station to which he may be 
called. He is influential in local politics and a 
standard bearer of the Republican party of Cass 
County. Socially, Mr. Barr belongs to the I. O. 
O.F., Prairie Lodge No. 25, also the Daughters of 
Rebecca, Woodland Lodge, at Weeping Water. 

^Wt DAM HILD. of Eight Mile Grove Precinct, 
@//j | presents a picture of the typical well-to-do 
/// is German farmer and slock-raiser, with his 
1^ comfortable home and fat cattle and horses, 

and all the other substantial surroundings brought 
about by his thrift and industry. His property 
comprises 240 acres on section 35, and eighty acres 
on section 36, with good buildings, fruit and shade 
trees, the necessary- farm machinery, and the vari- 
ous comforts and conveniences which he hasgradu- 



♦^1 



■► II <• 



-•»- 



CASS COUNTY. 



ally arUlefl to the estate from year to yenr. A man 
peaceable an(i law-abi<liiig, lie is one who attends 
stiiftly to his own concerns, and one in whom his 
neighbors iiave entire confidence. 

Hesse- Darmstadt, German}', was the native place 
of our subject, where his birth occurred July 6, 
1844. AV hen a little lad six years of age his par- 
ents, George and Margaret (SchafFer) Hild, who 
were also of pure German birth and ancestry, de- 
cided to emigrate with their little family to the 
United States. Taking passage on a sailing-vessel 
at Ilavie, they landed safel}' in New York City after 
a long ocean voj'age of sixty-seven days. Thence 
they repaired to the vicinity of Rochester, where 
they lived about one 3'ear, and at the expiration of 
that time set their faces westward, resolving to cast 
tlieir lot among the pioneer settlers of Tazewell 
County. 111. The father rented a tract of land in 
that county, whei'e he lived and labored until his 
death, which occurred in March, 1881, when he 
was al)out eighty-three j'ears of age. The mother 
survived her husband sis years, her death taking 
place Jan. 27, 1887, in Tazewell County, 111. 

To the parents of our subject there were born si.x 
children; George and Philip remain residents of 
Tazewell County, 111.; Elizabeth died when thirty- 
five years old; Adam, our subject, was the fourth 
of the family; Michael lives in Tazewell County, 
and Charlotte is dead. Adam, like his brothersand 
sisters, received but a limited education, and at an 
earl}' age was trained to habits of industr}' and 
econora}'^ He was fond of reading, and thus era- 
ployed his leisure hours, keeping himself well 
informed upon topics of general interest. Nothing 
delighted him better than to watch the growing 
crops, and no occupation pleased him better than 
that of the husbandman. His ambition was to have 
a farm of his own, and to this end he labored from 
earl}' manhood. While a resilient of Tazewell 
County, III., he was married, F'eb. 25, 1869, to Miss 
Elizabeth C. Reeg, a native of his own country, 
born also in Hesse-Darmstadt, Feb. 2, 1850. The 
parents of Mrs. Hild were Jacob John and Mary M. 
(Kllinger) Reeg, who were natives of Germany, 
and died in that countiy. Mrs. Hild was only 
fourteen days crossing the Atlantic, which at that 
time was considered quite rapid transit. She was 



the third child of her parents, whose family con- 
sisted of five children, namely : Maggie Elizabeth, 
now deceased ; Anna M, the wife of Leonard 
Trautman, of Germany; Mrs. Hild; Sophia, de- 
ceased; and Elizabeth, the wife of Michael Schwarz- 
fisher, of this county. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born nine children, namely : Michael, at home; 
Elizabeth and Adam, deceased; Ferdinand J., 
George M., Philip A., Frederick L., Anna C. and 
Emma L. After his marriage Mr. Hild continued 
farming in Tazewell County, 111., until the spring of 
I8»3, when he decided to seek the farther West. 
He is the owner of 320 acres of land, which com- 
prises one of the finest farms in Eight Mile Grove 
Precinct. He has been the architect of his own 
fortune, and was fortunate in the selection of a wife 
and helpmate, Mrs. Hild having proved herself 
fully as industrious and energetic as he. Politically, 
our subject votes the Democratic ticket. 

Tl ACOB KUNZMAXN. now the owner of 400 
broad acres of land in Eight Mile Grove 
Precinct, landed in Plattsmouth, this county, 
in July, 1867, with a capital of ten cents in 
his pocket. From that modest beginning and by 
years of plodding industry, with the exercise of 
the most careful economy, he has accumulated a 
snug fortune, and presents an admirable illustra- 
tion of the results of energy and perseverance. He 
is numbered among the leading stock-raisers in 
this part of the county, and has his homestead on 
section 8, a place which, with all its appurtenances, 
invariably attracts the admiring attention of the 
passing traveler. It has taken years of labor and 
thousands of dollars to bring the property to its 
present condition, but the owner and projector of 
this fine estate must certainly feel that his labors 
have been richly rewarded. 

The enterprising German citizen is found all 
over the I'nited States where thrift and prosperity 
abound, and to him is tbis great commonwealth 
largely indebted for the development of her best 
resources. The subject of this sketch has been 
in nowise behind his countrymen, and has con- 



m 



•►HI-4»- 



^^h 



T 930 



■•►Hl- 



CASS COUNTY. 



tributed his full quota to their labors and their 
fame. A native of the Grand Duchy of Baden, he 
was born on the 2-2d of August, 1833, and is the son 
of Christian and Eve Kunzmann, who spent their 
lives in Germauy; their familj- consisted of five 
children. Jacob spent his boyhood and youth like 
the others, a portion of the time in school, receiv- 
ing a practical education in his native tongue. 
Later he served an apprenticeship at the trade of 
shoemaker, at which he worked for a period of 
seven years. After that he was variously occupied 
until coming to the United Slates. 

Mr. Kunzmann remained a single man until twen- 
ty-eiglit years of age, and was then married, Sept. 1, 
1861, to Miss Madalena Gebhart, a native of his own 
Province, and who was born Feb. 2, 1837. Mrs. 
Kunzmann was orphaned bj' the death of both par- 
ents when a young child, and was reared by her 
maternal aunt. Our subject and his wife continued 
to live in the Fatherland until the spring of 1867, 
then decided to emigrate to America. Securing 
passage on an ocean steanier at Bremen, they 
landed in New York City after a voyage of thir- 
teen days, and making their way directly across the 
Mississippi, came to this county, within whose limits 
the}' have since lived. 

Mr. Kunzmann was a resident of Plattsmouth 
the first four j'ears after coming to America, and 
employed himself at whatever he could find to do. 
By the most rigid economy and self-denial on the 
part of both himself and his estimable wife, they 
were in the fall of 1877 enabled to settle upon their 
present farm. This was but little removed from 
its primitive condition, and our subject worked 
early and late to develop his land and bring the 
estate to its present condition. He has been re- 
markably prosperous, and is now enabled to rest 
upon his oars and view with satisfaction the result 
of his arduous labors. 

Four children came to bless the union of our 
subject and his estimable wife, the eldest of whom, 
a son, William, is living at home; Emma became 
the wife of Edward Herman, and they live in Fron- 
tier Count}', this State; Joseph and Cliarles con- 
tinue under the home roof. ^Ir. and Mrs. K. are 
members in good standing of the German Lu- 
theran Church, and are held in the highest respect by 



-«*■ 



their neighbors and fellow-citizens. Mr. K., polit- 
ically, exercises the right of an independent Amer- 
can citizen, aiming to support the men whom he 
considers best qualified for office, irrespective of 
party. 

-^^m- 

'W AV. PITTMAN, who stands prominently 
among the solid men of Cass County, can 
justly be classed with the pioneers of the 
I State, having spent thirty years of his life 
west of the Missouri River. In 1859 he pre-empted 
a tract of land in Rock Bluff Precinct, but did not 
undertake its improvement, preferring to go to Ne- 
braska City, where he engaged in freighting across 
the plains on his own account, continuing thus en- 
gaged for nine years. His route was from the Mis- 
souri River to Denver, and he visited at different 
times all the places of note between tlie river and 
the mountains. He also went into Montana Terri- 
tory, and in 1862 and 1863 visited Virginia City, 
when the greatest excitement prevailed in the min- 
ing regions of that part of the country on account 
of the discovery of gold. Mr. Pittman invested in 
mines and operated two at that lime, but his vent- 
ures were not successful, though he lost nothing pe- 
cuniarily. His experiences of frontier life have been 
many and startling, and had we space to rehearse 
them they would prove most entertaining reading. 
Mr. Pittman is well acquainted throughout this 
part of the United States, having always been tiie 
same, genial, open-hearted gentleman he now is, 
making friends of all chance acquaintances, and al- 
ways retaining their regard and esteem. In 1867, 
deciding to permanently establish himself in a home 
of his own, our subject located on a new farm of 
160 acres on section 15, Liberty Precinct, which he 
now occupies. He has since then added to his 
landed possessions, and is now the proprietor of 
560 acres on section 15, eighty acres on sec- 
tion 10, and lias a six-acre tract of timber on sec- 
tion 4. His farm is well watered, having running 
water on every eighty acres, and it is under good 
improvement. He has it heavily stocked, and pays 
especial attention to slock raising and feeding, that 
branch of his business being very lucrative. He is 
considered one of the founders of Cass County's 



>► l t^ 4i^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•fe- 



es 1 



^ 



« 



present prosperity, as since settling liere tie has 
been intimately connected with its growth and de- 
velopment, having contributed liberally toward the 
advancement of its interests. lie has attained his 
present position by the exercise of his many nat- 
ural gifts, among which are energy, perseverance, 
and good financial judgment. On his arrival in 
Nebraska he was not only a poor man, but was 
heavily in debt, having met with reverses while in 
the mercantile business in Iowa. He has since paid 
up his indebtedness, dollar for dollar, and has a 
large balance in his exchequer. Meanwhile, be- 
sides building up a fine property, he has built up a 
good name for himself, which, as Scripture saith, 
•'is better to be chosen than great riches." 

We will now turn back in the history of our 
subject, and give a brief review of his early life. 
He was born on the 25th of March, 1834, in Harri- 
son County, Ind. (For parental history see sketch 
of Andrew Pittman.) Our subject is the third son 
and fourth child born of the first marriage of his 
father. He was reared in his native count}-, and 
after attending its common school for awhile, was 
sent to the university at Hartsville, where he was 
a student for several years. After attaining his 
majority our subject went to Iowa, and supported 
himself by teaching school and selling dry-goods 
in "Weston, a small town in Marion Count}'. He 
remained there until he became insolvent, then 
came to Nebraska to recruit, and finally liquidated 
all debts, as before mentioned. 

Mr. Pittman was united in marriage, in Marion 
County, Iowa, to Miss Lydia A. Goodwin. She 
was born in Madison County, Ind., March 15, 1840. 
Her parents, Samuel and Susan (Beange) Goodwin, 
were natives of South Carolina, but moved to In- 
diana when quite young, and were afterward mar- 
ried in that State. Mr. Goodwin was a farmer and 
school teacher by occupation, and followed that 
business in Indiana until his death, which occurred 
in 1850. Mrs. Goodwin subsequently married 
again, becoming the wife of 3Ir. James Baley. 
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baley removed 
to Iowa, then to Nebraska, locating first in Cass 
County, removing thence to Nebrsska City, where 
Mrs. Baley died in November, 1883, in the sixty- 
fourth 3'ear of her age. Mrs. Pittman remained 




with her mother until her marriage with our sub- 
ject, receiving a good common-scliool education 
and thorougli instruction in household duties. To 
our subject and his wife have been born nine chil- 
dren, two of whom, David J. and Stella, died when 
about two years of age. Of the seven living children, 
Arelia A. is the wife of J. D. Bramblet, a farmer 
of Gage County; Melissa J., a talented artist, lives 
at home; Hattie J. married George L. Schryder, of 
Weeping Water Precinct; Charles L., James S., 
Edward A. and Berdie D. are at home. 

Politically, Mr. Pittman is a sound Democrat, 
believing that within that party lie the principles 
that are the safest guides for our National Govern- 
ment. 



<| jt ALTEK MUTZ may successfully lay claim 
\&Ji to the honor of being one of the pioneers 
W^ of Cass County, where he came with bis 
parents in 1 856. He now resides on a well-cultN 
vated farm of 120 acres, located on section 14, Mt. 
Pleasant Precinct. He was born in Indiana, Jan. 
24, 1852. His parents lived in that State until he 
was about threes-ears old, when the family removed 
to Mills County. Iowa, where tliey resided for one 
year, when tbey continued tlieir journey to Cass 
County, Neb., where they settled on a tract of wild 
land in what is now known as Ri^ck Bluff Precinct, 
in Eight Mile Grove. At that day neighbors were 
few and widely scattered, and in common with the 
other earl}' settlers of the county, the}' had their 
full share of the troubles and trials incident to the 
life of a Neliraska pioneer. The father, John 
Mutz. now lives in Nemaha County, Nel)., with his 
aged wife, Phoebe, where they removed from 
Rock Bluff Precinct several years ago. The parents 
of Mr Mutz were natives of Pennsylvania; his 
paternal ancestors were German. 

Our subject is one of a family of eight cliildien; 
George W., Austin C; Walter, our subject; William, 
Otto, Albert, Nettie and Hattie. George W. re- 
sides at Plattsmouth, Neb.; Austin C. resides in 
Nemaha County, near his parents; William resides 
in Dakota County. Neb. ; Otto resides in Keya Paha 
County, Neb.; Albert resides in Otoe C(junty ; 
Nettie is the wife of John Majors, and now living at 



^ 



•►Hl^ 



932 



CASS COUNTY. 



McCook, Neb.; Hatlie is the wife of A. T. Stewnrt, 
and resides at Omaha.. The entire family are 
classed among the very first and representative 
pioneers of the State. 

Our subject having been a resident of Cass 
County since lie was three years old, has seen the 
country develop from a wihi, cheerless waste to its 
present prosperous condition, and without drawing 
too heavily on imagination, he may be considered 
to all intents and purposes a native to the manner 
born. Possessing a fair education, he was en^ 
gaged as a teacher for three terms. With this ex- 
cei)tion his entire life has been devoted to farming, 
in which he has proved eminently successful, bring- 
ing a rare degree of skill and intelligence to the 
business, and ingeniously bringing everything to 
bear th'it could in any manner contribute to bis 
ad vantage- and success. 

Mr. Mutz was married, Dec. 29, 1876, to Martha 
Hall, the daughter of the Hon. James Hall, a 
resident of Mt. Pleasant Precinct. This couple 
have become the parents of six verj' intelligent and 
interesting children. They are named: Jessie F., 
Guj- R., Katie E., Jay D., John G., and an infant 
son. Harrison H. He has a large conception of the 
value of a thorough education, and he is sparing no 
effort to afford his children such advantages as the 
country affords, to fit themselves to fill exalted 
positions in life, with honorand pro8t,and by giving 
them these facilities he gives them that which will 
always be of value, and in the various mutations of 
life cannot be lost. 

The improvements our subject has put upon his 
home farm are composed of very substantial 
buildings, especially designed for the care and 
economical handling of the stock and the various 
crops grown on the farm. His residence is neatly 
an<l tastefully designed, .and is fitted with the latest 
appliances to reduce the household cares to the 
minimum, as he feels that it is but due to his good 
wife that she should have everything obtainable 
to make her household work, which at best is al- 
ways heavy, as light <as possible. 

The subject of our sketch is a good conversa- 
tionalist, and one who has not experienced the ad- 
ventures incident to pioneer life cannot spend an 
hour to better advantage than to engage Mr. Mutz 
-^» 



in conversation, and listen to his narration of the 
many perils experienced by him in his early years, 
which are related in such a graphic manner as to 
carry the listener with him back to those perilous 
days. In politics this gentleman is a Democrat. 
He has served on the School Board of his district 
for a number of years. Both himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, are 
very sociable and hospitable, and take a lively in- 
terest in all matters, either social, educational or re- 
ligious, relating to the general good of their neigh- 
borhood. 



^, RS. CHRISTINA RUMMEL, a lady highly 
esteemed in the community, and the owner 
of a good farm property on section 21 in 
Plattsmouth Precinct, is the widow of the 
late Peter Rummel, who departed this life at their 
homestead April 24, 1885. They were married in 
Pike County, Ohio, March 22, 1864. and in Novem- 
ber of the following year came to Nebraska Terri- 
tor3', locating in the pioneer days upon tiie land 
which Mrs. Rummel novv occupies, and from which 
has been constructed a valuable homestead. 

Peter Rummel vvas born in Pike County, Ohio, 
Nov. 8, 1841. was a man of industrious habits, per- 
severing and enterprising, and occupied a good po- 
sition among the early settlers of Cass County. His 
parents, Fi'ederick and Angelina (Gloup) Rummel, 
were natives of Germany, whence they emigrated 
to America early in life, and settled in Pike County, 
Ohio, where they still reside. Mr. Rummel was a 
member in good standing of the United Brethren 
Church, and belonged to the I. 0. O. F., of Platts- 
mouth, at the time of his decease. 

Mrs. Rummel was born in Pike County, Ohio, 
June 29, lf<42, and is the daughter of Jacob and 
Mary (Vallery) Vallery, who were natives of Ger- 
man3\ and are residents of this township. The 
father was a farmer bj' occupation, and the parental 
household consisted of eight children; six are now 
living, 'lo Mr. and Mrs. Rummel there were born 
four children, all sons, namely ; George F., .Jacob, 
William and Edward; the eldest twenty-four 3'ears 
of age and the youngest sixteen. Three of the sons 
are occui)ied at farming. The eldest, George F., is 
•^ 



r 











//tr^i-7^ ^. /^4,^&Jz. 



h 



CA.SS COUNTY. , 



^a^ 



93.5 



in tlie employ of the Cliicago, Burlington <fe Qnincy 
Railroad, making his headquarters at Pacific Junc- 
tion. Mr. Ruminel during his lifetime was a Demo- 
crat, and a man of pure principles and integrity. 



^!i)EORGE W. LAMBING is one of the lead- 
if ,— , ing merchants of AVeeping Water, and is the 
'^^4 O'l'j' implement dealer in the city, except- 
ing a small branch of a Plattsmouth house. Mr. 
Lambing established his present prosperous business 
about six years ago, in 1882, wlien the railway 
came through, and although at one time there were 
two opposition dealers in implements, by his fair 
and square dealings with his farmer customers, he 
has maintained his trade, and is now the only dealer 
remaining that was established at that time. Mr. 
Lambing has a large trade in w.agons, buggies, and 
all kinds of farming implements, and always keeps 
on hand a good class of goods. 

Our subject was born in.. Jefferson Count}', Pa., 
June 9, 184-4, to John and Margaret (Shirley) Lam- 
bing, n.'itives and lifelong residents of Penns3'l- 
vania. The father died in 1876, and tlie mother in 
1883. They were the parents of eleven children, 
eight of whom grew to maturity. Our subject re- 
ceived a substantial education in the schools of his 
native countv, and continued to live there until 

1869. In that year he came to Plattsmouth, this 
State, where he engaged in his trade of blacksmith, 
which he had learned and practiced in his native 
home. Nineteen months later he opened a smithy 
in Weeping Water,, arriving here in September, 

1870, and he is now the only blacksmith that was 
liere at that early date, and he still has a shop in 
connection with his business. He continued to ply 
his trade until he opened his store for the sale of 
implements. 

Mr. Lambing has a substantial residence on Ran- 
dolph .street, near the Congregational Church, and 
to the lady who makes his home pleasant and at- 
tractive he was married in this city, Nov. 14, 1871. 
Of the six children born to them, five are still liv- 
ing, as follows: Charles O.. George E., John II., 
Wdliam and Clara B. All are at home and enjoy- 
ing the benefit of good educations. Mrs. Lambinuf, 



whose maiden name was Sarah F. Potter, was 
born in Maryland. Her parents moved to Indiana 
when she was a small girl, and there she lived until 
she had grown to womanhood, and then accompanied 
her parents to Illinois. Her father died in that 
State, and her mother came here with her son, T. 
L. Potter, who was the first jeweler in town. He 
did not remain here long, but went to Springfield. 
While here our subject mot and made the acquaint- 
ance of his wife. Her mother makes her home 
with our subject and her daughter the most of the 
time. 

Mr. Lambing takes an active part in promoting 
the material prosperity' of his adopted city, and the 
furtherance of any and all schemes for its improve- 
ment is sure to meet with bis cordial approbation 
and substantial aid. He has Iiorne an honoraljle 
part in the public life of this place, and was a 
Trustee of the village the first year of its incorpor- 
ation. He and his wife are esteemed members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and in their daily 
walk show themselves to be sincere Christians, 
guided by the highest principles, and they are there- 
fore eminently worthy of the respect accorded to 
them. Mr. Lambing is identified with the I. O. O. 
F., and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen 
of America. 



^TL_^ON. JOHN F. BUCK. Of all the honored 
llTjij pioneers of Cass County who came here at 
~\^ an early day, and who have witnessed and 
(^ aided its steady development and growth, 
the gentleman whose name appears at the head of 
this sketch is a worth}' representative, and his sil- 
vered hairs and venerable form are everywhere 
greeted with the respect and reverence due to an 
honest and upright man. 

Mr. Buck was born in Metz Township, Cayuga 
Co., N. Y.. May 31, 1815. His i)aternal grand- 
father, Elijah Buck, was a native of Pennsj'lvania, 
and came of a good old English family, who had 
settled in that State many j'ears before. After his 
marriage he removed to Wyoming County, Pa., and 
during the Revolutionar}' War, wlien his son, the 
father of our subject, was an infant, he enlisted 



the I 
in i 



t 

X 936 



CASS COUNTY. 



the home militia, and was mustereri in as Lieuten- 
ant. He was a brave soldier, and fought gallantly 
for his country. While he was away the Indians 
attempted to massacre the people of Wyonjing, and 
liis wife escaped from the house witli the baby in 
her arms, saving none of her household goods ex- 
cept the silver spoon with which she was feeding 
him. In 1781 Lieut. Buck moved with his family 
to what is now Chemung Count}', N. Y., and set- 
tled on the banks of the Ciiemung River, where he 
cleared a farm and spent his last years, dying in 
1829, of paralysis, after a long and useful life of 
more than fourscore years. His wife, wiio liad died 
some years before, was of Irish parentage. 

Tlie father of our subject. Aholinb Buck, was 
born in Wyoming, Pa., in 1776, and wlien five 
years of age acconipanied his parents to Chemung 
County, where he grew to manhood. He wastliere 
married, in 1781, to Miss Annis Drake, who was a 
descendant of one of the first settlers of Manhattan 
Island. She was a liaeal descendant of the Prince 
of Orange. A large part of the land now owned 
by Trinity Church corporation. New York City, 
originally belonged to that family. Her father, 
Benjamin Drake, spent his entire life in New York 
State. After marriage Mr. Buck and his wife be- 
gan their wedded life in Cayuga Count}'. N. Y.. 
where they cleared a farm from the wilderness, 
seven miles from the present site of Auburn, living 
there until 1831, when they removed with their 
family of five sons and two daughters to Peoria 
County, 111. Mr. Buck had accumulated consider- 
able property while in New York, but lost it through 
the dislionesty of others, and was a comparatively 
poor man when he smigrated to the Prairie State. 
With characteristic energ}' he set to work to estab- 
lish a new home for himself and family, and lived 
tiierc, happy and prosperous, until his death from 
paralysis, Nov. 21. 1855. His wife survived him 
five years, dying in 1860, at the venerable age of 
eighty-four years. Both were earnest members of 
the Preslo'lerian Church, and lived honest, Chris- 
tian lives. 

John F. Buck, of whom we write, was the sixth 
child born to his parents. lie w.is reared and edu- 
cated in New York, and, being naturally studious 
and ambitious, with a keen intellect, acquired a 



good education, which he has further extended by 
constant study and reading. He was married in 
Peoria County, 111., Nov. 5, 1839. to Miss Mary 
Schryder, daughter of Ernest C. and Sarah Schry- 
der. (For full parental history see sketch of her 
brother, George F. Schryder.) Mrs Buck was born 
in Cayuga County, N. Y., near Lake Ontario, May 
23, 1820, being next to the youngest of the family 
of three daughters and two sons born to her par- 
ents. When seventeen years of age she accompan- 
ied her parents to Peoria County, 111., and remained 
an inmate of their home until her marriage with our 
subject. She received a good education in the 
schools of her native State, and a supei'ior training 
in domestic duties from her excellent mother, which 
well fitted her for her position as companion, help- 
mate, counselor, and all that makes a true wife and 
faithful mother. To her and lier husband there 
have been born ten childi'en. The names of the de- 
ceased are Charles D., James R., George N., Willie 
E. and Daniel W., all of whom died when quite 
j'oung, and some of them of diphtiieria. The record 
of the living is as follows: John S., a farmer and 
stock-raiser of Whitman. W. T. ; he married Huldali 
Wolph. and they have six children; Theodore D.. a 
farmer of Liberty Precinct, married Florence R. 
Barber, and the}' have four children; Abigail J. 
married Andrew Klepser, and is a resident of Belle- 
vue; Sartih A. married AV. B. Gates, a farmer of 
Ottawa, Kan. ; Maria A. is a well educated )'Oung 
lady, and is residing at home with her parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Buck remained in- Peoria County 
several years after tiieir marri.age, but in 1855 con- 
cluded to start with their family for the new farm- 
ing regions of the West. May 19th of that year 
they crossed the Missouri River, and coming to 
Liberty, Mr. Buck pre-empted 160 acres of land, 
and later, after the Government had disposed of its 
domain to this county, he became possessor of an- 
other quarter-section in Liberty Precinct, which 
had really been secured by another man in Mr. 
Buck's name, and thus fell to him by deed and 
title. 

A short time after our subject purchased another 
tract of 160 acres, thus becoming owner of three- 
quarters of a section before 1860. As soon as he 
hail eslal)lishcd himself iicre, Mr. Buck identified 



t 



CASS COUNTY. 



937 



-Ir 



himself with the interests of his adopted towu and 
countj', and soon occupied a prominent place among 
its valued and influential citizens. He is a man of 
great intelligence and sound judgment, and his 
counsel and advice have been sought on all im- 
portant questions. He was one of the foremost in 
having the old pre-emption law of 1842 so modi- 
fied and arranged that a person could pre-empt 
land in Nebraska, even though he had filed a 
claim elsewhere. He has watched with pride the 
many changes and improvements of the county, 
and facilitated by every means in bis power its 
rapid advancement. Mr. Buck has worked with 
unflagging industry on his own farm, and. although 
deprived of the use of one arm, has by his per- 
severance, sagacious judgment, thrift, and wise 
economy, improved one of the best farms in the 
county, and has accumulated sufficient property to 
enable him and his wortlij' wife to spend their de- 
clining years in comfort and ease. He has erected 
a commodious dwelling, replete with all the modern 
conveniences, and has a good set of farm buildings. 
His realty consists of 320 acres in Liberty Precinct, 
and 160 acres in Rock Bluff Precinct, all of whicli 
is suitable for tillage or grazing, being well watered 
by branches of the Weeping Water Creek. 

Our subject has done his part in making the gov- 
ernment of Nebr.iska what it is, having been sent 
in 1855 to represent his county in the Territorial 
Legislature, and he was chairman of two commit- 
tees while a member of the house. He was an ex- 
cellent man for those positions, and worked for the 
highest good of his constituents, without prejudice 
to his opponents, being ,'i broad and liberal minded 
man of the highest integrity. In politics he was 
formerly an old-line Whig, and voted for William 
H. Harrison in 183G, and again in 1840. On the 
formation of the Republican party he became one 
of its members, and has since been a firm supporter 
of its principles, and voied at the last presidential 
election for Benjamin Harrison. Until within the 
last few years Mr. Buck was an attendant at nearly 
every State and county convention of his party as 
a delegate, and the people of Cass County would 
have honored him with any office within their gift, 
had he been willing to accept, but his home duties 
were such that he could not conveniently leave 



them for an^' protracted term, and he was always 
obliged to decline official honors. He has, how- 
ever, served as Justice of the Peace for about 
forty 3'ears, and is still an incumbent of that office. 
In 1855 Three Grove post-office was established, tiie 
first one in this part of the county, and Mr. Buck 
was appointed Postmaster, and served until 1802. 
Both he and his good wife are people of sterling 
worth, and possess in a marked degree those hon- 
est, substantial qualities which have made them 
loved and revered by all who know them, and will 
keep their niemoiy green in the community where 
the3' have lived so many years, long after they have 
p.assed away. 

A portrait of this venerable pioneer and honored 
citizen adorns a page of this Albu.ii, and will be 
justly regarded as one most worthy of a pliue 
here. 



>^S^-:;»»^ 



«<?«f-«ff»tf-» 



Ij^^ ATTES AKESON may be taken as a typi- 
II \V cal representative of the hardy, industri- 
''! ous Swedish- American citizen, who has hy 
his industry and perseverance brought his 
home farm, located on section 7, JMt. Pleasant 
Precinct, to its present high state of cultivation. 
He was born in Sweden, Nov. 29; 1825, where he 
resided and fo.llowed the occupation of a farmer 
until he emigrated to America in 1854, in which 
year he took passage in a sailing-vessel, and after 
a comparatively uneventful voyage of seven weeks, 
he landed in New York City, whence he came 
directly west to Illinois, residing in Henderson and 
Knox Counties in that State for about ten years, 
the most of the time working at farming b3r the 
month. 

Feeling an intense love for his adopted country, 
our subject enlisted for service in the Union Army, 
on Aug. 10, 1862, in Company H, 102d Illinois 
Infantry. The first part of his term of service was 
in Kentucky and Tennessee. The regiment of which 
he w:« a member was made a part of Sherman's 
grand army, that cut the Confederacy in twain, 
and contributed so largely to the ending of the war. 
He participated in the battles of Snake Gap, Burnt 
Hickory, siege of Atlanta, and in a large number of 
skirmishes and battles in which Sherman's army 



"V J 



•►Hl^ 



^^^H^ 



938 



CASS COUNTY. 



^. 



was engaged in his memorable march to the sea. 
He took part in the grand review at AVashington 
at the close of the war, and was honorably dis- 
charged in June, 1865. He served as a private dur- 
ing the entire term. 

Upon his return northward Mr. Akeson went to 
Mills County, Iowa. He remained there but a short 
time, when he married Mrs. Rebecca Gentry, which 
happy event occurred July 3, 1866. This ladj' 
was the widow of William Gentry, and was a resi- 
dent of Mills County. By her first marriage the 
lady became the mother of three children. ]\Iilton, 
Katie and Benjamin, and by her marriage to our 
subject she became the mother of three children, 
Thomas, Emma, and Ella E., wlio is now dead. 
This lady was born in Henry County, Ind., Jan. 
12, 1832, and is the daughter of Thomas and 
Elizabeth Wiles. Her parents came from North 
Carolina. Her paternal ancestors were of English 
origin. When- she was about seven or eight years 
of age her parents removed with their family to 
Andrew County, Mo., where she lived until her 
marriage with Mr. Gentry, who died in Missouri 
in 1861. 

Our subject is the son of Akey and Ellen Ake- 
son. He is the youngest child in the family. His 
education was received in his native country, 
where all children are required to have certain 
educational facilities, which has served more than 
any other one thing to make those people fill the 
l)roud position among the educated nations of the 
world they occupy. Upon his arrival in America 
Mr. Akeson applied himself industriously to the task 
of acquiring a knowledge of the English language, 
and he has succeeded most admirably. 

After his marriage our subject left Iowa for 
Nebraska, and settled ujon his present farm in 
Februarj', 1873, where he has lived ever since. 
When he began life in this country it was without a 
dollar in money, and he was deeply in debt, but by 
his close application and unflagging industry, he has 
become the owner of a farm of 480 acres of choice 
land, improved with good buildings and fences. 
His home, under the rule of his intelligent wife, is 
the abode of comfort and peace, and it would be 
difficult to find a family wherein social qualities 
and fraternal feeling, and general affection and 



goodwill one toward the other, are more harmoni- 
ously blended, than they ai-e in this family circle. 
Both himself and wife are in the prime of life, and 
are enjoying that felicity and prosperity for wiiich 
they have so diligently wrought so many long 
weary years, and they have at least formed an 
ideal home. 

Mr. Akeson has adojjted a systematic plan for the 
improvement of his farm, which he is perfecting 
from year to year. His dwelling is neatl}' and con- 
veniently arranged and furnished, the barns and 
other out-buildings are located in accordance with 
the general plan, his orchards contain the choicest 
varieties of fruit, and the lawn surrounding his 
house is beautified with shrubbery, flowering plants 
and ornamental trees. He is a member of the Lu- 
theran Church, his wife is identified with the Baptist 
denomination. The entire famil^^ take an active 
interest in the social matters of their locality. He 
is a Republican in politics, and loses no opportunity 
to secure the advancement of the success of that 
party. Jlr. Akeson is noted for his uprightness and 
manly qualities, and in all matters of business his 
word is considered as good as his bond. 

^ ^^ ^ 



^^ QUIRE MARSHALL U. ABBOTT. It is 
^^;^ refreshing to meet with such a gentleman as 
Iv^UrJ tlie subject of the following biography. He 
is one for whom nature has done much, who 
has been given a good constitution and a coura- 
geous spirit, and been able to surihount the difficul- 
ties common to the lot of m.in. He calls Nebraska 
"(Tod's country," having a fine appreciation of its 
natural resources, and believing that the man who 
cannot delve out a comfortable fortune from its soil 
is of little account. 

Mr. Abbott is essentially a self-made man, and has 
been able to turn to good account his fine natural 
abilities. He is of bright and sharp intellect, has 
good command of language, and is always entertain- 
ing on account of his humor and witticisms. Perhaps 
rather below the medium height, he is stout of 
muscle and very active, and there are few men who 
can accomplish more either mentally or physically 
than he. He has watched with more than ordi- 
»» 



h 



•►^1^ 



CASS COU^•TY. 



939 {^ 



nary interest; the growth and development of his 
adopted State, and has been largely instrumental iu 
the building up of his particular corner of Cass 
County. He owns and operates a fine farm of 190 
acres, pleasantly situated on sections 28 and 29 in 
Salt Creek Precinct, which is devoted largely to 
the feeding of stock. Mr. Abbott ships annually 
large numbers of cattle and swine to the Omaha 
market, and is at present (the winter of 1888-S9) pre- 
paring two carloads of cattle and one of swine for 
this purpose. His homestead has around it the air 
of plenty and comfort which distinguishes so many 
of the homes of Southern Nebraska, which have 
been built up from first principles and illustrate the 
labor of man within the space of a few years. Per- 
haps there is no region in the Great West more 
fortunate in the man who have opened it up for 
settlement than Cass County and its environ- 
ments, and Squire Abbott has been by no means 
behind the diligent and progressive men who have 
augmented its reputation and standing. 

Our subject traces his immediate ancestry to 
New England, being the son of Stephen and Lydia 
( Deveraux ) Abbott, who were natives of Connecti- 
cut but married in Oneida County, N. Y. The pa- 
ternal grandfather came from good old English 
stock, and spent his last years in New York. Stephen 
Abbott, upon leaving New England, migrated to 
New York State, and was a member of the militia 
during the War of 1812, serving under Capt. 
Haskell. The parents resided a number of years in 
Chautauqua County, N. Y., where the father 
planted the first nursery within its limits. About 
1856 the parents, leaving the Empire State, joined 
their son Marshall in Henry County, Iowa, and 
spent their last days at his home five miles from 
Mt. Pleasant, the father dying about 1863 and the 
mother in 1860. Their family consisted of twelve 
children, of whom Marshall was the youngest born. 
Mr. Abbott was born April 11, 1829, in the town 
of Busti, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., and the scenes of 
his earliest ret'oUeotious lay along the beautiful Lake 
Chautauqua. He was taught at an early age habits 
of industry, learning to swing the ax, to plow and 
sow, and to do the various work pertaining to the 
farm. His early education was acquired in the old 
log school-house, with its floor of puncheon and 



benches of slabs, the huge flreiilaee occupying nearly 
one side of the room, and the chimney built out- 
side, of eartii and sticks. The system of instruction 
was fully in keeping with the suroundings of- the 
pupil. The boys of that day, however, although 
perhaps lacking polish and culture, grew up strong 
of muscle and self-reliant, and of them were made 
the men wlio have left their footprints on the sands 
of time. 

Our subject remained under the home roof un- 
til reaching his majority, and the day after he was 
twenty-one years old he started for California. He 
had in the meantime learned the trade of wagon- 
maker, but he was not satisfied with his condition 
or his prospeets. and believed that the Far West 
would furnish something more in consonance with 
his ambitions and desires. He proceeded to the city 
of Buffalo by stage, thence took a steamer to De- 
troit, and from there- journeyed by rail to the 
young city of Chicago. He had for his traveling 
companion one L. F. Thompson, and at this point 
they purchased a wagon and horses, with sufficient 
provisions for a long journe3', and started with 
high hopes over the plains. They crossed the Mis- 
souri River at Council Bluffs, and passed by the 
present site of the city of Omaha, seeing nothing 
whatever to indicate that a white man had ever 
been in that region. Sixty miles west of the 
muddy Missouri they came across large herd's of 
buffaloes. The r2th of August, 1850, saw our trav- 
elers at Placerville or Hangtown as it was then 
called, and there they made a halt and took up a 
claim on Weaver Creek. They had come hither in 
search of gold, but knew nothing about the meth- 
ods of mining, and consequently realized no profits 
from this first venture. They did not allow this 
fact to discourage tliem, however, but moved to 
another locality near Diamond Springs, where they 
remained over winter with the same results as 
before. 

Our adventurers now went back to San Francisco, 
and soon afterward set out for the headwaters of the- 
Feather and Yuba Rivers. There they struck a rich 
gulch, and within a space of twenty square feet took 
out ore to the value of $5,000. They divided this 
equally between them and concluded they would 
return home. They made this trip via the Isthmus 



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CASS COUNTY, 



of Panama, Kingston and New York City. Upon 
their arrival in New York State they purchased a 
farm, of which they retained possession four years, 
selling out in 1856. Mr. Abbott again crossed 
the Mississippi, and took up his abode in Henry 
County, Iowa. 

Our subject purchased a farm in the Ilawkeye 
State, upon which he settled with his famil}', and in 
his efforts as an agriculturist met with reasonable 
success. In the fall of 1869, however, his attention 
was attracted to the advantages of the j'oung State 
of Nebraska, and coming to this county he pur- 
chased his father's war claim from the balance of 
the heirs, and settled upon the land which he has 
since occupied. In the construction of this home- 
stead he began at first principles, and the improve- 
ments which the passing traveler observes with an 
admiring ej'e are the result of tlie diligence and 
perseverance of Mr. Abbott. The farm is all 
enclosed with neat and substantial fencing, the 
buildings are convenient and well arranged, there 
is a grove of cottonwood, maple, ash and walnut 
trees, and an orchard of 200 bearing apple trees. 
In addition to these there are trees of the smaller 
fruits, and each year adds something by the way of 
convenience and embellishment for the happiness 
and comfort of the family. 

Miss Mary Andrews, of Chautauqua County, N. 
Y., became the wedded wife of our subject May 
6, 1852. This most excellent lady was the play- 
mate of Mr. Abbott in his boyhood days, indeed 
thej^ ]3ractically grew up together from childhood, 
attending the same school and interested in the 
same pleasures and recreations. Of this congenial 
union there have been born two children in New 
York State, and three in Iowa, namely: Edna M., 
Estella May, Mary B., an infant who died unnamed, 
and Dwight Marion. The eldest of these is thirty- 
five and the youngest twenty. They grew up bright 
and intelligent, and were given careful home train- 
ing, which makes useful and respected members of 
the community. Mr. Abbott, politically, votes the 
.straight Republican ticket, and has been always 
interested in the projects calculated to advance the 
people, socially, morally and financially. He has 
for years been a member of the School Board of 
his district, and has served as Supervisor. He was 



•> n^ 



for three years Justice of the Peace in his county, 
and has filled many other positions .of trust and 
responsibility. No ordinary circumstance could 
move him from his marked-out course of honestj' 
and uprightness which was taiight him in boyhood 
by his parents and which he proposes to follow the 
remainder of his life. It is hardly necessarj' to say 
that he is held in high respect by the people of his 
community, and is a man whose opinions exert no 
small influence amona: their councils. 



If^^EY. EDWARD ROOT, of Weeping Water. 
I|W^ hi-.s occupied the pulpit of the Free Will 
tii \V Baptist Church about forty-five j^ears, fif- 
^^teen of which have been spent in this 
county-. Of New England ancestry, he was born 
in Connecticut Feb. 4, 1 822, and is the son of Dr. 
Anson L. and Sally (Brooks) Root. The father spent 
the latter part of his life in Trumbull County, Ohio, 
where his death took place about May 6, 1846. In 
pursuance of his duties as a practicing physician he 
rode all through the counties of Trumliull, Cuya- 
hoga and Ashtabula, becoming widely and favorably 
known throughout that region. He also was a native 
of Connecticut, born about Jan. 4, 1793, in Litch- 
field, and in the Nutmeg State received his medical 
education. He practiced in the East a number of 
years before his removal to Ohio, which occurred 
in 1827. The country was then wild and new and 
the journeyings of Dr. Root were performed mostly 
on horseback, he frequentlj' riding many miles to 
see a single patient. After the death of her hus- 
band, Mrs. Root removed to Berrien County, Mich., 
where she died Dec. 16, 1857. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject. Dr. 
Anson Root, also a phj'sician, was eminent in his 
profession, having a very extensive practice in 
Connecticut, where he spent his entire life. 

Edward Root, our subject, was a lad five years 
of age when his parents removed to Ohio, and 
he received a practical education in the district 
schools of his day. He commenced reading the- 
ology at home and began preaching when a j^outh 
of seventeen years. His first charge, two or three 
years later, was in Clarksfield Hollow, Huron Co., 



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CAS.S COUNTY. 



-j41 



Ohio, where he was stationed one year. Thence lie 
removed to A'ermillion, in Erie County, where he 
organized a church, over which he was pastor three 
years. The climate of that region inducing malaria, 
he removed to Greenfield, Huron County, taking 
charge of the Greenfield and New Haven Churches, 
and there he resided a period of over ten years. 
At that point he did remarkably efficient service as 
a pastor and evangelist. From Ohio, about 1856, 
Mr. Root I'emoved to Cass County, Mich., of which 
he was a resident sixteen years, having in charge 
one congregation at Porter, ^'an Buren Couiity, 
fifteen years of this time, besides doing much out- 
side work. At the expiration of this time, return- 
ing to Ohio, he spent one and one-half years with 
the New Haven and Greenfield Churches at the 
earnest solicitation of the people, and which was as 
long as his health would permit. In the year 1873 
lie came to this county and did miscellaneous 
church work in different localities, until the organi- 
zation of the Free Will Baptist Church at Centre- 
villa. The church edifice of this society stands on 
the line between Centre and Elmwood Precincts. 

Our subject purchased a farm in Stove Creek 
Precinct where he lived twelve 3'ears, still having 
the same church in charge, and resigned his pastor- 
ate in October, 1887. He sold his farm and moved 
into "Weeping Water, about 1884, where he secured 
a plea-sant home. Since withdrawing from the 
church above mentioned, Mr. Root has had charge 
of two societies, one at Long Branch, in Todd 
Creek Precinct, Johnson County, and the other at 
Grand View, in Gage County, six miles south of 
Firth. In connection with these he officiates altern- 
ately. 

Mr. Root was married in Medina County, Ohio, 
May 15, 1842, to Miss Lufy S. Palmer, who was 
born in Tolland, Mass., April 19. 1824. Her father, 
Henrj' Palmer, was a descendant of one of three 
brothers who came on the Ma^'flower from England, 
and located at Stonington, Conn. He was the owner 
of a vessel and was its captain. His vessel being 
lost, his wife, Sophia Palmer, was left at an early 
day a widow with two children, Lucy S. and Henry 
F. Palmer. In 1831 the widow Palmer moved to 
Medina County, Ohio, and resided there until her 
death in 1864. Her son, Henrv F. Palmer, when 



quite young went into the clothing and milling 
business, which he has followed up to the present 
time; he now resides in Fremont, Ohio, and is si.xt}'- 
six years of age. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Root there were born ten chil- 
dren, of whom only five are living. The eldest, 
Henry D., is a practicing physician and druggist of 
Lincoln; he served one term in the Legislature and 
was receiver in the United States Land Office for 
four years. He married Miss Emma Ilaggerty, 
and is the father of two children; Jennie, Mrs. Jefif- 
ers, resides in Dunbar, Otoe County, and is the 
mother of three children; her husband is a grain 
merchant. Nellie, Mrs. Fought, of Plattsmouth, 
is the mother of one child. The husband is book- 
keeper in the B. & M. lumber-3^ard at that place. 
Delia and Frank are at home with their parents. 
The children of Mr. Root have all been given a 
good education, and all but the youngest boy are 
members of the Baptist Church. 

Besides his regular pastoral duties Mr. Root for 
a period of twenty years conducted revival meet- 
ings nearly every winter. He has been active and 
earnest as a laborer in the Master's vineyard and 
looks for his reward in the Great Hereafter. 



,}y\\ RS. WILHELMINA NOLTING owns a 
fine farm on section 17, Plattsmouth Pre- 
cinct, which, since her husband's death, she 
has managed with great skill, and derives 
therefrom a comfortable income. She is the widow 
of the late Willielm Nolling, at whose decease, 
April 14, 1882. this precinct was deprived of a 
good citizen, who had materially aided in develop- 
ing tiie agricultural interests of Cass Count}'. 

Mrs. Noltiiig was born in Lippe-Detraold. Ger- 
many. Sept. 14, 1825, and is a daughter of Courad 
and Rebecca (Dorath) Gadka, likewise natives of 
that Province. They were lifelong residents of 
their place of birth, and there reared a family of 
four sons and four daughters, of whom our subject 
was the seventh in order of birth. Her parents 
were of pure German ancestry, and were held in 
great respect by their neighbors. In 1854 our sul)- 
ject left the Fatherland to make her home in the 



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942 



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CASS COUNTY. 



future in this country. After landing she proceeded 
to Waterlown, Wis., where she was soon after 
united in marriage with Wilhelm Nolting. He 
came of an ancient German faniilj', and Lippe-Det- 
mold was also his place of hirth. 

In August, 1 805, they came to Cass County, Js'eh., 
with tiieir family, and bought the farm where Mrs. 
Nolting now lives. There was a small house on 
the place, and some plowing had been done, con- 
stituting the only improvements. Mr. Nolting at 
once entered upon the work before him, and in the 
laborious years tiiat followed brought about a great 
change, placing the land under a high state of til- 
lage, and erecting a good house, barn, corn cribs 
and all other necessary buildings, everything about 
tiie place indicating that he was a practical, skillful 
farmer. In the midst of his prosperous career, 
when he was sixty-three j-eais of age, death closed 
his useful life. He was a truly good man, and led 
an exemplary Christian life, dying, as he had lived, 
a firm believer in the faith of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, within whose fold he had been 
reared. To him and his excellent wife were born 
eight children, five of whom survive, namely: 
Minnie, now Mrs. Adam Kaffenberger; Anna, now 
Mrs. Henry Jasper ; Bertha, August and Frederic; 
the three latter live with their mother. The names 
of the children deceased are Wilhelm, Helena and 
Sophia. Mrs. Nolting is a devoted member of the 
Lutheran Evangelical Church, and is deservedly' held 
in high respect by all in the community. She is a 
very capable, industrious woman, a good manager, 
and under her careful supervision her farming in- 
terests are in a very satisfactory condition. 

) EORGE W. YOUNG, a representative farmer 
and one of the earliest settlers of Cass 
Count}-, resides on section 26 of Mt. Pleas- 
ant Precinct, where he settled in 1867, coming 
from Scioto County, Ohio. He was born in Smith 
County, Va., July 14, 1846, where he lived until 
the fall of 1864, when, in company with his parents, 
he removed to Scioto County, Ohio, where he lived 
until he came to Nebraska, and settled on his pres- 
ent home farm. He is a son of Lewis N. and 



Levniah (Patrick) Young. The jiarents were both 
natives of Virginia. A family of seven children 
were born to them, namely: Mary, now the wife of 
Aslier Tanner, who resides in Mt. Pleasant Precinct; 
George W., our subject; Robert A. and Lewis H., 
both residing in Mt. Pleasant Precinct; Causby is 
now the wife of George W. Carroll, and residing in 
Keya Paha County, Neb. ; Julia is the wife of Charles 
Troop, and resides in Rock Bluff Precinct; and 
Vicey J., who is deceased. The paternal grand- 
father was a native of Scotland. 

Our subjeta was married, Feb. 0, 1868, to Miss 
Mary Barrj-, who was born in Noble C'ounty. Ohio, 
Oct. 7, 1848. She is a daughter of Thomas L and 
Sarah (Headly) Barry. Her father was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and the mother was a resident of 
Noble County, Ohio. Her father was of Irish de- 
scent; her mother came with her grandparents to 
Nebraska in 1867, and settled in Cass County. In 
1885 her parents removed to New Mexico, where 
they at present reside. The Barry family were 
among the early settlers of Noble County-, Ohio, 
where they occupied a inominent position in the 
affairs of the county. 

An interesting family of six children have been 
born to our suljject and his good wife, namel}': 
Hattie J., born May 27, 1877; Eunavista, Feb. 
5, 1880; and four are dead, named James A., Will- 
lam, Sarah E. and Thomas L. 

Mr. Young owns a tract of 240 acres of eligibly 
located and highly cultivated land. His improve- 
ments are of the highest class. His elegant resi- 
dence, handsomely furnished and conveniently 
arranged, is supplied with all the comforts and 
many of the luxuries known to but few people out- 
side our larger cities. His home is surrrounded by 
an elegantly designed lawn, ornamented with ever- 
greens and shrubbery, which present a pleasing pic- 
ture. The barns are largeand commodious, designed 
with a view to accommodating the stock and hand- 
ling the various products of the farm in the most 
economical manner. He has a large and fine orchard 
and numerous groves. The farm is divided by 
substantial and well-kept hedges and wire fences 
into fields of convenient size. The whole tract is 
well supplied with large quantities of pure water. 

In accumulating this beautiful property our sub- 



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CASS COUNTY. 



945 



jfct has been ably assisted by his devoted wife, who 
has been ever ready to render liim all assistance by 
her counsel and presence. She is a refined, intelli- 
gent lady, and holds the interests of her hnsband 
and family dear to her heart. Both husband and 
wife are consistent members of the United Hretliren 
Church. He is at present President of the Board 
of Trustees of tiie Otterbein Chapel, of Rock Bluff 
Precinct. He was one of the organizers of the 
school district iu which he lives, and has been for a 
long time connected with its Board of Directors. 
Jle is Republican in politics. In the fall of 1887 he 
was a candidate for the office of County Commis- 
sioner, but was defeated by Louis Foltz, the pres- 
ent incumbent. He has served as Judge of Election 
in his precinct, and was Constable for two years. 
Himself and wife take an active part in the social 
life of the precinct, and are classed among the rep- 
resentative families of the county. They have had 
their share of the troubles and cares incident to 
pioneer life, and are now enjoying the fruits of 
their industry and enterprise. Mr. Young is one of 
the organizers and a Director of the Is'ehawka Bank, 
and is one of the Trustees of the Nehawka United 
Brethren Church. A view of his beautiful resi- 
dence, with its surroundings, is given in this con- 
nection. 



--S-^ 



1-f- 



eALVIN G. T^ABER occupies an honorable 
place among the pioneers who were active 
in opening up the agricultural resources of 
Centre Precinct, and he is now one of its prominent 
and successful farmers. His farm of 200 acres, 1 20 
of which is on section 22, and the remaining eighty 
acres on section 23, is considered one of the best 
kept farms in Cass County, and is admirably adapted 
to raising stock, to which he devotes it principally. 
He has a beautiful home on section 22 ; the commodi- 
ous, substantial residence, of a pleasing architectural 
design, is said to be one of the finest in all Cass 
County. It is nicely finished on the inside, to cor- 
respond with its external appearance, and is well 
and tastefully furnished. 

Mr. Taber was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., 
Oct. 29, 1831. Durphy Taber, his father, was also 



a native of New York, born in 179., and spent his 
entire life in Saratoga County. He was a shoe- 
maker by trade, and also a tanner and currier, be- 
ing quite an extensive business man. He married 
Miss Sall3' Woodard, and to them were born six 
children, all of whom lived to maturity, their 
names being, Eliza, Susan, Orris (who lives next 
door north of our subject's residence), Calvin, 
Margaret, Laura and Melinda. The father died in 
1835, while yet in the prime of life, being only 
lorty-four years of age, in the midst of a career of 
usefulness, and his death was regarded as a se- 
vere blow to the industrial and financial interests of 
his town. His widow survived him until 1864, dy- 
ing in the home of our subject, at the ripe age of 
seventy-eight years. Peleg Taber, the grandfather 
of our subject, was a native of Rhode Island, and 
the next spring after his marriage he went to Sara- 
toga Count}', N. Y., which was then mostly covered 
by the primeval forest, and there he built up a 
home for himself and family, with pioneer labor, 
drawing the logs for the erection of a cabin with- 
out the help of a team. He eliminated a good farm 
from the forest depths during the latter part of the 
eighteenth century, and there spent the remainder 
of his life. He was twice married and reai'ed a large 
family of children. He was a Quaker, or Friend, iu 
his religious belief. 

Our subject lived in his native county until he 
was twenty-four years old, receiving in the mean- 
time the benefit of an education at the common 
schools. At the age mentioned he went to Stark 
Countj', 111., and remained there several years, 
prosperously engaged in farming. In 1865 he 
visited Nebraska for the purpose of taking up a 
homestead claim on eighty acres of land that forms 
a part of his present farm. He erected a small 
house, and the same fall returned to Illinois and 
spent the winter, closing up his affairs there prepar- 
atory to the removal to this State. In the spring 
of 1866 he came here with his family to locate per- 
manently, airiviug here on the 29th day of Ma}', 
having driven all the way from Stark County, 111., 
a distance of 420 miles. He still has the team 
with which he drove through, a bay team that was 
at that time four years old. He thinks a great deal 
of them, and they are now having the best of care, 



'^^ 



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946 



CASS COUNTY. 



^^ 



having good shelter even in inihl weather, and 
from one of them he lias reared nine colts, of whicii 
he has three left. With characteristic energy. Air. 
Taber immediately set to work to improve his 
land, planting a grove, also 200 good fruit trees, 
besides a vai-iety of small fruits, put out one and 
one-half miles of hedge, and put the land under good 
tillage. In a few years he had his first 80-acre 
tract under good improvements, and all under cul- 
tivation but seventeen acres, and that is in tame 
grass. As he became more prosperous he bought 
another eighty, improved that, and has since added 
forty acres more to his land, making it a fine farm 
in every respect. He has erected ample and com- 
modious farm buildings; one tine barn is 36x50, 
wiih 16-feet ()OSts, and a stone basement. He h.as 
a large granary, 18x32x16 feet, with 16-feet posts, 
and large double cribs; also has a hog house, 
20x30x12 feet, to protect his hogs, as he carefully 
cares for all of his animals. In 1887 he erected his 
fine residence, with a frontage of fifty-six feet, 
Iwentj'-six feet in depth, and two stories in height, 
with an L in the rear. Mr. Taber has been ex- 
ceedinglj^ successful in raising stock. He has a fine 
herd of fifty-three head of cattle, mainly Short- 
horns of a high grade. He has a number of hogs, of 
a mixed breed of Poland-China and Berkshire. 
He devotes most of his time, however, to horse 
breeding, and has several fine roadsters, besides ten 
work-horses of good grades, which he keeps busily 
employed on his farm. 

Mr. Taber and Miss Sarah Harris were united in 
marriage in Saratoga County, N. Y., April 26, 1855, 
and to them have been born six children, all of 
whom are living, and of them the following is re- 
corded : Sophronia, born .June 24, 1856, is now 
Mrs. George Michael, of Webster County, Neb.; 
Lydia Malvina is Mrs. Orin Pitney; Wyan married 
Miss Susan Fairfield, and they have one child, 
George, and reside in Cheyenne County, Neb. ; Eliza 
is now Mrs. Zade; Orin, William, at home. All of 
the daughters live in Webster Count3', this State. 
Mrs. Michael has three children — Sarah, Laura and 
Milton; Mrs. Pitney has two children— Clyde and 
Floyd; Mrs. Zade has three children — Clara, Sarah 
and Ertle. 

Mis. Taber was born Feb. 6, 1833, in Warren 



County, N. Y. Her fatlier, William Harris, was 
a physician and surgeon of Athol. that county, 
where he always lived, with the exception of two 
j'ears that he spent in Illinois. He died in 1883, 
aged seventy-two years. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Sophronia Flanders, survived him until 
1885. when she, too, passed to the great beyond, at 
the age of seventy years. They were prominent 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Mr. Taber is a man of more than average capac- 
ity and decision of character, and it is to such men 
tliat Cass County is indebted for her rapid prog- 
ress during the last two decades to a position of 
prominence among her sister counties. Our sub- 
ject may well be proud of the part he has taken in 
developing her resources, as well as of the fact that, 
by his own exertions, he has placed himself in the 
front rank among hersuccessful farmers. His fellow- 
townsi)eople regard him with feelings of the highest 
respect and esteem, as he is frank and warm-hearted, 
is a model of honest integrity, and is the soul of 
honor. As a good cii.izen should, he is interested 
in political aff;iirs of the country, and is sincerely 
convinced that the principles promulgated l)y the 
Republican party are the safest in dealing with 
public interests. 

A view of Mr. Tabor's fine residence, with its 
surroundings, is given on another page. 

_ .^^ ^ 



ELIC CHALKER COLEMAN, an honored 
citizen, and an enterprising lumber and coal 
merchant of Greenwood, was born in Miller 
Township, Knox Co., Ohio, on the 23d of April, 
1843. His first recollections are of Ohio, where he 
entered the public schools when only four years of 
age; when he was seven years old he went with his 
parents to Iowa, where he lived with them and at- 
tended school until he was nineteen years old. In 
1862 he joined his parents, who had preceded him 
two years, in Nebraska. In the autumn of 1861 he 
enlisted in Company F', 17th Iowa Infantry, to take 
part in the Civil War, which had just begun at that 
time. The regiment went into camp at Keokuk, 
from which city they went to Benton Barracks, St. 
Louis, Mo. In 1862 they started down the Missis- 

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CASS COUNTY. 



947 



sippi River, and participated in tlie battles of Pitts- 
liiirg Landing- and (Sliiloli. and took part in the 
many engagements vvhieli led to the evacuation of 
Corinth and luka. 

At the camp at Clear Creek our subject was at- 
tacked with the intermittent fever. He was re- 
moved to St. Louis, Mo., and placed in the Good 
Samaritan Hospital, remaining there for some time, 
and was finally- honornbly discharged on account of 
ph^'sical disability. At the time of his discharge 
he was so reduced in flesh that lie was merely a 
skeleton, with an epidermis stretched over it. lie 
rejoined his people in Nebraska, and remained un- 
der the paternal roof for two years, where the won- 
derful climate of Nebraska, coupled with strong 
recuperative powers of our subject, restored him 
to his former .--tate of health. In 1866 he engaged 
in freighting from Plattsmouth across the |)lains. 
He would occasionally meet armed bands of In- 
dians, but they never interfered with him in any 
serious manner, although they would beg and steal 
any small articles they could secure. Exposure be- 
came so common to him, it was merely a continua- 
tion of his arm}' life. 

In 1867 our subject homesteaded a farm of 160 
acres in Salt Creek Precinct, near the stream of 
that name. He was very successful in his farming 
operations, so that soon afterward he purchased 
another tract of 160 acres. Dec. 26, 1867, he 
was married to Miss N.anc}' Jane Loder. who was 
born in Cohocton Countj', Ohio. She came to Ne- 
braska with her parents when she was a child, in 
1863. The children born to thera are as follows: 
Cassie M., Hettie G., Ella M., Loy L., Ada 
F., Isa Lola, Mattie, Lula; AVilliam E., deceased; 
Myron and Elmer Chalker. 

Our subject's father, Elic Chalker Coleman, Sr., 
was a farmer, and born in Connecticut; his mother 
was Catherine (Beiler) Coleman, and was a native 
of Maryland. The Coleman familj- were among 
the earliest settlers in Connecticut, and the father 
of our subject went to Ohio when he was a boy, in 
the neighborhood of 1812. He attained to years 
of manhood, and was married there, and removed 
to Iowa in 1850, settling in Henry County, near 
Mt. Pleasant. In 1860 the family came to Ne- 
braska and settled in Salt Creek Precinct, and were 



among the earliest settlers in that precinct. Here 
the father entered a homestead in the year 1863. He 
prospered, and lived on the farm until he died in 
1878, at the age of sixty-nine years. The mother 
died in 1885, aged seventj'-nine years. They were 
the parents of eleven children, namely : Jane, de- 
ceased ; Matild.a, Ebenezer, Mary, Lucy, William, 
John II., Amy: P^lic Chalker, our subject; Amanda 
and Martin Luther. Henry resides in Colora<lo; 
the remainder of the children live in Nebraska. 

Mr. Coleman continued operating his farm until 
in 1887, when he moved into Green vvood. During 
this year he traveled through Eastern Colorado. 
In 1888 he entered into his present business, as the 
senior partner in the firm of Coleman & McPher- 
son, dealing in lumber and coal, in which they trans- 
act an extensive business. Our subject has dis- 
posed of a portion of his holdings, but he still owns 
a well-improved and valuable farm of 120 acres in 
Salt Creek Precinct. He and his family reside in 
a ple.asant and comfortable home in the northwest- 
ern part of the village. 

It is to such men .as Mr. Coleman that the lasting 
prosperity of our nation is due. It is they who 
open the wild, unsettled plains of the country, and 
make way for the advancement and progress of 
civilization and the fine arts. It is to the patriotism 
of such men that we owe our existence as a nation 
to-day. In no other country under the sun do we 
witness the spectacle of beardless youths eager to 
enter the service of their native land in times of 
need and peril, j'et he, with thousands of others, did 
this, and endured without a complaint the terrible 
experiences had on the flelds of Shiloh, Pittsburg 
Landing and luka. Returning home he suffered 
for j'ears, broken in health, but not in courage or 
spirit, and we find him entering on the perilous 
tasks of the freighter across the trackless plains of 
the West, facing new and unseen dangers from the 
hand of the treacherous Indian. But those times 
have passed, taking with them their dangers, and 
what wfis then to be dreaded is as safe and pleasant 
as the walks in our thickly populated cities. 

When that organization of old soldiers, theG. A. 
R., was organized, we find our subject entering zeal- 
ously and whole souled into the project, and he is 
now Commander of Mission Ridge Post No. 149, 



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948 



CASS COUNTY. 



?lr 



w 



composed of tweul^'-two raeinburs, all old vetenins. 
lie is also a protiiinent mcmlier and Chancellor 
Commander of the Knights of Pythias of Green- 
wood. In politics he is a Republican, and takes a 
lively interest in the success of his parly. He has 
lieen delegate raanj' times to the different Coiiuly 
Conventions of that party, and was delegate to the 
.State Convention in 1886, and assisted in the nom- 
ination of Gov. Th.ayer. Himself and wife are es- 
teemed members of the Christian Cliurcii. 



J.1LLIAM SHEFFER, deceased. The name 
of this honored pioneer of Cass County is 
familiarly known to the people of Salt 
Creek Precinct and vicinity as that of the very- 
first man to locate on the creek, which was then 
called the Saline River on account of the quality^ of 
its waters. Mr. Sheffer landed here on the 18th of 
July, 1856, while Indians were still roaming over 
the country and wild game was abundant. It was 
nearly eleven 3'ears thereafter before Nebraska was 
admitted to the Union as a State. 

The subject of this sketch living here from that 
time until his death, Jan. 26, 1889, had thus had an 
experience rich in variety, as the country around 
him slowly developed from an uncixltivated waste 
into the abiding-place of a prosperous and civil- 
ized-community. A native of Lycoming County, 
Pa., he was born near the city of Williamsport, July 
10, 1804, and at the time of his death was over 
eighty'-four j^ears of age. His father, John Sheffer, 
was born in Lancaster County, Pa., and married 
Miss Susan Reynolds, a native of the same county. 

The paternal grandfather, John Sheffer, Sr., carried 

» 
a musket during the Revolutionary War, under the 

direct command of Gen. Washington. He was a 
native of Georgia and after the war settled in 
Lancaster County, Pa., where he spent the remain- 
der of his life. 

On the mother's side grandfather William Re_v- 
nolds came over from England at an earl3' period 
in his life and also entered the ranks of the army 
as a Revolutionary soldier. After the war was over 
he turned his attention to farming, and spent his 
last jears in Tioga County, Pa. His son John, the 



father of our subject, upon approaching manhood 
learned the trade of a tailor, and after his marriage 
settled in Lycoming County, Pa. Later he removed 
with his famil}^ to Tioga County, and changing his 
occupation took up agricultural pursuits and be- 
came the owner of a farm of 100 acres. Upon this he 
spent the last years of his life, passing away in 1830 
at the age of sixty-one years. The mother survived 
her husband until about 1862, her death taking 
place when she was seventy-five years old. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 
twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, of 
whom four survive. William, the subject of our 
sketch, was the second born and spent his child- 
hood and youth on the farm in the Keystone State. 
In common with the young people of that time and 
place his educational advantages were limited to 
the evening fireside and the New Testament, and 
such was his application to his only text book that 
he in time became a theologian of no mean abili- 
ties. He possessed a good memory and was able to 
quote profusely, being often able to jog the mem- 
ory of the preacher in this respect. Upon the ne- 
cessity arising for him to make himself useful, he 
began learning the tailor trade of his father, which, 
however, he was forced to abandon ere long, on 
account of the confinement, which threatened to 
throw him into consumption. He then began 
working on a farm, and when twenty -six years old 
set about the establishment of domestic ties of his 
own, being married Dec. 28, 1828, to Miss Elizabeth 
Kehler, who was also a native of Pennsj'lvania and 
born in Northampton County, Nov. 30, 1801. Her 
parents were Abraham and Elizabeth (Shelley) 
Kehler, who were born near the city of Philadel- 
phia. Their family consisted of eight children, 
four sons and four daughters, of whom Mrs. S. 
was next to the eldest. The paternal great-grand- 
father of Mrs. Sheffer was of German birth and 
ancestry, and upon coming to the United States set- 
tled near Philadelphia, where he engaged in farm- 
ing, and there he spent the remainder of his life. 

AVhen Mrs. Sheffer was eight years of age her 
parents removed to Lycoming County, Pa., where 
she received careful home and religious training, 
her parents being devoted members of the Presby- 
terian Church. She remained a member of her 



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IK-4S 



CASS COUNTY. 



949 



father's household until her marriage. Mr. and 
Mrs. Sheffer continued residents of their native 
State until coming to Nebraska Territory in July, 
1856. The intention of Mr. Sheffer had been to 
settle in Illinois and secure land for his boys, who 
were fast approaching manliood. In the spring of 
1856 he began making his preparations for removal, 
gathering together his household effects, loading 
them upon a wagon, and on the 28th of April he 
started with his family overland for the prairies. 
His destination was Freeport, 111., where he pro- 
posed having his sons and son-in-law settle on 
rented farms in the vicinity of that then small 
hamlet. The boys, however, wished to take up 
land from the Government, so they departed from 
the first plan and moved onward through Illinois 
toward the farther West. 

Upon arriving in Dubuque, Iowa, Mr. Sheffer 
visited the land office and found he could not 
locate land in that State without running a risk of 
settling on what might become railroad propertj^ 
He therefore resolved that Iowa was not the place 
for him and decided to hunt until he found it. 
Crossing the Missouri at the present site of Platts- 
mouth, which was then marked by a few cabins, he 
moved on with courage until finding a place suita- 
ble in all respects, this being on the Saline River. 
There he took up a "squatter's" claim and for seven 
years lived on the east side of the creek. The land at 
that time had not been surve^'ed by the Govern- 
ment, but in 1857-58 it was marked off in sections. 
Mr. Sheffer turned the first furrow along the wat- 
ers of Salt Creek, breaking five acres in the month 
of September, 1856. It is hardly necessary to state 
that he also built the first cabin, this being put up 
in August of that year. 

As time passed on and other adventurous men 
followed in the footsteps of our subject, the latter 
with his natural benevolence of character, began 
looking around in search of some good he might do 
among his neighbors. He had always been of a re- 
ligious turn of mind and began as soon as he could 
gather together an audience to hold praj^er meet- 
ings in his cabin. The worshipers were few in 
number, but they remembered the Scripture prom- 
ise and were strong in faith. The first sermon lis- 
tened to by the people of that region was preached 



by a missionary, Mr. Turman, who was sent into 
the Territory to "preach to the heathens" as he ex- 
pressed it. Mr. Sheffer informed him that if it 
were heathens to whom he wished to . preach he 
woifld have to go farther West, but if he would 
like to discourse to people from Pennsylvania his 
cabin should be thrown open to all who might wish 
to listen to the first sermon on Salt Cretk. 

The first election in this country was held on the 
wood pile of Mr. Sheffer. The authorities at Platts- 
mouth appointed him the .ludge, in which capacity 
he served thereafter a period of nine years. The 
ballots were written w'ith pen and ink and the 
pieces of paper deposited in the hat of Mr. Shef- 
fer, which answered the purpose of the first ballot 
box in Salt Creek Precinct. There was very little 
trouble about the election returns, for the five votes 
cast were unanimously in favor of the same meas- 
ures and the same officials. 

Mr. Sheffer planted the first cottonwood trees on 
Salt Creek and one of them is still living. This 
stood in front of his cabin, long since demolished, 
and has grown to be a monarch of its kind. He 
set out the first apple trees in the spring of 1860, 
the sprouts having been shipped from New York 
State. The first child born in the precinct was a 
son to Mrs. Elizabeth Farmer, the daughter of our 
subject. The mother is now deceased, but Mr. 
Farmer is living on the creek. The first school 
was taught by Mrs. Laughlin on the creek, in the 
house of a Mr. Callahan, not far from the Sheffer 
cabin. The first Fourth of July celebration in the 
western part of Cass County was held near Green- 
wood in 1858. This was made the occasion of much 
hilarity in pioneer fashion, and Mr. John Loder 
mounting a rude stand i-ead with great dignity the 
Declaration of Independence. All present entered 
into the spirit of the occasion, and everybody re- 
tired from the scene of the festivities feeling that 
he had done his full duty as an American patriot. 

Those years to our subject and his estimable 
wife, although not devoid of pleasure, were plenti- 
fully besprinkled with hardships and privation. 
They had come to stay, however, and kept up their 
courage amid scenes and surroundings which would 
probabl}' have dismayed the people of to-day. They 
lived not only to see their children grown and set- 



•►Ht:^ 



f 950 



CASS COUNTY. 



t-^t 



tied ill comfortable homes, but their grandchildren 
finally began to play around their door and in due 
time another generation ; before Mr. Sheffer's death 
he and his wife had six great-grandchildren. Their 
own household included nine children, namely: 
Katie A., now Mrs. Ellis Calahan; Elizabeth al- 
ready spoken of; Frances, now Mrs. L. K. Bell; 
John, Curtiss, Nelson, Abraham and Aaron. An 
unnamed infant is also deceased. These two 
latter, the eldest born, were twins and died in 
infancy. Mr. Sheffer was prospered in his labors 
as a farmer and in the building up of a comforta- 
ble homestead, which at his death became the heri- 
tage of his family and his faithful and devoted 
wife, who had lived by his side for more than sixtj' 
years. They were numbered among the oldest liv- 
ing residents along the western line of the count}'. 

Oui subject hurrahed enthusiasticallj' for Gen. 
William Henry Harrison in 1840 and cast his last 
vote with no less satisfaction for his grandson in 
the election of November, 1888. He had been a 
supporter of the Republican party since its organi- 
zation. Both he and his estimable wife were mem- 
bers of the Christian Church, in which he had 
officiated as Elder for more than forty years, and 
up to the time of his death. , He organized the first 
Sabbath School on Salt Creek and the first Chris- 
tian Church in the Territory of Nebraska outside 
of Plattsmouth. Prior to coming West he had 
been Superintendent of a Sabbath School in Penn- 
sylvania for a period of nine years. 

In the fall of 1856, a company of 500 Pawnee 
Indians came along and drove Mr. Sheffer and his 
family from their home, taking with them a horse 
and threatening to do violence if there was any re- 
sistance. The Sheffers sought refuge in Plattsmouth, 
where they remained during the winter. In the 
spring Mr. S. returned to his claim accompanied by 
about thirty men, fortified the house, and during 
the siege which followed captured one of the Paw- 
nees, holding him until Gen. Thayer and his agents 
could come to their assistance. After the Indians had 
been driven off Mr. Sheffer went to Plattsmouth 
after his farailj', and thereafter they lived in com- 
parative peace and safety. 

The first bridge across Salt Creek was built b}' 

Mr. Sheffer in the spring of 1857. This was after- 

^f 



ward used as a crossing place for emigrants and 
freighters West, instead of the old Mormon and 
California trail. It was run on the toll system and 
proved a fine source of revenue to its architect. 
Mr. Sheffer came to Nebraska with considerable 
means, and possessing a strong constitution and an 
abundance of energy and perseverance, was one of 
the men most needed at that time in the development 
of the country. During his residence of over thirty 
years he had become known to most of the promi- 
nent people in the county, and his services as a pio- 
neer and a citizen were fully recognized by those 
who have watched with intense satisfaction the 
rapid growth of this now great commonwealth. 
The death of this honored pioneer, when full of 
years and honors, tliougli in the course of nature 
not unexpected, j'et evoked much sorrow and sym- 
pathy from those who had known him so long and 
well. 



ilfcSff solid ana su 

'IvW Precinct, nc 

^^ or have a i 



EUBEN A. CHAPIN. Among the many 
solid and substantial citizens of Salt Creek 
lone are more favorablj' known 
more enviable reputation than 
our subject, who is a carpenter and budder, as well 
as farmer, owning and operating a higlily improved 
farm of eighty acres on section 33, town 12, range 
9. Tliis gentleman is a son of Ashur M. and Mary 
(Look) Chapin. The father was born in Hartford, 
Conn., where he was a prominent man. dealing in 
livestock: horses, cattle, hogs, etc. He died in 
Monmouth, 111., aged seventy-six. His grandfather, 
Asa Ciiapin, was of Welsh descent. His grand- 
mother's maiden name was Franklin, a direct de- 
scendant of the renowned pliilosopher, Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Our subject is the flftli cliild and fourth son in a 
famil}' of twelve cliildren. He was born Nov. 
12. 1830, at Bath. Steuben Co., N. Y. When he 
was yet a boy his parents moved with their 
family into the heavy forests of Oliio. Tlic place 
tiiey selected for settlement was six miles from tiie 
nearest white man. Wlien he was five years of 
age his parents removed to Knox Count}-, Ohio, 
where he attended the public and subscri|)tion 
scliools of tlie neighborhood, and the High School 



*> J l ^» 



»► II <• 



-■► 



CASS COUNTY. 



951 



at Mt. Vernon, acquiring a great desire for knowl- 
edge, whioli he has never lost an opportnnitj- to 
gratify. 

After obtaining his education our subject thought 
it would be well to have a prpctical knowledge of 
son)e mechanical trade. He therefore entered an 
apprenticeship as a carpenter and builder in Mt. 
Vernon, Ohio, which trade he completely mastered 
in ail its details. He resided there until he was 
married to Miss Larin<la Chevront. This lady was of 
French descent, the daughter of Lemuel Chevront, 
of Greenwood, Neb. After his marriage he moved 
to Lima, Allen Co., Ohio, whe^-e in company with 
his two brothers he erected a planing-mill, manu- 
facturing everything connected with the building 
business. This he followed successfully for three 
years, when he went t > Saline Count}', Mo. There 
he engaged in business as a builder and contractor, 
employing steadily from fifteen to twenty men. 

About this time the war broke out and our sub- 
ject, for his own safet}' and the safety of his wife, 
moved to Monmouth, Wanen Co., 111., where his 
father was living. At this place he entered the 
service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- 
way Company as bridge-builder, where he remained 
for several years, when, feeling that the West of- 
fered better possibilities than he was able to secure 
where he then was, he came to Plattsmouth, Neb., 
with $ij in cash, which sura represented his entire 
fortune. In December of the same year he came 
to Salt Creek Precinct, where he built the flouring 
mill for Messrs. Reed Bros., of Weei)ing Water. In 
1864 he took up a homestead claim of 160 acres. 
He hired a man to work the farm until his boys be- 
came old enough to take charge of it. 

Our subject is the father of four children — Eva, 
Kate, Milton and Edward E. Eva died in Mt. 
Vernon, Ohio; Milton died in Missouri; Kate mar- 
ried John Beiler, a merchant in Greeley County, 
Kan., and is the mother of five children living. 
They are named as follows: Ethel, Bert, Pearl, 
Verned and Raymond. Edward is a noted opera- 
tor now at Bradshaw, York Co., Neb., is mar- 
ried to Miss Jessie McKibbon, and the}' liave one 
child, Fred. Mrs. Chapin died in 1869. After a 
season he married a Miss Teresa Meffoi-d. a resident 
of Iowa; she is the daugliter of James P. Mefford, 



now a resident of Salt Creek Precinct. By Ibis 
union he is the father of six children, three of 
whom, Jesse O., Ira F. and Tacy A., are living. 
Lillie, William P., Charles and Sallie are deceased. 

There are very few men engaged in the business 
followed by our subject that have a better or more 
complete knowledge of it than he. By a systematic 
course of study and reading, as well as a close ob- 
servation of the work of other matters in the same 
line of business, he keeps fully abreast of the times, 
and is thoroughly informed of all the improvements 
and details made in his favorite profession. Among 
all the many fine iron buildings that do credit to the 
city of Omaha, our subject can lay claim to the honor 
of erecting the first iron building in the citj', which 
has been followed by so many magnificent specimens 
of the builder's art, but none are more substantially' 
built or better designed than the first one. 

Mr. Chapin recalls many incidents and episodes 
relating to the old "hard cider" Harrison campaign 
of 1840, in which he played the role of drummer 
boy. In his later years he has not forgotten the 
precepts inculcated by the orators during that cam- 
paign, and has ever since been true to the disci- 
pline of that party. He has been a Deacon of 
the Christian Church at Greenwood for six years, 
and has held the office of Justice of the Peace, be- 
ing the only public office he has ever filled, pre- 
ferring to devote his time exclusively to the prose- 
cution of his business. 



»rW€ 






•►Hi::^ 



■^OHN II. HASEMEIER is a representative 
Gei'man-American citizen, residing on a 
valuable farm of 260 acres on section 29, 
((^/' in Eight JMIlo Grove Precinct, where he set- 
tled in 1867. at which time the land was in a per- 
fectly natural condition. He is a native of Hanover. 
Germany, where he was born J.an. 15, 1815. He is 
the son of John and Catherine Hasemeier, both na- 
tives of Germany. When our subject was about 
eight or nine years of age he lost his mother by 
death; he resided in the old country until he was 
about seventeen 3'ears old, when, with his father, one 
brother and two sisters, he emigrateil to America, 
taking passage at Havre in a sailing-ship. After a 



f 



•►Hl^ 



'•> II < • 



952 



CASS COUNTY. 



4ci: 



comparatively uneventful voyage of nearly nine 
vreeics tlie_y landed at Baltimore. Md. 

From Baltimore our subject went to Franklin 
County, Pa., where he worked on a farm for $5 
per month and board. He also performed a large 
amount of labor for daily wages, for wliioli he re- 
ceived forty cents per day. He lived in Franklin 
County for a number of. years. After he left his 
parents and brother and sisters in Baltimore, they 
are supposed to have gone westward to Missouri, 
where all traces of them are lost, although he has 
made strong efforts to ascertain their whereabouts, 
feeling that it would be a great source of consola- 
tion and gratification to know the results of their 
life in the country of tlieir adoption. 

During the residence of our subject in Pennsyl- 
vania he was married to Mary Potter, Feb. 9, 1848. 
This lady was born in Washington Count\-, Md., 
May 12, 1827. Her parents were Daniel and 
Catherine (Stewart) Potter, and were natives of 
Germany, settling in Maryland, where their decease 
occurred. She is one of a family of four children; 
the following named are supposed to be alive: Bar- 
'bara, John, Mar^' and Lewis. Barbara is the wife 
of John Ray, and lives in Jefferson County, W. Va. ; 
John resi<les in Noblesville, Ind., and Lewis is sup- 
posed to be dead. 

In the autumn of 1853 our subject witli his wife 
and two cliildren migrated to Henry County, Ind., 
where they resided until the fall of 1S67, when he 
removed to Cass County. Neb., purchasing the ) GO 
acres of land on which he now lives. At the time 
he acquired possession of the land tliere were no 
improvements of any kind upon it, but by persever- 
ance and good management our subject has one of 
the best farms in tiie precinct. Ashe has ])rospered 
in his adventures, he added to the original purchase 
at different times, until he now owns 260 acres. At 
the time of his marriage his entire worldly posses- 
sions consisted of $25 in cash, but with this slender 
start, and by the assistance and advice of his good 
■wife, he has accumulated his present fine propertj'. 

The family circle of our subject and his wife 
has t)een enlivened b3' the birth of eight children, 
four of whom are living, namel}': Jacob A., Mary 
C, Benjamin S. and Charles D. Jacob is a physi- 
cian in Louisville, Neb.; Mary C. is the wife of 



James Robertson, Superintendent of the Colorado 
& Nebraska Stone Quarry, at Weeping AVater, Neb. ; 
Benjamin S., resides in Louisville, this State, and 
Charles D. is at home. The deceased children 
were named Clara C, John F., William and Julia. 
Mr. Hasemeier has lived continuously on hisorig- 
in.al purchase of land, to the improvement and 
cultivation of which he has devoted his entire time 
and energies. The buildings are of the most sub- 
stantial and solid character. The b.arns and other 
necessary out-buildings are well located, and very 
conveniently arranged for the purposes for which 
they are designed. His residence is finely located, 
large and roomy, neatly and tastefully furnished 
throughout, and is a place in which his good wife can 
take great comfort and satisfaction, which she h.as 
most certainly earned. For the past forty years 
she has been an able adviser and companion to her 
husband, cheerfully bearing her share of the bur- 
dens of life, and contributing largely to his success, 
besides devoting her motherly attention to her 
family, the surviving members of which do iier 
great credit, and of whom she may well be proud. 
Mr. and Mrs. H. are members of the United Brethren 
Church, in which society they take an active and 
substantial interest. In politics he is thoroughly 
Re|)ublican. Public-spirited, he is a hearty sup- 
porter of every proposition designed to advance the 
prosperity of the people. 



W EONARD C. W. MURRY is a pioneer of Cass 
I (^ County of 1855. The pioneer element of 
jIL-S^ Cass County has no more worthy factor than 
the subject of this biography, who, with his estima- 
ble wife, began housekeeping on an 80-acre farm 
four miles south of the present city of Plattsmouth 
in the spring of 1870. They lived there until 1882. 
then moved to a farm on section 30, in Plattsmouth 
Precinct, where they have since resided. This em- 
braces 160 acres of good Land, which, with the ex- 
ception of having been plowed, was at the time of 
purchase destitute of improvement, there being no 
buildings. Mr. M. has put up a comfortable resi- 
dence, a barn and other out-buildings, planted an 
orchard, fenced the fields, and by degrees added the 



» ► II ^» 




^A^^4/ q/-^--^^^^^ 




^£^i>ty^ Qp^,^>^^ 



t 



CASS COUNTY. 



055 



n 



other conveniences necessary for the successful 
prosecution of agriculture. Besides a large amount 
of labor involved he has expended over $4,000 in 
money, and lias a homestead at once desirable and 
attractive. 

Mr. Murry is essentially a Western man, iiaving 
lieen born in Moniteau County, Mo., June G, 1848. 
His parents were Jonathan and Elizabetli (Berger) 
Murry (see sketch of his brother Josiuia),and were 
among the verj' earliest settlers of that part of Mis- 
souri, going there with llieir parents from Tennes- 
see when small children. They were reared and 
married in Moniteau Count}', where they lived un- 
til 1851, then removed to Mills Count}', Iowa, 
wliere they lived two yeai's, and thence came to 
Nebr.iska Territory in 1855. The father selected a 
tract qf land north of the present city of Rock Binfif, 
where llie family lived a number of 3' ears, and where 
their thirteen children were reared to maturity. 

The father of our subject died at the home farm 
in this precinct. He had been a pioneer of three 
Territories, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska, in fact 
his entire life was spent on the frontier. The 
motlier is still living, making her home with her sun 
Alvars. in Smith County, Kan. Leonard was the 
tentii cliild of the famil}'. and was a little lad of five 
years when lie came with his parents to Nebraska. 
There were then many Indians in the vicinity of the 
present site of Rock Bluff, and probabi}' about six 
white families. Our subject labored with his father 
in the development of the Nebraska homestead, and 
early in life began to form his own plans for the 
future. A few months after reaching his majoiit}' 
he was married, Sept. 2, 1869, to Miss Relteeea A., 
daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth Wiles, of Plaits- 
mouth Precinct. This ladj' was born Feb. 1, 1857, 
in Missouri, and of their union there are eleven 
children living: Charles A., Clarence, John, Isa- 
bell, Laura J., Ida May, Leonard C. W., Jr., David, 
Florence, Eddie and Christopher C. Cordelia, the 
second child, died at the age of eighteen months. 

When the father of our subject began life in Ne- 
braska he was without means, and got his first cow 
and their limited stock of household furniture with 
money earned b}^ mauling rails at fifty cents per 
hundred. The mother added to the family income 
liy weaving and spinning. Thus commenced the 

<• 



married life of the 3'oung people, in wide contrast 
to the condition of most of the newly wedded peo- 
ple of to-day, who would consider themselves 
greath' abused by fate or Providence were thej' 
compelled to make the shifts and turns which 
pioneers cheerfully underwent together. Mr. and 
Mrs. Muri-}' have gathered around them scores of 
friends during their long residence in this county. 
They are both members in good standing of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. M.. politi- 
cally, is a stanch Republican. 



^ EWIS BIRD. The farming interests of Lib- 
I (^ crty Precinct and of this part of Cass Count}' 
J' -^\\ are no belter represented than by our sub- 
ject. He came to this county and precinct in 18G3, 
being then in the prime of a vigorous .and self-re- 
liant manhood, and casting his lot with the pioneers 
of the county who had preceded him, he purchased 
most of tlie land he now owns, which was then 
but slightly improved. The years that have fol- 
lowed have been for him years of busy, patient 
toil, and although, in common with other settlers of 
this section of the West, he has met with various 
hardships and discouragements, which he has faced 
bravely, he has kept steadily onward until to-day 
he may be classed among the most fortunate and 
successful farmers of this precinct. His farm is 
provided with neat and substantial buildings, is well 
improved and well stocked, has a g<jod supply of 
running water, and with its 280 acres finely located 
on sections 9, 10 and 4, is justly considered a first- 
class farm in its appointments. 

Mr. Bird was born in Sussex County. X. J., June 
14. 1833, and came of good old New Jersey and 
New England stock, and was well reared bv his 
parents. His father, Joseph Bird, was also a native 
of New Jersey, and during his residence there, after 
he was old enough to learn a trade, he became a 
shoemaker. He was married in his native State to 
Jliss Rachel Young, who was of Jersey birth and 
New England parentage, coming of a good family. 
In 183G Joseph Bird and his family started on a 
pilgrimage to the State of Indiana, which was then 
considered to lie in the Far West, although some 



*^r#-^ 



T 956 



■•►■ 



CASS COUNTY. 



of tlie coiintiy beyond the Mississippi, particulnrly 
Missouri, imd been partly settled for several years, 
and Iowa was beginning to attract the attention of 
settlers, and a few had already made their homes 
there. After arriving at his destination in Indiana 
Mr. Bird located in the wilds of Delaware County, 
becoming one of its pioneers, and turned his atten- 
tion to farming. He met with unqualified success 
in his new vocation, and improved a fine, large es- 
tate, upon which he made his home until death 
claimed him at the age of sixty-four years, in 1867. 
His wife survived him ten years, dying at the age 
of threescore years and ten. They were honest, 
hard-working people, and richly deserved the good 
fortune that followed their labors. They were act- 
ive members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
in which the father was Class-Leader for years. 

Lewis Bird was the fifth son and child in the 
family of eight sons and two daughters born to his 
parents. He was reared to manhood on the old 
homestead that his father had reelaiincd from the 
primeval forests of Indiana, he having been but a 
child of three years when his parents moved to that 
State. He received a good common-school educa- 
tion, and a thorough, practical drill in the calling 
that he has since pursued with such success, and he 
remained an inmate of the parental household, afford- 
in"' his father active assistance in the management 
of the farm until his marriage, which occurred in 
Jay County, Ind. The maiden name of his wife 
was Emeline R. Current, and she was horn in West 
Virginia, Dec. 27, 1830. She was a daughter of 
Peter and Rebecca (Jones) Current, natives of West 
Virginia. They were there reared, and after mar-^ 
riage and the birth of most of their children, they 
moved to Jay County, Ind., in 1855, having first 
come to that State in 1832, and settled in Henry 
County in its pioneer days. They moved onto a 
farm in Jay County, and there the mother died in 
1866, when past threescore years. The father later 
came to Nebraska and lived with his daughter, Mrs. 
Norris, in Rock Bluff Precinct, until his death in 
1870, at the age of sevent3'-three years. He and his 
wife were people of great respectability, and were 
sound Methodists in their religious belief. Mrs. Bird 
was well educated iiiHenry County, Ind., and taught 
school for a time before her marriage. Ilcr pleas- 



ant wedded life has been blessed to her and her 
husband by the birth of six children, all of whom 
are living, and the following is recorded of them: 
Rachel J. and Rebecca A. are twins, and the former 
is the wife of W. P. Webster, a jeweler in Lander, 
Wyo. ; Rebecca is the wife of Aaron Porter, a far- 
mer of Custer County, Neb. ; Olive is the wife of 
Albert Searl, who is Deputy Clerk in the Treasurer's 
ofHce in Gosper County, this State; Florence is the 
wife of Charles Mougey, a farmer in Custer County, 
Neb.; Maggie is the wife of Eldward Mougey, and 
they live on Mr. Bird's farm in this precinct; Ost;i 
lives with her parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bird have a very attractive home 
on section 10, and all who come beneath its hos- 
pitable roof are sure of a genial and cordial wel- 
come from the pleasant and social host and hostess. 
They are bright and intelligent peojjle, and have 
many warm friends in this community. They are 
influential members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which he is an official. Mr. Bird is a 
strong advocate of temperance, both in word and 
deed, and votes with the Prohibition part3'. 

As one of the best representative farmers of the 
count}', the portrait of JMr. Bird, on an adjoining 
page, is peculiarly apjiropriate in this work. 



^^EORGE W. MAYFIELD. The Louisville 
III g_ Observer was established b}' the subject of 
^^^1 this sketch in 1883, and he is still its editor 
and proprietor. He h.as made of it a newsy local 
sheet, and impregnated it with his own uncompro- 
mising Republican principles. It is issued every 
Friday, and has become an institution quite indis- 
pensable to the people along the northern line of the 
count}'. 

The city of Bloomington, Ind., claims Mr. May- 
field as one of its natives, his birth taking place 
Aug. 22, 1827. His father, Leroy Mayfield, was a 
native of Kentuck}', and m.irried Miss Martha Bas- 
ket, of South Carolina. The maternal grandfather, 
William Basket, was a native of the same State, and 
spent his last years in Indiana. Leroy May field 
removed from the Blue Glass regions to Indiana 
during its pioneer days, locating near the present 



CASS COUNT r. 



957 



city of Blooniington when it was a small village. 
Here our subject was reared, and received liis edu- 
cation in the common schools. In 1855 he drifted 
westward to Nebraska Territory, a single man, and 
taking up his abode near the present city of Platts- 
moutli when it was a hamlet of a few houses, em- 
ploj'ed himself working on a farm. 

The same year of his arrival here young Mayfield 
engaged in border warfare with the Indians, under 
the command of Gov. Thayer, proceeding up the 
Loup and Elkhorn Rivers to protect the settlers 
from the threatened outbreak of the savages. He 
was thus occupied three months, during whicli time 
he took part in two or three skirmishes with no very 
serious results. Upon returning to this county he 
stationed himself at Plattsmouth, and later assisted 
in the establishment of the Bepublicaii. of Weeping 
Water, with which he was connected about one year. 
From tiiat time until 188.3 he was occuiiied at 
Weeping AVater as above stated, then coming to 
Louisville he started the Observer, of which he is 
making a success. 

Our subject found his bride in this county, being 
married, in 1858, to Miss Emeline Todd, a native 
of Nebraska, and the daughter of Jefferson and 
Mar3' E. Todd. This union resulted in the birth of 
eight children, who are located as follows: Clarence 
G. is engaged in farming in Louisville Precinct; 
Eugene is editor of the South Omaha Times; Win- 
nie is the wife of Frank Secord. agent of the Union 
Pacific Railroad at Omaha; Albert U. is pulilisher 
of the Elm wood Echo; Leroy J. assists his fatiier in 
the publication of the Louisville Observer; Valen- 
tine. Georgia and Oland are at home with their 
jjarents. 



•► 



lEORGE T. CUTLER. The industrial in- 
terests of the western part of this county 
find an admirable representative in the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who, in addition to being the 
manufacturer • of bee-hives, is a dealer in bee- 
keepers' supplies, and also the proprietor of a grist- 
mill and carriage-shops at Greenwood. He came 
to this place in March, 1879, and settled first on a 
farm in the vicinity of the village. Four and one- 
half years later he practically abandoned the pur- 

<■ 



suits of agriculture, and bj' degrees turned his 
attention to bis present enterprises. He is a gen- 
tleman of remarkable industry and forethought, of 
an inventive turn of mind and more than ordinary 
business abilities. Personally, he is of command- 
ing stature and fine intelligence, and with all these 
qualities combined it is but natural that he should 
be a leader of his community. 

The origin of family names is a question which is 
frequently discussed, and the name of Cutler cent- 
uries ago was applied to an English family of 
l)rominence in the Old World, who evinced par- 
ticular adaptation for the manufacture of that ar- 
ticle of commerce suggested by the patronj^nic. The 
branch from which our subject sprang, the records 
indicate, were from the beginning notable for their 
fine proportions physically, and no less for their in- 
telligence and moral worth. While they performed 
feats of extraordinary strength and daring, thej' 
were alike high-minded, and possessed great integ- 
rity of character, scorning a mean action. These 
qualities, handed down from father to son, seem to 
be in nowise dying out, for the present generation 
is jirobably as noted as were those of ages gone, 
both in this respect and as regards mechanical 
genius. 

Of New England ancestry and a native of the 
Bay State, our subject was born in Bernardston, 
Franklin County, Aug. 18, 1844, and is the son of 
Zenas and Lucy (Wood) Cutler, the former a na- 
tive of Vermont. The paternal grandparents dur- 
ing the early years of their married life lived in 
Guilford, that State, but later removed to Wil- 
mington. Grandfather Thomas Cutler was a typical 
Green Mountain boy, and one of nine brothers, all of 
whom were of unusual stature, strong of muscle 
and brave in disposition, None of them were less 
than six feet in height, and none weighed less than 
200 pounds. Thomas Cutler traced his forefathers 
to one of three brothers who emigrated to America 
from England during the Colonial times. Zenas 
Cutler died at Greenfield, Mass.. in January, 1881, 
at the age of seventy-six years. In early manhood 
he had operated a saw and grist mill at Northfleld, 
Mass., but later purchased and lived upon a farm. 
The mother passed away after the decease of her 
husband that same 3'ear, in March, at the age of 



iJL 



•►Hl^^ 



f 



958 



CASS COUNTY. 



i; 



seventy -three, and the remains of both were laid to 
rest in the same grave at Bernardston, Mass. Their 
liousehold included seven children, namelj-: Lucy 
.J., George T., Leroy Z., Nhum S., Laura S., George 
T., our subject, and Ella B. Of these four are liv- 
ing, and located mostly in Massachusetts. 

Mr. Cutler spent his boyhood and youth at the 
homestead farm in his native county, a period of 
his life which was more tlmn ordinarily frolicsome 
and overflowing with good spirits. Much to the re- 
gret of his excellent parents, he was a boy who did 
not take remarkably kindly to his books, prefer- 
ring to be abroad in the fields or engaged in atli- 
letic sports. He assisted his parents around the 
homestead until a youth of twenty years, and then 
began an .apprenticeship at carriage-snaking. It was 
not long before he developed unusual mechan- 
ical genius, and he did not by an_y means confine 
himself to the one department of labor. He re- 
members hearing his mother tell of the time before 
he could speak plainly, wlien he used to hang to 
her skirts and point to the hammer, which in Jsew 
England style had its separate place on the kitchen 
wall. He would not be appeased until she took it 
down from its place and gave it to him. He would 
then amuse himself for hours by driving nails into 
the walk. A little later he began using other tools, 
and has kept up the habit to this day. When six- 
teen j'ears of age he was considered a master me- 
chanic. 

A few years later young Cutler took a position 
with the Wauseon Car Company, at Springfield, 
Mass., where he distinguished himself as a compe- 
tent artisan, receiving many compliments for the 
beauty and correctness of his work. His father's 
declining years finally necessitated his presence at 
home, and about 1865 he returned to the farm and 
assumed its responsibilities. In the meantime, liow- 
ever, he did not abandon the use of tools, and put 
up his first wagon-shop in his native village. This 
structure occupied an area 22x34 feet, and had 
in connection with it a blacksmith-shop. Jn the 
year 1867, having in view the establishment of a 
home of his own, Mr. Cutler was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Nancy Goodenough, and soon 
afterward they removed to Montague. Mass.. where 
Mr. Cutler was tendered a position in the Goss' 



piano case factory, where he continued a period of 
five years. Here his skill and industry obtained 
ready recognition, and in due time he was given 
the position of general foreman in the veneering 
department. 

After occupying the above-named position a pe- 
riod of one and one-half years, Mr. Cutler was so- 
licited bj' his brother Xhum S. to become a partner 
with him in a boot and shoe manufacturing enter- 
prise. George T. was to have charge of the ma- 
chinery of the establishment, and his brother was 
to assume the business management of the concern, 
which was located at Burriston. They operated 
very successfulh' together until the panic of 187.3, 
when collections were extremelj' difficult to m.ake, 
and the business suffered greatly thereb}'. In ad- 
dition to this, the confinement of the shop had its 
effect upon our subject, and resolving upon a 
change of scene and occupation, he turned his eyes 
toward the young and rapidly growing State of 
Nebraska. 

Not long after Mr. Cutler was stricken with the 
Western fever we find him snugly located upon a 
tract of land in Greenwood Precinct, this county, 
which, he states, proved a great conti-ast to life in 
New England. In most respects it was for the 
better, and he remained upon the farm a numlier 
of years. The habits of his youth, however, still 
controlled him, and he longed to again exercise his 
mechanical skill, which j^ears of experience and 
observation convinced him would enable him to 
outstrip his former efforts. Accordingly, in the 
spring of 1884, he selected a building site in the 
village of Greenwood and put up his present shop. 
This is a substantial frame structure of commodi- 
ous dimensions, and is equipped with the various 
appliances necessary for the several departments of 
the industry in which he is engaged. There is a 
steam engine and an abundance of wood-working 
machinery, and in addition to the manufacture of 
bee-hives and carriage-making, there is a feed- 
grinder and corn-sheller, and the manner in which 
they are patronized by the people along the west- 
ern line of the county indicates their importance 
and usefulness. 

In addition to the manufacture of road and farm 
vehicles, Mr. Cutler is the agent of outside parties. 



^^ 



•►Hl-^*- 



-•► 



Cass county. 



d.VJ 



carriage and wagou manufacturers of the East. 
Greenwood only needs a few more such men as 
JNIr. Cutler to quicklj' raise it to the standard of a 
first-class city. Progressive and liberal-minded, he 
takes a genuine interest in ever3-thing pertaining 
to the welfare of his adopted State, and has borne 
no unimportant part in developing the best inter- 
ests of Greenwood Precinct. He votes the straight 
Republican ticket, and is a man of progressive 
views, one who keeps himself well posted upon cur- 
rent events and possesses an admirable fund of in- 
formation. 

Mrs. Nanc3' (Goodenough) Cutler was born at 
Brattleboro, Vt.. .Jul}- 5, 1844, and is a lady of fine 
culture and accomplishments. In fact, we are as- 
sured that her husband has found in her the quali- 
ties suggested by her maiden name. She is the off- 
spring of an excellent famil}-, the daughter of Simon 
F. and Emily F. (Chase) Goodenough, who were 
natives of Vermont. Mr. G. was a farmer b}' occu- 
pation, and, with his excellent wife, is now de- 
ceased. Their family consisted of six children, 
four of whom are living, and located mostly in 
Vermont. 

The family represents all that is intelligent and 
praisewortliy, people who, as far as the record goes 
back, have been celebrated — the women for tlieir 
virtues, and the men for their fine business quali- 
fications and usefulness as citizens and members of 
society. Mr. and Mrs. Cutler occupy a pleasant 
home, whicli is the frequent resort of hosts of 
friends. They liave no children. 

^^EORGE PHILLIP NICKEL, a prosperous 
if (==f farmer, located on section 32 of Elmwood 
^yj) Precinct, where he owns and operates 160 
acres of land, in addition to which he leases forty 
acres, is tlie oldest son and second child in a family 
of seven children born to his parents. He was 
born Sept. 25, 1838. in German j-, where he lived 
with his parents until he was fourteen years of age, 
when he came to America, being induced to make 
the change by his uncle, George P., who resided 
in Pekin, 111., but is now deceased. After his 
arrival in this country he worked at the black- 



smithing trade, but this proving injurious to his 
health he abandoned it, and at the age of seventeen 
began farming for himself. In 1867 he was mar- 
ried to Catherine Eidenmiller, who was born in 
Hesse-Darmstadt, Germanj-. Her parents, with 
tlieir family, came to America when she was but 
six 3ears old, and settled at Little York. Pa. Re- 
moving from there they went to Illinois in 1865. 

Mr. Nickel came to Nebraska on a prospecting 
tour in 1873, where he purchased land from the 
Burlington & Missouri River Railway Company, 
and came out with his family in 1875, which at 
that time consisted of his wife and five children. 
The}^ endured many hardships and privations, were 
eaten out by grasshoppers, but did not become dis- 
couraged, but kept at work on their home, feeling 
sure that tlieir perseverance would be ultimately' 
rewarded. On account of his inabilit}' to raise 
any crops for two or three successive years, lie was 
not able to meet the demands of the railroad com- 
p.any for the payment of their land, so he was 
obliged to surrender his home to them. 

A familjr of ten children have been born to our 
subject and his wife, named respectivel}': Mary E., 
now dead; AnnaC-; George P., Jr.; Martin and 
Emma L. were born in Illinois; William, Edward 
H., Charles C. (deceased), Irene Mabel and Nellie 
May, were born in Nebraska. The father of our 
subject, John, and mother, Christine, were born in 
Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. His father died in 
1856, fifty-three years of age, and his mother still 
lives in the old home in Germany, and is now 
seventy-seven years old. 

In the face of many discouragements and trials 
Mr. Nickel has succeeded in securing for himself 
and family one of the most eligiblj' located and 
well-improved farms in the precinct. To bring the 
land to its present high state of cultivation has re- 
quired, at the hands of the owner, the most strict 
economy and thorough application. His well-kept 
fences, and comfortable and conveniently arranged 
buildings, bespeak a man thoroughly informed in 
the business in which he is engaged. It is not in- 
tended to give Mr. Nickel individually the full 
credit for this most desirable state of affairs, for 
bis good wife lias borne an equal amount of the 
privations and labor required to bring it about. 



• > 1 1 ^- 



>^h 



*► I I ^ - 



960 



-•► 



="r» 



CASS COUNTY. 



She is a lady who has alwa3's been found by her 
husband's side, sharing equally with him the bur- 
dens of a pioneer's life, and she has contributed 
her portion of labor which is required to make the 
desert blossom as the rose. Her husband recog- 
nizes this fact, and it is only one of the many illus- 
trations we have before us of the truism that " 'tis 
the hand that rocks the cradle that moves the 
world." Mr. N. has served his neighbors as School 
Treasurer, that being the extent of his public serv- 
ices to date. In politics he is a straight Repub- 
lican. 



>'DRKW PITTMAN. The southeastern 
portion of this county contains many 
(4i fine farms, but none probably more at- 
15^ tractive or valuable than that belonging 

to the subject of this sketch. He is a man of 
energy and enterprise, and in addition to general 
agriculture, has built up quite a reputation as a 
stock-raiser. His land comprises 250 acres, lying 
on sections 4 and 5, Liberty Precinct, and most of 
which is under a fine state of cultivation, fertile, 
and well adapted to general farm purposes. The 
buildings comiiare favorably with those of the 
neighboring agriculturists, while the fat' cattle of 
the Holstein breed, together with the horses and 
swine, the ample stabling room, the farm machinery, 
and last but not least, the comfortable and com- 
modious residence, form a picture of country life 
delightful to contemplate. 

The improvements which are noticeable upon the 
farm of "Sir. Pittraan have been brought about by 
his own efforts, he having come to the place when 
it was little removed from its primitive condition. 
He had prior to his arrival in Nebraska been a 
resident of Harrison County, Ind., whence he re- 
moved in 1876. In Heth Township, that county, 
occurred his birth, Sept. 1, 1831. His father, 
David Pittman, also a farmer by occupation, was a 
native of Shenandoah County, Va., and the son of 
John Pittman, who was also born in the Old Do- 
minion. The latter married a Virginia lady, and 
they lived in Shenandoah County until after the 
birth of all their children. Thence thej^ migrated 
to Harrison County, Ind., settling among the earliest 



pioneers of Heth Township, about 1820, before 
Indiana had become a State. There John Pittman 
and his estimable wife spent the remainder of tlieir 
days, and passed peacefully away at the homestead 
which they had built up from the wilderness, dying 
at a ripe old age. 

The Pittman family is of Holland-Dutch descent, 
and the grandparents of our subject spoke mostly 
in the language of their native country. Their 
son David in his bo^'hood attended the pioneer 
schools of Harrison Coimty, Ind., where he was 
reared to man's estate. He married Miss Cather- 
ine Eddleman, who was of Pennsylvania birth and 
parentage, her progenitors having been residents 
of the Keystone State through many generations. 
Her parents removed to Indiana when she was a 
j'oung lady, and there she met her fviture husband. 

After marriage the parents of our subject began 
life together on a new farm, and in due time the 
household circle was completed b}- the birth of five 
children, of whom Andrew was the third. The 
wife and mother departed this life at the birth of 
her last child, about 1834, when in the prime of 
life. She was a lad}' possessing all the Christian 
virtues, and her name is held by her children in 
most affectionate remembrance. David Pittman 
was in due time married the second time, his wife 
being !Miss Mary Young, and they are both now 
deceased. In 1873, leaving Indiana, they came to 
this State, settling in Liberty Precinct, and here 
spent their last days, both dying in the same year, 
1881. The father, politically, was a strong adher- 
ent of the Democratic parry, and a member in good 
standing of the Presbyterian Church. 

Our subject grew to man's estate in his native 
county, and was there married to Miss Elizabeth 
Conrad, who was born not far from the home of 
her husband, in Harrison County, Ind., May 19, 
1831. Her parents, George and Nancy (Wiseman) 
Conrad, were natives of Pennsj'lvania, and like the 
Pittmans, of Holland-Dutch stock. They came to 
Indiana in their youth, and were married in Har- 
rison County, where the husband took up land, and 
where both parents spent the remainder of their 
lives, dying well advanced in 3-ears. Mrs. Pittman 
was one of the younger members of a large family. 
Two brothers and two sisters are yet living. She \ r 



•►Hl::^ 



=1 



*► II ^« 



CASS COUNTY. 



OGl t^ 



'V* 



was educated in the district school, and remained 
under the home roof until her marriage. 

To Andrew Pittman and wife there were horn 
six children, two of whom are now deceased. 
George married Miss Nevie Koontz, and became 
the fatlier of two children, Glenn and Jessie, and 
died at the age of tliirty-three years. The other 
child deceased was a daughter named Emma A., 
who passed away at the tender age of three j-ears. 
Of the survivors the record is as follows: Thomas 
married Miss Sarah M. Smoots, and they live on a 
farm in York County, this State; Charles W. mar- 
ried Miss Fannie Haas, and is engaged in the livery 
business at Waco, this State ; Jacob H. took to wife 
Miss Anna Mauck, of Harrison County, Ind.; they 
have one daughter, Gertie, and he is operating the 
farm of his father; this son is also owner of eighty 
acres elsewhere in tlie precinct. Hattie M. is }'et at 
home. 

Mr. Pittman, politically, is a Democrat. While 
in Indiana he and his wife joined the German Re- 
formed Church, of which they continue to be 
members. A view of the homestead of Mr. Pitt- 
man is shown on another page of this work. 



JOHN A. HENNINGS. Not a furrow had 
been turned upon the present farm of our 
subject when he settled upon it In the spring 
of 1 874, and no buildings. He realized that 
there was before him an Herculean task, but he was 
possessed of that sturdy and persistent courage 
which led him to believe that from it he could con- 
struct a homestead in due time which would serve 
to shelter him in his later years, and prove the 
source of a comfortable income. Happily his an- 
ticipations have been realized, and he is now tlie 
owner of one of the best farms in the northeastern 
part of the county. He has the manliness to ac- 
knowledge that his labors in their results might 
have been far different had he been possessed of a 
companion and helpmate less capable and efficient 
than the lady who has borne his name and stood 
by his side for a period of fifteen years. Mrs. 
Hennings has been in all respects the equal of her 
husband in diligence and industry, while her care- 



ful management has had a vast influence over the 
happiness of the home and the success uf her hus- 
band. 

The Hennings homestead comprises 280 acres 
of land, and is finely situated on section 21, 
Eight Mile Grove Precinct. The proprietor, a 
native of Germany, w.as born near the famous 
old city of Hamburg, March 21, 1848, and is 
the son of John and Sophia Hennings, who emi- 
grated to America fifty-one years ago. and are now 
living not far from the homestead of their son. 
Both have passed their threescore years and ten. 
Of the children born to them there are living, 
John A., our subject; Charles, Henry and Ferdi- 
nand, all living in the same precinct. John A. was 
in the sixth year of his age when he crossed the 
Atlantic, and the family first settled in Washington 
County, Wis. He was there reared to man's estate 
amid the wild scenes of pioneer life, when Indians 
were their neighbors for a number of years. He 
thus received only a limited education, but he grew 
up strong of muscle and stout of heart, and was 
well fitted for life's future duties. He was at an 
early age taught to make himself useful, and ac- 
quired those habits of industry and economy which 
in later life proved the key to his success. 

Mr. Hennings came to this county in the fall of 
1871, and purchased eighty acres of laud on section 
21, paying therefor the sum of $580. It was con- 
sidered very good land, but had never been culti- 
vated. Our subject, still in the enjoyment of single 
blessedness, proceeded with the improvement of his 
purchase, and in due time found himself in a con- 
dition to establish domestic ties. He had made the 
acquaintance of Miss Margaret Jerdine in this 
county, and they were married at her home, Feb. 
10, 1874. Mrs. Hennings was born in Hartford, 
Conn., Sept. 2, 1855, and is the daughter of David 
and Margaret Jerdine, the former of whom died in 
this county about 1 864. The mother is still living, 
making her home with her sons in this county. The 
Jerdine family originated in Scotland, and there 
the parents of Mrs. Hennings were born. The 
father emigrated to America when a boy, and the 
mother when a young girl fifteen years old. They 
lived in Connecticut some years after their mar- 
riage, but came West in 1856, taking up their, 



>► II <- 



•►-IH 



9C2 



CASS COUNTY. 



^r 



4 



abode in this county among its earliest pioneers, and 
eleven y<'»''S before Nelnaska was admitted into 
the Union as a State. The father secured a tract of 
land in the vici.ily of the present flourishing city 
of Plattsmontli, when there was probably upon its 
site not a solitary building. He was only permitted 
to live eight years iherearter, his death taking place 
Dec. 20. 1804. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jerdine were the parents of five 
children, of whom Mrs. Hennings was the eldest 
born. Her sister Mary is the wife of August 
Bomahk, of Centre Precinct, this county; Ellen 
married Henry Kahne. and lives in Centre Pre- 
cinct; David and Alexander are residents of this 
county. To our subject and his estimable wife 
there have been born eight children, namely: 
Henry J. and John W.. deceased ; Charles H., Emma 
M., Maggie J., William C, John E. and Louis. 

Mr. Hennings cast bis first Presidential vote for 
Hayes, and has since been a stanch sujiporter of 
Republican principles. He has served as Moderator 
in his school district, and is in favor of every meas- 
ure to improve the county and elevate society. 
Mrs. Hennings is a member of the Methodist p]pis- 
copal Church, attending services at Eight Mile 
G rove. 



^ I^ILLIAM SNYDER, one of the honored 
\pj// pioneers of Nebraska, settled in this county 
^^ in May of 1850, improved a tract of land, 
and battled successfully with the difficulties of 
life in a new settlement. He is now in posse.^- 
sion of a comfortable property, and has contributed 
his full quota to the growth and development of 
Southern Nebraska. 

A native of the Old Dominion, our subject was 
born in Highland County, Jan. 1, 1830, and lived 
there until September, 1857, being then a young 
man of twenty-seven years. His parents, Abraham 
and Susan (Heavener) Snyder, were also natives of 
Viroinia, to which the paternal grandparents bad 
removed from their native State of Pennsylvania, 
beiuc among the earliest settlers locating at the 
head of the Potomac River. 

Mr. Snyder acquired a common-school education 
in his native township, and before leaving the Old 



Dominion foitified himself for ihe further struggle 
of life by taking to himself a wife and helpmate, 
being married, Dec. 20, 1855, to Miss Elizabeth 
Beverage. This lady was the daughter of George 
and Hannah (Heavener) Beverage, also natives of 
Virginia, where they were reared and married and 
became the parents of ten children. Of these Sirs. 
Snyder was the third in order of birth, and besides 
herself six others are living, being residents mostly 
of Nebraska and Virginia. 

About two 3'ears after bis marriage, Mr. Snyder, ac- 
companied by his young wife and his parents, started 
for Scott County, Iowa, Sept. 15, 1857, making the 
journey overland, and being five weeks and three 
days upon the road. They settled upon a tract of 
wild land, upon which they labored two years, and 
then in April, 1859, set out for Nebraska Territory, 
making the journey by teams, as before, and arriv- 
ing at the embryo town of Plattsmouth May 13 
following. There were then but a few houses to 
mark the site of the present flourishing city. The 
Snyder family rented a house on the farm of Mr. A. 
B. Taylor, about two miles west of town, and our 
subject commenced working b\' the day, laboring 
thus for a period of two years. 

At the expiration of this time Jlr. Snyder pur- 
chased eighty acres of land on section 27, in Platts- 
mouth Precinct, where he has since resided. Upon 
this no attempt whatever has been made at im- 
provement. Mr. S. and his father put up a small 
frame house, and began in earnest the cultivation 
of the soil. Thej' had brought with them one 
horse and an old carriage, which our subject traded 
as part pay for his farm. Their dwelling was built 
of Cottonwood lumber, Mr. S. cutting the trees and 
hauling the logs with his father's team. He and 
the latter worked together in the improvement of 
a farm until the death of the father, which occurred 
April 2, 1872, when he was seventy-three years old. 
The mother is still living, having now arrived at 
the advanced age of eighty-two years, and makes 
her home with her children. 

The Snyder homestead embraces now 200 acres 
of finely cultivated land, with good improvements, 
including a substantial dwelling, barns, and the va- 
rious other structures for the shelter of stock and 
I the storage of grain. The estate is one of the 



the « 




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-- ^^4<feaa!ga;i;g^BaU^ 



Residence of J. E. Andru3 , 5ec.34. Ti pton Precinct,Cas5 Co. 




Residenceof Andrew Pitt!vian^5ec.4.(io=i3.) Liberty Precinct.Ca5s Co. 



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Residence of E.E.Wi lliams ^ 5ec. 6. WeepingWater Precinct, Cass Co. 



•►Hl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



9G5 < ^ 



most iinpoitant landmarks in the histon' of Cass 
County. A windmill carries water from a never- 
failing well to whatever place it is reqnired, and 
Mr. Snyder is supplied with all the modern ma- 
chinery necessary for the successful prosecution of 
agriculture. He has a goodly assortment of live 
stock, including horses, cattle and swine, and is 
rated as one of the most thorough and skillful 
farmers of iiis precinct. The family occupy a fine 
position socially, being widely and favorably known 
throughout this part of the countj'. 

Mr. Snyder was accompanied to Nebraska by two 
brothers and one of his wife's brothers, in aildition 
to his father's familj". Andrew and .Tohn Snyder 
for a number of years carried on a successful freight- 
ing business from Plattsinouth to Denver and other 
im|)ortant points. The brothers also broke prairie 
for the settlers around. Andrew died of consump- 
tion in San Francisco, Cal., July 15, 1872. John 
died in Omaha in September, 1884. John Bever- 
age, the brother of Mrs. Sn^-der, is a resident of 
Omaha. 

Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have had born to them 
three children, viz. : Peter died when nearly two 
years of age; Amanda is the wife of Charles Jean. 
They are engaged in farming in this township. 
George W. is single and at home. In politics Mr. 
Snyder is a stanch Democrat. 



-it^ 






"tffe^ 



J^I^AM IIP;]L. To the German Fatherland 
Nebraska is largely indebted for the 
development of her rich resources. The 
^J' subject of this sketch, now a man of 

seventy-four years, and who has since the spring of 
1870 been a resident of Eight Mile Grove Pre- 
cinct, first opened his eyes to the light in the 
Province of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, May 8, 
1814. He was reared to manhood amid the scenes 
and surroundings of his birthplace, and received a 
good education in his native tongue. When a youth 
of fifteen years he began his apprenticeship at the 
trade of weaver, which he followed until emigrat- 
ing to America in the summer of 1851. 

Our subject had in the meantime been married 



in Germany, in 1846, to Miss Magdalena Schafer, 
and there were born to them in their native Empire 
two children, Wendel and AVilliam. 

Not satisfied with his condition or his prospects 
upon the soil of Germany Mr. Heil finally decided 
to seek his fortunes in America. Gathering together 
his ijersonal eflfects and his little famil}', he secured 
passage at Antwerp on a sailing-vessel, and after an 
ocean voyage of forty-two days they landed 
safely at New York City. Thence the}^ journe3'ed 
to Tazewell County, 111., and Mr. Heil entered 
upon the pursuit of agriculture, which he followed 
in the Prairie State until coming to this county, in 
the spring of 1870. 

The fine large farm of our subject, the property 
which he has accumulated by his own perseverance 
and industry, embraces 320 acres of improved land, 
whereon he has erected substantial buildings. 
There are few who can tell him anything new 
about pioneer life, for he has experienced its hard- 
ships both in Illinois and Nebraska. In addition 
to this, soon after his arrival in America he met 
with a dire affliction in the death of his wife, which 
occurred July 14, 1851, the day after the3^ arrived 
in Tazewell County, 111. He was thus obliged to 
suffer a season of inconvenience and trouble 
incident to the care of his motherless children, but 
in October, 1852, was the second time married, to 
Miss IMary Lautenschlager, then a resident of 
Illinois. 

This second marriage of our subject resulted in 
the birth of six children, only three of whom are 
living, namely: George, Henry and Elizabeth. 
They make their homes in this county. The eldest 
son, William H., is one of the most enterprising 
young farmers of Eight Mile Grove Precinct, and 
remains with his father, assisting in the manage- 
ment of the homestead. He was born in Tazewell 
County, 111., and since coming to the State of 
Nebraska, in the spring of 1870, has given his 
attention mainly to the development of the 
property which his father then secured. He is 
intelligent and industrious, and has received a 
practical education. There are few among the 
younger men along the northern line of the county 
who occupy a more enviable position, or whose tal- 
ents have better fitted them for a worthy and 



•►Ht:* 



•► 



966 



CASS COUNTY. 



honorable career. As the father is gradually lad- 
ing off the mantle of care and labor it is being 
shiftei to the worthy shoaklar^s of the son, who, as 
the elder representative of the family, is naturally 
looked up to by the other members with that 
respect and cansideration which are his due, on 
account of the fidelity to duty and reliability of 
character which are especially his own. 

William H. Heil voies the Democratic ticket, 
and although having large property interests to 
loak after, still keeps in mind the welfare of the 
people around him, and especially the rising gen- 
eration, lie believes in the establishment and main- 
tenance of schools, and serves as a Director in his 
district. He has been quite prominent in local 
politicks, serving frequently as Chairman of the 
Democratic Committee. He continues in the enjoy- 
ment of single blessedness, and it is predicted by 
those who know him best that he is carefully i)av- 
ing the way to a successful future. 



=E>- 



^ SALTER CUTFORTH. The business ele- 
\/iJ// '"^"'' *^^ Louisville recognizes in tiie suh- 
W^ ject of this sketch one of its most capable 
and enterprising men. He represents the hardware 
and farm implement trade, carrying also stoves, 
tinware, and the other commodities included in this 
branch of merchandising. He came to this county 
in the fall of 1873, having in view agricultural 
pursuits, and settling upon a farm soutii of Louis- 
ville. A year later, however, he sold out, having 
resolved to invest his capital in town. He first es- 
tablished a livery business, which he conducted suc- 
cessfully a term of six years, then, selling out, he 
became interested in grain and coal. A year later 
we find him established as a hardware merchant. 
He has a choice and well-selected stock of goods 
in all departments, and is a man occupying a good 
position both in social and business circles. 

A native of Adams County, 111., Mr. Cutforth 
was born July 30, 1847, and comes of excellent 
ancestry, his parents being of Scotch and English 
descent. Upon emigrating to this country both fami- 
lies settled in New England, and later George Cut- 



forth, the father of our subject, married Miss Jane 
Marston. The latter was born in Maine, and was the 
daughter of James Marston, the father a sea cap- 
tain, who, upon retiring from ocean life, migrated 
to Adams County, 111. He was married in Maine, 
and later occupied himself at farming. He and his 
estimable wife spent their last years in Adams 
County, III. 

George Cutforth, the fatiier of our subject, was 
a native of England, and in 1835 emigrated to 
America. Two years later we find him in Adams 
County, 111., of which he remained a resident until 
his death, Oct. II, 1888. His last j-ears had been 
spent in the town of Barnard, Adams County. 
The wife and mother preceded her husband to the 
silent land, in 1871. Their family consisted of 
twelve children, nine sons ami three daughters, six 
of whom are deceased; the others are living mostly 
in Illinois. 

The subject of this biography acquired a common- 
school education, and remained on the farm with 
his parents until reaching his majority. Then, 
setting out in life for himself, he emigrated west- 
ward, coming to this county, and entering upon the 
career which has proved so successful. With liim 
came his young wife, formerly Miss Sarah J. Mer- 
rill, of Adams County, 111., to whom he had been 
married Oct. 3, 1871. Mrs. Cutforth was born 
Nov. 25, 1845, and is the daughter of Abijas and 
Percilla (Cunningham) Merrill, who were natives 
of Pennsylvania, and are now deceased. Of this 
union there are no children. 

Mr. Cutforth, politically, is a sound Republican, 
and has been quite prominent in the afi'airs of 
Louisville. He officiated as a member of the School 
Board for a period of twelve years, and as a mem- 
ber of the City Council five years. He has fre- 
quently served as Chairman of the same, an<l in so- 
ciety matters belongs to Cass Lodge No. 1 46, 1. O. O. 
F.,at Plattsmouth. He looks back upon a career in 
which he may reasonabl3- consider himself uniformly 
fortunate, the result of the sound common sense 
with which nature endowed him, and the impulse 
to honesty and uprightness, which have proved to 
him better friends than silver or gold. He began 
in life without means, and the necessity for self- 
reliance bred within him those traits of character 



>^¥^ 



■<- 



••► 



CASS COUNTY. 



wliich have yielileil liim success. Mr. Cutfortli has 
among his household relics a copy of ilie history of 
Kngiand by counties, wliich was printed in 1771, 
and which was originally' the property of his pater- 
nal great-grandfather. This ancient volume is still 
in a good state of preservation, and it is scnrcel3- 
necessary to add becomes more valuable each year, 
as one among the relics of the past, which, if lost, 
could scarcely' be replaced. 



(jp^ IMEON I. LONG. Among the thrifty and 
^^^ successful famers of Cass County who are 
^\J_Jf) represented in this biographical work 
no one is more worthy of notice than the 
gentleman whose name heads this sketch. His 
home is in Plattsmouth Precinct, where he owns 
two valuable, highly improved farms, residing on 
the one on section .33, and renting the other on sec- 
tion 32. 

Our subject was born in Jefferson County, Ind., 
July 28, 1818, to Abraham and Ruth (House) 
Long, natives of Virginia. The maternal and pa- 
ternal grandparents of our subject i-emoved from 
the Okl Dominion to Kentucky at a ver}' early date 
of its settlement, thus becoming pioneers of that 
State, and there the parents of our subject were 
united in marriage. They continued to live 
there a few years after marriage, Mr. Long occu- 
pying himself in agricultural pursuits. In about 
1800 they removed to Indiana, then a wild, sparsely 
settled Territory, and located in the primeval for- 
ests of Jefferson County, where among other perils 
they had to contend with bears, wolves, wildcats, 
and the still more formidable foe, hostile Indians. 
They immediately began the tedious task of mak- 
ing a home in that heavily timbered country, first 
erecting a log cabin, in which they cooked and ate 
their meals, but when night came they would be- 
take themselves to the block-house, which they had 
jointly built with the few other settlers as a pro- 
tection against the Indians. AVhen the red men 
were on the war path the father volunteered to 
assist the inhabitants of a British settlement in that 
part of Indiana to suppress hostilities; this was in 



Wayne's campaign. That was before his marriage, 
and after the close of the war he returned to Ken- 
tucky and was married. He and his wife reared a 
family of nine children in their pioneer home in 
Indiana, and in the year 1828 the faithful help- 
mate and devoted mother closed her eyes in death. 
Mr. Long returned again to Kentucky, selling the 
old homestead in Indiana, and remained a resident 
of the former State four years, marrying, in the 
meantime, Sarah Taigue. In 1854 Mr. Long once 
more became a pioneer, moving still further west, 
and settling in Monmouth. Warren Co., 111. He 
staid there four years, when he again took up the 
westward march, and did not stay his course until 
he had crossed the Mississippi and taken up his 
abode in Henry County, Iowa, becoming an early 
settler there, and there his pilgrimage on earth was 
brought to a close by his death. He had been a 
pioneer in three States, and his life was spent on 
the frontier. 

The subject of this sketch was but a lad ten 
years of age when he had the sad misfortune to 
lose a good mother, and he then returned to Ken- 
tucky with his father. He staid there with him 
three years,, and then returned to his birthplace in 
Indiana and made his home with his brothers, 
Louis, Scrawder, Clay and Samuel, who had staid 
in Indiana. There he went to school one winter, 
and thence went to South Bend, Ind. From there 
he returned to Jefferson County, and lived with his 
sister, Lucinda Long, the three ensuing years. In 
1839 he joined his father in Iowa, and resided in 
that State until 1866, returning, however, to 
Indiana in 1844, where he was soon after married 
to Miss Elizabeth Shafer, July 18 being the date 
of their wedding. He immediately proceeded to 
Iowa with his bride, he having previouslj' bought 
a farm in that State, and there his family of seven 
cliildren were born, namely: John S., who died at 
the age of two years; Malinda, now Mrs. William 
Wetenkamp, who lives in Plattsmouth Township; 
Abraham, who lives in this county; Silas and Rowen 
W., who also live in this county; Samuel, who died 
in Iowa when quite j'oung; and William T., who 
lives here. 

Mr. Long came to Cass County with his family 
in 1866, and purchased his present farm of 160 



'^i^ 



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t. 



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■•► 



968 



CASS COUNTY. 



acres on section 33. There were then only a small 
house and about sixt^^-five acres of the land plowed 
as improvements. Now he has a fine set of commo- 
dious buildings, and has the land under the best of 
cultivation. He also owns another 160-acre farm on 
section 32, all under improvement, and from its 
rental he derives a good income. 

Our subject has always been strictly honest and 
honoral)le in all his dealings, and his conduct in 
all the relations of life has been such as to com- 
mand the warm friendship of the many with whom 
he has associated. His success in life has been 
brought about by incessant industry, shrewd man- 
agement, and the wise economy that knows how to 
spend judiciously as well as how to save. He is a 
man of sturdy, independent views, and politically, 
generally casts his vote with the Democrats. When 
a resident of Iowa he was actively interested in 
public affairs, and served one term as Justice of 
the Peace. In his wife our subject was fortunate in 
selecting one who has been to him a true helpmate, 
and is devoted to the interests of her family. She 
is a sincere Christian, and a valued memlier of the 
United Brethren Church. 



OSIIUA MURRAY. The family of this name 

J is widely and favorably known throughout 
the eastern part of Cass County, being 
closely connected with its pioneer element. 
The subject of this sketch, a resident of Platts- 
mouth Precinct, and having a good farm on sec- 
tion 30, was born June 12, 1833, in Moniteau 
County, Mo., and is the son of Jonathan and 
Elizabeth (Berger) Murray, natives of Tennessee. 
The parents became residents of Missouri when 
mere children, and there were reared and married. 

The paternal grandparents of our subject, Joshua 
and Polly Murray ,natives of Kentuckj^ moved from 
the blue grass region to Tennessee when young 
people, probably after their marriage. They were 
of English and Irish ancestry respectively, and 
possibly natives of England and Ireland. The 
grandfather, if emigrating at all, did so at a very 
early date, and in time to enter the Revolutionary 
Ai my, being then but a youth of eighteen years. 



On his mother's side the grandparents of our sub- 
ject, Michael and Margaret (Ledgerwood) Berger, 
were of German ancestry, and early settlers of 
Tennessee. Thence they removed across the Missis- 
sippi into jMissouri, locating among the pioneers of 
Moniteau County, where all of the grandparents 
of our subject spent their last daj's. Jonathan 
Murry, leaving Missouri in the fall of 1852, moved 
to Mills Countj', Iowa, where the family lived un- 
til the spring of 18.5.5; thence they changed their 
residence to this county, locating in the vicinity of 
Rock Bluff. There the father spent his last days, 
his death occurring in Julj^, 1860. 

Joshua Murray came to this county on the 1st of 
October, 1854, with his famil}', this being his 
second visit to Nebraska, as he had the spring be- 
fore selected his land and built a house adjoining 
the present limits of Rock Bluff. He purchased 
the right to build from the Otoe Indians, this being 
prior to the consummation of the treaty between 
them and the Government. The humble dwelling 
was constructed of round logs, and covered an area 
of 16x18 feet. The floor was laid with puncheon, 
the chimney built outside, of earth and sticks, and 
the fireplace occupied nearly one side of the struc- 
ture. When the |)arents and familjr of nine chil- 
dren came in the spring of 1855, father and son 
united their interests. The father had a team, 
with which he plowed for his son, and the latter 
paid his father by maldng rails for him. Of the 
parental family, finally embracing thirteen children, 
twelve were born in jMissouri and one in Nebraska. 
One child died and two were married before the 
family removed to Nebraska. 

Our subject was the second child of his parents, 
and was married in Moniteau County, Mo., in Octo- 
ber, 1852, to Miss Rachael Williams. This lady 
was born in 1833, in Indiana, and of her union with 
our subject there were born three children, all 
now deceased. She only survived her marriage 
five years, dying at her home in this county in 
July, 1857. 

Our subject, on July 4, 1859, was married the 
second time to Miss Lucina Walker, in Mills Count}', 
Iowa. Mrs. Murra}' was born Nov. 25, 1835, in Hen- 
dricks, County, Ind., and is the daughter of Robert 
and Sallie (C'anipl)ell) Walker, who were natives of 



■•►Hh 



t. 



>► II <• 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•► 



069 



North Carolina, wlieiice they removerl to Morgan 
County, Ind., about 1825, and a year later changed 
their residence to Hendricks County, where Mr. 
Walker put up a little rail pen, the cracks of which 
were stopped up with spice brush, and in which the 
family lived until he could build a log cabin. He 
cleared a portion of the heavil}' timbered land at a 
time in the historj^ of that section of country when 
they were obliged to keep a fire all night in front 
of the cabin to protect themselves from the wolves. 
There the mother died in the 3'ear 1 852. 

In 1854 Mr. Walker with his six motherless 
children started for Kansas, but on the way there 
stopped in Jackson County, Mo., where they so- 
journed from October until February of the year 
following. They then resumed their journey to 
Iowa, and thereafter lived in Alills County, wliere 
the father rested from his earthly labors in June, 
1878, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. He 
was a true type of the pioneer and frontiersman, 
of sturdy frame, industrious and persevering, a 
man of limited education but reliable qualities of 
character, who, though living a quiet and unostenta- 
tious life, performed faithfully his part, and is held 
in kindl^^ remembrance. 

The subject of this sketch, like his father before 
him. is intimatelj' acquainted with all the phases of 
pioneer life, having been an early settler of three 
States, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska. By a course 
of regular reading he keeps himself thoroughlj' 
posted upon current events, and while making no 
pretenses to be a politician, is a stanch supijorter of 
the principles of the Democratic party. He occupies 
a good standing in that party in this section, and in 
the fall of 1886 was its nominee for the Nebraska 
Legislature, in place of the regular nominee, who 
had been withdrawn about two weeks before the 
election. So little did he care for the office that lie 
declined to spend one cent to secure his election, 
and being in a Republican county was defeated, as 
he expected, although b}' only twenty votes. This 
indicates in a forcible manner the estimation in 
which he is held by the people of this section. He 
was Assessor of Rock Bluff Precinct while a resi- 
dent there, and has filled many positions of trust. 

Of the second marriage of our subject there have 
r beeu born seven children, namely: Alvis C; 



Estella M., the wife of William Mutz, of Cuming 
County, Neb.; Sarah E. and Robert G., deceased; 
Charles E., Emma E. and Joshua L. The home 
farm includes 320 acres of valuable land, finely im- 
proved, and occupying a part of sections 30 and 31. 
Besides the homestead Mr. Murray owns 160 acres of 
improved land in Holt County, in addition to a 
timber claim there. He makes a specialty of stock- 
raising, feeding about seventy-five head of cattle 
and from seventy-five to 100 hogs annually. It 
will thus be seen that he has borne no important 
part in stimulating the agricultural interests of this 
portion of the county. 

W YCURGUS RUSSELL. The precinct of 
ll (@ ^'■'^^ Creek recognizes the subject of this 
jl^Vi sketch as one of its most prominent men 
and useful citizens. He owns and operates 200 
acres of good land on section 18, and has signalized 
himself as a gentleman of more than ordinary en- 
terprise and ability. His home is that of the 
tj'pical American, attractive, orderly and well- 
regulated, and is presided over by one of the most 
estimable ladies, Mrs. Russell being in all respects 
the suitable companion for such a man as her hus- 
band. Their children are being carefully trained 
and educated, and under these circumstances it is 
hardlj' necessary to say that the Russells are sur- 
rounded by hosts of friends. 

Wapello County, Iowa, was the early tramping 
ground of our subject, and where his birth took 
place Oct. 14, 1849, in the little village of Uahlo- 
nega, two and one-half miles from Ottumwa. His 
father, Owens Russell, was born in Pennsylvania, 
and the mother, in her girlhood Miss Mary Kight, 
was a native of Ohio. The paternal grandfather 
first opened his eyes to the light among the Scot- 
tish Highlands, and upon emigrating to America 
settled in Pennsylvania, among its earliest pioneers. 

The Rights were of English origin, and the first 
representatives of the family in America settled in 
Pennsylvania during the Colonial days. Owens 
Russell upon leaving his native State migrated 
first to Ohio, where he was married, and a few years 



•►Hl::^ 



f 



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■•► 



970 



CASS COUNTY. 



•^t 



later pushed on further westward to Wapello 
County, Iowa. In the Ilawke^-e State he was 
abundantly prospered as a tiller of the soil, and 
accumulated a good property. He rested from his 
earthly labors in April, 1868, at the age of fifty-six 
years. The mother had died in 1861, when forty- 
seven years old. The seven children of the pa- 
rental household were named respectively : Harriet, 
Rhoda, Elizabeth, Lj'cnrgus, our subject; Hamilton, 
Franklin and Monroe. ^ Five of these are living, 
and located mostly in Nebraska, Iowa and Jlis- 
souri. 

After leaving the district school our subject en- 
tered the graded school at Ottumwa, where he 
completed his education. He was a little lad eight 
j'ears of age at the time of his mother's death, and 
about fifteen years when dejirived of his father's 
care. Although so young he then assumed mainly 
the charge of the homestead, assisted by his two 
elder sisters, who presided over their dopaestic 
affairs. After the marriage of Rhoda the family 
was practicalljf broken up. and the j'ear following, 
in April, 1869, at the age of sixteen, young Rus- 
sell came to Nebraska. He was a resident of 
Plattsmouth four or five years, employed at work- 
ing on a farm. His first intention had been to go 
to Denver, but meeting Mr. T. Martin Marquette, 
of Plattsmouth, he was advised to remain at Platts- 
mouth. His farming experience now served him 
well, and he entered the employ of Mr. E. Sage, of 
Plattsmouth, as foreman of his ranch at Platts- 
mouth. He occupied this position a period of four 
years, then coming to Greenwood Precinct, pur- 
chased a homestead claim of eighty acres, compris- 
ing a part of the southwest quarter of section 18. 
This purchase was made in the spring of 1874, and 
it was then an uncultivated tract of prairie. He took 
up his abode upon it alone in a frame house, and 
his labors that year came to naught on account of 
the grasshoppers. In the spring of 1875 Mr. Rus- 
sell added forty acres to his real estate, and two 
years later purchased another forty acres, thus be- 
coming owner of a quarter section. 

The marriage of Lycurgus Russell and Miss 
Mar3r E. Robbins was celebrated at the home of 
the bride in Saunders County, Neb., Feb. 18, 1876, 
and they soon thereafter took up their abode at 



the new farm. They are now the parents of seven 
children, one of whom, the eldest, a son, Bertie, 
died when four years old. The survivors are: 
Maude. Etta E., Goldie, Leonard J., and an infant, 
Lonie. Mrs. Russell was born Jan. 10, 1857, in Da- 
vis County, Iowa, and is the daughter of Charles 
and Nancy (Pollard) Robbins, who were natives 
of New York State and Iowa. They came to Ne- 
braska when their daughter Mary was a little child 
three years of age, and settled in Ashland, where 
they are still residing. 

Mr. Russell in common with the men around 
him has embellished his farm with groves of Cot- 
tonwood, ash, maple and walnut trees, and the 
much admired Catawba flourishes adjacent. 

The buildings are neat and substantial structures, 
and Mr. Russell has the farm machinery necessary 
for the successful prosecution of agriculture. 
Although having little time to meddle with politi- 
cal affairs, he is a uniform supporter of Democratic 
principles, and has been quite prominent in local 
affairs, serving as a member of the Board of Edu- 
cation five terms, officiating as a Grand Juror, and 
otherwise identifying himself with the interests of 
the community. Socially, he belongs to the 
Knights of Pythias at Ashland. 

SAAC STONE, a model citizen, conscientious 
Christian and prosperous farmer, owns and re- 

I sides on a fine farm embracing 240 acres on 
section 24 of Greenwood Precmct. He was born 
in Indiana, Oct. 18, 1817. the son of Benjamin 
Stone, wlio was born and reared iti Pennsylvania, 
and in his early life moved to Indiana. He was a 
school teacher, and engaged in educational piu-- 
suits all liis life. He died in 1833. aged fifty years. 
The mother died in 1871, aged eightj'-seven years. 

Our subject is one of a family of ten children, 
who are named : Abigail, Poll}', Ann, Elijah, Re- 
becca, Benjamin, Abraham, Sarah J., Isaac, Jere- 
miali and Lovisas. Ann was born In Penns^'lvania ; 
Ebj;di, Rebecca and Benjamin were born in Ohio; 
Abraham and Isaac are twins. 

Our subject resided a short time in Kansas, where 
he settled in March, 1871. About one year from 



>► t j T Mt 



••»* 



CASS COUNTY. 



971 



this date he moved to Cass County, Neb., and set- 
tled on the farm where he now resides. He was 
married, Nov. 7. 1841, to Miss Nancy Milner, a 
resident of Indiana. She departed this life in Sep- 
tember, 1861. She was the mother of a family of 
five children — Zerelda D., Minerva D., Richard K , 
David M. and Mary M. Richard resides on a farm 
located on section 24, this precinct; Minerva is 
married, and the other three children are deceased. 

After a season Mr. Stone married Miss Malisinth 
P. Wygall, a resident of Ohio County, Ind. By 
this marriage he became the father of five children : 
Edgar Mc, I. Dean, Roland A., Adelea H. and Jose- 
phine W., all of whom are at home at this writing, 
assisting in the various duties of the farm, attend- 
ing school, acquiring an education, and thus lay- 
ing the foundation for a life of usefulness and 
benefit to themselves and the world. 

Mr. Stone is a pleasant, agreeable gentleman to 
meet, highly educated, and thoroughly informed on 
the general topics of the day. He has a good 
farm, well improved, and the land is divided into 
fields by fences of wire and hedges, good barns 
and commodious sheds for the accommodation of 
cattle, of which he has a large number, all high- 
grade animals, which he keeps in fine condition, and 
gives the best care possible. They area goodly 
source of profit to tlieir owner. 

The residence of Mr. Stone is neat and tasty in 
appearance, and is well kept both inside and out. 
It stands in the midst of a fine grove of trees, min- 
gled with shrubberj' and flowering plants, the whole 
presenting a very attractive and beautiful appear- 
ance. All the improvements are arranged in order, 
indicating the owner to be a man thoroughly well 
posted in his business. 

Mr. Stone was elected to the Legislature of the 
State in 1878, where he served one term. He has 
been Postmaster ten years, and Mrs. Stone lias 
served four years. He has been School Director 
for some time, and has been connected with the 
School Board in some capacity the greater portion 
of the time he has resided in Nebraska. He is now, 
and has been for the last twenty years, a minister 
of the Gospel in the Froe-AVill Baiitist Church. Ills 
daily life is a living example of what the love of 
God will accomplish, when the heart of a man is 



devoted to His service. His good wife joins her 
husband in his plans and labors, is a conscientious 
unostentatious. Christian woman, a joj', blessing 
and comfort to all with whom she comes in con- 
tact. She is several ye.ars younger than her hus- 
band. In politics Mr. Stone is a Republican. 



TEPHEN HULFI.SH. The best interests 
of a town in its incijiiency depend largeij' 
upon the men instrumental in its establish- 
ment and after tliem those who seek to 
identify themselves with it. The subject of this 
sketch is numbered among the men of prominence 
and influence who are bringing Wabash into a posi- 
tion worth}' of more than a passing notice. Here 
he has invested a large portion of his capital, while 
his enterprise and intelligence have been the means 
of others of like character locating here. He oflSci- 
ates as Postmaster and Notarj' Public; and conducts 
a flourishing trade in drugs, medicines, paints and 
tlie other articles pertaining to this department of 
trade. He came to Nebraska in the spring of 1880, 
settling first in Bushberry, where he engaged in 
mercantile pursuits until Wabash was laid out, when 
he ciianged the scene of bis operations to this place, 
a very fortunate thing for Wabash. He brought 
to it the first stock of commodities in which he is 
now dealing, and is looked upon as a leading man of 
bis community. 

A native of the Keystone State, our sulijeit 
was born in the city of Philadelphia, April 24, 
1840. His parents were David and Reliecca (Car- 
penter) Hulfish, the fatlier a native of New Jerse}-, 
and tiie mother of Philadel|)liia, Pa. The paternal 
grandfather was a native of Germany, and emigrated 
to America in time to shoulder a musket effectively 
during tlie Revolutionary War. Later he served 
in the War of 1812. David llulfish, his son, upon 
a|)proaching manhood, learned the trade of a shoe- 
maker, and afterward became a large dealer in 
boots and shoes in Philadelphia. He lived theie 
after his marriage until 185.3, and then removed to 
Owensville, Ind., where he a!so established a trade 
in boots and shoes, and where he still lives, being 
now sevent}- years old. The mother is likewise 



■► I I ^* 



«=*-<• 



.>-ll^^ 



972 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 



living, and is five years younger than her husband. 
They were the parents of two children onl}-, 
Stephen, our subject, and P^win D. a newspaper man 
and editor, of Owensville, Iiid. 

The first recollections of our subject are of a 
modest home in his native city, where he com- 
menced a practical education in the public schools. 
Being necessarily much of his time in tiie shop and 
store of his father, he learned the rudimentary de- 
tails of the business at an early age, and when a lad 
of thirteen years, being unusually bright and apt, 
was given a position with a large wholesale estab- 
lishment in Philadelphia, where he remained until 
IS.jS. He was reared to man's estate in bis native 
cit3', but in 1859 joined his parents in Owensville, 
Ind.. where he met his future wife, then Miss Kate 
Storton, to whom he was married March 31, 18G3. 
In the spring of 1865 he began on his own ac- 
count in the lioot and shoe trade at Owensville, 
being then twenty-five years of age. His good 
business capacities and his progressive ideas as a 
citizen, and member of the community brought 
him into prominence among his townsmen, and in 
the year above mentioned he was appointed, by 
President Johnson, Postmaster of Owensville. 

Mrs. Kate (.Storton) Uulfisb was born in England, 
and came to America with her parents when joung. 
Of her union with our subject were born two chil- 
dren, the elder of whom, a son, Willie, married 
Miss Henrietta Gordcn, of Wabash, this county, 
and is now living in Wabash. The daughter, Re- 
becca, is the wife of Charles Hite, a well-to-do far- 
mer, of Elmwood Precinct. They have two chil- 
dren — George and Letta. Mrs. Kate Ilulfisli died 
at Owensville, Ind., in December, 1874. 

Mr. Ilulflsh contracted a second marriage in 
December, 1875, with Miss Anna Worrell, daughter 
of Charles and Catherine (Templeton) Worrell, of 
Wayne County, III. This mariiagc has resulted 
in the birth of three children, a daughter and two 
sons — Myrtle. Charles and Frank. They are a 
bright trio, and the daughter is completing her edu- 
cation in St. Francis' Academy at Council Bluffs, 
Iowa. She has evinced considerable musical talent, 
awl is a young lady greatly liked in the social cir- 
cles of her community. 

In 1880, the iircsenl wife of our subject having 



been in ill-he.alth for some time, Mr. Hulfish de- 
cided upon a change of climate, and accordingly 
left Indiana for Nebraska. He started the first store 
in Bushberry, this county, and was soon thereafter 
appointed Postmaster. During the building of the 
Missouri Pacific Railroad he came to Wabash, and 
after assisting in platting the town, built a store and 
post-office. His residence is a neat and substantial 
structure, and both himself and family are highl3' 
esteemed by the people of this locality. Mr. H. in 
1882 was first appointed Notary Public, and re- 
appointed in 1888 for another term of six years. 
Politicall3', he affiliates with the Democratic party, 
and is an active member of tlie I. O. 0. F. He 
believes in the establishment of schools and churches, 
and as he has opportunity gives his aid to every 
enterprise calculated to advance the interests of the 
people, morally and financiall}'. 



.-^tiZijZ/S'^^' 



®|~g!/OT^y*V. -VVr,- 



JOHN PHILPOT, Sk., an enterprising farmer, 
lives on a highly cultivated and improved 
farm, located on section 27 in Mt. Pleasant 
Precinct. He was born in Kent County, 
England, March 10, 1815. He is the son of George 
and Abigail Philpot, and lived at home in England 
with his parents until ho was twenty years old. 
Recognizing the fact that for a young man in his 
position in life there was no oi)portu:iity for .ad- 
vancement or procuring a home for himself, he 
decided to emigrate to America. In pursuance of 
this decision he took passage from London in the 
sailing-ship '-St. James." After a stormy passage 
of eight weeks he arrived in New York City. His 
means being very limited he found it necessary to 
seek emi)loyment, which he procured on a farm in 
New Jersej', where he worked for two years. 

Wishing to see more of the country and learn the 
ways of the people, our subject went to New 
Orleans, where for a time he worked at various 
occupations. He then worked his wa3' northward, 
and finally settled in Jo Daviess County, 111., which 
was then an unsettled wild country'. He secured a 
tract of finely located land, which he proceeded to 
improve, and in later jears, vvhcn the railroad was 
built, and a market was made for the varied prod- 



•^1^ 



«► . I T^ - 



CASS COUKTY. 



975 Ai 



nets of the farm, and other settlers coming to the 
neighborhoon, he found liimself by the natural 
increase bestowed by these advantages to be the 
owner of an extremely valuable farm. He resided 
on this farm for thirty years, and he still owns it. 
While Mr. Fhilpot was living there he married 
Miss Sarah Dugan, who survived her marriage but 
about a year. After a season he married a second 
time, and to him and his wife were born a family 
of eight chihlren, five of whom are living, namely: 
Charles. John, Alfred, James and Mar}'. John is a 
resident of Nebraska (for a sketch of his life see 
another page in this work). Shortlj' after the close 
of the Civil War our subject went to Carroll 
Count3\ Mo., where he remained a short time. 
From there he came to Cass County and secured a 
fine tract of land, which he has thoroughly im- 
proved, and he has become an honored and respected 
citizen of the precinct. 

Our subject is in all respects a self-made man. 
Since his arrival in America he has applied himself 
so diligently to the observation of men and events 
as they transpired about him, that he now possesses 
a good, practical knowledge, which is available in 
the everyday affairs of life. He is widely and 
favorably known in his locality, and enjoys the es- 
teem and confidence of all who know him. In 
politics he is a thorough Republican. He cast his 
vote for William Henry Harrison, in the ever mem- 
orable "hard cider" campaign of 1840, and cast his 
last vote, in 1888, for the grandson, Benjamin 
Harrison. 

-i^^l- ■ 



■JSIOHN STINE, a pioneer farmer of tiiis State, 
11 is as 



dl|| is as closely connected with its growth and 
I development, and has lent as much assist- 
V ancc toward placing Nebraska in the front 
rank among the western commonwealths, as any one 
individual residing within its limits. His first ad- 
vent in the State was April 8, 1855, when he 
crossed the river at Omaha, then a mere hamlet of 
three shanties. He bougiit a claim two and a half 
miles west of that place, on which he lived one 
year, and during that time took an active part in 
local affairs, being an influential member of the well- 
known Claim Club of that day, which had a branch 



in Omaha consisting of 160 members. They exe- 
cuted whatever they undertook, and protected the 
pioneer against the encroachments of the claim 
jumper. Mr. Stine recollects very clearly the in- 
cidents and scenes of his early life in Omaha, and 
can recall the time, when, in the fall of 1855, the 
first treaty with the Indians was made. The Gov- 
ernment agreed to pay annually for a term of years 
to the different tribes, Omahas, Otoes, Pawnees 
and Sioux, a large revenue, some of the payments 
of which are already completed, and in no case was 
a tribe to receive indemnity for more than forty 
years. He also remembers when John Brown was 
granted a charter to run a ferry across the Missouri 
River at Omaha. Times were then perilous, the 
people being largely a lawless set, struggling for 
supremacy as well as for existence, and it was de- 
cidedly unsafe for a man to make any encroach- 
ment on another man's properly. Soon after com- 
ing to Nebraska our subject was employed by the 
present Governor of the State to break 105 acres 
of the land now embraced within the limits of 
Omaha, receiving $6 an acre for his labors, this be- 
ing before the original Government survey was 
made. He also broke the same year fifty acres not 
far from Omaha. This was practically the first 
breaking of prairie in the State. In 1856 Mr. 
Stine concluded to locate south of the Platte River, 
thinking the soil there better adapted to farming. 
He therefore sold for $1,000 the squatter's claim 
that he had taken up in Omaha before the Govern- 
ment had set a compass in the State, and moving 
to Otoe County, he pre-empted a, quarter-section in 
what is now Wyoming Precinct, but was then the 
enterprising and lively town of Wyoming, having 
the appearance of a city with a boom on, but is 
now defunct. The land had, however, more tim- 
ber on than our subject desired for farming pur- 
poses, so, after making considerable improvements, 
he exchanged it for 160 acres four miles west, on 
what is now section 7, Wyoming Precinct. He 
partly improved that farm, and in 1866 purchased 
his present homestead of 160 acres on section 22, 
Liberty Precinct. It w.as then in its primitive wild- 
ness, with not a furrow turned, but as its natural 
advantages were good, oui' subject set to work with 
enthusiastic zeal to improve it, and by indomitable 



•►Hf^^ 



076 



CASS COUNTY. 



'1 



perseverance and inrliistry he 1ms snceeedefl in his 
efforts, and has now a good productive farm, well 
stocked with choice breeds of animals, and is in 
receipt of a comfortable income therefrom. 

Our subject was born in Berks County. Pa., 
Aug. 6, 1829. He is of the old Pennsylvania Dutch 
stock, his father, Philip Stine, having been a farmer 
in Berks Countj% where he was reared and subse- 
quently married to Sarah Dundore. After their 
marriage they lemained in the Keystone State until 
1 840, when they removed with their family of seven 
children to Fairfield County. Ohio. There Mr. 
Stine purchased a good farm, and there remained 
until his death in 1 847, being then forty-seven years 
old. His wife survived him manj' years, dying in 
Fremont, Sandusky Co., Ohio, in September, 1887, 
at the venerable age of eighty-one years. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Stine were members of the Lutheran 
Church, and lived upright Christian lives. They 
had eleven children, ten sous and one daughter. 
John, of whom we write, having been the fourth 
child and third son. 

The latter remained at home until twenty-two 
years of age, and then commenced life for himself. 
He was married in Liberty Precinct to Catherine 
D. Tyson, who was born in Adams County, III., 
Dec. 8, 1845. Her parents, Mathias and Katie 
(Bailey) Tyson, were natives of Virginia, but were 
both reared in Ohio, and moved with their parents 
to Indiana, where they were married. They began 
their wedded life on a farm in Central Indiana, liv- 
ing there until after the birth of three children, then 
moved to Adams County, 111., going thence in 
1851 to Texas. They were not pleased, however, 
with the Lone Star State, and returning North, 
spent a j'ear in Missouri, then came to Nebraska, 
crossing the Missouri River March o, 1855. They 
took up 160 acres of land on what is now section 
22, Liberty Precinct, that being one of the first pre- 
emptions in this part of the county. They were 
very successful in their labors, and improved a fine 
farm, on which they spent the remainder of their 
lives, Mrs. Tyson dying in 1874, when sixty-five 
years of age, and Mr. Tyson in 1877, at the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-eight years. They were 
worthy types of tlie pioneer, and exercised the gen- 
erosity and hospitality characteristic of the ear!}' 



settlers of that time, and always helped the needy 
and the afflicted. 

To our subject and his wife have been born five 
children, one of whom, George A., died ininfanc}'. 
The living ones are: Reuben B., William L., Sarah 
E. and John R. In his political views Mr. Stine is 
a Republican, and is fearless in his endoi'sement of 
those principles which he believes to be for the 
general good of his community and the country at 
large. Both he and his worthy wife are held in the 
highest respect in the community which has known 
them so long and so well, and their pleasant home 
is the resort of a large circle of friends. 

We are pleased to present herewith a fine portrait 
of this worth}' pioneer farmer, who has done much 
to develop the agricultural interests of the county. 



j AMES K. KEITHLEY, editor and pul)lisher 
of the Weeping Water Republican, came 
first to Nebraska in 1875, and to Weeping 
'^Ml Water in 1878. In the year 1882. in com- 
pany with his brother, W. A. Keithley, he estab- 
lished the journal which has now become an 
indispensable institution of this county. Three 
j-ears later James K. purchased the interest of his 
brother, and has since conducted the liusinesssingl}' 
and alone. The Republican has a large circulation, 
and is a stanch advocate of the principles of its 
party. In connection therewith is a fine job otHee, 
the presses operated by the only steam printing 
power in the count}'. The office is equipped with 
a select assortment of type and other material, and 
turns out some of the prettiest job work done in 
this part of the Stale. This department gives 
employment to four men the year round. Mr. 
Keithley, although a warm advocate of his party 
principles, has never made any effort to become an 
ofHce-holder, preferring that some other man should 
assume its cares and responsibilities. In business 
circles he is a member of the Board of Trade, and 
a financier of good abilities. He is well spoken of 
by the people of his community, which indicates at 
once the true character of the man. 

Mr. Keithley was born in Louisville, K}'., April 
21. 1852, and in 1855 his parents removed to Min- 
■» 



CASS COUNTY. 



■•►41 



977 



•► 



nesota, vvliere the father took up a tract of land. 
The boyhood and youth of our subject were em- 
ploj'ed mostl3' in securing his education, and after 
a brief period spent in tlie district school he was 
sent to the Academy of Salem, Ind. After spend- 
ing two years at this institution he taught school a 
period of six years in the States of Indiana, Minne- 
sota and Nebraska, coming to the latter in the 
spring of 1875. His father in tiie meantime had 
died when he was a youth of sixteen years, and he 
aided in the support of his mother. The latter is 
now dead, and her remains are interred at Nebraska 
City. 

Mr. Keithley upon coming to Nebraska was lo- 
cated for a time in Nebr.aska City, and was there 
married, Oct. 22, 1878, to Miss Agnes E. Ka}'. 
This lady was born May 15, 1859, in Nebraska 
Cit3', Otoe County, and received a good education, 
completing her studies in the Nebraska Cit}' High 
School. She made her home with her parents until 
her marriage. She is the daughter of Dr. M. K. 
and Demaris (Seaton) Kay, the former a prominent 
physician of Nebraska City and one of its earliest 
settlers. He comes of excellent ancestry, and was 
born in Inverness, .Scotland, in 1818. He came to 
America about 1848, settling first in Illinois, and 
removing in the j'ear 1855 to Nebraska Cit}-. Mrs. 
Demaris Kay, the wife and mother, was born in 
Louisville, K3-., and married in Hennepin, 111. Of 
this union there were born four children, two only 
of whom lived to mature jears. Dr. Kay obtained 
his medical education in Glasgow, Scotland, being 
graduated from one of the colleges there. Both he 
and his estimable wife are still living, making their 
home in Nebraska City, and both are members of 
the Episcopal Church. 

Samuel T. Keithley, the father of our subject, was 
born in Harrison County, Ind., Dec. 23. 1818, and 
lived there until reaching man's estate. He was 
married, in 1839, to Miss Sarah J. Catlin, of Wash- 
ington County, and they became the parents of 
seven children, four of whom are living, namely: 
James K., our subject; Nancy C, Mrs. J. S. Bean, of 
St. Paul, Minn.; Tlieo W., a resident of Jlonte- 
video, Minn., and William A., publisher of the 
Sauiiders County Leader, in Ashland, this State. 

Samuel Keitliley was a ship carpenter by trade. 



which he followed for a time in Louisville, Ky., and 
until 1855, then migrating to Minnesota, he took up 
land in LeSueur County, and improved a farm, upon 
which he lived until 1862. The progress of the Civil 
War called him from his farm and familj'. and he 
enlisted in Company K, 7th Minnesota Infantry. 
During his absence there occurred the Indian out- 
break in which the family fled to the city, leaving 
the farm to the mercy of both Indians and white 
outlaws, who stole everything they could carr3' oflf. 

In the meantime the father of the family, after 
serving as a Union soldier two years and ten months, 
suffered greatly in health, and was obliged to accept 
his honorable discharge two months before the expi- 
ration of his term of enlistment. He then returned 
to Cleveland, where the family lived until 1867, 
when the}' removed to Fredericksburg, Ind., where in 
December, 1868, his death occurred. The mother was 
left with four children, and returned to Minnesota, 
where she resided until the spring of 1876, when she 
went to the home of her son James K., in Nebraska 
Cit3', and died there in 1877. Both parents were 
lifelong members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, in wliich the father officiated .as Class- Leader 
and was otherwise prominent in its councils. 

James Keithley, the paternal grandfather of our 
subject, it is supposed was a native of Pennsylvania, 
an'l for man}' 3'ears filled the pulpit of the Meth- 
odist Episcojial Church, as an itinerant, and rode the 
circuit a number of 3'ears in the fashion of the 
Methodist preachers of that day. He settled in 
Harrison Count3', Ind., and married a Miss Kendall, 
b3' whom he became the father of two sons, who 
lived to mature years. This lady died, and he mar- 
ried a second time. He passed awav some time 
between 1840 and 1850. 



/^ HARLES C. HENNINGS and the estimable 
111 r ^^^y ^'"^ '"** borne his name for the last 
^^7 seventeen 3'ears settled on their farm in Eight 
Mile Grove Precinct about 1874. The land was 
then as the Indians had left it, not a furrow having 
been turned and no attempt whatever having been 
made at improvement. After putting in the first 



' ' 978 



^^ n il <» 



CASS COUNTY. 



season's crops, the area devoted to this being 
necessarily contracted, Mr. H. began to fence the 
remainder of his purchase, and in due time to plant 
fruit and forest trees and gather about him the 
comforts of life. He has now one of the most pro- 
ductive farms on the northern line of the county. 
He has not been slow to avail himself of modern 
methods and machinery, and is consequently num- 
bered among the progressive agriculturists of his 
time. 

Mr. Hennings came to this section in time to as- 
sist in the organization of his school district and 
the various other enterprises gradually developing 
as the country settled up. He has been liberal and 
public-spirited, aiding by his influence and more 
substantial means the enterprises set on foot for the 
good of the people. By his own thrift and indus- 
tr}' he was the means of attracting to his neighbor- 
hood a class of intelligent people who were not 
slow in imitating his example. The Hennings farm 
is largely devoted to stock-raising, which yields the 
proprietor a handsome income. 

The infant j-ears of our subject were spent on the 
other side of the Atlantic, in Germany, where he 
was born Nov. 13. 1847. His parents, John C. and 
Sophia Hennings, were of pure German stock, and 
natives of the same Province as their son. The 
father on his native soil occupied himself as a shoe- 
maker, but had ambitions which were not satisfied 
in the Fatherland. About 1851 he decided that it 
would be best for himself and family to emigrate 
to the United States. After a safe voyage they took 
up their abode on a tract of land in Washington 
Count}-, Wis., where they were numbered among 
the earliest pioneers. They lived there a number 
of years, the father carrying on agriculture, but in 
the spring of 1872 he sold out his interests in the 
Badger State and came to this county. Both par- 
ents are now living in Eight Mile Grove Precinct, 
each being past seventy years of age. They have 
good property, and while passing down the hill of 
life are surrounded by those things conducive to 
their comfort and enjoyment, and which they so 
richly deserve as the reward of their toils and 
sacrifices. 

To the parents of Jlr. Hennings there was born 
a large family of children, of whom but five sur- 



^»" 



vive, namely: John A., Henry H,, Ferdinand, 
Emma, the wife of Lorenzo Brou. and Charles 
C, our subject. The latter, the youngest born, 
lived in Washington Countj-, Wis., until a youth 
of nineteen years, then left the parental roof to 
seek his own fortune. He first emigrated to Illi- 
nois, then to Iowa, and finally came to this county 
in 1871. Later that same year he, in company 
with his brother John A., purchased a part of 
the land which he now owns and occupies. Be- 
fore settling upon this our subject farmed on 
rented land in tlie vicinity of Plattsmouth two 
3'ears. At the expiration of this time he took pos- 
session of his own propeity. 

The marriage of Charles C. Hennings and Miss 
Mary Volk was celebrated at the home of the bride 
in Illinois, Feb. 18, 1872. Mrs. Hennings was born 
in Tazewell County. 111., Feb. 1, 1849, and is the 
daughter of Nicholas and Maggie Volk, natives 
of Germany and pioneers of Tazewell Count}', 111., 
where they still reside. This union has resulted in 
the birth of nine children : Elizabeth, Oct. 24, 1872; 
John F., Jan. 26, 1874; Nicholas F., Jan. 5, 1876; 
Jacob C, Nov. 28, 1877; Charles F., Nov. 25, 1879; 
Mary E., Dec. G, 1881; Annie E., Dec. 18, 1883; 
Maggie M., Dec. 6, 1885, and Ferdinand J.. Feb. 1, 
1888. Thej' form a lively little companj', and are 
a perpetual source of interest to their devoted 
parents. 



■S/ OIIN K. BAIRD, a self-made man. and a far- 
I nier operating a farm of 200 acres, 1 60 of 
I i which he owns, is a native of Canada, where 
'^^Jj he lost his mother by ileath when only seven 
years old, and as in many similar cases, lie was, by 
the second marriage of his father, practically left 
homeless. For years he drudged and worked for a 
Canadian farmer for his board and (old) clothes. 
When he had reached the age of eighteen years, 
having a desire to improve his interests he went to 
Saginaw, Mich., where he engaged as a sawj'er for 
two years. While there he conceived the idea of 
going to the West, and securing a home for himself. 
Accordingly he left Michigan for this purpose. 
When he reached Cook County, 111., he found his 
monej- exhausted, and he was obliged to go to , 
■ ► Ih 



•►-HI-4*- 



••► 



CASS COUNTY. 



979 



work on a farm in that county. This he continued 
until he resumerl his journey toward Nebraska in 
1875. Arriving in this State lie purchased eighty' 
acres of land on section 32 of the Burlington <fe 
Missouri River Railroad Company, which he imme- 
diately began to improve. Prospering iu his new 
location he purciiased in 1879 another eighty acres 
on section 29, Elm wood- Precinct. 

While working on the farm in Cook Countj' our 
subject met Miss Mary L. Grant, to whom he was 
married on the 14th of December, 1871. This lady 
was born in Kankakee County, III., and is the 
daughter of Thomas W. and Margaret Jane (Ged- 
dis) Grant, who came to Illinois from Battle Creek. 
Mich. After their marriage they lived in Illinois on 
rented land for two3'ears. Three children have been 
born to this couple: Elsie I., now deceased; Jessie 
M. and Walter P. Bright and intelligent as the}- 
are, the parents are proud of them. 

The father of our subject, George Baird, was a 
cooper in Prince Edwards County, at Solomon's 
Point. He found a market for the product of his 
labor among the fishermen. His mother, Grace, was 
born in Canada, of Scotch parents. She died in 
1856, forty-eight years of age, leaving five children, 
namely: Nancj'; Maggie, now deceased ; Mary E.: 
John R.. our subject; and George R., now deceased. 
The father married a second time, and had four 
children by the last union. He died in 1884 in 
Canada, sixty-eight or seventy j'ears of age. Our 
subject was bora in Prince Edwards County, 
Canada. Aug. 12, 1849. 

Mr. Baird is a man who began life under ver}' 
marked disadvantages and adverse circumstances, 
but by the inherent force of will and determination 
he has progressed and conquered all obstacles, until 
to-day he is recognized as one of the leading men 
in Elmwood Precinct. He and his faithful wife 
have fought life's battle bravely, and they now find 
themselves well remunerated for all the straggles 
an<l privations tiiey have endured in former 3'ears, 
while making their home what it is to-<iay; and 
they can look out over their broad fields with a 
degree of complacency and satisfaction that is justi- 
fiable to the fullest extent. An orchard of choicest 
varieties of fruits annually yields its golden stores, 
and the fields their rich harvests of grain, and plenty 



is indicated all over the farm, while inside their 
nice new dwelling peace aud pleasure reign su- 
preme. 

Mr. Baird is a charter member of the Order of 
Modern Woodmen of America, in the Wabash 
Lodge. He has served several terms as School 
Director, also as Constable, and assisted in building 
the school-house in District No. 44. He became a 
naturalized citizen of the United States during his 
first year of residence in Nebraska. He holds politi- 
cal allegianx;e with the Re|)ublican party. 



JOHN HESS, an estimable farmer of Elm vvood 
Precinct, was born in Holstein twelve or fif- 
teen miles from Hamburg, German}', where 
his father, Hans Yocum, was a farmer. His 
father died in the old country when our sub- 
ject was nine years of age. To escape military 
service in the German Army our subject sailed 
with his brother for America, arriving in New 
York Citj' April 5, 1853, their final destination 
being Davenport, Iowa, where he resided until- 
1856. He removed from Davenport to Platts- 
mouth, Neb., intending to go down into Kan- 
sas, but on account of the Kansas and Nebraska 
troubles he stopped at Plattsmouth, where he 
worked until the breaking out of the late Civil War, 
when he enlisted, June 11, 1861, in Company A, 
1st Nebraska Infantry, under Dr. R. R. Living- 
ston. They went into camp at Omaha, where 
they were drilled and instructed in military tactics, 
and from there the}' went dovvn the river to Ft. 
Leavenworth, Kan.; from there to St. Louis, thence 
in turn to Pilot Knob, Syracuse, Georgetown and 
Sed:ilia, participating in the various battles and 
skirmishes in that section. In the spring of 1862 
the regiment of which he was a member was un<ler 
the command of Gen. Grant, and participated in 
the battles of Ft. Donelson and Shiloh. From the 
latter battle-field they went to Corinth, Miss., and 
were attached to the command of Gen. Lew Wal- 
lace. After the evacuation of Corinth they went 
to Memphis, Tenn.,and Helena, Ark. From Helena 
they were sent to Missouri under the command 
of Gen. Steele, stopping on their old camping 



>► II M- 



■► J l ^> 



*► . 11 ^» 



980 



CASS COUNTY. 



ground at Pilot Knob. From there tliey were dis- 
patched to Cape Girardeau, Mo., then to St. Louis, 
where tiie 1st Nebraska Infantry was merged into 
the 1st Nebraska Cavalry. He, with the consoli- 
dated regiment, look an active part in the Arkansas 
campaign. 

Before leaving Omaha our suhject was made a 
Corporal, and when the 1st Regiment was merged 
into the new cavalry he was made a Sergeant, at 
some point in Missouri. AVhile in the Arkansas 
campaign his term of enlistment expired, he was 
returned to Omaha, and there honorably discharged 
on the 12lh of August, 1864. He was so attentive 
to his duties as a soldier and so prompt that he 
never missed a roll call during his entire term of 
service. His record as a soldier is unexceptionable 
in every particular, and is a matter in which he can 
justly feel the greatest pride. 

In 1856 Mr. Hess married Miss Emily Graves, 
wlio bore him four children — Frederick A., George 
D., J. Johnson and Emily. He lost his wife by 
death. He came to Elm wood Precinct, and home- 
steaded on eighty acres of land, to the improve- 
ment of which he devoted his entire time and 
attention. In 1885 he contracted a second inar^ 
riage, with Miss Lois Gordon, daughter of Ran- 
som and Rachel Gordon. At the time of her birth 
her parents were residents in Canada, where they 
lived until she was three years old, when the en- 
tire family came to Iowa, where she lived with 
them up to the time of her marriage with Mr. Hess. 
Being naturally of a sharp, intelligent disposition, 
she availed herself of all the educational facilities of 
her home, and profiting by the experience of others, 
she is one of the brightest ladies in Elmwood Pre- 
cinct. Possessing a keen sense of the beautiful, her 
home is arranged in an exceedingly neat and tasty 
manner. She is a good manager, and is in every 
way a true helpmate to her husbanci, which he fully 
appreciates and values accordingly. No children 
have been born to them. The children by the 
former wife find in their stepmother a fitting suc- 
cessor to their mother who has gone. 

Mr. Iless purchased his present home farm in 
1879, which he has thoroughly improved by the 
erection of his comfortable home, and the necessary 
barns and granaries calculated to handle the various 



farm products to the best advantage and in the 
most economical manner. Tlie tract of land is well 
supplied with pure water, and is well fenced and 
cared for. He prides himself on the fact that he 
is one of the earliest Nebraska pioneers, and he well 
may be, for he has certainly borne his share of the 
toils and struggles incident to the opening of a new 
and wild country. 

Our subject is the youngest of a family of six 
children. His brothers, Amos, Frederick and Henry, 
and sisters Anna and Catherine, are older; he was 
born in August, 183-2. He was twenty years old 
when his mother died. The latter's name was 
Pelonia Cathrena. His parents as well as himself 
were consistent members of the Lutheran Church. In 
politics he has always been a stanch Republican, but 
has never .sought or held any public office, prefer- 
ring the quietude and enjoyment of his own home. 

^ .^.^ ^ 



%HILIP J. SCHAFER. In the career of this 
estimable citizen of Mt. Pleasant Precinct 

Tand his worthy' wife are presented some of 
the phases of early life in Southern Ne- 
braska. They took up their abode in this section 
of country before it was converted from a Terri- 
tory into a State, and when the long prairie grass 
as high as their heads waved over the now beauti- 
fully cultivated fields. In those primitive days one 
of the duties of Mrs. Schafer was to hunt for the 
family cow early in the morning when the dew lay 
heavily on this long grass, and which task, as may 
be imagined, was far from being pleasant. Those 
da3'S are long past and gone, and now the sturdy 
old pioneer and his no less courageous wife are 
sitting comfortably under their own vine and fig 
tree. In reviewing the scenes through which they 
have passed they feel that they now have little 
reason to complain of the manner in which their 
toils and sacrifices have been rewarded. 

The Schafer homestead, one of the distinctive 
features in the landscape of the central part of the 
county, is pleasantly located on section 15, and with 
its substantial buildings has about it the air of 
comfort and plentj' which is extremely pleasant to 
contemplate. The proprietor, a native of the Prov- 



^^ 



^f 



"^•■ 



CASS COUNTY. 



981 i^ 



^ 



ince of Bairen in the German Empire, was born 
Aug. 19, 1842, and is the son of Adam and Bar- 
bara (Yung) Schafer, the latter of whom died in 
Ohio in 1886. When Philip J. was a lad twelve 
years of age the parents, in May, 1854, emigrated 
to America, setting sail from Havre, France, and 
after an ocean voyage of sixty-five days landed in 
New York City. Thence they proceeded directly 
to Pike County. Ohio, where the father secured a 
tract of land and prosecuted agriculture from that 
time on. lie is still living there, and is now over 
seventy years of age. The parental family in- 
cluded eight children, six of whom are surviving, 
and making their homes mostly in Nebraska and 
Ohio. 

Our subject spent his bo3'hood and youth in the 
Buckeye State, and there attained to his majority. 
He had gained the rudiments of a good education 
in his native Germany, and being fond of his 
books he, after coming to America, learned to read 
and write in English. Keeping his eyes open to 
wliat was going on around liim, he acquired a good 
fund of general information, and upon reaching 
manhood was reasonably well equipped for the more 
serious business of life. Deciding finally to seek 
his fortunes in the farther West he set out in Feb- 
ruar}', 1865, coming directly to this county, and for 
three years thereafter was employed as a farm la- 
borer. In 1867 he purchased the wild tract of 
land on section 15 in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, which 
he has since transformed into one of its most de- 
sirable homesteads. Upon this not a furrow had 
been turned, and his first business was to put up a 
temporary shelter for himself and wife. There now 
came into play the qualities of character which he 
had inherited from his substantial German ances- 
try, and in due time they yielded their legitimate 
reward. Believing that it wa,s proper to secure a 
cage before he brought to it a bird, when married, 
the 24th day of December, 1869, he was quite well 
prepared to invite the lady of his choice, Miss Mary 
Egger, to share his home and fortunes. This lady 
has been equal in all respects to the confidence 
which her husband first reposed in her, proving a 
most efficient wife and helpmate during the years 
of their early struggles and labors, and later as- 
sisting in maintaining the dignity and reputation 



of the family and the homestead. Mrs. Schafer was 
born in November, 1848, in the Canton Bern, in 
Switzerland, and is tlie daughter of John and Mary 
(G3'gli) Egger, who were natives of the same ro- 
mantic country, and who emigrated to America 
when Miss Mary was a young lady of eighteen 
years. They settled first in Tazewell County. 111., 
thence came into Nebraska in September, 1868. 
The father purchased a tract of land in Lancaster 
County, from which he constructed a good home- 
stead, and where he and his estimable wife are now 
living. Mrs. Schafer remained under the home 
roof until her marriage. Of her union with our 
subject there have been born twelve children, four 
of whom are deceased, namely: Andrew, Annie, 
Jacob, and a babe who died unnamed. The sur- 
vivors are George, Frederic, Adam, Albert, Mary, 
John, Christina and Otto. The eldest of these is 
sixteen years old and the youngest two, and they 
are all at home with their parents. 

Mr. Schafer, politically, is a stanch adherent of 
the Democratic party. Coming from a country 
believing in compulsory education, he is naturally 
interested in the establishment and maintenance of 
schools, and has frequently served as a director in 
his district. Both he and his estimable wife are 
members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, 
and are held b3' their neighbors in the highest re- 
spect. Their home and their surroundings at once 
indicate their substantial and reliable qualities of 
character, and tliej' naturally have made hosts of 
friends in a community of people more than or- 
dinarily intelligent. 



^?^EORGE ALEXANDER STEWART. As 
III f=^ the town of Louisville gradualh' settled up 
■^^5) there came a demand for artisans in various 
trades and occupations, and among them was the 
subject of this sketch, one of the most intelligent 
and skillful machinists now numbered among its 
citizens. He is still comparatively' j'oung in years, 
having been born July 20, 1851, in the city of Og- 
densburg, N. Y. There his boyhood was spent, 
and he was carefully educated in a private school. 
He at an early age develo|)ed more than ordinary 



•► II <•• 



ary I 



•►-11-^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



^ii^K-* 



genius and skill as Cdnneiterl willi irneliiiiciy. and 
in the exercise of this talent he lias been enabled to 
make a comfortable living. 

This branch of the Stewart faniih' is of excellent 
ancestry, the father of our subject, George Stand- 
ley Stewart, having been the scion of an ol<l P'rench 
stock, and a man possessed of large means. lie was 
born in fair Prance, and after becoming a citizen 
of the United States, being provided with ample 
means, lived mostly at iiis leisure. He married a 
lady of his own country-. Miss Mary DeClivros, 
and after emigrating to America they settled in 
Ogdensburg, N. Y.. about 1812, where they spent 
the most of their days thereafter. In 1869 the 
father made a Visit to his native land, and while 
there was taken ill, died very suddenly and was 
laid to rest Upon his native soil. The wife and 
mother is still living, and makes her home in Lon- 
don. England. The household included eight chil- 
dren, four sons and four daughters, all of whom 
are living, our subject being the sixth in order of 
birth. Thej' are all in the United States. 

Our subject when a lad of nine years accom- 
panied his mother to France, and spent some time 
there with his brother William, in the meantime 
serving an apprenticeship at the trade of machinist. 
Seven j-ears later he returned to the United Stales, 
then went to Montreal, Canada, and for five years 
following was in the employ of the Grand Trunk 
Railway Company. Two years of this time he was 
foreman of their foundrj'. Later he acted in the 
capacity of fireman on the Great Western branch 
of the same railway system. 

In 1884 Mr. Stewart resolved upon seeking a 
permanent location in the Great West, and coming 
to this countj' entered the employ of the Burling- 
ton & Missouri River Railway Company, with 
whom he continued three years, making his head- 
quarters at Louisville. Later he became associated 
with Mr. Walter Cutforth as a master mechanic, 
which position he still holds. In the settlement of 
his father's estate a large portion of it was wasted 
in litigation, the family deriving little benefit there- 
from. Our subject has therefore been mainly the 
architect of his own fortune, but his natural abili- 
ties form an inexhaustible capital, which will serve 
him in some oases perhaps better than money, being 



that which no man can steal from him. Although 
nearly thirty-eight years of age he is still unmar- 
ried, but with this exception has performed all his 
duties faithfully as an honest man and a good citi- 
zen. Politically, he is a stanch Republican. 



jf/ GUIS C. EICKHOPP. One of the finest 
I (^ farms in Louisville Precinct belongs to the 
/i^^ subject of this sketch, who settled in Cass 
County in 1859, during the Territorial daj's of 
Nebraska. He began life without other resources 
than his own muscle and his persevering disposi- 
tion, which have resulted in making him independ- 
ent — the owner of 800 acres of land, which comprises 
one of the most valuable estates along the northern 
line of the count}'. This he built up from an un- 
cultivated tract of land, and has erected a good 
residence and all the out-buildings necessary for tlie 
storage of crops and the shelter of stock. The 
place is abundantly supplied witli fruit, and all the 
other appliances calculated to make a pleasant and 
attractive home. 

Upon coming to this county our subject stopped 
first at Plattsmouth, where he occupied himself a year 
at whatever he could find to do. He then rented a 
tract of land two miles west of Plattsmouth, upon 
which he operated two 3'ears, and at the expiration 
of this time purchased 400 acres of his present 
property. This lies on section 32, and years of 
arduous labor and close economy have been re- 
quired to bring it to its present condition. It now 
yields to the owner a handsome income. 

The Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, was the na- 
tive place of our subject, his birth occurring April 
16, 1847. He was the youngest of a family of six 
children, four sons and two daughters, the offspring 
of Frederick and Marj* (Schweitzer) Eickhoff, who 
were also of German birth and ancestry. The 
father was a tailor by trade, which occupation he 
pursued during his early manhood, but later en- 
gaged in agriculture. He, however, w.as not satis- 
fied with the outlook in the Fatherland, and in 
1855 started with his little family for America. 
They sojourned for a very brief space in the cit}' of 
New York, then proceeded westward, and for a 



■► it^ 



:*^i^ 




Residence OF HoraceT Richards, SEC.2-JhELMWooD Precinct, Ca55 Co. 




i^t:,',. 



fJ^.,.""' ,^<t.U''U,^,^:>:^":d^^h^^ \^ ^i^'^^^.i^' ''tr. 



'k^^' '^^'^'^imu^^.-'uk. 



Residence of L.C. Eickh off, Sec.32. Louisville Prect, Cass Co 



•►Hl^ 



'^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



985 



••-H^r 



time made their home in Chicngo. In 1859 they 
sought the farther West, coming to this countj'. 
In tlie meantime three of tlie sons of the family 
had died in Cliicago. and of the six chihlren only 
two are now living. The father spent his last years 
with his son, our subject, his death taking place in 
1874, in the sixty-third year of his age. The 
mother died Feb. 5, 1889, at the home of her daugh- 
ter, aged seventi'-eigiit j'ears, having been born in 
May, 1810. 

The subject of this sketch was a lad seven years 
of age when he landed in the United States with 
his parents, and he completed his education in the 
common schools of this country, attending raostl}' 
iu the winter season, while in the summer he as- 
sisted his parents around the homestead. Of this 
he took charge after the death of his father. To 
this he brought a bride in 1867, having been mar- 
ried that year to Miss Sophia Brunko, a native of 
his own country, and the daughter of Frederick 
Brunko and wife, who were also natives of Ger- 
manj'; the mother is dead, but thie father is still 
living in Nebraska. This union resulted in the 
birth of nine children, five sons and four daughters. 

One of the noticeable features on the farm is the 
fine barn which was erected by Mr. Eickhoff in 
1884, and covers an area of 40x66 feet. It has a 
solid stone foundation, forming a good basement, 
and is considered the best structure of the kind in 
Louisville Precinct. It is nearly surrounded with 
cattle sheds, and within it are all the conveniences 
required by the progressive agriculturist. There is 
also a model corn crib, with numerous other build- 
ings, all indicative of the thorougliness and skill 
with which the estate has been conducted. 

Mr. Eickhoff has been prominent in local affairs, 
and is a man of decided views. He votes the 
straight Republican ticket, has officiated as Town- 
ship Supervisor four years, as Assessor a period of 
seven years, and as a member of the School Board 
fifteen years. In religious belief lie espouses the 
doctrines of the Evangelical association. His good 
management is indicative of the fact that he has 
inherited from his German ancestry the admirable, 
thrifty qualities which distinguish that nationality. 
A man prompt to meet his obligations, and sys- 
tematic in the oversightof his finances, heoccui^ies a 

4« 



position second to none among the leading men of 
this part of the county. His property has been the 
result mainly of his own industry. The family, 
upon landing in Chicago from their ocean trip, owed 
$50, and upon coming to Nebraska were obliged to 
economize in the closest manner for years, in order 
to make both ends meet. That early experience, 
Mr. Eickhoff acknowledges, instead of beingadetri- 
ment, has been a benefit to him, imbuing him with 
th(jse habits of industry and economy which have 
enabled him to gather an ample competence for his 
declining years. 

The view of Mr. Eickhofif's premises, on another 
page of this Alblm, shows what a fine propertj' the 
one-time poor German emigrant has acquired by 
his own unaided efforts. 



lu-^ORACE T. RICHARDS, one of the most 
IjijJ prosperous and enterprising men of Elm- 
'^^ wood Precinct, Cass Co., Neb., was born in 

(l^ Gofifstown, N. H., Oct. 5, 1848. He was a 
member of a family of seven children — Emma C, 
Mary A., George W., Ephraim W., Edwin F., 
Charles A. and George W. Two are deceased, 
Ephraim W. and Charles A. The earlj' life of our 
subject was spent on the farm in New Hampshire. 
In 1871 he migrated to Illinois, where he joined 
his younger brother, Edwin F., who had preceded 
him, and they determineil to try their luck together 
in the then Far West. They each had a team, and 
they started across the prairies of Illinois and Iowa 
for Nebraska, crossing the Missouri River at Platts- 
mouth, where they purchased 160 acres of land from 
the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company. 
The}' experienced very hard times at first, and this 
purchase of land was let go by default. Time has 
righted matters, however, and Mr. Richards is now 
a large land-owner. For man}- years past he has 
been a shipper of cattle and hogs. He also feeds a 
large number of cattle on his own account. 

In 1883 Mr. Richards filed a homestead and tim- 



•►Hl^ 



f 



986 



CASiS COUNTY. 



ber claim in Antelope County, Neb. He has had a 
long and varied experience in this State, endured 
privations and hard work, but through it all he has 
maintained his usual good cheer and has come out 
unscathed. He was married, Feb. 1, 1882. to Miss 
Edith M. Foote, daughter of James Foote, one of 
Otoe County's earliest settlers, and who is now com- 
fortably located on his large farm in Otoe Pre- 
cinct, Otoe County. Mr. Richards has not only 
strong and willing hands for work, but has also a 
bright and active intelligence to direct his efforts 
into the best channels, and in the course of his 
business of farming and cattle dealing he has accu- 
mulated a handsome propertj'. In addition to the 
lands that he owns in Elm wood Precinct he has 160 
acres in Stove Creek Precinct, in this county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Richards have two children: Warren T. 
and Mary E., bright and intelligent, partaking of 
their father's energetic disposition and their 
mother's sweetness of temper. Mr. Richards is 
generous, and no application for aid for any cause 
possessing merit is turned away unsatisfied. Mrs. 
Richards is an active and consistent member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church at Wabash. 

Our subject has a tine two-stor3' frame dwelling, 
very conveniently arranged and nicely furnished, 
with good orchard and groves. The lawn surround- 
ing his home is well kept and presents a very pleas- 
ing appearance. His home farm has a never-failing 
and abundant supply of the purest water; he has 
commodious barns for his cattle and hogs, and all 
the latest improved machinery for making his busi- 
ness a success. Taken as a whole the farm of our 
subject presents a pleasing scene, and everything 
connected therewith denotes a thrifty and prosper- 
ous condition, the result of intelligently directed 
labor, close application, and a thorough knowledge 
of the business. The hardships and privations en- 
dured by Mr. Richards upon first entering the State 
certainly justify some recompense, and if the pres- 
ent indications are realized the gentleman will cer- 
tainl}' have no reason to complain. 

For further and complete histor3' of the gentle- 
man's parentage see biography of his brother, Ed- 
win F. Richards, upon another page, and elsewhere 
in this volume we give a view of his fine home and 
its comfortable surroundings. 



^OHNP. McPHERSON. This old-time popu- 
lar pilot of Missouri River fame has been 
the hero of many a thrilling experience and 
witnessed scenes which, were there time and 
space to detail them, would comprise a much longer 
biography than is proposed within the compass of 
the present work. Naturallj' of an adventurous 
and courageous disposition, he may be termed a 
self-made man, one who has kept his e3'es open to 
what was g(>ing on around him in the world, and 
who from experience has gathered wisdom, possibly 
of more value to him than that which he might have 
acquired in college halls. He is now numbered 
among the leading citizens of Greenwood Village. 

Mr. McPherson was born in Canada, and when a 
little child two years of age was taken by his 
mother to Schenectady, N. Y. The mother not 
long afterward was taken seriously ill with a fever, 
and her physicians being of the opinion that she 
would not recover, she was induced to relate a few 
incidents connected with her histor}' which might 
in time be of service to her onlj' child. 

It was learned that the mother of Mr. McPherson 
was the daughter of an English gentleman, and 
from her apparel and other circumstances there was 
little doubt that slie was the offspring of a wealthy 
family, and had been accustomed to the surround- 
ings of refined life. She was married to Capt. 
Parmer McPherson of the English Navy, against the 
wishes of her parents, and with whom she came to 
Canada. She soon passed away, and our subject 
was too young to have any recollection of her. A 
scene which appears almost like a dream is thus re- 
lated by Mr. McPherson in connection with his in- 
fantile days. He remembers sitting in the lap of a 
lady, presumablj' his mother. He looked out 
through the window and saw an orchard and a 
bridge, beneath which ran a river, upon which was 
a boat containing a man. On the opposite side was 
a little rude dwelling, and the man in the boat in 
making efforts to land capsized the little craft. The 
mother upon seeing this arose to ber feet undoubt- 
edly much moved, and placing the child on the 
floor the panorama to him thus ended. This view 
stands out prominently before the ej'es of Mr. 
McPherson, being about the only one in a space 
of time which is mostlv a blank. But he still clings 



•►■ 



*^t 



i 



Jf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



987 



^ 



to the lialf-foniied hope that it may some day serve 
to unlock tlie iu3stery of his liiithplacc. 

The orphan ehihl, after the death of his mother, 
was legally adopted by a family of the same name, 
who had afterwanl one daughter. Frances Grace, 
who is now Mrs. Sanson, of East Orange, N. J., the 
wife of a lawyer of New i'ork City. When our 
subject was ten 3'ears old the McPhersons removeil 
to Saratoga County, that State, settling in Galloway 
Township, where Mr. McPherson, the elder, oper- 
ated a hotel. Later, however, the family returned 
to Schenectady, where Mrs. McPherson dieil first, 
and Mr. McPherson a few j'ears later. John, who 
had been taught to call them father and mother, 
left the roof of his foster parents when a youth of 
eighteen, in the fall of 1855. Joining one of his 
young acquaintances in Bellevue, this State, they 
wintered in a tent at St. Mary's, Iowa, and waited 
there until the snow should disappear, so they could 
locate in Nebraska. 

Our subject, as soon as winter broke, repaired on 
the 1st of April, 1856, to Omaha, and began run- 
ning on a ferry boat, which was the initiation of a 
long and successful career as a pilot on the Missouri 
River. His first experience was as a common deck 
hand, but liy faithful attention to his duties he 
worked his way upward, and in a few months was 
made master of the ferry boat "Nebraska, No. 1." 
lie continued in the employ of the Nebraska Ferry 
Company until the spring of 1858, when he made 
his first trip down the river as a watchman on the 
" VVatasa," plying between St. Joseph and Omaha. 
He oper.ated as a pilot up and down the Missouri 
for a number of years, and about 1865 built the 
boat " P. F. Geise," designed to run on the Missouri 
River, fitting it up with machinery at Wellsville, 
Ohio. Later Mr. McPherson bought the transfer 
boat "H. C. Nutt," the Qrst of its kind at Omaha, 
to which he brought it from St. Louis. He operated 
on various transfers, steamboats and ferry boats on 
the Missouri thereafter until about 1888, making 
his home in the meantime at Omaha, Plattsmouth 
and Nebraska City, becoming the employe of the 
Union Pacific Companj', running the old " Mata- 
moras," which conveyed the first locomotive into 
Nebraska at Omaha. He continued in the employ of 
the Union Pacific about two years, and until the 



railroad bridge across the Missouri was completed 
at Omaha. Afterward he plied from Omaha to 
Sioux City. 

Becoming aware of the fact that the trai;sferand 
steamboat business would eventually give place to 
more expe<iitious methods of travel and transpor- 
tation, Mr. McPherson turned his attention to a 
totally different occupation, embarking in the 
grocery business at Omaha. This venture, how- 
ever, not proving successful, in fact, being attended 
by severe loss, he returned to river life, and re- 
sumed his occupation of pilot for the " Vice Presi- 
dent," a transfer boat conveying merchandise and 
cars from Omaha to Plattsmouth. Upon the com- 
pletion of the railroad bridge at Plattsmouth they 
took the " Vice President" to Nebraska City, and 
Mr. McPherson continued pilot until March, 1888. 
He then engaged in the lumber business with his 
present partner, Mr. E. C. Coleman. 

Mr. McPherson has piloted thousands of cars 
across the Big Muddy, as many as 300 in one day. 
In company with Capt. Butts he built the steam 
ferr^- " Capilola Butts," and later sold out his in- 
terest to the son of Mr. Butts. Both the -Vice 
President "and •• Capitola Butts " are now (Novem- 
ber, 1888) lying dormant at Nebraska City. Mr. 
McPherson during his thirty-two years' experience 
as a Missouri River pilot was uncommonly fortunate, 
never having lost more than two boats, and strange 
to say, without loss of life or limb. He, himself, 
however, sustained quite serious injuries one day 
on the •' Vice President," having both legs broken. 
By skillful treatment, however, he recovered. 

Upon the building of the '• Q " bridge at Ne- 
braska City Mr. McPherson spent the greater part 
of the winter of 1887-88 in looking up another 
point at which he might carry on his business. 
Greatly to his disappointment and regret, however, 
he was forced to abandon his purpose, and the em- 
ployment which notwithstanding its dangers and 
responsibilities possessed for him a strange fascin- 
ation. He has been enabled to save a snug sum of 
money, and the prospect is that his venture in the 
lumber business will be successful. He is a man 
genial and companionable, and one who naturally 
makes friends wherever he goes. 

Our subject was first married at Omaha in 1861, 



^t*: 



r^U 



•►Hl^ 



•► 



988 



CASS COUNTY. 



to Miss Susanna Sliiill, and tliey became the parents 
of one child, whom died at the age of six months. 
The wife and mother died soon afterward, a few 
weeiis prior to the accident which l)efell Mr. Mc- 
Pherson. and by which his legs were broken, prov- 
ing in his case the maxim •• tliat misfortunes never 
come singly." He contracted a second matimonial 
alliance in tlie fall of 1S80, with Miss Lottie, daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Charlotte Leesley. This lady was 
born in Canada. Her parents were natives of Eng- 
land, and are now dead. Of this union there were 
born three children, one son and two daughters, 
Charles, Frances and Edna. The second wife of 
McPherson died in March, 1887, at their home in 
Nebraska City. Our subject now makes his home 
with his children at Greenwood. 

In the fall of 1858 Mr. McPherson, while watch- 
man on the '• Watasa," received news of the dis- 
covery of gold on Cherry Creek in Colorado. His 
former chum, Will Preston, had a severe attack of 
the gold fever and urged Mr. McPherson to accom- 
pany him to that region. The latter very reluct- 
antly consented, and they equipped themselves for 
the journey, gathered together three yoke of cattle, 
a wagon and a year's provisions, and started for the 
Eldorado. There journeyed with them two others, 
Ben. Bittis and Fred. Cruise. They crossed the 
Platte River at Ft. Kearney, and journeyed west- 
ward over the plains, reaching Cherry Creek the 
last day of October, 1858. They rolled up snugly 
in their blankets at night under a moonlit sky, clear 
and cloudless, and awakened in the morning to find 
themselves under a foot of snow, which bad fallen 
during the night. The weather, however, in due 
time enabled them to proceed with their oper- 
ations, and they employed themselves in lumbering 
and prospecting (in the meantime building them- 
selves a log house) until February, 1859. Will 
Preston .and our subject also put up a huge log 
house for Messrs. Curtis & Cartwright on the 
present site of the business part of Denver, for 
which they received fourteen lots there. 

It is hardly necessary to say that at that time 
Denver gave little indication of its present impor- 
tance. Our subject had his mind on the river 
much more than on the gold mines. It was other- 
y > wise with his companion, Will Preston. Mr. Mc- 



Pherson desired to return to Omaha, but this scheme 
did not meet with the approval of Will. Plach was 
bent on persuading the other to accede to his par- 
ticular wish. The arguments grew urgent, and 
began to develop traces of anger on both sides 
when Fred. Cruise stepped in and asked our subject 
what he would take for his Denver property. 

In the space of a few minutes Mr. McPherson had 
sold out his interest in lots for Cruise's navy re- 
volver, which subsequently served him well in ex- 
pounding and maintaining the dignity of " unwrit- 
ten law," as alone and on foot he made his way 
back over the plains to Omaha. In this journey he 
encountered various tribes of Indians, among whom 
were the Arrapahoes, who for several weeks during 
the winter had besieged and threatened the whites 
on Cherry Creek. Arriving at Omaha our traveler 
began his river experience, and during the j'ears 
which followed became immensely popular among 
the people of the three cities of Omaha, Plattsmouth 
and Nebraska Cit3'. Few people along the western 
line of Cass County are not familiar with the name 
and fame of John P. McPherson. 



WENDEL HEIL. The well-regulated farm of 
our subject which he purchased in the spring 
of 1869, occupies the southwest quarter of 
section 22 and 160 acres in the northwest part of 
section 27, in Eight Mile Grove Precinct, and with 
its appurtenances comprises one of the most valuable 
estates within its limits. For this land Mr. Heil 
paid the consideration of $35 per acre, about half 
of it being in an uncultivated condition. He at 
once began its improvementand cultivation, and the 
erection of the necessary buildings, the planting of 
trees, the laying of fences, and the other miscel- 
laneous labor necessary in the construction of the 
comi)lete homestead. No one can deny that his 
industry has met with its reward, for the farm is 
now numbered among the best along the northern 
line of the countj', and its owner as one of the rep- 
resentative agriculturists and stock-raisers. To the 
latter industry he has given his especial attention. 

The birth of our subject occurred March 12, 
1848, in the Province of Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- 



>► i r^ 



■•»> 



■<• 



CASS COUNTY. 



989 



many, his parents being Adam anrl Magdalena Heil, 
tlie latter of whom died about July 14, 1851. The 
father came to America with his wife in 1831, and 
is now a resident of Eight Mile Grove Precinct. 
The parental household incUided five children. 
Wendel was a little lad three years of age when his 
parents emigrated to the United States and settled 
in Tazewell County, 111. There our subject devel- 
oped into manhood, becoming familiar with farm 
j)ursuits, and resided there until coming to this 
count}-. He received a linnited education in its 
primitive schools, which were carried on in a man- 
ner far different from those of the present day, but 
Iiis native intelligence sufficed to provide him 
with a good store of general information, and he 
launched out upon the more serious business of life 
with a fair idea of its requirements and the health 
and strength which were the natural results of tem- 
perance and correct habits. 

To the mother of our subject there were born 
twosonsonl}', Wendel and his Itrotlier William. The 
latter is now living in Eight Mile Grove Precinct. 
The father was subsequently married a second time, 
and six children more were added to the parental 
household, three of whom survive, namely : George, 
Henry and Elizabeth. These are now residents of 
Eight Mile Grove Precinct, and settled in comforta- 
ble homes of their own. Adam Heil is now in the sev- 
enty-fifth year of his age. He has been a man who 
has done a large amount of hard labor, and is now 
tlie owner of a good property, able in his declining 
years to surround himself with all the comforts of 
life. A man careful and conscientious in his daily 
walk, he is a member in good standing of the Lu- 
theran Church. His property embraces a fine farm 
320 acres in extent, upon which he settled in 1870, 
being among the le.iding German pioneers in his 
neighborhood. 

Wendel Heil, our subject, was united in marriage 
with Miss Elizabeth Jleisinger at the home of tbe 
bride in Cass County, Neb., March 26, 1873. 
This lady was born in Tazewell County, Sept. 10, 
1855, and is the daughter of Mich.ael and Cath- 
erine Meisinger, the latter of whom died April 21, 
1884. at their home in this county. Mr. M. came 
to Nebraska with his family about 1869, and settled 
among the pioneers of Eight Mile Grove Precinct. 



He is still living and a resident of the city. To 
tbe parents of Mrs. Heil there was born a familj' 
of seven children, of whom five survive. Lena, the 
eldest, is the wife of John Wallinger, and with her 
brother Henry is a resident of Eight Mile Grove 
Precinct; Anna married Charles Reifenstahl, of 
Pekin, 111.; Emma, Mrs. George Weitman, lives in 
Plattsmouth, this county; Mrs. Heil is the youngest 
living of the children. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Heil there have been born eight 
children, seven of whom are living, namely: John. 
George, Henry, Carrie, Eddie, Ida, Philip and Will- 
iam, the latter of whom died when eighteen months 
old. Our subject, politically', is an uncompromising 
Democrat, and with his estimable wife a member of 
the Lutheran Church, attending services at Eight 
Mile Grove, and taking an active interest in its 
prosperity. Considering his nationality he could 
not be otherwise than in favor of the estaljlishment 
and maintenance of schools, and serves at present 
as Moderator of the district. The family repre- 
sents the substantial element of citizens along the 
northern line of Cass Count}-. 



^^ EORGE L. BERGER. There came to Louis- 
(1/ (-— , ville Precinct during its pioneer days the 
'^Jj subject of this sketch, casting his lot among 
the other adventurous spirits bent upon investi- 
gating the resources of Nebraska Territory. He 
was amply fitted for the task before him, being the 
offspring of a hardy race, and possessing the ele- 
ments of character most needed in subduing the 
soil of a new section of country. Coming here in 
his boyhood he completed his education in the 
primitive schools, rounding up with two terms at 
Plattsmouth, and then, with the spirit of adventure 
strong within him, engaged first as a freighter 
across the plains. This occupied his attention, 
however, only a year, when he resumed the farm 
pursuits to which he had been accustomed, operat- 
ing first on rented land, and the year following 
purchased that which he now owns and occupies. 

A native of Mei-cer County, Pa., our subject was 
born at the farm of his father near Greenville, 
Sept. 4, 1849. The latter, Jacob T. Berger, was a 



*► 11^ 



•►^ll-^ 



•►Hl^ 



990 



CASS COUNTY. 



•►■ 



native of Gennanj', and married Miss Margaret 
AValtenbugli, after coming to the United States. 
The mother of our subject was born in Mercer 
County, Pa., and departed this life at her home in 
Louisville Precinct, in August, 1886. She had 
survived her husband some years, Jacob Ber- 
ger having died in 1872, at the age of sixty-eight. 
They were the parents of three sons and two 
daughters, and onlj' three of the family sur- 
vive. The family came to Nebraska in 1857, and 
settled one-half mile south of the farm now oc- 
cupied by our subject. Here the latter was reared 
to man's estate, and may properly be termed as one 
having grown up with the country. 

]Mr. Berger labored many 3'ears in the opening 
up of his farm, bringing the soil to a state of culti- 
vation, and erecting the buildings needed for his 
convenience and success. His residence, a sub- 
stantial stone structure, was built in 1886, and be 
has also a stone barn flanked by stables, a corn 
house, and the other requisite buildings for his con- 
venience. The farm with its appurtenances pre- 
sents a picture of plenty and content, which is most 
delightful to look upon. 

When twenty-one years of age Mr. Berger took 
to himself a wife and helpmate, being married, 
Nov. 3, 1870, to Miss Floriiida Kilgore, who was 
born in Indiana, and is the third child of six chil- 
dren comprising the household of Jesse and Ann 
(Smith) Kilgore. Her parents were natives of 
Kentucky and Maryland; the father is now living in 
Nebraska, but the mother is deceased. Our sub- 
ject and his estimable wife took up their abode in 
Louisville Precinct, of which they have since been 
residents, and they are now the parents of seven 
children, namely: Ella J., William H., Anna May, 
Harry E., Flora J., Jesse T. and Bertha M. 

Mr. Berger cast his first Presidential vote for 
U. S. Grant, and since attaining his majority has 
been an active supporter of Republican principles. 
He has been an active member of his community, 
serving as School Director for the last nine j'^ears, 
and representing his precinct in the County Board 
of Supervisors. Of late years he has given his at- 
tention to the breeding of swine, which has been 
the source of a snug sum of money. He commenced 
for himself at first principles, without other re- 
<> 



sources than his own industr}' and perseverance, 
his worldly goods a suit of clothes costing $6, and 
thereafter employed himself by the month until he 
could gather together sufficient capital to begin 
operations for himself. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject. Chris- 
tian Berger by name, was a native-born German, 
and emigrated to the United States late in life, 
coming to the West and making his home with our 
subject until his death. Jacob T., his son, and the 
father of our subject, met his death, it is supposed, 
by the hand of an assassin, in the fall of 1872, while 
on a trip to the mountains, via the Bear River Val- 
ley. He took with him upon leaving home be- 
tween 14,000 and 15,000 for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a cattle ranch in Colorado, and was accom- 
panied by a young man. They were last seen 
following a path leading up the valley in a remote 
section among the mountains, and a few days later 
the young man was seen with the pony, saddle and 
outfit owned by Mr. Berger. Upon being ques- 
tioned as to the whereabouts of the latter he replied 
he had bought him out, and that was the last ever 
heard. 

The Berger family made the trip from Pennsyl- 
vania to the AVest overland by wagon to Rochester, 
which was a small town on the Ohio River, whence 
they made their way by boat to St. Louis, and from 
that point up the Missouri River to Plattsraouth. 
The latter place was then a settlement of one frame 
house, three log cabins and three or four tents. 

-^ 



THEODORE STARKJOHANN stands among 
the foremost of the successful and enter- 
prising farmers of Plattsmouth Precinct, 
and his farm on section 4 has been developed by 
his energetic and able management into one of the 
finest estates in this locality. Our subject was born 
in Hamburg, Germany, Aug. 10, 1852. His pa- 
rents, Thies and Maggie (Tiram) Starkjohann, were 
natives of Holstein, German3-.and were there reared 
and married. In 1850 they removed to the city of 
Hambuig, where the^' lived until 1866. In that 
j'ear they came to America with their family of 
four children, making the voy.age on the steamsliip 



hip f 



.^1^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•^ 



991 



i 



<• 



'•Borussia," in ten daj-s. Tliey landed at New York 
City and immediatelj" came to this State, and made 
their home in Weeping Water, Cass Connty, until 
the spring of 1869, when Mr. Starkjohann bonglit 
160 acres of land, comprising the farm on which 
our subject now lives. There was a small frame 
house on the place, and about seventy acres of the 
land had been plowed, and the father Immediately 
set about its furtlier improvement, and by his well 
directed toil greatly increasing the value of the 
farm in the few years that were spared to him in 
his new home in his adopted country-. He had not 
reached old age, but fifty five years having passed 
over his head, when, Feb. 17, 1872, he was called 
to a better world, leaving his family to mourn the 
loss of a good husband and kind father. The 
mother of our subject, a most estimable lady, still 
lives on the homestead, a welcome inmate of her 
son's home. She has three children besides our 
subject, namelj' : Mary (now Mrs. Philip Tritsch, 
of this countj'), William and August. The latter 
is dead. 

Theodore Starkjohann w.as married in February, 
1881, to Miss Mary, daugliter of Philip Horn, of 
whom see sketch on another page. Two children 
complete the pleasant household circle of our subject 
and his wife: Lula, born March 10. 1883, and Henr3', 
born Julj' 1, 1885. Mr. Starkjohann, with char- 
acteristic energy has continued the improvements 
begun bj' his father, until his farm is numbered 
among the finest places in the township. He has 
erected a splendidly built and commodious frame 
house, a good barn, corn cribs and granary ; has 
planted an orchard of about 150 fruit trees of choice 
varieties, and has at least 1,000 forest trees. This 
well fenced farm, with its neatly painted buildings, 
beautiful trees, and well kept surroundings, is one 
of the most attractive places in the vicinity — is, 
indeed, a pleasant feature in the landscape, and is 
indicative of the taste, thrift, and wise management 
of the owner. 

A perusal of this brief outline of the life of our 
subject shows that he is a man of more than ordi- 
nary foresight, shrewdness and capacity, and that 
an indomitable will and incessant industry have 
been prominent factors in the success that he has 
achieved in his life work thus far, for, although he 



is yet a j'oung man, his position among the leading 
farmers of his neighborhood is assured. His per- 
sonal integrity is of a high order, and ho is a de- 
voted member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, 
which embodies the religious belief of his ances- 
tors, that has descended from father to son for many 
generations. ' His political faith is that of the Dem- 
ocratic party, of which he is a stanch supporter. 

ETER W. MARCELLUS, one of the lead- 
ing photographers of Cass County, is the 
proprietor of the Weejiing Water Art Stu- 
dio. He is a 3oung man of excellent busi- 
ness principles, with a thorough knowledge of his 
work, and displays much taste and ability in his 
chosen calling. He is a native of New York City, 
born Oct. 3, 1859, and remained there until he had 
attained his majority. He was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of that city, and after finishing his school 
life he worked at various occupations during his 
residence in the city of his nativity. Deciding to 
establish himself in some Western city he came to 
Nebraska, and engaged in farming in Brock, Ne- 
maha County, remaining there three years. Hav- 
ing no special taste for agriculture, Mr. Marcellus 
turned his attention to photography, and in South- 
ern Kansas learned the business he has since fol- 
lowed. From Kansas our subject came to Nebraska, 
and opened a gallery in Stella, where he met with 
much success. Desiring a larger field for his opera- 
tions, our subject next moved to Fairbury, where 
he carried on the same business. In December, 
1887, deeming Weeping Water an excellent place 
for his branch of business, he established himself 
here, his being the oldest establishment of the kind 
in the place, and he is now doing a thriving busi- 
ness. During his short sta)' here he has earned the 
reputation of being a first-class artist, S'jnding out 
none but work of the first quality, done after the 
most approved methods of the times. 

.John Marcellus, the father of our subject, was 
born in New York May 25, 1807, and lived there 
until his death. May 16, 1868. He was three times 
married. Of his union with the mother of our sub- 
ject, who was his second wife, there were born six 



H^h 



"^^ 



992 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 



t= 



children, four of whom are still living, namely: 
Thomas J., of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Martin L., of New 
York Cit3'; Edward, of Lancaster, Wis., and Peter 
W. Mrs. Marcellus, whose maiden name was Eliza 
Waldron Byrne, died in December, 1863, aged 
about forty years. Our subject was then four 
j'cars of age, and some time after his father married 
again, and his widow is still living in New York 
City. Mr. Marcellus was a cabinet-maker by trade, 
and lived an honest and honorable life, respected 
and esteemed hj' all who knew him. He was a 
member of the Methodist Episco[)al Church, and 
faithfully lived up to his belief. The subject of 
our sketch is also a communicant in the church to 
which his father belonged, and in his daily walk 
exemplifies its teachings. He is a strictly temperate 
man in all his habits, and a Good Temjilar. 



^^EORGE HEIL. In the subject of this biog- 
jll g-, raphy we find one of the most prominent 
^^j) and successful farmers of Eight Mile Grove 
Precinct. His property is finely located on section 
21, and embraces 160 acres of good land, which, 
under careful cultivation, produces abundantly, and 
is amply adapted to the purposes of general farm- 
ing. Mr. Heil came to this region in the spring of 
1870, accompanied by his parents, and has since 
made his home within the limits of this count}', 
identifying himself with its interests, morally, so- 
cially and financially. He bears the reputation of 
an honest man and a good citizen, one who has 
contributed his quota to the development of the 
general resources of Southern Nebraska. 

A native of Illinois, our subject was born near 
the town of Pekin, in Tazewell County, May 31, 
1856. His parents were Adam and Mary (Lauten- 
schlag) Ueil, who were natives of Germany, and are 
now numbered among the well-to-do residents of 
Eight Mile Grove Precinct. George was a lad of 
fourteen years when they crossed the Mississippi, 
and in the meantime had received the greater part 
of his education in the district schools of his native 
county. His boyhood and youth were sjient after 
the manner of most farmers' sons, making himself 
useful as he had oi)portunity, and becoming imbued 



with those principles which form the foundation of 
all manly character. He was nearly twenty-eight 
years old at the time of his marriage, which oc- 
curred in Eight Mile Grove Precinct, Feb. 28, 1884, 
Miss Maggie Stoher being the bride-elect. Mrs. 
Heil was born Feb. 5, 186.5, and is the daughter of 
Christian and Lizzie vStoher. who were natives of 
Germany, and are now living in this county not 
far from the home of our subject. A sketch of 
them will be found on another page in this volume. 

Mr. and Mrs. Heil commenced their wedded life 
at their present homestead, and here have been 
born two children: Henry E., May 18, 1886, and 
Mary L., March 1, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. H. were 
reared in the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, of 
which they are devout members, and our subject, 
politically, gives his support to the Democratic 
party. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stoher, the parents of Mrs. Heil, 
upon leaving their native land and coming to the 
United States settled in Tazewell County, III, where 
the father carried on farming, and where they lived 
until the spring of 18H2. They then came to Ne- 
braska, settling in Eight Mile Grove Precinct, where 
they still live and are prospering. They are the 
parents of a large family of children, eight of whom 
are living. George and Philip continue residents 
of Tazewell County, 111., near Pekin; Conrad is 
carrying on his own farm in Eight Mile Grove Pre- 
cinct, this county; Alice. Katie, Louisa and Adam 
continue under the home roof. 

"fw) OHN PHILPOT, Jr., a pioneer farmer, rc- 
I I siding on section 33, Mt. Pleasant Precinct, 
I was born in Jo Daviess County, III., April 
(^|i 19, 1851. He is a son of John and Sarah 
Philpot. (See sketch of John Philpot, Sr., else- 
where in this work.) Our subject attained man's 
estate in his native county, and from his early bo3'- 
hood has been inured to farm labor. He received 
his education in the district schools of the day, 
which he attended during the winter months, when 
he could do nothing else. The summer was de- 
voted to the various duties pertaining to farm life. 
He possesses a studious and observing disposition, 



» ► ■ <• 




yk^^i^-i^-t^^n^ j^ 



o-ti 




^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



995 



<^ 



^l 



and has by the close study of events added largelj"^ 
to his fund of practical knowledge. 

Ill the summer of 1872 our subject carae to Ne- 
braska, where he purchased the eighty acres of land 
on which he now lives, and returned to Illinois. In 
the autumn of 1873 he settled on his present farm, 
where he has lived ever since. His land was wild 
and uncultivated when he bought it, and when he 
settled on it he devoted his energy to its cultiv.a- 
tion and improvement. His efforts have been very 
successful, and he has from time to time added to 
his original purchase until he now owns 280 acres, 
which he has brought to a high state of cultivation, 
and rendered very valuable by his energy and in- 
dustrj'. 

After onr subject had visited Nebraska and pur- 
chased his land he returned to Illinois, and was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary Mosley, Feb. 20, 1873. This 
lady is a native of England, was born Jan. 7. 1855, 
and is the daughter of James and Ellen Mosley, 
who came to America from England, and now re- 
side in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. They first located in 
Jo Daviess Count3-. HI., when this lady was a child 
about three j'ears old. They resided there a num- 
ber of J'ears, when thej' came to Cass County, Neb. 
Her parents have a family of seven children, five 
of whom are living, namely : Marj-, Sarah E. ; Hattie 
L., the wife of J. E. Leyda, residing in Avoea Pre- 
cinct; Annie L., the wife of Abram Cutter, resides 
in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, and Ella 8. The two de- 
ceased children were James and William. Both her 
parents are members of the Christian Church; the}' 
are in the prime of life, surrounded bj' their friends 
and relatives, and are enjoying the fruits of a life 
of usefulness and well-doing. 

A family of five children have been horn to Mr. 
Philpot and his wife, named as follows: James II. 
was born Feb. 16, 1874; Sarah E., Aug. 11, 1876; 
Laura E.. Sept. 13, 1878; Alice L., Nov. 11, 1880, 
and an infant daughter, not yet named, June 17, 
1888. In his efforts to secure a competency his 
wife has proved an able counselor for many years. 
No task was too hard for her to undertake, no 
duty too unpleasant for her to perform, if she felt 
that the interests of her husband and family would 
be subserved. It is to this self-sacrificing spirit 
manifested by her that their present competency 



may be largely attributed. She is a consistent and 
active member of the Christian Church, taking a 
special interest in all matters connected therewith. 
Our subject and his wife find time to share in any 
and all plans having for their object the ultimate 
good of the community in which they live, in a 
social, educational or religious manner. 

In politics ]\Ir. Philpot is a Republican, is serving 
the second term as President of the Mt. Pleasant 
Precinct Central Republican Committee, also a 
second term as .School Director, and has served as 
Judge of Elections in his precinct. In addition to 
his general farming he is just entering into the busi- 
ness of thoroughbred stock-raising, and in a few 
3'ears from now will have made his mark in that 
branch of the business. 



"ji^^OAH CLEMMONS. Perhaps one of the 
II I/I ™*5®'' distinguished traits in the character of 
!l\Mi the subject of this biography, who is an ex- 
member of the Wisconsin Legislature, is his un- 
compromising advocacy of temperance, and his 
decided prohibition principles. His peculiar ex- 
perience in life, and the opportunities which he has 
had to observe the evils of strong drink, have led 
him to set his face in opposition to both the manu- 
facture and the sale of liquor in any form. He has 
for the last forty -two years devoted himself to the 
temperance work, and given his aid in every way 
possible to prohibition, first, last, and gll the time. 

Our Subject traces his ancestry to Ireland, of 
which his grandfather, Zachariah Clemnions, is 
thought to have been a native. If he were born 
there, however, he emigrated to .America in time 
to do good service in the Revolutionary War, be- 
ing in the army the whole seven years, and becom- 
ing closely acquainted with Gen. Washington. 
After the independence of the Colonies had been 
•established, he migrated to Jackson County, Ohio, 
during the period of its early settlement, and there 
spent the remainder of his days, passing away at 
the advanced age of one hundred and fifteen ye.ars. 
A year prior to his decease lie was quite active on 
his feet. 

John Clemmons, the father of our subject, was 
•^ 



•►Hl^^ 



t 



096 



CASS COUNTY. 



born in Tazewell County, Va., in 1771. where be 
lived until reaching man's estate, then made his 
way to Tennessee. During his sojourn there he 
made the acquaintance of Andrew .Tackson, later 
President of the United States, with whom he played 
ball and engaged in other youthful sports. While 
a resident of Tennessee he was married to Miss 
Phoebe Travis, and later they removed to Jackson 
County, Ohio, where Noah, the subject of this 
sketch, was born Feb. 8, 1814. John Clemmons 
was a resident of the Buckeye State thirty years 
thereafter, and tlien in his old age came west of the 
Mississippi, and died at the home of his son John, 
in Cass County, Neb., March 20, 1855, when eighty- 
seven 3'ears old. The mother had passed away 
fifteen years before, about 1840, in Scioto County, 
Ohio. 

Our subject was reared in J.acksou and Scioto 
Counties, of the Buckeye State, receiving a very 
limited education, as there were then no schools 
except those carried on by subscription. The father 
was in limited circumstances, and the children, as 
soon as old enough, were obliged to render assist- 
ance in working the farm. Noah soon began to 
"paddle his own canoe," working for the farmers 
of his neighborhood, mornings, evenings and Sat- 
urdays, for his board, and the balance of the time 
attending school in the town of AYheelersburg, 
where he learned bookkeeping and the other de- 
tails of a business education. 

March 28, 1842, when a man of twent3--eight 
years, Mr.. Clemmons left his native State, and 
making his way to the Territory of Wisconsin 
worked four years in the lead mines of Grant 
County, and at the expiration of this time was 
given a situation as clerk in a store of general mer- 
chandise in Piatt eville. Later, in the spring of 
1853, in company with a friend he embarked in the 
mercantile business, which he carried on for the 
sjjace of five years. He had in the meantime dis- 
tinguished himself as a public-spirited and intelli- 
gent citizen, and was esteemed worthy by the people 
of that county to represent them in the Wisconsin 
Legislature, being elected in 1851 on the Independ- 
ent ticket. He received all but five out of over 
500 votes in the township where he lived, and 
the solid vote of the township adjoining, being 



elected by perhaps the largest majority ever given 
a man in the State. He served his term acceptably, 
and in 1855 removed to Madison, of which he was 
a resident until July, 1869. 

In the year above mentioned Mr. Clemmons, 
crossing the Mississippi, came to Southern Nebraska 
and purchased the farm of 200 acres on section 13, 
in Rock Bluff Precinct, where he has since lived. 
In this community-, as heretofore, he was recog- 
nized as a valued addition to the ranks of its en- 
terprising and able men, and has occupied various 
positions of trust. While in Wisconsin he served 
as Assessor, and has also held the same office two 
years in Rock Bluff Precinct. 

Liquor, during the pioneer days of Ohio, as in 
other places, was freely dispensed both in the stores 
and the harvest fields, and Mr. Clemmons at an 
early period in his life was brought face to face 
with the evils resulting therefrom. In several 
stores where he was employed as clerk, lie, by per- 
severing argument, induced the proprietors to 
abandon the sale of liquor, and in Madison, Wis., 
was instrumental in organizing a lodge of the Sons 
of Temperance, its two first members being Albert 
Maine and Daniel Johnson, inebriates whom Mr. 
Clemmons induced to sign the pledge with him. 
From this trio started the lodge which afterward 
became one of the important factors of the work 
in that section, they in the course of six weeks 
having secured about sixty members. Mr. ]\Iaine 
was a man of means, and prominent in his commu- 
nity, and happily listened to the arguments of Mr. 
Clemmons against the use of liquor in time to save 
himself from ruin. He finally became one of the 
most earnest workers in the temperance cause. Mr. 
Maine served as Sheriff of Dane County, Wis., 
several years, and was succeeded to the office by 
his son. The father passed away some time ago. 
and the son is now one of the prominent men of 
Madison. 

At one period of his early life Mr. Clemmons was 
a bartender on the steamboat "•Brownville," plying 
the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee and Cumberland 
Rivers. During this time wh.at he saw around him 
completed his disgust for whiskj-. and strengthened 
him in his resolve to fight it to the bitter end. He 
saw around him men of fine talents being ruined 



■^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



ipip* 



•► 






b}' its use, happy homes made desolate, and the 
standard sometimes of an entire community laid in 
the dust. That lie has been enabled to contribute 
toward the demolition of this monster should be a 
source of deep satisfaction, and confer upon him 
the consciousness that he has not lived iQ vain. 
Of this prominent and popular citizen a fine por- 
trait appears on an adjoining page. 



■SI I^ILLI AM T. COLE, of Plattsmouth Precinct. 
\/iJ// '" common with most of the men around 
W^ him, built up the homestead vviiich he now 
owns and occupies nearly from first principles, it 
being but slightly improved when he took posses- 
sion of it in 1875. In addition tocarryingon agri- 
culture, he has put up a good house, barn, stable, 
corn-cribs, and tlie other structures necessar}' for 
his convenience, besides fencing his fields and plant- 
ing fruit and shade trees. His farm ranks in value 
among the best in his localit3'. He has a fairassort- 
meut of live stock, and is each year adding some- 
thing to the beaut}' and value of his properly. 

Our subject was born in Shelby County, Ohio, 
Nov. 18, 1838, and is the son of DeMitt and Eliza- 
beth (McV^y) Cole, who were also natives of the 
Buckej-e State, and born respectivel}' in Pickaway 
and Shelby Counties. Their mother died in her 
native county in 1842, when her son AVilliam T., 
was a little lad of four j-ears. The father subse- 
quently removed, about 1844, to Pickaway Count}', 
where he lived a period of twenty }ears, then set 
his face toward the farther West, coming to Ne- 
braska Territory in the year 1864. He located on 
land eight miles south of the present city of Platts- 
mouth, and there followed agriculture until his 
death, which occurred in December, 1883, after 
arriving at the ripe old age of seventy-eight years. 

William T. Cole upon the outbreak of the Civil 
War was a resident of Ohio, and enlisted as a Union 
soldier in Company B, 88th Ohio Infantry, serving 
a period of thirty-three months, and being in the 
meantime promoted to Corporal. Although only 
a member of the State Militia, he was sent outside 
with his regiment several times, and his squad cap- 
tured John Morgan, while making his raid through 

♦ 



Southern Ohio. At the expiration of his terra of 
enlistment, Mr. Cole received his honorable dis- 
charge, anrl returning to Pickaway County, Ohio, 
eng.aged there in farming until the year 1867. Then 
joining las father in the new State of Nebraska, he 
located on the farm of the latter, which occupied a 
part of section 25. Rock Bluff Precinct. He was a 
resident there five 3'ears, then removing to town, 
was engaged in the sale of sewing machines two 
years. At the expiration of this time he purchased 
the land which he now owns, and began in earnest 
its development and improvement. 

Our subject was married in Pickaway County, 
Ohio, Dec. 7, 1865, to Miss Harriot A., daughter 
of William and Susan (Hoffhine) Peters. Mrs. 
Cole was horn in Pickaway County, Ohio, Oct. 6, 
1844. and lived there with her parents until her 
marriage. The family of the latter consisted of six 
children. The parents were natives of Ohio and 
Maryland. The father was a Universalist in re- 
ligious belief, and is now deceased. The mother is 
still living, and belongs to the Lutheran Church. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Cole there were born four chil- 
dren, the eldest of whom a daughter Ella, is now 
the wife of William T. Adams, a sketch of whom 
appears elsewhere in this volume; Elmer E., Verna 
E. and Lily are at home with their i)arents. In 
politics Mr. Colo is a Democrat. 

^ .#3^ ^ 



h-^ AYNARD SPINK is County Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction, and serving his 
second term, which is ample indication of 
the estimation in which he is held by the 
people interested in educational matters. He has 
had a thorough experience in connection with his 
calling, and has always been warmly interested in 
the most important matter of training the young, 
making it a life study to adopt that system which 
shall effect the best results. He came to Nebraska 
first in April of 1880, taking up his residence in 
Elmwood Precinct. Later he purchased land, and 
in connection with the cultivation of this also pur- 
sued his calling as a teacher. His land, however, 
was located in South Bend Precinct, and comprised 
160 acres in an uncultivated condition. He moved 



.^1^ 



•►Hi^ 



998 



CASS COUNTY. 



upon it in the spring of 1881, and commenced in 
earnest the battle with the primitive soil, fencing 
the land, putting out an orchard and forest trees, 
and erecting the necessary buildings. Upon this 
he lived until the spring of 1886, engaged mostly 
in teaching, wliile at the same time superintending 
the operations of his farm. He has always taken 
an active interest in the educational affairs of the 
county and State, and in the fall of 1 885 was 
elected to his present position. The spring follow- 
ing he removed from the farm to Weeping Water, 
where he has since resided. At the expiration of 
the first term of his office he was re-elected by a 
very gi-eatly increased majority, and the people 
have indicated in many other directions the esteem 
and confidence in which they hold him, not only 
as an instructor and official, but as a man and citi- 
zen. Politically, he affiliates with the Republican 
party. 

Our subject was born in Wayne, Wayne Co., 
Mich., Dec. 27, 1856, and completed his education 
in the schools of Belleville, th.at State. His experi- 
ence as a teacher commenced when he was a youth 
of seventeen years, and he has been continuously 
engaged in the duties pertaining to his calling 
until the present. In his native State he was first 
elected, in 1879, Superintendent of the schools of 
Sumpter Townshi)), Wayne County, and served in 
that capacity until coming to Nebraska. He was 
married in Cass County, Neb., Sept. 28, 1881, to 
Miss Kate Magee, who was born in Peoria County, 
111., Jan. 5, 1860. Mrs. Spink came to this county 
with her parents when a j'oung girl of fifteen 
j-ears, they settling in South Bend Precinct, where 
she lived until her marriage. She is the daughter 
of George and Pllizabeth Magee, who were natives 
of Ohio and Kentucky, and the father for many 
years carried on farming in Peoria County, 111. He 
is living in Aston, Saunders Co., Neb. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Spink there has been born one child only, 
a daughter, Lefie Claire, born July 19, 1886. 

Solomon Spink, the father of our subject, was 
born near Whitehall, Vt., and left New England 
with his parents when a small boj', they settling 
in Western New York. He was there reared to 
man's estate, and married Miss Jane C. Heath. In 
due time they became the parents of four children, 



three sons and one daughter, and all are now liv- 
ing, and residents of Nebraska, Colorado and Michi- 
gan. After their marriage the parents emigrated 
to Wayne County, Mich., where the father followed 
his trade of carpenter until after the outbreak of 
the Rebellion. He watched the conflict until 1863, 
and then, unable further to restrain his patriotic im- 
pulses, left his little family and enlisted in a Michi- 
gan regiment. He returned to them again, dying 
at his home in Michigan. His widow is still living, 
making her home with her children in Eastern 
Colorado. She was born at Olean, Cattaraugus 
Co., N. Y., in 1831, and both parents were mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Cliurch. 









^JT-rt 



DAM KRAEGER. Tiie pioneer element of 
Cass County numbers the subject of this 
* sketch as one of its most enterprising and 
succesful men. He came to Eight Mile 
Grove Precinct in the spring of 1871, and pur- 
chased 1 60 acres of uncultivated prairie land, for 
which he paid the munificent sum of $1.50 per 
acre. He was without means for its development, 
and for two years thereafter emploj'ed himself as 
a farm laborer by the month to secure that by 
which he could proceed with the cultivation of his 
property. Upon it not a furrow had been turned, 
neither was there a building nor a fence. He thus 
began from the first principles in the construction 
of a homestead, and looking ujwn his possessions 
to-day — a finely improved estate of 320 acres — we 
must acknowledge that the industry and persever- 
ance with which he has labored are worthy of more 
than a passing mention. 

One of the finest representatives of the substan- 
tial German element of this county, our subject 
was born May 5, 1840. His parents, John and Eve 
Kraeger, were natives of the same locality as their 
son, and there the father died. Tlie mother later, 
in company with her two sons, Adam and John, 
emigrated to America, taking passage on a sailing- 
vessel at the port of Bremen, and after an ocean voy- 
age of about one month landed at New York Cit}'. 
Tliey had embarked about the 1st of December, 
1865. and first set foot upon American soil in Jan 



••-11^ 



••► 



CASS COUNTY. 



uary foUowLng. They made their way at once to 
Tazewell County, 111., where the sons provided 
comfortably for their mother until her death, which 
occurred about 1871. The brother John thereafter 
took up his residence in Illinois. He is now living 
in Eight Mile Grove. 

Mr. Kraeger after coming to this country- turned 
his attention to agricultural pursuits, and believing 
that it was not good for man to be alone, he was 
married, Feb. 15, 1881, to Miss Louisa Wagner. 
This lady is a native of the same Province as her 
husband in German}', and was born Jan. 12, 1857. 
Her parents were William and Wilhelmina Wag- 
ner, also natives of the Fatherland, and the former 
of whom died in his native Germany about 1868. 
The mother in 1875 came with her two daughters 
to America, making the passage in eleven days on 
a steamer, and like the future husband of Miss 
Louisa, coming directly to this county. It was not 
long thereafter until the young people met and de- 
cided to unite their fortunes for life. 

To our subject and his excellent wife there have 
been born Ave children, namely: Caroline, Feb. 
25, 1882; DoUie, Jan. 25, 1884; Wilhelmin.a, July 
21, 1885, and John, April 8, 1886. Mr. Kraeger. 
politically, affiliates with the Democratic part}', 
and has distinguished himself as a peaceable and 
law-abiding citizen, attending strictly to his own 
concerns, but always willing to aid and encourage 
the projects calculated for the general welfare of 
the communitj'. 



•»J!^>«.5>J;^ 



<*?*tf-»<tfitf— 



^HILIP C, ENGELL. a prominent pioneer 
of Cass County, is now a prominent mem- 
ber of its farming community. He owns 
and manages a large farm comprising one- 
half of section 14, Liberty Precinct, and here he 
and his family have a very pleasant home. He is 
a native of New York. Schoharie County his 
birthplace, and Sept. 25, 1831, was the date of his 
birth. His parents, Peter and Catherine (Crounze) 
Engell, natives of the State of New York, were 
early settlers of St. Joseph County, Mich., going 
there when our subject was an infant, and settling 
in the woods when the surrounding country was 



in its primitive wildness, inhabited by the In- 
dians, as is indicated by the date of their arrival 
there early in 1832. There liy hard labor they 
reared a comfortable home, and bore an honorable 
part in the development of the county, and there the 
father rounded out and completed a useful life, dy- 
ing in the sixties on his homestead in White Pigeon 
Township, he then being past middle age. His 
wife is yet living there with her youngest son, 
Henry, by her second husband, Lorenzo Jones, and 
she is now seventy -nine years old. She is a de- 
voted member of the Methodist Church, as was 
her husband, and she shared with him the respect 
of the entire community. 

Their son of whom we write grew to man's 
estate amid the pioneer scenes of his parental home, 
remaining an inmate of the household until he was 
twenty-five years old, never until that time, since 
his entrance into the county when an infant, going 
bej'ond its boundaries, his first journey into the 
great world at that time being to Pike's Peak and 
Denver City. This was during the great excite- 
ment caused by the discovery of gold in 1859. 
Our subject prospected for some six weeks with 
others who went with him, but they found that the 
precious metal was not to be picked up on the sur- 
face as many seemed to think when they started 
for that region, and that, in fact, its hidden sources 
were undiscoverable, so our subject and his com- 
panions retraced their way across the great plains 
that they had traversed so recently with such ex- 
ultant feelings and strong hopes of securing a fort- 
une. Mr. Engle determined not to return to his 
old home only to confess the failure of his schemes, 
but decided instead to locate somewhere on the 
rich farming lands of the Missouri River basin, and 
in a surer, if slower way, build up the fortune that 
he had vainly sought in the Rocky IMountains. He 
soon decided on Cass County as the most desirable 
place for location, as he was favorably impressed 
with its many advantages of climate, fertility of 
soil, etc. With characteristic energy he went to 
work at breaking land for other settlers in order to 
pay for land of his own, and in that way secured a 
part of his present farm, and doubtless broke a 
section or more of land. In the spring of 1862 he 
completed the purchase of his land, which was 



>► ■ <•• 



•►:il-^ 



f 



•►Hl-^^ 



1000 



CASS COUNTY. 



^t^4^ 



then in a primitive state. It now forms one of the 
finest and best improved farms in this part of the 
county, and witli its neat and comfortable build- 
ings, of a modern style of architecture, attracts the 
eye of the stranger, who singles it out as one of the 
most desirable places for a liome to be seen in the 
precinct. At one time in the earlv years of his 
settlement here Mr. Engell was actively and profit, 
ably engaged in freighting across the plains to 
Denver and even beyond. While thus engaged he 
hunted some, and has killed as many as fourteen 
buffaloes, besides a large number of antelopes. 

When our subject first located here he was a 
single man, and for a few years kept bachelor's hall^ 
but April 16, 1863, he became a benedict, as on 
that daj' his marriage was solemnized in Libert}- 
with Miss Luticia Brinson, a native of Madison 
County, Ind. She was born Oct. 12, 1843, to David 
and Margaret (Saylor) Brinson, natives of Indiana. 
The}' were there reared and married, and after the 
birth of two children, Lydia A. and Mrs. Engell, 
they moved westward in 1844, and lived in Mis- 
souri five years. Later they removed to Madison 
County, Iowa, and there the mother died in 1851, 
leaving six small children. Two years after her 
death Mr. Brinson married Sarah Evans, and in 
1854 the family moved to Nebraska City, when that 
place was in its infancy. Mr. Brinson took up a 
claim and lived on it two years, and then sold it 
and purchased another in Liberty. He lived here 
for some years with his family, and finallj' went to 
Broken Bow, Custer County, this State, with his 
family, and still resides there, he at the age of 
seventy years, and his wife at the age of sixty- 
five years. Mrs. Engell remained an inmate of the 
parental household until she was married. She is 
the mother of seven children, of whom three are 
dead — an infant, Anna E. and Emer}'. Those liv- 
ing are all at home, and their names are Frederic 
E., Charles E., Theresa A. and .John B. 

Mr. Engell has seen much of pioneer life, having 
been reared in a pioneer home in a newly settled 
country, and then, in the vigor of early manhood, 
becoming in turn an important factor in the de- 
velopment of a frontier Territory. He was well 
endowed with a courageous, self-sacrificing spirit, 
powers of endurance, energj- and capacity, neces- 



sary to encounter the difficulties that lay before 
him in the wild, undeveloped West when he first 
cast in his lot with the earlj' settlers of this region. 
The probity of his character and his unblemished 
life record cause him to be greatly respected by all 
in this community, of which he has been a member 
for so many years. He and his estimable wife are 
active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and Mr. Engell is Trustee and Steward of that 
church. In politics he is a solid Republican. 



—J- 



#-# 



-^■ 



^?=^P:0RGE F. SHRYDER. Sr., retired farmer, 
(|[ g— , is a genuine pioneer of Cass County, iiaving 
^^1 been here since 1856, arriving on the day 
that James Buchanan was elected President of tlie 
United States. He first located in Three Grove, 
twelve miles east of Weeping Water, wliere he 
bought a claim for $1,600, and settled on it before 
there were any improvements, excepting that there 
was a small house on it. When Mr. Shryder 
came to this county there were only two houses in 
Plattsmouth, and none between there and Three 
Grove, which received its cognomen from tlie fact 
that there were three houses there, thiee settlers in 
a grove. In 1857 there was quite an Indian scare 
in that region, and all in the vicinity- of Tliree Grove 
were out scouting, and camped one night on the 
site of the present city of Weeping Water. They 
captured one Indian and a pony ; the former was 
tied and a guard placed over him, but he escaped 
in spite of their precaution. Some of the people 
who took part in that affair are still living .lere. 
The alarm was all caused l>y the shooting of an 
Indian on Salt Creek near Lincoln. Nothing more 
was heard of the Indians for some time after that. 
Indian scares were often aroused bj' maliciously 
disposed people, who would don red blankets and 
show themselves to the settlers for the purpose of 
frightening them. 

Our subject was born Sept. 10, 1822, in Cayuga 
County, N. Y., where he was reared and educated. 
His father, Ernest C. Shryder, was born in Hamburg, 
Germany, and when six years of age emigrated 
with his mother to New York. In that State he 
grew to manhood and was married, S;>rah Cooper 



*f 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1001 



becoming his wife. She bore him Ave chikheii, 
three girls and two boys, all of whom grew to ma- 
turity, and three are still living, our subject being 
the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Shryder spent their last 
years in Nebr.aska. Both were members of the 
United Presbyterian Church, and lived consistent 
Christian lives. 

George F. Shryder, of tiiis sketch, remained in his 
native town until the age of sixteen, when he re- 
moved with his parents to Illinois, settling in Peoria 
County. He worked at various occupations, and 
continued a resident of the Prairie .State until tak- 
ing up his abode here, as previously mentioned. 
The claim which he bought consisted of 220 acres 
of land in its primitive wildness, and from this, by 
dint of hard labor, ambitious energy and jiractical 
judgment, he has eliminated a fine, productive farm. 
During tlie twenty-eight years that he resided on it 
he fenced it, set out an orchard, small fruits and 
vines, and from it gained a good subsistence, and 
amassed a handsome competency by raising stock 
ami grain, aiid expending the proceeds judiciousl\'. 
In 1884 Mr. Shryder sold his farm for the modest 
sum of $8,000, and moved into town, where he 
lived fourteen months. He then bought 1 60 acres 
of land on section 36, Centre Precinct, where he 
has since lived. He also owns a good house on the 
edge of the city of Weeping Water, where he now 
resifles. 

The union of our subject with Miss Margaret A. 
Parr was solemnized .Ian. 4, 1852, in Illinois. Her 
parents, Joseph and Margaret (Bloomer) Parr, were 
natives of Ireland, and lived there several years 
after their marriage, finally' coming to America, and 
settling in Peoria County, III., where he pursued his 
occupation of farming. Of their union six children 
were born, three during their residence in Ireland, 
and three after they came to Illinois. Of these 
five grew to maturity, of whom the following is the 
record: Nancy, born Feb. 10, 1828; Margaret, Oct. 
1, 1833; Thomas, April 12, 1839; James, born Jure 
6, 1841, died Feb. 4, 1887; Sarah M., born Dec. 19, 
1844. Mr. Parr remained in Illinois until his death, 
which occurred Nov. 15, 1852, in the fifty-third 
year of his age. His wife survived him and mar- 
ried again, living until Feb. 11, 1881, when she too 
quietly passed on to the silent world beyond. 



Of the union of our subject and his wife six chil- 
dren have been born, three of whom died in early 
childhood, namely: James, John and Theodore. 
Of the three now living the following is recorded: 
Sarah Margaret married L. A. Young, and they 
have two children (see sketch of L. A. Young); Ida 
May married Robert Y'oung, and they have three 
children; George L. Shryder married Miss Hattie 
J. Pitman, a native of Nebraska, born in Nebraska 
City, Sept. 30, 1866. Her father, Wesley Pitman, 
is a native of Indiana, and removed with his fam- 
ily to Liberty Precinct in the earl}' days of its set- 
tlement. 

Our subject takes a dee)) interest in the welfare 
of his town, and is at all times ready and willing to 
aid all practical schemes for its moral, social or 
intellectual improvement, and though not a poli- 
tician, he has held various town offices, alw'ays per- 
forming the duties devolving u[)on him with care 
and fidelity. He is a stanch Republican, voted for 
William H. Harrison, and also for Benjamin Harri- 
son. Both he and his estimable wife are valued 
members of the Presbyterian Church, and are sin- 
cere and conscientious Christians. 



RANK STANDER. The Great West is per- 

Pmeated with the thrifty German element 
which has found its way into every channel 
of trade and business, and comprises a large propor- 
tion of the bone and sinew and the wealth of the 
United States. The sons of the Fatherland were 
not slow to avail themselves of the inducements 
held out for settlement bej'ond the Mississippi, and 
among them in the earlier days came the subject of 
this sketch, who is now one of the most prominent 
farmers of Louisville Precinct, and President of 
the Louisville Bank. This institution was pur- 
chased by himself and his son James in 1884, hav- 
ing been established the year previously by J. J. 
Manker and his brothers. James Slander operated 
as cashier, and the bank is conducted upon those 
principles which are calculated to insure its per- 
petuation and success. 

Our subject was born in the small village of Val- 
karota, in Prussia, on the 26th of May, 1835, and is 



*► II < •• 



♦-Ih 



•►Hl-^*- 



-•► 



100-2 



CASS COUNTY. 



the son of George and Maij- (IJaitnian) Stander, 
nalivrs of the same section of countiy. Their fam- 
ily comprised four sons and four daughters, all of 
whom are living, and of whom Frank was the sixth 
in order of birlh. In accordance with the laws and 
customs of his native country he was placed in 
school wlien a little lad six years of age, and gave 
close attention to his studies until fourteen years 
old. He then served an apprenticeship of three 
years at the trade of shoemaker, and thereafter was 
engaged as a journeyman until a youth of nineteen, 
when he set sail for America. 

From tlie city of New York young Stander made 
his way to Milwaukee, Wis., where he was employed 
two years at his trade and other pursuits. Later 
we find him working on a farm for about live years, 
and in the fall of 1868 he turned his steps toward 
the fartliier West. C(iming to this county he stopped 
for a brief time at Plattsmouth,and later visited the 
land-office in Nebraska City, where he entered 120 
acres on section 36, Louisville Precinct. From this he 
opened up a good farm, occupying it eight years, 
then selling out, purchased 160 acres on section 34. 
To this he added from time to time until he is now 
the owner of 480 acres in one body. He has car- 
ried on mixed farming successfully, making a spe- 
cially of grain and stock raising, breeding horses, 
cattle and swine, his favorite equines being the 
Norman and Clydesdale stock. 

lu 1882 Mr. Stander erected a large store build- 
ing in Louisville, wherein he put a good stock of gen- 
eral merchandise, and three years later the bank was 
established in the same place. In addition to the 
property already mentioned, Mr. Stander has two 
sections of land in Keith County, which is mostly 
under a state of cultivation. He has been a man 
prominent in his community, serving as a member 
of the School Board for the last fifteen years, offi- 
ciating as Assessor six years, and occupying the 
various other local offices. He votes the straight 
Democratic ticket, and in religious matters is a de- 
vout member of the Catholic Church. For a man 
who crossed the Missouri River without capital, 
borrowing $1.50 to get across, it must be admitted 
that his industr}- and perseverance have been am- 
ply rewarded. 

Our subject was married, in the spring of 1859, 



to Miss Kliza, daughter of Jacob and Fillapena Ke- 
gula, who was a native of Wisconsin. They began 
their wedded life together at the farm in Louisville 
Precinct, and in due time the household circle was 
completed by the birth of twelve children, nine 
sous and three (laughters. The eldest, James, has 
already been mentioned ; George is occupied at 
farming on his own account; Helen, the eldest 
daughter, and her brother Peter, are the assistants 
of their father in the store and bank; Henry, Will- 
iam, Lizzie, Louie, Leslie, Arthur, Olivie and Ralph 
are at home with their parents. 



IRAiM G. HAWLEY is one of the kind of 
l! men to whom the thriving State of Nebraska 
is deeply indebted for the present proud 
position she holds in the galaxy of the 
States of the nation. It is by the skill, knowledge 
and energy he exerted that he has made his home 
farm, which is located on section 31 in Mt. Pleas- 
ant Precinct, to blossom as the rose, and to bring 
forth abundant fruits. 

This gentleman is a native of Ohio, having been 
born in Lorain County, Aug. 8, 1834. There he 
resided and attained to years of manhood, becom- 
ing, from the earliest days of his life, accustomed to 
the trials and cares incident to a life in a new coun- 
try, as at that time his native county was in a com- 
paratively wild and sparsely settled condition. 
During his youth he received a fair common-school 
education, and since that time he has lost no oppor- 
tunity for adding in a practical way to his store of 
knowledge. In the autumn of 1865 Mr. Hawley 
went to Scott County, Iowa, and remained there 
about a year. From there he went to Cedar County, 
same State, where he lived for thirteen years. In 
the spring of 1869, having heard so much about 
the advantages held out by Nebraska, and the 
opportunity that it offered for securing a home and 
a competence, he decided to test the truth of the 
reports for himself. Accordingly, in the spring of 
1869 he migrated to this State, and at once set- 
tled upcm his present farm of eighty acres, which 
he purchased for $460. The land was void of all 



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»^h 



•►Hf^ 






♦ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1003 



improvement, and the present high state of its 
cultivation is due in every respect to the applica- 
tion and perseverance of the owner. 

The subject of our sketch vvas married in Lorain 
County, Ohio, Aug. 15. 1855, to Emily B. Bunker. 
She is a daugliter of James and Julia Bunker, 
both of whom are dead. Nine children have l)een 
horn to the couple, six of whom survive: Archie 
L. resides in Chase County, Neh. ; Dwight H. in 
Che3-enue Connty ; Frederick in Chase County ; Ada 
is a teacher in the district school, and Harry and 
Frank are at home with their parents. 

Mr. llawley is a son of I'riah and F.lizabelii 
llawley, both natives of New Kngland. The father 
was supposed to have settled in Lorain County, 
Ohio, as early as 1824 or 1825. His paternal an- 
cestors are believed to have been of English 
descent, but no record in existence will verify the 
belief. A family of seven children was born to 
his parents, of which number the following survive: 
Elizabeth, now the widow of Josiah Jenney, resides 
in Ottumwa, Iowa; Newton J. resides in Missouri; 
Sarah is the wife of Henry Boswith, and resides in 
Henry County, Iowa; and Hiram G., our subject. 
Maria was the wife of Quincy Boswith, and is now 
deceased. 

For a few months after settling on his new land 
Hiram G. Hawlej' lived in a shanty until he could 
build a home sufficiently comfortable for his family. 
He began his work with a will and determination 
to have a home second to none in the county, and 
it needs but a glance to be convinced of what suc- 
cess he has had in his undertaking. In the course 
of his life in Nebraska he escaped many of the hard- 
ships which came to his fellovv settlers, yet he 
saw sufficient trouble, and endured self-denials to 
an extent that has taught him what a pioneer in 
Nebraska should expect. When he settled here 
Weeping Water contained only a few buildings, 
one a blacksmith-shop, and one building used 
jointly for religious and educational pur[)oses, and 
from this wild and desolate condition he has seen 
the entire country develop into its present perfected 
state. 

Our subject has bj' a life of rectitude and honor 
gained the entire confidence and good-will of the 
entire neighborhood, and has been called by the 



people of his precinct to fill a position of credit and 
trust. For three j'ears he has been the Assessor of 
Mt. Pleasant Precinct, and in 1888 he was re-elected 
his own successor. His political affiliations are 
with the Republican part^', in the success of which 
he takes an active and lively interest. His wife and 
daughter are members of the Congregational 
Church. The entire familj' hold a prominent po- 
sition in the society of the precinct. 



vi^DWIN F. RICHARDS, a prosperous young 
fe) farmer, a resident of Elm wood Precinct, was 
It — if ' born in Goffstown Village, Hillsboro Co., 
N. 11., July 13, 1852. His early life was spent 
in that Switzerland of America, living upon a farm. 
When he was three years of age his mother died, 
and he was cared for by his sister Mary A., then 
only eleven years of age, and who is now a resident 
of Illinois. At the age of fourteen he went to 
Illinois, where he joined his sister, who had married 
Mr. Harrison Stinson, and removed to that State, 
settling in Ogle Countj', where Mr. Richards lived 
until 1872. Edwin's educational advantages in 
New Hampshire as well as in Illinois consisted 
onl\- of the good common schools, which he im- 
proved to the fullest extent. He began work at an 
early day, and vvas taught to be industrious and to 
rely solely upon his own efforts, which early train- 
ing has been of the utmost value to him in his life 
in the West. In the spring of 1871 his brother 
Horace came West and joined him in Illinois, and 
in the following year they determined to seek their 
fortunes in the at that time Far West. In pursu- 
ance of this determination the^' started with teams 
overland for Nebraska. They crossed the Missouri 
River at Plattsmouth, where they purchased a 
quarter-section of land from the railway company, 
but which they were not able to retain. 

After the grasshopper scourge had abated, our 
subject and his brother thouglit they would again 
make the venture, as their faith in the ultimate pros- 
perity of the State was unshaken, so they repur- 
chased their first selection. In 1879 Mr. Richards 
purchased his present eighty acres of land, and has 
since added to it, until he is now the owner of 200 



>► I L ^' 



•►:Ih-^ 



•^^fMi- 



H ' 1004 



CASS COUNTY. 



acres, 120 of which is located on section 24 and 
eight}- on section 25, which is improved by a snug 
and conveniently arranged one and one-half story 
frame house, good bains, very extensive cattle sheds 
and corn cribs, a fine orchard and thrifty groves. 
His entire tr.act of land has a never-failing supply 
of the purest water. 

Our subject was married, in 1881, to Miss Alvira 
H. Colbert, the eldest daughter of James Colbert, 
a resident of Klmwood Precinct. Three children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Richards: Ralph 
E., born June 15, 1882, died while an infant; MarN' 
A., born Ma^' 15, 1884, still living, is a brilliant, 
lovable child : and another son, Henry C, born 
July 18, 1887, died while an infant. 

At the time of her death the mother of our sub- 
ject was but thirty-six years of age. She possessed 
one of those fine, high-strung natures which enabled 
lier to see all that was beautiful and grand in 
nature, which she has transmitted fully to her 
sons. A fine poetical vein threaded her nature, 
which often showed itself during life, and especially 
at the time of her last illness, when she wrote many 
fine poems, one of which we give: 

Farewell, farewell, now husband dear. 

Ami j'ou six little ones. 
For I am going to my long home 

Never more to return. 

Death soon will break the tie 

That has bound us heart and hand. 

But soon we all shall meet again 
In that holj', happy land. 

1 leave j-ou with these little ones, 
Watch them with a parent's eye. 

For they will have no mother near 
To hear them when they cry. 

When pain and sickness rack your frame 

And make j'our flesh decay, 
Then may you be provided for 

As I have all my days. 

And when your daj's are past. 

And the Saviour calls you to rest. 

Then shall we all meet in that holy land 
Where we may all be blessed. 

She died as she had lived, having a deep and 
abiding faith in the promises of the Creator, and 
having a Christian's hope. 

The father of Mr. Richards is still living in New 



•► 



■^h^ 



Hampshire, and is a man of considerable wealth. 
In 1887 lie visited his sons and was very highl}' 
pleased with the progress they were making and the 
prospects that lay before them. He has attained 
the ripe old age of seventy-four j-ears. He. and 
his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Warren, 
were born in New Hampshire, and were among the 
early settlers of Oofifstown. The mother was a 
granddaughter of the Gen. Warren who fell in de- 
fense of his country at the battle of Bunker Hill, at 
the beginning of the War for Independence. The 
paternal grandfather died when the father of our 
subject was a j'oung boy, so the family histoiy on 
that side is lost. Our subject's father remarried 
after his first wife's death, and four children were 
the result of that union; only one, Arthur, is now 
living. He resides on the old homestead in New 
Hampshire. 

The subject of our sketch is one of a family of 
seven children, namely: Heniy C, Mary A.; George 
W.. now dead; Horace T., and Ephraim W., de- 
ceased, were older, and Charles A., who died when 
an infant, was younger. For several years Mr. Rich- 
ards has been widely and favorably known as a well- 
informed stock-raiser, bringing a great degree of in- 
telligence to the prosecution and successful conduct 
of that business. He is a liberal, large-hearted, kind 
man, who almost idolizes his wife and little daughter. 
He has contributed liberally toward the erection of 
all the churches in his vicinity, and is found in the 
front in all charitable enterprises, doing his part. 
In politics Mr. Richards is a Democrat. His serv- 
ices as public offlcer have up to this time been 
limited to membersliip in the School Board. 

\¥; OHN H. BECKER. The precinct of Eight 
Mile Grove finds no more substantial or re- 
liable citizen than the subject of this biog- 
(^^7/ raphj^, who is the owner of over 1,000 acres 
of land. His property lies on section 13, the 
home farm comprising 1,000 acres, which his native 
thrift and industry have transformed from a raw 
prairie to one of the most thoroughly cultivated 
tracts of land along the northern line of the county. 
Like a large proportion of the solid men of this 



^ 



■<• 



•►-11^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1005 



pi-ecinct. Mr. Becker is of German birtii and parent- 
age, first opening his eyes to the light Nov. 3, 
1840. AVhen a youth of seventeen years he emi- 
grated to America, making the long voyage across 
the Atlantic from Havre, Fnmce, to New York 
Citj^, being on tlie ocean forty-two days. 

From the great metropolis our subject, a stranger 
in a strange land, and with ver}- little money in liis 
pocket, made his way directly to Tazewell County, 
111., where he set about earning his own living by the 
sweat of his brow. Engaging as a farm hand in 
that county, he sojourned in that region a period 
of seven years. There also he met his fate in the 
person of Miss Harriet E. Fuller, to whom he was 
married May 12, 1864. The young couple began 
the journey of life together in the modest home in 
that county, and lived in Illinois until the spring 
of 1878. Then, deciding to cast his lot with the 
people of Nebraska, Mr. Becker gathered together 
his personal effects and his little family, and cross- 
ing the Father of Waters came to this county. 
He had previously purchased 160 acres of land 
which is included in his present farm. From that 
time on he labored diligently, early and late, and 
was more than ordinarily wise in his investments, 
while his careful cultivation of the soil soon 
placed him upon an independent footing. Aside 
from a small amount received from his father's es- 
tate, he has had no assistance, being the architect 
of his own fortune. 

Mr. Becker, who struggled under many difficul- 
ties for a number of years after coming to Nebraska, 
is now numbered among the leading land-owners of 
this county. In proportion to his property there 
also increased his position and standing among his 
fellow-citizens, who would have gladly raised him 
to the most important offices within their gift. 
AVhile in Illinois he had held the minor offices of 
his township, and in 1884 he was the candidate of 
the Republican party of Cass County for Commis- 
sioner, but owing to his position on the county seat 
fight, he was defeated. He is a member of the 
Cxerman Lutheran Church, while liis estimable wife 
belongs to the Baptist. 

Mr. Becker received a good education in his na- 
tive tongue, and by a course of reading keeps him- 
self well posted upon topics of general interest. His 



land of late years has been largelj' devoted to stock- 
raising, with results eminently satisfactory. The 
homestead proper lies on section 13, and with its 
substantial and commodious buildings fulfills the 
modern idea of rural life with all its comforts. 
Seven children completed the household circle, who 
were named respectively: George H., William A.^ 
Mary E., Henry E., Philip T., Dora A. and 
Carrie O. 

Fliilip and Catherine (Scheneider) Becker, the 
parents of our subject, were also natives of Ger- 
many, and spent their last years there. The family 
consisted of six children. 



t 



40 



<Sp^ BENEZER G.LAUGHLIN, senior member of 
fe) the firm of Laughlin & Laughlin, is, with his 
I*' — ^ uncle, Benjamin F., conducting a very suc- 
cessful livery business at Greenwood. He is a man 
who at once attracts universal attention on account 
of his fine physique, being of commanding pres- 
ence, upright, and of handsome proportions. In ad- 
dition to a fine physical frame he has been endowed 
by nature with more than ordinary good business 
capacities. In a business requiring much tact and 
good management, he is extremely popular in his 
community, being courteous and obliging, and 
prompt to meet his obligations. 

Our subject is a son of one of the first three pio- 
neers of this county, William J. Laughlin, a sketch 
of whom will be found elsewhere in this work. He 
was born in Mt. Pleasant, Henry Co., Iowa, May 
12, 1859. He was an infant of five months when 
his parents moved to Nebraska, settling in Salt 
Creek Precinct. The countrj' in that vicinitj' had 
at that time received but little attention from 
white settlers, and the first school in Salt Creek Pre- 
cinct was conducted in the house of William Laugh- 
lin by the mother, who in her girlhood was Miss 
Mary Coleman. Later, a school building was erected 
on Salt Creek, where our subject attended princi- 
pally in the winter season. 

Our subject spent his boyhood and youth amid 
the scenes of frontier life, his mind and muscles 
developing in a healthy atmosphere. He assisted 
his parents around the homestead and continued 



^ 



?^k 



•>-#-<*" 



-•►HI-4* 



1006 



CASS COUNTY, 



I 



with them until his marriage, which occurred Oct. 
2, 1882, the bride being Miss Alice L., daughter of 
S. L. Anderson, of Kentucky. Mrs. Laughlin was 
born in Marion County, Iowa, Nov. 25, 1862, and 
was a maiden of seventeen years when her parents 
came to this county. They are now residing in 
Salt Creek. Their family consists of five children, 
all of whom are surviving and making their homes 
in this State except one, who lives in Kansas. 

Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin commenced their wedded 
life together at a modest home in Salt Creek Pre- 
cinct, and of their union there have been born four 
children, namely: Mary L., Pearl, William G. 
and Earl, the latter of whom died in infancy. Mrs. 
L. is a member in good standing of the Christian 
Churcli, and our subject uniformly votes the 
straight Democratic ticket. The family residence 
is pleasantly located in the southwestern part of the 
city, and is the resort of hosts of friends. 

The liverj' business of Laughlins' was established 
at Greenwood in 1887. They have commodious 
quarters, located on Third street, and their horses 
and equipments will compare favorably with any- 
thing of the kind along the western line of the 
county. They enjoy a good patronage from the 
people of this locality. 



AVID SAMSON. This gentleman played 
no unimportant part among the men of 
intelligence, thrift and foresight, who as 
pioneers of Cass County have been factors 
in its growth. He was an early settler of Platts- 
mouth, and has now been a permanent resident 
here for several years. He was at one time inter- 
ested in agriculture quite extensively, but the 
state of his health does not permit him to carry on 
any active business, and he employs his time solelj' 
in looking after his property. 

Mr. Samson was born in Pike Counl3% Ohio, 
May 11, 1823. His father, James B. Samson, was 
a native of Virginia, and his father. David Samson, 
is also supposed to have been born in that State, 
He removed to Ohio about 1800, the removal 
being made in wagons, and he became a pioneer of 



Scioto County, where he bought quite a tract of 
timbered land, from which he evolved a farm. 
Twenty years later he sold that homestead, and 
entered a large tract of Government land in Pike 
County, where he resided until death. He had in 
the meantime labored hard at the pioneer task of 
clearing and improving a farm, which ranked 
among the best in that locality, and was provided 
with good buildings. He married a Miss Brouse, 
a native of Pennsylvania, of German ancestry. 

The father of our subject was about six years old 
when his parents removed from the old Virginian 
home, and the place of his birth, to the wilderness 
in the Territory of Ohio. He there grew to a vig- 
orous manhood, and soon established a home, hav- 
ing married Margaret Bradford, a native of Vir- 
ginia, and daughter of Ezra Bradford, an early 
settler of Scioto County. Mr. Samson had learned 
the stonemason's trade, and also picked up a knowl- 
edge of blacksmithing. At the time of his mar- 
riage he settled in Scioto Count3% but after living 
there one year he took up his abode in Pike County. 
He bought a tract of timbered land there, and built 
a log house, the same in which our subject was 
born. He worked at his trade of stonemason on 
the Ohio Canal, receiving $1 a day, and in 
tiiat way earned enough to pay for his land, and 
when he did not have work at his trade, he cleared 
away the timber that covered it. He continued to 
reside on it until 1835, and then traded it for a 
farm in Scioto County, to which he immediately 
moved his family. In 1845 he disposed of that 
place, having decided to seek a location beyond 
the Mississippi River. Accompanied b}' his wife 
and children, he started for his new home, travel- 
ing by the way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Mis- 
souri Rivers to Missouri, disembarking at Savannah 
Landing, Andrew County. He soon bought a 
tract of land four miles from that place, in the 
same county; a log cabin on the place and twelve 
acres of the land broken, the rest being timbered, 
constituted the improvements. He cleared quite a 
tract of the land, and resided on it about ten 3-ears, 
when he sold out and moved to the village of Fill- 
more, where he bouglit a home. Soon after his 
removal there he was elected Justice of the Peace, 
and he also became a local preacher of much repute. 



•>-*-^' 



-•►Hl-^ 



•►Hl^ 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1007 



having joined the Methodist Episcopal Church 
when he first took up his residence in Missouri. 
He died there about 1873, but his memory is cher- 
ished by those who knew him as a man of large 
heart, kindly impulses, whose life was blameless, 
and who sought to do good. 

Our subject was the third of the nine children 
born to his worthy parents, who trained him to a 
useful manhood. He was reared amid pioneer 
scenes, and he well remembers when his mother, 
having no stove, was obliged to cook their meals 
by the heat of the fire in the rude fireplace, and 
when the clothing that he wore was spun and woven 
by her hands. He resided with his parents un- 
til he was twenty-two, and then bought a claim to 
some Government land in Andrew County, in com- 
pany with his brother-in-law, and commenced to 
improve it. One year later he sold it and returned 
home, and lived with his parents two years. We 
next hear of him in Ohio, where he was variously 
emploj'ed for a year. He then went back to 
Andrew County and farmed on shares for a year. 
He traded his share of the crops for lumber, and 
bujing a lot in Fillmore, built a house. He sold 
that residence in 1853, and moved to Coonville, 
now Glenwood, Mills Co., Iowa. That place 
was then only a small hamlet, and a great deal of 
the land thereabout was owned by the Govern- 
ment. He bought an interest in a sawmill which 
he operated for six months, and then disposed of 
his share, and turned his attention to building up 
tlie town, and erected three houses in Glenwood. 
His health was not good, and he was obliged to 
give up his business almost entirely. In 1856 he 
sold his property there, and made ready to move to 
Oregon. But before the time set for him to start, he 
made arrangements that entirely changed his plans, 
.agreeing with some gentlemen who h.ad claims in 
Cass County to come here and hold those claims 
for them, one of the claims joining tlie city, and 
the other on the prairie a short distance west. He 
found that he could not bold both claims, so he 
bought the one on the prairie, and entered it from 
the Government. At that time the whole of Ne- 
braska was a wild, undeveloped prairie, with but 
one or two permanent settlements, and deer, wild 
turkeys and other game very plentiful. Mr. Samson 



spent a few daj's on his claim, and tiien settled in 
Plattsmouth, and buying a lot here, he erected a 
frame building, and rented the upper stories to the 
county for public offices. Four years later Mr. 
Samson moved to his land to cultivate it and im- 
prove it into a farm. He staid there four years, 
and then once again made Plattsmouth his home. 
He soon after bought the improvements on a tract 
of school land that belonged to the State, and farmed 
that three years, when he traded it for land in 
Mills County, Iowa. Five years subsequently he 
sold that place and tried life in Southeastern Kan- 
sas. He did not like it there, and four months later 
found him once more a resident of Plattsmouth, 
and ever since that time he has made his home here. 
Mr. Samson and Miss Margaret F. Clement were 
united in marriage in 1858, and of their happy 
union five children have been born, as follows: 
Wilbur C; Agnes, the wife of Hon. Samuel M. 
Chapman; Susan and Margaret N., both teachers ; 
and Edwin Stanton. They have been given good 
advantages for education, and have been care- 
fully trained in all that makes good and helpful 
lives. Mrs. Samson was born in the Province of 
Lorraine, France, May 28, 1825. Her father, John 
Francis Clement, was a native of the same place, as 
was also his wife, whose maiden name was Mary 
Catherine Puloung. Mr. Clement learned the 
trade of cabinet-maker, and followed that trade in 
France until 1831. In that year he first located in 
America, settling in Maryland, and carrying on 
cabinet-making there. St. Louis subsequently be- 
came his home for a time, and he still continued to 
work at his trade. From that city he went to Illi- 
nois and pre-empted Government land near Pekin, 
Tazewell County, of which he thus became a pioneer. 
He was the first man in that county to bre.ak the 
land and engage in farming. He resided there un- 
til his death, July 15, 1844. His widow died on 
the horns farm four years later. After the death 
of her parents Mrs. Samson lived with a sister at 
Tremont until 1857, and then left Illinois for the 
Territory of Nebraska, coming by water. They 
found this city only an insignificant hamlet, with 
scarcely any indications of its present size and im- 
portance. In Mrs. Samson we have a fine repre 
sentative of the pioneier women of Nebraska who 



«► II < • 



ho f 



•►Hl^ 



1008 



CASS COUNTY. 



have been such important factors in the settlement 
of this commonwealth. She possesses a remark- 
ably clear mind, and is well endowed with firmness 
and judgment, and her many pleasing attributes 
have gained her many warm friends. 

Mr. Samson is, as his fellow-citizens long since 
found, an eminently trustworthy man, of high 
principles and right conduct, and he is regarded 
with sincere respect and esteem. He has borne an 
honorable part in developing Cass County, and his 
share in building up Plattsmouth will not be 
forgotten. 



(I[_^ ON. ANDERSON ROOT, an ex-member of 
ffji) the Nebraska Legislature, and one of the 
/^^ solid citizens of Cass Count}', is a gentle- 
(^) man of more than ordinary capabilities, 
kind-hearted, public-spirited and benevolent, pos- 
sessing hosts of friends, and of that uniform and 
kindly temperament which carries a happy influence 
with him wherever he goes. He owns and occu- 
pies a fine farm on section 34, in Rock Bluff Pre- 
cinct, comprising 220 acres, and gives his support 
to all enterprises having for their object the gen- 
eral welfare of his community. His family com- 
prises an amiable and intelligent wife, and a group 
of bright and interesting children, the latter named 
respectively: Charles T., who is a student at the 
school of telegraphy, Janesville, AVis.; Roberts., 
Eliza J. and Ralph Roy are at home. . Mr. Root is 
a lifelong Republican politically, and he and his 
estimable wife are members in good standing of the 
United Presbyterian Church at Murra}-. 

The subject of this sketch is a great-grandson 
of Dr. Anson Root, an eminent physician in the 
State of Connecticut, where his entire life was 
passed. His son, Anson L. Root, grandfather of 
Anderson, was also a native of Connecticut, where 
he was reared, and where he married Miss Sally 
Brooks, also a native of that State. They remained 
in New England until after the birth of their son 
Charles T., father of our subject, then emigrated 
to Trumbull County, Ohio, during the earliest set- 
tlement of the Buckeye State. There Grandfather 
Root battled successfully with the elements of the 
soil, and from the wilderness built up a good 



homestead, where he spent his last days. The 
grandmother later removed to Michigan, and spent 
the remainder of her life with her son Nelson, in 
Berrien County, where her death took place Dec. 16, 
1857. 

The father of the subject of this sketch was born 
in Connecticut, and went with his parents when 
they removed to Ohio. He staid in that State but 
three years, however, and then removed to Ne- 
waygo County, Mich, where he made his home 
until 1870, when he resolved to try his fortune in 
the new State of Nebraska, and came to Cass 
•County. He has been twice married, his first wife 
being Miss Sarah A. Laughlin, mother of our sub- 
ject, who died in 1849. Mr. Root again married, 
but is again a widower, and is now engaged f n farm- 
ing in Cheyenne County, Neb. 

The mother of our subject was a daughter of 
James Laughlin and his wife, whose maiden name 
was Rachel Jlatthews. The father of James, and 
maternal great-grandfather of Anderson Root, was 
Alexander Laughlin, a native of County Down, 
Ireland, where he was united in marriage with 
Sarah Gordon, of the same county. Prior to the 
War of the Revolution he emigrated to America, 
and settled in Western Pennsylvania, where he en- 
gaged in farming, and there reared a large family. 
Tradition has it that he served in the Patriot Army 
for three years in the latter part of the Revolution- 
ary War. He died June 25, 1822, at the age of 
fifty-nine years, and is buried in the Kinsman 
Cemetery, in Trumbull County, Ohio. Of the time 
of his wife's death we have no record. 

James Laughlin, son of Alexander, and grand- 
father of Anderson Root, was born in Beaver 
County, Pa., Aug. 10, 1791. He became a far- 
mer, and while yet a j-oung man removed to Trum- 
bull County, Ohio, where he was married to 
Rachel Matthews, and reared a large family. A 
man of unbounded enterprise and energy, he hewed 
out of the wilderness a good home, and acquired 
an ample competence for his declining years. On 
the breaking out of the AV.ar of 1812, imbued with 
the patriotic impulses of his sire, he enlisted as a 
private in the United States Army, and served until 
the close of the war. Receiving an honorable dis- 
charge he returned to the pursuits of peace, and 



■•►hj 



•►Hl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•► 



1009 



died July 10, 1868, aged seventy -six j'ears, eleven 
months and eighteen days. In politics ^Ir. Langh- 
lin was originally a Whig, but on its formation 
joined the ranks of the Republican party, with 
which he ever after afliliated. He and his wife were 
lioth members of the Presbyterian Church. 

Rachel Matthews, wife of James Laughlin, and 
grandmother of Anderson Root, was also a native 
of Beaver Countj', Pa., and was a daughter of 
Deacon AVilliam Matthews, who was born iu Count}' 
Down, Ireland, and emigrated to America while a 
young man. With the innate love of liberty char- 
acteristic of the sturdy race from which he sprang, 
he entered the Continental Army, and for three 
years battled for the freedom of his adopted coun- 
trj'. He fought until the close of the war, and with 
the return of peace and the assumed liberty of the 
Colonies, left the army, receiving an honorable dis- 
charge, and in the latter years of his life drew a 
pension. He had settled at Georgetown, near the 
mouth of the Little Beaver River, in Beaver 
County, Pa., to which he returned, and there he 
was married and reared a numerous family. In 
1804 the patriot soldier decided to go farther 
West, and removed to a farm on what was then 
known as the "Center Road," in Trumbull County, 
Ohio, where he lived until he had attained the ripe 
old age of eighty-three, dying in 1834, full of years 
and honor. For man}- years in Ohio he had been 
Justice of the Peace, an important ofHce in that 
daj' and country. In regard to this venerable old 
pioneer we extract the following from "Historical 
Collections of the Mahoning Valley, Ohio," pub- 
lished in 1876: 

"The name of Deacon Matthews should be remem- 
bered and cherished, not only by his descendants, 
but by all the inhabitants of the township of Kins- 
man, TrurnbuU Co., Ohio, especially all those who 
are interested in its moral and religious improve- 
ment. In this regard his influence was greater 
and entered more deeplj- into the structure of 
society than that of any other of the first set- 
tlers of the town. He early established religious 
meetings and assemblies of worship on the Sabbath, 
where there were no clergymen present, as there 
was not except occasionally until 1813, and he 
alwavs conducted the meetings. His attendance 



was a fixed habit, no matter what the state of the 
weater or roads. Whether hot or cold, wet or 
dry, mud or snow, he was in his place promptly at 
the hour of service. His venerable appearance 
always commanded respect, and his meek and un- 
ostentatious manner and fervency of spirit gave all 
who knew him confidence in the sincerity of the 
religion he professed." 

From such stock on both sides our subject drew 
those inspirations which have been his guide 
through life; of sterling worth, these hardy pio- 
neers were well fitted to become the progenitors of 
a race embracing all those attributes which go to 
make up the best type of American manhood and 
womanhood. Prominent among their chai-acteristics 
were deep religious convictions, and an unflinch- 
ing loyalty and patriotism shown by them and their 
descendants in three wars — the Revolution, 1812, 
and the great Rebellion. 

Anderson Root was born Aug. 14, 1842, in 
Trumbull County, Ohio, where he pursued his first 
studies" in the district school, and became familiar 
with farming as carried on in the pioneer days. 
His education was completed by an attendance of 
one term at Jamestown (Pa.) Seminary. On the 
7th of December, 1864, he was united in marriage 
with Aliss Margaret L., daughter of Robert and 
Eliza J. (Thompson) Snodgrass. William Snod- 
grass, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Root, was a 
native of Ireland, whence he emigrated to America 
when a small boy. He married Miss Margaret Mc- 
Master, and about 1800 located in Crawford 
County, Pa., when that portion of the Keystone 
State bore little evidence of civilization. He built 
the first farmhouse in his neighborhood, at a time 
when his nearest market was at Meadville, a dis- 
tance of twenty miles away. 

Upon the Crawford County farm there was 
reared a family of five children, and there the 
grandparents looked their last upon the scenes of 
earth. Their son Robert was the eldest born, and 
spent all his life at the old homestead, dying there 
in November, 1 887. His wife, the mother of Mrs. 
Root, still lives there, and has now arrived at the 
age of seventy-four years. They were the parents 
of four daughters, Margaret L. being the second 
born. William and Mary (Latta) Thompson, the \ 



^i^ 



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1010 



CA8S COUNTY. 



maternal grandparents of Mrs. Root, were natives 
of Ireland, and of Scotch ancestry'. They came to 
the United States with their respected parents when 
mere children, and spent the remainder of their 
lives in Crawford Count}', Pa. They trace their 
progenitors to the Erskines, one of the best families 
of Scotland. 

Mr. and Mrs. Root were married at the old Snod- 
grass homestead in Crawford County, Pa., and 
lived there until September, 1 865. Then deciding 
to cast their lot with the pioneers of Nebraska Ter- 
ritory they came to this county, and were residents 
of Rock Bluff Precinct seven 3-ears. Next they re- 
moved to the farm of the State Agricultural So- 
ciety of Lincoln, over which Mr. Root had been 
appointed Superintendent, and there they lived 
three j'ears. Mr. Root had in the meantime pur- 
chased 320 acres of land in Rock Bluff Precinct, to 
which he returned. Later he sold 100 acres of 
this, having now 220 acres, and is largely inter- 
ested in the raising of cattle and horses. 

The Root farm and its appurtenances indicates 
on all sides the thoroughness and skill with which 
the land has been cultivated, and the good man- 
agement of the proprietor. A large portion of the 
land is necessarily devoted to pasture, and the 
barns and outhouses are furnished with all modern 
conveniences for the shelter and care of stock. The 
residence is in keeping with the taste and means of 
the proprietor. 

During the late Civil War Mr. Root, in August, 
1861, enlisted in the 2d Ohio Cavalry, and jour- 
neyed with his comrades through Missouri, Kansas 
and the Indian Territory, under command of Gen. 
Blunt. In 1862 he was in the Indian expedition 
under Gen. Weir. He met the rebels in several 
hand-to-hand conflicts, but escaped wounds and 
capture. He was, however, injured by the acci- 
dental falling of his horse upon him while at 
Columbus, Ohio, recruiting his regiment both with 
men and horses, and was obliged to accept an hon- 
orable discharge March 11, 1863. 

Mr, Root upon coming to this section of country 
was at once recognized as a valued addition to the 
community, and after filling many positions of 
trust, and otherwise indicating his ability for busi- 
ness and his integrity of character, was selected by 



the Republican party as their candidate for the 
State Legislature, and being elected, discharged 
his duties in a manner creditable to himself and 
satisfactory to his constituents. He has never indi- 
cated a desire for office, preferring the quiet of his 
farm and family. He cast his first Presidential 
vote for Abraham Lincoln, and lias ever been a 
uniform supporter of Republican principles. 

iK^xICHOLAS THEIS for the last seven years 
I jjj has been industriously engaged in the cul- 
[l\f^ tivation of a good farm on section 16, in 
Plattsmouth Precinct, where he settled in the year 
of 1883. His career has been one of persevering 
industry, and he has ranked among the most tlior- 
ough and skillful farmers along the northern line 
of Cass County. In addition to general agriculture 
he makes a specialty of stock-raising, keeping 
good grades of cattle, Jiorses and swine. He first 
settled in the county in 1878. 

Our subject traces his ancestry to Germany, 
which was the birthplace of his paternal grand- 
father, Adam Theis, who, upon reaching manhood, 
married Miss Susan Newell, and became the father 
of one child, a son Matthew. The latter, also born 
in Germany, married Miss Lucy Reicharth, and they 
became the parents of seven children, namely: 
Adam, John, Josepli, Nicholas, Susan (Mrs. James 
Miller, of Shebo3'gan County, Wis.), Theodore, and 
Anna (Mrs. Theodore Baker, of Ozaukee County, 
Wis.) 

IMatthew Theis, after liis marriage and the birth 
of two children, set sail with his little family and 
his parents for the LTnited States, arriving upon 
American soil in the 3-ear 1851, and making their 
way to AYashington County, Wis. There thej' took 
up land and followed the peaceful pursuits of ag- 
riculture. The grandparents passed away a few 
years later. The parents of Mr. Theis are still 
living and continue residents of the Badger State. 
Their family consisted of seven children, six of 
whom are living, and residents of Wisconsin, Illi- 
nois and Nebraska. 

. The subject of this sketch was born in Washing- 
ton County, Wis., at the modest home of his par- 



••-^> 



^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1013 



ents near Fillmore, Nov. 5, 1856. He acquired his 
education in the district school and assisted his 
father on the homestead, remaining with his par- 
ents until reaching man's estate. AV'hen twenty- 
two j^ears of age, starting out for himself, he made 
his way to this county, and began farming on rented 
laud in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, in the year 1878. 
Three years later he was married, Jan. 13, 1881, 
to Miss Marj^, daughter of Nicholas and Hen- 
rietta Holmes, a sketch of whom will be found else- 
where in this work. 

Mr. and Mrs. Theis commenced the journey of 
life together in this county. Mr. T. purchased his 
present farm in the year 1888, and besides this 
property has 160 acres of improved land with 
buildings in Pierce County. For a man coming to 
Nebraska comparatively without means it must be 
conceded th.at he has made good headway. He has 
an interesting little family, including three children, 
two daughters and a son — Mar};- A., John W. and 
Susan. Politicallv, he is a Democr.at. 

ON. BRAUD COLE. Residing within the 
borders of Cass County there are many citi- 
zens whose names are an honor and credit 
to her records, and prominent among them 
will be found the nameof the subject of this sketch. 
He is a well-known and widely respected gentle- 
man, and is noted not only for his straightforward 
and honorable characteristics, but for that prosper- 
ity and success which gild their possessor with the 
light of popular admiration. He is one of the old- 
est residents of Cass Count}^ and lives in South 
Bend Precinct, where he devotes his time and at- 
tention to the prosecution of the business of gen- 
eral farming. He was born in Pickaway County, 
Ohio, Sept. 20, 1824, the youngest child in a fam- 
ily' of eleven. His father. Shadrach Cole, was born 
in Baltimore County, Md., and his mother was 
Mary (Mathena) Cole. Grandfather Brand Cole 
was also born in Baltimore County, Md., and when 
a young man removed to Pennsylvania. During 
the Revolutionary War he returned to Maryland, 
on account of the Indian troubles in Pennsylvania. 
The great-grandfather was a resident of Maryland, 



and was a highly educated and refined man. He was 
one of the progenitors of the Braud family, and held 
large possessions in Marjdand. In all the ancestry 
gre.at mental vigor and bodily strength are exhib- 
ited. Our subject's grandfather was on the frontier, 
assisting in the protection of the settlers from the 
depredations of the Indians during the war of the 
Revolution. He was not an enlisted soldier, but 
being a strong, earnest patriot, he felt that his first 
duty was due to his eountrj'^, and that he should 
render it all the aid in his power. After the Revo- 
lutionar}^ War he removed to Bourbon County, 
K}^, where he was one of the first settlers. He was 
very influential, and took an important part in the 
development of that State. In later }'ears he re- 
moved to Ohio, where he joined the great-grand- 
father in Fairfield County, Sept. 14, 1805. The 
former settled in that county, removing from Penn- 
sjdvania in 1801. The great-grandfather died 
there when quite old. The grandfather died in 
Pickaway County, Ohio. The father of our sub- 
ject also died in Pickaway County, Sept. 24, 1845, 
aged sixty-seven years. His mother died when our 
subject was only ten years of age, leaving the fol- 
lowing-named children: Elizabeth, Demitt, Sarah, 
Wesley-, Rebecca, Polly, Ann, Shadrach, Ivah, and 
Braud, our subiect. 

The earlier years in the life of Mr. Cole were 
passed on a farm. Possessing a great desire to ob- 
tain an education he said to his father: "Give me 
a chance to educate myself." The father, having 
a full knowledge of the value of education, gave 
his consent. Our subject then entered the Blen- 
don Young Men's Seminary, now Otterbein Uni- 
versity. There he studied the more advanced 
branches. He taught schpol the winter after he 
entered the university, for which he received SI 4 
per month and boarded liimself. He occasionally 
taught school during the winters following. In 
1853 he was married to Miss Harriet Bruner. This 
ladj- was an orphan, brought up b}^ our subject's 
brother Wesley. She was born in Greene Coimt3% 
Ohio, and was the daughter of Joseph Bruner and 
wife, who had been a Miss Cummins. Her ancestors 
on both the maternal and paternal side were distin- 
guished, educated people. She studied and im- 
proved all her educational advantages, and at the 



■•►-If 



•►Hl^^^ 



^ ► ~1l <• 



1014 



CASS COUNTY. 



•►■ 



age of eighteen she engaged in teaching. Her 
salary was $1.25 per week, "boarding 'round." She 
was in all respects a splendid girl and a noble 
woman. 

Mr. Cole removed to Lee County, Iowa, in 1851, 
where he had gone and secured a home before he 
returned to Ohio to claim his wife. He lived in 
his Iowa home until 1854, when early in the j'ear 
he sold his propert}' and moved to the Territory 
of Xeljraska. He stopped at Council Bluffs, Iowa, 
during the summer of that year, entering Nebraska 
in the autumn, settling on tlie now celebrated 
"Wiilker farm, two miles southwest of Plattsmouth, 
where, in 1857, he set out the first extensive or- 
chard in the State, containing 2,000 trees. In the 
same year he pre-empted an additional 160 acres of 
land. About this time serious trouble began grow- 
ing out of tiie conflicting claims of the settlers. 
To facilitate the amicable settlement of such dis- 
putes, ISIr. Cole suggested the formation of a -'Claim 
Club," which was accepted and acted upon, a club 
organized, and he was elected Secretary of the or- 
ganization. During its existence it formed an im- 
portant factor in the peaceful settlement of disputes 
and difficulties, caused principally by the new 
Government surve_y of the land. 

After INIr. Cole had settled on the AValker farm 
he recognized the possibilities of the site now oc- 
cupied by the citj- of Plattsmouth, intended to 
purchase it, but failed to carry out his plans, and 
other parties secured it. He suggested the present 
name for the proposed city. He was elected a 
member of the Third Territorial Legislature, where 
he at once took a prominent place, and was instru- 
mental in securing much important legislation; one 
of his acts was securing the passage of the law pro- 
hibiting cattle and hogs from running at large, 
which law has been of incalculable benefit to the 
State, as it made the opening up of the broad 
prairie lands and their conversion into valuable 
farms possible, which could not otherwise have 
been done, by reason of the scarcity' and high price 
of lumber, that would necessarily be required for 
fencing. 

Mr. Cole sold his farm in 1864 and removed to 
Grand Traverse Countj'. Mich., where he expected 
to engage in the fruit business, but afterward 



changed his mind and came back to Nebraska. In 
order to give his children better educational ad- 
vantages he removed with his family to Baldwin 
City, Kan., the seat of Baker University, in 1872. 
He remained there for two years, and in 1874 he 
came back to Nebraska and settled in South Bend 
Precinct, where he has lived ever since. 

Our subject and his good wife became the par- 
ents of the following-named children: Lester O., 
Ivah A., Almeda, Sylvia, Mja-a, Oran, Harland, 
Emery and an unnamed infant. Of this number 
Lester, Oran and Harland are deceased. Almeda 
is now the wife of Rev. T. H. "Whorley; she and 
her husband were missionaries in China for two 
years. At this time thej^ reside at Exeter, Fill- 
more Co., Neb. Sylvia is the wife of Rev. T. 
H. Hull, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, now residing at Wahoo, Neb.; Myraisthe 
wife of Prof. Andruss, and resides at Baltley, the 
seat of Mallalieu I'uiversity, where she is at the 
head of the department of oratory and elocution; 
Emery, now eighteen years old, is attending a 
course in Mallalieu University. The mother of 
this family- passed from this to a higher life June 
2, 1886, while on a visit to her brother in Ohio. A 
woman of most estimable character and of many 
lovable qualities, her death was a severe blow to 
her sorrowing husband and children, and she was 
sincerely mourned h\ everyone who knew her. 

All the children of our subject who have reached 
the age of maturity hold high positions in life among 
the refined and educated classes, and reflect great 
honor on their parents. Their lives show that no 
pains were spared to instruct them in the paths of 
virtue and honor, and they are counterparts of the 
devout, earnest. Christian lives which have been 
and are now the attributes of the parents. The 
farm now occupied by our subject contains 550 
acres, located in South Bend Precinct. It is all 
under the highest state of cultivation, the larger 
portion enclosed by substantial hedge and wire 
fences. The buildings are second to none in size 
in the precinct, and are built very solidly and sub- 
stantially. The family residence is nicely located, 
is very large, and is complete in all its appoint- 
ments, and is a topical home, where love and fra- 
ternal affection reign supreme. 



■^» 



t 



•►Hf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1015 ii 



Mr. Cole has experienced many of the vicissi- 
tudes and changes of life, but he has been in the 
main very successful, and has prospered until he 
is now not only one of the wealthiest men, but one 
of the most highly respected citizens of the south- 
eastern part of the State — in fact wherever he is 
known he holds the perfect confidence and esteem 
of all with whom he comes in contact. He is in- 
terested to the extent of 200 shares in the Mexican 
Iron Manufacturing Company, of jMurango, Mex. 
He is deeply interested in the religious affairs 
of his neighborhood, and has always led an upright, 
consistent Christian life. He was the first Sundaj^- 
school Superintendent, and organized the first 
Sunday-school in Plattsmouth. He is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ashland; in 
jjolitics he is a straight Republican. 

A good portrait of this pioneer of Nebraska in 
its Territorial days is given on another page in 
this Album. 

\f) ESSE E. McVAY, of Rock Bluff Precinct, is 
perhaps as fine an illustration of the self- 
made man as will often be found. He started 
^7/ out in life for himself with a capital of $5, 
which he was obliged to spend not long afterward 
for clothing. He made a practice thereafter of sav- 
ing $100 a j'ear. and at the time of his marriage 
had accumulated in this manner the snug sum of 
$1,850 in cash. This he was enabled to invest ju- 
diciously, and he is now numbered among the solid 
men along the eastern line of this county, who have 
developed its resources and brought it to its pres- 
ent position. 

The parents of our subject were James and Han- 
nah (Lemasters) McVay. The paternal grand- 
father, John McYay, is supposed to have been a 
native of Pennsylvania, and married a lady who was 
probably, as indicated b}' the records, born in Pick- 
away County, Ohio. They were residents the most 
of their lives in Shelby County, that State, where 
their remains were laid to rest. Of their thirteen 
cliildren the record is as follows: Betsev became 
the wife of Dimitt Cole, of whom mention is made 
in the sketch of W. P. Cole, elsewhere in this vol- 



ume; Polly, Martha, Minerva, Hannah, Thomas, 
John, James, Jason, Aaron, Miller and Henr}^ com- 
prise the remainder of the household circle. James 
McVajr and his estimable wife are still living, and 
have for many years resided on the old home farm 
in Shelby County, Ohio, where they settled soon 
after their marriage. 

After their marriage the parents of our subject 
took up their abode in the woods of Shelby County, 
Ohio, where the father cleared about forty acres, 
then sold out and purchased another farm of 
eighty -five acres, which was mostly in a state of 
cultivation. Upon this he erected good buildings 
and has since made it his home. Upon that farm 
the subject of this sketch was born Nov. 10. 1836, 
and lived there with his parents until a youth of 
eighteen years; then, desirous of beginning for 
himself in life, he began working for the farmers 
of his neighborhood, and was thus employed two 
years for the consideration of $12.75 per month. 
In the year 1856, leaving the Buckeye State he 
made his way to Shelby County, 111., where he still 
pursued agriculture at an increased salary, working 
now for 814 per month about two and a half j'ears. 

At the expiration of this time Mr. McVay 
started on horseback for a visit to his native State, 
and upon his arrival there commenced worldng on 
a farm in Clarke County, being the employe of 
Mr. William Foreman. He continued with him one 
year and ten days, then in t\ie spring of 1861 go- 
ing into Clinton County, operated there, still as a 
farm laborer, until the fall of 1862. Returning 
then to Illinois he worked on a farm in iShelby 
County until the fall of 1864. The Civil War be- 
ing then in progress he entered the ranks as a 
member of Company D, 12th Illinois Infantr3% 
and going to the front participated in the battle of 
Kingston, N. C, where he was wounded bj' a mus- 
ket ball in the left cheek. He was confined in the 
hospital a short time, and upon recovering from his 
wound contracted typhoid fever and another dis- 
ease, which kept him in the hospital until the close 
of the war. 

Mr. McYav received his honorable discbarge 
July 4, 1865, and returning to the old homestead 
in Ohio visited with his parents two weeks, then 
setting out once more for the Prair'-^ State engaged 



•► 



->^t 



t 



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1016 



CASS COUNTY. 



to work on a farm in Shelby County for the sum 
of 130 per month. In the spring of 1866 he 
rented a farm of his uncle, Caldwell Kussell, and 
the fall following purchased a half interest in a 
threshing-machine. A year later he sold the ma- 
chine and commenced working by the month again 
in Illinois until July 16, 1867. Then going back 
to Ohio, he was employed in a gristmill until the 
spring of 1868, when he again set his face west- 
ward, sojourning a brief time in Shelby County, 
111., and proceeding thence to Iowa City, Iowa. 

The spring of 1869 found our subject again on 
the soil of Illinois, working on a farm in Tazewell 
County for Alexander Moo berry, where he re- 
mained until completing his preparations for his 
marriage. This most interesting event of his life 
occurred on the 9th of November, 1871, themaiden 
of his (jhoice being Miss Lucy A. Mooberry, a 
sister of his emploj-er. They remained in Illinois 
until September, 1872, then came to this county 
with a view of locating. Being pleased with the 
outlook, Mr. McVay purchased eighty acres of his 
present homestead, to which he moved with his 
young wife on the 11th of Februarj^ 1873. Here 
they have since lived. Two years later Mr. McVay 
purchased another eighty acres, and has now 160 
acres of good land, in productive condition with a 
neat and substantial dwelling, an ample barn, 
granaries, corn cribs, an apple orchard and the 
smaller fruit trees, and in short all the accessories 
of a modern farm. The fences are mostly of wire, 
and the land which is not devoted to grain fur- 
nishes excellent pasture for the live stock to which 
Mr. McVay has given considerable attention. He 
at one time bought and sold land to a considerable 
extept, realizing good profits. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there 
have been born two children, a daughter and a son, 
Jessie M. and Lintie M. The elder was born Aug. 
20, 1872, in Tazewell County, 111., and the younger 
April 30, 1874, in Cass County, Neb. The parents 
of jNIrs. McVay were John and Lydia (Marion) 
Mooberry. The father was born in York County, 
Pa., and was the son of William Mooberry, who 
was also a native of Pennsylvania, whence he emi- 
grated to Franklin County, Ohio, during its early 
settlement, and where his family was reared. The 



mother of Mrs. Mc'\^. was a native of Norfolk, 
Mass., and born in 1805. She came with her par- 
ents, Elijah and Ljdia Marion, to Ohio about 1815, 
they settling in Franklin County, where they spent 
the remainder of their lives. Our subject, politi- 
cally, is a solid Republican, and as a business man 
and citizen, ranks among the reliable and substan- 
tial men of Cass Countj-. 



^^^EORGE HAIN, a prosperous farmer, is a 
(li (^^ resident of Mt. Pleasant Precinct, where he 
^^J owns a valuable farm of 1 60 acres on sec- 
tion 23. He was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, 
in December, 1850. His parents were natives of 
Scotland and came to America in 1849, and located 
in Trumbull County, Ohio, where they still reside. 
Mr. Hain is a purely self-made man, being obliged 
from his early youth to support himself by the 
labor of his own hands. His first emploj'ment was 
milling, which he followed successfully; having a 
strong taste for mechanical pursuits, he obtained 
employment as a sawyer in a sawmill, which he 
followed for a season, and later he was employed 
as stationary engineer, which pursuit was especially 
congenial to him. and which he followed for a long 
time. He has received a fair school education, to 
which he has added the knowledge derived by a 
wide experience and varied observation. 

In the autumn of 1877 Mr. Hain came to Cass 
County, Neb., and for the following two years he 
worked at farming and operated a threshing-ma- 
chine. In 1879 he bought eighty acres of wild 
prairie land, which he proceeded to improve by 
plowing his land and erecting the necessary build- 
ings for residence and protection of his stock, which 
he still owns. He has been very prosperous in his 
venture, and has jiurchased an additional eighty 
acres, which, with the original eighty, he has brought 
to a very high state of cultivation. It has taken 
years of hard, steady work for him to accomplish 
this result, and now, after he has attained it, it is 
exceedingly gratifying to him, as it is the result 
exclusively of his own energj' and ability. 

Our subject and Jenna McCool were married 

4^ 



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••► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1017 



March 1, 1882. Tlie lady is a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and was born in Venango County, Maj^ 25, 
1858. She is a daughter of Robert and Fietta 
(Shurtz) MeCooI. Her father died when she was 
about five years of age. Shortly after his death 
the mother removed with her children to Trumbull 
County, Ohio, where they settled, and where her 
mother still lives. One son has been born to this 
couple, James, Jul}^ 24, 1886. 

Mr. Hain is one of those live, progressive men 
who are not content with living in yesterday, and 
following up the old routine in vogue many years 
ago, but on the contrary he believes in the ad- 
vancement of modern ideas and modern methods. 
The late improved machiner}^ for agricultural pur- 
poses is found on liis farm, and all the laboi--saving 
inventions that will assist in the household are 
provided for his wife, by means of whicli their life 
is not now one continual round of toil and labor, 
but they have many hours which thej' can and do 
devote to recreation and the advancement of social 
life of the neighborhood. Both himself and wife 
are rery sociable and take a leading position in the 
society where they live. They are attendants of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. His political al- 
legiance is held by the Republican partj-. 



R. MILTON M. BUTLER, a prominent 
physician and surgeon of Weeping Water, 
is one of the ohlest settlers of this county, 
arriving in this Stale in the year 1870, and 
becoming a resident of the village three years later. 
A man of fine capabilities, excellent judgment and 
good education, he has been an important factor in 
tbe building up of the town, and has uniformly 
entertained a lively interest in everything con- 
nected with its welfare. He has. a fine residence at 
the corner of Elm and G streets, and is numbered 
among the leading men of the place. 

Dr. Butler, a gentleman in the prime of life, was 
born near Greenfield, Hancock Co., Ind., Nov. 15, 
1845. He there received the rudiments of his 
early education, and later entered Earlham College, 
at Richmond, where be studied for some months. 
Upon leaving this institution he engaged in the 



reading of medicine with his brother. Dr. D. W. 
Butler, who was then located in Dunreith, and with 
whom he continued a period of ten years. In the 
meantime he had begun the practice of his pro- 
fession, but later entered upon a course of lectures 
at Miami College, in Ohio, and became the regular 
partner of his brother, with whom he practiced a 
number of j'ears. On coming to Nebraska, in the 
fall of 1870, Dr. Butler established himself first in 
Plattsmouth, on the eastern line of this county, 
where he remained until 1873. In the month of 
August of that year he changed his field of opera- 
tions to Weeping Water, coming to the town at a 
time when he had only been preceded by one other 
physician. There were then probably not to ex- 
ceed 250 people in the place. The town now numbers 
probably 3,000 souls. Dr. Butler has thus watched 
the growth and development of one of the most en- 
terprising cities in Southern Nebraska, and has been 
one of the most generous contributors to its pros- 
perity. 

A Re[)ublican in polities. Dr. Butler, while keep- 
ing himself well posted upon current events, has 
been no office-seeker, although his natural capabili- 
ties have always obtained ready recognition at the 
hands of his fellow-citizens. He has frequently 
been pressed into service upon important occasions, 
serving as Chairman of the County Central Com- 
mittee, and occupying other positions of trust. 
During the late election (1888) he served as a 
Republican elector, and takes satisfaction in the 
reflection that he was instrumental in the selection 
of the grandson of Old Tippecanoe for the future 
President. He was chosen President of the Elec- 
toral College of the State at the meeting of that 
college. He has almost uniformly been a delegate 
to all the conventions, Countj', State and National, 
and is always willing to serve in any capacity where 
he can do anything which shall result in the fur- 
therance of the principles of which he has been an 
earnest adherent since old enough to reflect upon 
men and things and life in its various places. 

Dr. Butler became identified with the 1. O. O. F. 
about 1872, while a resident of Plattsmouth, and is 
one of the warmest advocates of the principles of 
the order. He has filled every office in Prairie 
Lodge No. 25, serving as its first Presiding Officer, 



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1018 



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CASS COUNTY. 



and has represented it in the Grand Lodge. He is 
also a member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
ica. The local camp in this city was named in his 
honor, Butler Camp No. 748. 

At Weeping AVater, Neb., on the 19th of Au- 
gust, 1874, occurred tlie marriage of our subject 
with Miss Stella A. Paine. This lady was born at 
Painesville, Ohio, July It), 1863, and is the daugh- 
ter of Hon. Henry Paine, of Laite County, Ohio. 
Mr. Paine was at one time a member of the State 
Legislature, and was otherwise jirominent in public 
affairs, serving as County Commissioner, Justice of 
the Peace, and in various other ofHcial capacities. 
He married Miss Harriet N. Tuttle, and they be- 
came the parents of ten children, all of whom are 
living. Of these Mrs. Butler was next to the young- 
est. Her brothers and sisters are located mostly in 
Nebraska. . Mr. Paine met his death by accident, 
falling from a wagon in 1868, a few days before 
the first election of Gen. Grant. His widow con- 
tinued her residence at the old homestead in Paines- 
ville, and survived her husband a period of twenty 
years, her death taking place Jan. 17, 1888. 

As may be surmised, the paternal grandfather of 
Mrs. Butler was one of the earliest settlers of Lake 
County, Ohio, and the founder of Painesville. He 
emigrated there in the pioneer days, carried on 
agriculture a number of years, and built up a home 
for himself in the wilderness, which remained the 
property' of the Paine family for years. The town 
is located upon a part of the land which he took up 
from the Government. To Dr. and Mrs. Butler there 
were born four children, one of whom, Mattie R., 
the second child, died at the age of two years and 
nine months. The survivors are ! Charie A., Agnes 
E. and Mildred Mary. These children are being 
given first-class advantages. The eldest, though 
only thirteen years of age, is very proficient in 
music, and they are remarkably promising. 

George W. Butler, the father of our subject, was 
born in Virginia, April 11, 1818, and a week later 
his mother died. Not long after he was doubly 
orphaned by the death of his father, and was as- 
signed to a guardian, who bound him out to a 
farmer in Virginia. Soon after his guardian moved 
to Ohio. He was reared Lo manhood in the Buck- 
eye State, whence he migrated to Hancock County, 



Ind., and was there married .to Miss Martha Rawls. 
They became the parents of ten children, eight of 
whom are living, and most of whom are located in 
Indiana. Two of the sons are ph3'sicians of note, 
and one is a professor in one of the public schools 
of Rushville. Ind. The father belongs to the So- 
ciety' of Friencis, and is one of the prominent men 
among this peaceable sect. He makes his home in 
Fairraount, Ind. Mrs. IMartha (Rawls) Butler, the 
mother, was born Sept. 21, 1814, and departed this 
life at her home in Fairmount, Ind., May 13, 1880. 
She was the daughter of John Rawls, a substantial 
farmer of the Old Dominion. 

Dr. Butler and his estimable wife, together with 
his eldest daughter, are members in good standing 
of the Congregational Church at Weeping Water. 
The Doctor has always cherished a warm interest 
in Sunday-school work, and has always been one of 
the liberal supporters and pillars of the ciiurch. 
As a business man and citizen he is well spoken of 
bj- his fellow-townsmen. 






"it^ DWARD A. SACKETT, a product of the 
l^ Buckeye State, and junior member of the 
jL^^' firm of Sackett & Amerman, stands at the 
head of a flourishing hardware trade in Weeping 
Water, the house handling a heavy stock of goods 
in this line, and having a wide and steadily increas- 
ing patronage. Mr. Sackett is one of the leading 
men of the town in business as well as in social circles, 
and is the owner of valuable property including a fine 
home on Commercial street, and besides the store 
he occupies owns another one utilized by Flower 
Bros, as the city drug-store. Mr. Sackett put up a 
handsome residence in the summer of 1888, which, 
with its surroundings, is not only an ornament to 
the city, but combines all the comforts and con- 
veniences of modern life. 

Edward Sackett was born July 28, 1859, at the 
homestead of his father, Hiram Sackett, in Tallmadge 
Township, Summit Co., Ohio, a homestead which 
comprised a tract of valuable land lying among 
rolling hills and fertile fields, and there spent his 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1019 



boyhood and youth. His first studies were con- 
ducted in the little scliool-house at the "Six Cor- 
ners," to which lie traveled a distance of about a 
mile up and down the hills, and when further ad- 
vanced he entered the High School at Kent, three 
or four miles from his home, where he completed 
his education. Then returning to the farm he re- 
mained there with his father until a young man 
of twenty-three years. Leaving Tallmadge in the 
spring of 1882, he turned his steps westward, and 
coming to Nebraska, purchased land on section 9, 
Weeping Water Precinct, this county, from which 
in its raw state he constructed a good farm. Upon 
this he turned the first furrow, put out trees, built 
fences, and during the first three years of his labors 
here harvested 4,000 bushels of wheat. The only 
year in which he put in a corn crop, the sixty acres 
which he devoted to this cereal yielded him 3,600 
bushels. He thus secured the capital which laid 
the foundation of his present business. 

In the fall of 1886 Mr. Sackett sold his farm and 
became a member of the firm of Cole & Sackett, en- 
gaging in general merchandising on a large scale. 
This business was located on I street, and was con- 
ducted by our subject and his partner two and one- 
half years very successfully. In October, 1888, 
they sold out and dissolved partnership, and less 
than two weeks later the present firm was organized, 
and purchased the hardware department of Chase & 
Churchill's store, opening up with a fine large stock 
and the promise of future prosperity. Mr. Sackett 
was reared as it were under the wing of the Repub- 
lican part3', to which he still loyally adheres. He 
was also trained in the doctrines of the Congrega- 
tional Church, of which his honored father has been 
for 3'ears a Deacon at Tallmadge, and upon coming 
to the West identified himself with the same, to 
which he still belongs, with his estimable wife. He 
is warmly interested in the religious training of the 
young, and has been interested in Sunday-school 
work for many years. 

Mr. Sackett found his bride in the West, being 
married, Oct. 6, 1887, to Miss Nellie Monroe, of 
Weeping Water, and they have one child, a son, 
William M., born Aug. 19, 1888. Mrs. Sackett is 
the daughter of William J. Monroe, and was born 
Aug. a, 1865, in Indiana. Of Mr. Monroe and liis 



estimable wife a sketch will be found elsewhere in 
this volume. 

Hiram Sackett, the father of our subject, was also 
born in Tallmadge, Ohio, March 28, 1824, and up 
to this time lias spent his entire life there. He is 
the son of Deacon Clark Sackett, a native of Con- 
necticut, and one of the pioneers of Tallmadge, a 
man held in the highest respect b^' the people of 
Summit Count}', and who for many years was one 
of the pillars of the Congregational Church. Dea- 
con Sackett lived to be quite aged, reared a large 
family, and died full of years and honors, about 
1862. Hiram Sackett is still living a few miles 
from the farm where he was born and reared, and 
is worthily bearing the mantle which descended to 
him from his honored father, being an active mem- 
ber and Deacon of the same Congregational Church, 
ofHcialing as Clerk, and from his youth up being 
otherwise foremost among its councils and delibera- 
tions. Politically, he still abides with the Repub- 
lican party. 

The mother of our subject. Mrs. Eliza (Treat) 
Sackett, was the daughter of Richard and Amorett 
(Hutchins) Treat, and was also born in Tallmadge 
Township, a few miles from the boyhood home of 
her husband. Thej' were reared in the same town- 
ship, becoming members of the same church at an 
early period in their lives. Grandfather Treat, like 
Deacon Sackett. was also one of the prominent men 
of Tallmadge, the owner of a good property, and 
the father of a large and highly respected family of 
children. He suffered many years from inflammatorj' 
rheumatism, and passed aw.ay about 1872. His 
excellent wife survived him several j'ears, and 
died about 1875, being found one morning in a 
sleep from which she never awakened. To Hiram 
and Eliza Sackett there were born nine children, 
five sons and four daughters, all of whom are liv- 
ing, some of them not far from the homestead, 
where the mother and father still reside. 

Clark Sackett, Jr., an uncle of our subject, owns 
and occupies the old Deacon Sackett homestead, 
two and one-half miles west of Tallmadge Center, 
and which is one of the finest farms in that region. 
Edward Sackett, our subject, is one of the most 
worth}' representatives of this large family, who for 
three generations have been landmarks in the his- 



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1020 



CASS COUNTY. 



tciry of ll)e Buckeye State; and coming to Nebraska 
a young man. if life and health he spared, and he 
eontiniies here, there is no doubt that he will leave 
his mark in this section of Nebraska as thoroughly 
as his progenitors impressed themselves upon the 
soil of Ohio. 



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^ I^ILLIAM TIGHE. The pioneer element of 
\cj// Mt. Pleasant Precinct is admirably rep- 
W^ resented hy the gentleman whose name 
stands at the head of this sketch, and who is the 
owner of a pleasant countrj^ home on section 7. 
His has been a career filled with industry, and in 
which the exercise of diligence and perseverance 
has met with its natural reward. Upon coming 
to Nebraska he battled for many years with the 
difHcultieg of life in a new settlement, but from 
the struggle has emerged with flying colors. He 
is regarded by the people of his community as an 
honest man, a good citizen, and one amply worthy 
of representation in a work of this kind. 

The place of the birth of our subject is recorded 
as near the town of Toronto, Province of Ontario, 
Canada, and the date March 31, 1840. He is of pure 
Irish ancestry, being the son of John and Mary A. 
Tighe, who were both natives of Ireland. They 
emigrated to the United States after their mar- 
riage, and are now residents of this precinct. 
Their household consisted of seven sons and three 
daughters, making a large and interesting family, 
of whom the survivors are recorded as follows: 
James is married, and numbered among the well-to- 
do farmers of Centre Precinct, this county; Jane, 
the wife of Michael Kennedy, together with 
AVilliam and Edward, also resides there; Margaret 
married John Case}', and they are residents of 
Richardson County; John lives in Grand Island, 
this State; Charles and Joseph are residents of this 
State, the former in Centre Precinct, this county, 
and the latter in Bradshaw; Mary A., Mrs. James 
Carper, and Josiah S., live in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. 
The subject of this sketch was reared to man's 
estate in the Dominion, receiving a common-school 
education. He has always been a reader and has 



thus kept himself well posted upon passing events. 
He came over into the States after the close of the 
late Civil War, locating first in Clinton Countj', 
Iowa, where he resided a number of years and car- 
ried on farming. In the spring of 1873, leaving 
the Ilawke^'e State, he came to this county, and 
traded a portion of his Iowa land for the quarter- 
section in Mt. Pleasant Precinct which he now 
lives upon. He has watched the raw prairie develop- 
ing from its primitive condition into beautiful 
homesteads and valuable farms, the erection of 
school buildings, and all the other indications of the 
advance of civilization, with that satisfaction 
only felt by the intelligent and progressive citizen. 
A man who has spent most of his time attend- 
ing to his own concerns, he is nevertheless public 
spirited and liberal-minded, and has ever been ready 
to give his substantial aid to the projects cal- 
culated for the advancement of tlie people around 
him. His course has been that of a peaceable and 
law-abiding citizen, who has done good as he has 
had opportunit}', and who will leave a record of 
which his children need never be ashamed. 

The 16th of November, 1879, witnessed the mar- 
riage of our subject with Miss Mary Quinn, who 
was born in Clinton County, Iowa, Sept. 22, 1856. 
Mrs. Tighe is the daughter of Thomas and Mary 
(Crowly) tjuinn, who were natives of Ireland; the 
mother is now deceased. They emigrated to America 
prior to their marriage, indeed when quite young, 
and the parents of each settled in the Province of 
Ontario. Canada. Later the family emigrated first 
to Illinois and then to Iowa. Mrs. Tighe came to 
this county on a visit in the fall of 1877. Mr. and 
Mrs. Quinn settled in Linn County, Kan., where they 
lived for a number of years. The father is now in 
Cass Count3^ The parental household included eight 
children, six of whom are living: Ann, Mrs. Will- 
iam Wells; Ellen, Mrs. Thomas Murphy, and Kate, 
Mrs. Micliael Murphy, are residents of Richardson 
Cortnty, Neb.; Hannah lives in Anderson County, 
Kan., being the wife of Thomas Hunt, who is carry- 
ing on farming; John is a resident of Mt, Pleasant 
Precinct, this county. Mrs. Tighe is according to 
age in about the middle of the group. 

Mr. and Mrs. Tighe commenced their wedded 
life together at the modest farm homestead in Cass 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1023 



County, Neb., and they have labored side b}' side 
since tliat time to accumulate their snug property 
and rear their family. Of their childreii, five in 
number, the record is as follows: John Q. was born 
Jan. 12, 1881; Mary M., Aug. 1, 1882; Thomas J., 
in 1883; Maggie, Dec. 15, 1884, and Edward 
J., June 13, 1886. Mr. Tighe, politically, is an 
uncompromising Democrat. Both he and his esti- 
mable wife were reared in the doctrines of the 
Catholic Church, to which they still loyally adhere. 



yp>ILLIAM J. LAUGHLIN. Among the 
goodly land-holders of this county, and a 
^^' gentleman respected for his sterling worth 
and integrity, is the subject of tliis sketch, who re- 
sides on and operates a valuable farm of 360 acres 
on section 22, Salt Creek Precinct. He w.as born in 
North Carolina, March 13, 1830. His earliest 
recollections are of his home in Randolph County, 
in that State, followed by the memories of early 
days in the heavy limber regions of Indiana. He 
was early in life harnessed to hard work, and for 
many long weary days he has driven four, five and 
six yoke of oxen, breaking new land and cultivating 
it in after years. The subscription schools of those 
(lays were his only source for acquiring an educa- 
tion, every opportunity for which he eagerly im- 
proved. At the age of twenty he was attacked 
with the gold fever, and in 1850 he formed a com- 
pany of several of his neighbors, and they went 
across the plains to California, their journey end- 
ing at Placerville, that State, August 6, they having 
been a little over four months on the waj'. This 
trip was made by the way of Salt Lake, where Mr. 
Laughlin spent several days among the Mormons. 
On their arrival in California, our subject with his 
companions, Winthrop Cheney and James Mc- 
Cauley, took up a placer claim, and worked in the 
mines for a year, when the former went to Nevada 
and worked on Gold Run until Oct. 1, 1851, and 
then started for home. Having had enough of min- 
ing life, Mr. Laughlin took passage on the steamer 
" Oregon " for the Isthmus of Panama, which he 
crossed, took steamer again for New Orleans, from 



whicli city he came up the Mississippi River to 
Keokuk, Iowa, thence by stage to the home of his 
parents, which at that time was near Mt. Pleasant, 
Henry Co., Iowa. 

The subject of our sketch is a son of Jolin and 
Marj' (Tucker) Laughlin. The father was born in 
Randolph County, N. C, in 1808. Grandfather 
James Laughlin was born in Ireland. Grandfather 
Amos Tucker was a noted stockman in North 
Carolina, where he was born. Great-grandfather 
Tucker was a native of England. The parents of 
our subject were married in North Carolina, where 
the father was a prosperous farmer. Becoming 
dissatisfied with his native State, he sold his posses- 
sions and removed to Putnam County, Ind. There 
he resided for about eighteen months, when he re- 
moved to the prairies of Henry County, Iowa, set- 
tling near Mt. Pleasant before the land had been 
surveyed by the Government or put on the market. 
During his later years he removed to Washington 
Count}', Iowa, where he died in 1865, aged flft}-- 
seven years. The mother died in December of 
the same year, aged fifty-five years. Our subject 
is the eldest of the family of eleven children, who 
were named as follows: William J., our subject; 
McKenzie G., Louisa, Nancj', Charity, John M., 
Benjamin F., Ephraim D., Jesse, Thomas and Mary, 
of which number the following only survive: Will- 
iam J., Louisa, Benjamin F. and Ephraim D. 

After his return from California, William J. 
Laughlin remained on the farm with his father until 
he was married to Miss Mary Coleman, Dec. 8, 1853. 
This lady was born in Knox County, Ohio, where 
she lived at home with her parents until she was a 
young lady of seventeen, when, in the fall of 1850, 
her parents removed with their entire family to 
Iowa, settling near the town of Mt. Pleasant. Her 
parents were Elic and Catherine (Beiler) Coleman. 
The father was born in Connecticut, and the mother 
in Maryland. Her mother was reared to woman- 
hood in Knox County, Ohio, where she lived with 
her parents, who were married in Ohio, and had a 
family of two children when they removed to Knox 
County. From there in 1850 they removed to 
Henry County, Iowa, where they resided until 
1861, when they joined our subject and his wife. 
Her father died in 1873, aged sixty-nine }'ears,and 



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10-24 



CASS COUNTY. 



her mother died at Greeiirt'ood in 188i, seventy- 
eight years old. 

Tlie wife of our subject is one of a family of 
eleven children, who are named as follows: Jane, 
Matilda, Ebenezer, Mary, Lucy, William, John H., 
Amy, Chalker, Amanda and Luther. The Cole- 
man family originally came from England. The 
great-grandparents settled in Connecticut in the 
early Colonial days, and the great-grandfather, 
Ebenezer, was a soldier in the War for Independ- 
ence, in which he took no insignificant part. On 
the maternal side, the Beilers were of German 
blood, and came to America in Colonial times, set- 
tling in Maryland. Grandfather Beiier died a 
comparatively young man, and the lineage cannot 
be traced any further. The wife of our subject re- 
ceived her education in the common schools of 
Ohio, and in the High School at Mt. Pleasant. Iowa. 
After being graduated from the High School, she was 
employed as a teacher in Henry County, Iowa, for 
three years, and she was the first teacher in charge 
of a public school in the western portion of Cass 
County, IS'eb. 

After his marriage our subject continued farming 
in Henry County until 1 859, when he was again seized 
with the gold fever, this time his destination being 
Pike's Peak, Col. He, in companj' with several of 
the leading citizens of Mt. Pleasant, among whom 
was William Coleman, made preparations for and 
began their journey to the land of gold. When 
they had gone as far on their way as Salt Creek, 
they met large numbers of disheartened men, who 
were returning from the gold regions, and the re- 
ports which these men gave were so discouraging 
that the party westward bound determined to dis- 
continue their journey. Mr. Laughlin became so 
infatuated with the location and appearance of the 
country in which they then were, that he laid claim 
to 160 acres of land through a "squatter's right." 
He dug a cellar and hewed his logs ready to be 
built into a house. He also plowed sixteen acres 
of the ground before he returned to his family in 
Iowa. In the fall of 1859 he came back to his 
claim with his family, with the avowed purpose of 
making it his future home, and he has since made 
it so. 

The following spring Mr. Laughlin began the 



improvements which have now reached such a per- 
fect state, by setting out an extensive grove and 
plowing the balance of his land. The house that 
he built of logs has long since given way to a more 
convenient and roomy residence. To enter into 
all the details of the history pertaining to their 
first year jn Nebraska would require a volume, and 
would be but a repetition of thousands of other his- 
tories, as contemporaneous with that of our sub- 
ject. At that time their nearest post-office was 
Plattsmouth, thirtj'-four miles away, and the near- 
est railroad was at Ottumwa, Iowa. He has hunted 
deer and antelope on the site occupied by the now 
flourishing city of Lincoln. 

Our subject, profiting by the experience of his 
life with his father in the new country', worked 
hard and with unbounded energi", having an abid- 
ing faith in the future possibilities of his adopted 
State. He devoted himself to the task of doing his 
share toward the development of the country of bis 
choice. He is always found to be generous, and 
ready to lend substantial assistance to those who 
stand in need. He is large-hearted and public- 
spirited, and holds the welfare of the people in his 
locality near to his heart. Himself and wife are 
the parents of seven children: Oscar W., Mary 
Catherine and Ebenezer G. were born in Iowa; 
John C, Lucy Matilda, Benjamin F. and Nellie A. 
were born in Nebraska. Lucy M. is deceased. The 
entire family form an important factor in the social 
life of the precinct. 

Mr. Laughlin has filled many positions of trust 
received at the hands of his neighbors, devoting a 
good share of his public life to the educational in- 
terests of the community. He has been a member 
of the School Board for sixteen years, and assisted 
in the organization of the first public school in Salt 
Creek Precinct. The district embraced at that 
time all of the precinct, the northern half of Green- 
wood, and the western half of South Bend. He is 
a member of Mt. Moriah Commander}' No. 4, K. T., 
of Lincoln, Neb., and holds a prominent position in 
Unity Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Greenwood. In 
politics he is a Democrat, and was delegate to the 
State Democratic Convention in 1884. He has 
been a delegate to the various County Conventions 
of his party, and has served as a member of the 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1025 ' * 



4 



County Central Committee, has been nominated 
twice by liis party for the office of Representative, 
once from Cass County and tlie second time from 
Cass and Saunders Counties. Himself and wife are 
consistent members of the Christian Church at 
Greenwood. 

The flue residence and buildings of Mr. Laughlin 
are shown in a view on another page of tliis volume. 



"rnV) '^'^^"^'^LL SPIRLOCK came to Cass 
liJ// County in the opening 3' ears of his man- 
hood, and cast in his lot with the early pio- 
neers of Nebraska, and he has ever since 
been a resident of Plattsmouth. He lias figured in 
the civic life of the county, and has been identified 
with its business interests. He now holds a clerk- 
ship in the store of E. G. Dovey & Sons, where he 
has been for over eleven years, which alone is suf- 
ficient evidence of unusual faithfulness. His honor- 
able and upright life has been an influence for 
good in this community^ where he is held in the 
highest respect and consideration. 

Our subject was born in that part of Cabal 
County now AVayne County, W. Va., June 28, 1835, 
and is the eldest son of Weslej' and Mary A. 
(Booton) Spurlock, of whom see sketch. He was 
in his third 3'ear when his parents moved to Illinois, 
and therefore has no recollection of the scenes of 
his birth. He first attended school near Abingdon, 
111., and later, when about twelve j-ears old, entered 
the Cherrj^ Grove Presbyterian Seminary, and re- 
mained a student for about two years. His faithful 
parents carefully trained him to a useful and indus- 
trious life, and earlj' instilled into his mind those 
high principles of honor, justice and truth, which 
have been the guides to a pure and conscientious life. 
He made his home with his father until the removal 
to Iowa, assisting in the improvement of the farm, 
and doing all kinds of farm work in the days when 
machinery did not play so important a part in 
lightening the labors of the farmer, the cradle be- 
ing then the most improved method of harvesting 
the grain; splitting rails being his work in the 
winter season. Soon after the family moved to 

4* 



Greenwood, he engaged as clerk for Sarpy & En- 
glish, the former being a pioneer of Nebraska, for 
whom Sarpy County (where he had charge of a sta- 
tion of the American Fur Company, and was 
engaged as an Indian trader) had been named. 
He first agreed to work for the firm for a month. 
All stores in those days had liquor for sale, and 
the store in which he was employed was no ex- 
ception. At the end of a month his employers 
were so satisfied with his services that they wished 
to engage him for a year. But, mindful of the in- 
structions of his parents, who had taught him to ab- 
hor the liquor traffic, he told them that he could 
not work for them and sell liquor, and they readily 
excused him from that duty. There was in that 
vicinit}-, as in all new countries, the usual percent- 
age of men only a step removed from barbarism, 
who on the slightest pretext were read3' to reek 
vengeance on the unfortunate offender. One of those 
men of Belial came into the store one day where 
3'oung Spurlock was clerk and called for whisky. 
He took the man one side and told him he could 
not sell him liquor, and the reason why. The man 
said that was all right, and went awa3' expressing 
his approval. A few da3-s later the same man came 
in again and called for whisky, and when our sub- 
ject refused to sell him an3', he cursed him and 
said that he would cut his heart out. Mr. Spurlock 
grabbed an ax that stood near him, as a means of 
self defense, and emphatically told him that he 
would chop him into mincemeat before he would 
sell him a drop of whisky. Seeing that the 3'oung 
clerk was not frightened b3' his threats he laughed 
and said it was all a joke. In the fall of 1855 our 
subject, wishing to improve his education, entered 
the Iowa Wesle3-au Universit3'. There were no rail- 
roads in Iowa at that time, and he was obliged to 
go to his destination on the old stage coach, and 
while on the road a terrific storm struck them, and 
on account of the excessive rain and unusual flood 
of the streams, a bridge gave way under the weight 
of the stage coach, and he narrowl3^ escaped drown- 
ing, but he managed to get out of the water and 
the wreck, and assisted the driver in rescuing the 
horses. After attending the university but a few 
terms, he then came to the Territor3' of Nebraska, 
arriving in Plattsmouth April 1, 1856. The city 



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1026 



CASS COUNTY. 



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4 PI 



had been platted previous to that time, and a specu- 
lation in house lots ran high. There was then one 
store here, kept in a log building by Messrs. 
Slaughter & Vallerj% and they engaged the services 
of our subject as clerk. He continued with them 
until 1858, and during that time was Deputy Post- 
master. The store then changed hands, and young 
Spurlock was retained in the employ of his first 
employers' successor for a time. He subsequently 
engaged with Tuttle & Ilanna, who kept a large es- 
tablishment, and did a large business during the 
Pike's Peak excitement, selling supplies and mining 
appliances to the emigrants. Those emigrants who 
were eagerly pressing forward across the vast plains, 
then known, as the "Great American Desert," in 
search of gold in the rockj' barriers that rise on the 
A¥estern horizon, were many of them a novel study 
to the lover of liuman nature, and displaying as 
they did so many varieties of it, ranging from 
grave to gay; men of decision and determination, 
men of weak and careless natures, and men of noble 
characters, with those of vicious tendencies, travel- 
ing side by side, all aiming for the same goal. On 
many of the wagons was inscribed in large letters, 
'■Pike's Peak or Bust." Alas! for the hopes of man. 
It is unnecessary to say here that most of them 
came back in a condition expressed bj' the last word 
of the legend just referred to. 

In 1861 Mr. Spurlock was elected County Clerk, 
running as an independent candidate. His admin- 
istration of the affairs pertaining to that office was 
so eminent!}' satisfatory that he was afterward three 
successive times unanimously nominated for the 
position by Republican Conventions, and was three 
times re-elected. After his fourth term expired he 
refused to be a candidate again. Retiring from of- 
fice, he engaged in the real-estate business with R. 
B. Windham, for awhile, and then accepted a posi- 
tion as clerk in the Burlington <fe Missouri River 
land-offlce, and acted in that capacity until the office 
was removed to Lincoln, a few montlis later. Clark 
& Pluramer then secured his services as salesman 
and book-keeper, and lie remained with them until 
they sold out five years afterward. Our subject then 
made a new move, and going to Falls City, en- 
gaged in the real-estate business for one year. Then 
Plattsmouth .again became his home, and he ob- 



tained a situation as clerk in Dovey's establish- 
ment, and has remained there ever since. 

Mr. Spurlock was married, Nov. 1. 1860, to Miss 
Isabella Smiley Davis, and their union has been 
blessed by the birth of one son, George M., to 
whom they are giving every advantage to obtain a 
good education, and he is now a student at the De- 
Pauw University. Mrs. Spurlock was born in An- 
drew Count}^, Mo., and is a daughter of the late 
William H. Davis, a well-known pioneer of Cass 
County, who was prominent in public life here in 
the early days of the settlement of the county. He 
was born in Tennessee, and was a son of Wade II. 
Davis, a native of South Carolina. The latter went 
to Tennessee when he was a young man, and from 
there to Missouri, and was a pioneer of Andrew 
County, where he entered a tract of Government 
land and carried on farming there until he died. 
The father of Mrs. Spurlock moved from Ten- 
nessee to Illinois when a young man, and married, 
in Fulton Couuty, tliat State, Sarah Elizabeth Wind- 
ham, a native of Virginia, and a daughter of Kin- 
chen and Betsy (Barnes) Windham. Mr. Davis 
moved from Illinois to Andrew County, Mo., and 
he being quite well educated for these times, taught 
scliool there and served as Justice of the Peace. He 
was opposed to slaverv and was in favor of the free- 
soil system, consequentl_y Missouri became rather 
too warm a place for him, and he returned to Illi- 
nois about 1848. He bought a farm in Vermont 
Township, Fulton County, and lived there until 
18.52, when he sold the farm and once .again crossed 
the Mississippi to find a home in the West. He 
went up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to St. 
Joseph, Mo., and from there with teams to Glen- 
wood, Iowa. .Soon after settling there he was ap- 
pointed Sheriff, and when the term expired, was re- 
elected to that position. He built a home in the 
village for himself and family. In 18.53 he visited 
Nebraska with others, while it was still held by the 
Indians, their titles not having been abrogated, and 
he and his friends paid the savages $100 to let them 
select lands for themselves. In 1824 Mr. Davis and 
his family crossed the border and spent a few months 
on his claim in Rock Creek, five miles west of the 
present site of Plattsmoutli. In order to secure a 
good title to tlie land, he had built a log cabin 



t. 



•►-II-4*- 



CASS COUNTY. 



■•»» 



1027 



on the place, in which his family lived. During 
that year the stage line was established by his 
place, and he was appointed Postmaster of the post- 
office, that was established at that time in his house. 
The land had not been surveyed when he settled on 
it, and he joined the Claim Club Association, and 
was made Secretary of it. He assisted in the or- 
ganization of the county, and was the first County 
Clerk. In 1862 he moved to Marysville, Mo., and 
resided there until his death, July 12, 1875, his wife 
dying two years later, Aug. 4, 1877. They were 
both prominent members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church for many j^ears. Mr. and Mrs. Spur- 
lock are also identified with that church, being 
among the leading members of that denomination 
in Plattsmouth, Mr. Spurlock having assisted in 
organizing the society, and been active in building 
up the church, and has for over twenty-five years 
been Recording Steward. In politics he was one of 
the organizers of the Republican party in Cass 
County and the State, and has ever since been a 
stanch supporter of the same. 

<| l|feESLEY A. DAVIS is a level-headed, elear- 
\/jJ// thinking farmer, one of the first settlers of 
\y^ Cass County, residing on a well-improved 
farm on section 31, Mt. Pleasant Precinct. He may 
well lay claim to the appellation of pioneer, for he 
has been a resident of the State since 1856, when he 
came with his parents and settled in what is now 
known as Liberty Precinct, where his father had 
purchased 160 acres of wild land. At that time it 
contained a rude log cabin and a small field of 
plowed land, which amounted to but little value. 
At that time neighbors were so few that there was 
but one house between their home and Platts- 
mouth. 

Our subject was born in Yadkin County, N. C, 
June 16, 1851. He is the son of Ruel R. and 
Biddy Davis. The parents were both natives of 
North Carolina. The father died in 1861; the 
mother is still living in Weeping Water Precinct. 
Mr. Davis is one of a family of nine children: 
Stephen A., who resides in Plattsmouth; Or- 
lando J., who resides in Otoe County, as does 



■» I I <• 



Brantley II., Wesley A.; William R. resides in 
Avoca Pi-ecinct; Julia A. is now the wife of 
William Jamison, and resides in Weeping Water; 
John H. was born Nov. 3, 1857, and now resides 
in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. It is claimed that lie 
was one of the first white children born within the 
limits of Cass County. The children deceased 
were named Eunice and Joseph. 

The subject of this sketch has always lived on 
a farm, amid the stirring scenes incident to the de- 
velopment of a new country, and by the death of 
his father, when he was but thirteen years of age, 
he was thrown upon his own resources, and was 
obliged to render all the assistance possible to the 
other members of the family. He assisted one 
of his brothers in working a farm which he had 
rented, and also worked for neighboring farmers 
whenever occasion offered. It was owing to this 
mode of life that he was deprived of the oppor- 
tunity for acquiring an education by attending 
school. But he has studied and read all available 
books and papers, and closely observed events as 
they occurred, until he now possesses a large fund 
of practical knowledge, the greater portion of 
which has been learned in that best of all schools — 
experience. 

The subject of our sketch and Alice Harmon 
were married Dec. 19, 1876, in Mills County, 
Iowa, where the lady was born Sept. 18, 1859. She 
is the daughter of Francis M. and INIinerva Har- 
mon. Both parents were natives of Indiana, and 
settled in Mills County in 1856. Her fatiier was in 
the army during the late war; he was wounded at 
the battle of Shiloh, and which resulted in his death. 
Her mother is now the wife of Joshua Boyd; 
she resides in Washington Territory. The parents 
of the Lady had a family of three children; her 
brother Fielding resides in Washington Territory; 
Alice is the wife of our subject, and Mary E., now 
the wife of William R. Davis, resides in Avoca 
Precinct. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have one adopted 
child — Lulu M. 

After his marriage our subject resided in Rock 
Bluff Precinct for four years. He then removed 
to Liberty Precinct, where he lived a short time; 
in the summer of 1883 he settled in his present 
home, where he owns 120 acres of land, which he 



r 



a 



1028 



CASS COUNTY. 



•^1::^ 



has very highly improved, by the erection of a 
neat and pleasant dwelling-house, which is com- 
fortably furnished throughout, conveniently ar- 
ranged barns and other out-buildings for the care 
and protection of his stock and crops. The farm 
is divided into conveniently sized fields by perman- 
ent wire fences and well-cared-for hedges. The 
farm presents a picture of industry and untiring 
zeal; a fine orchard and groves of trees add beauty 
and value as well. 

Mrs. Davis, the wife of our subject, came 
with her mother to Cass County and settled in 
Eock Bluff Precinet, where she lived up to the 
time of her marriage with Mr. Davis. Mrs. Davis 
is an active and consistent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church; they take a lively interest in all 
matters pertaining to the best interests of the i^eople 
among whom they live. They occupy a prominent 
position in the social life of the communitj^ and are 
honored and respected. In political matters he is a 
Democrat, and takes great interest in the success of 
his party. He has served as School Treasurer in 
Mt. Pleasant District four years. He is a leading 
member of the I. O. O. F., belonging to the Lodge 
at Weeping Water. He never has sought and does 
not care for political or public preferment. 



ARON L. VAN DOREN, a noted and snc- 
S^/Lj] cessful breeder of English Sliire and Cleve- 
1!* land Bay horses, resides in Salt Creek 
Precinct, where he owns a valuable, highly 
improved farm of 245 acres of land, on which he set- 
tled when he came to Nebraska in 1 880. The gentle- 
man was born in Chester, Morris Co., N. J., on the 
8th of March, 1842. He lived in his native 
place until he was a lad fourteen years of age, 
wiien he migrated with his parents to Mills County, 
Iowa. In the years prior to their leaving New 
Jersey lie attended tlie excellent schools of New- 
ark, in that State, consequently lie had a good 
educational training when they went to Iowa. 
There, however, the advantages were meager, and 
presented a striking contrast to the schools in the 
East. Their first residence in Iowa was in the 
typical log house, built not for beaut}-, but for~com- 



fort and shelter, and it can be truly said that the log 
cabins of our country have been the homes and 
birthplace of many of the brightest intellects and 
noblest lives that have come to this world on which 
we live. 

The fatlier of our subject died when his son was 
only fourteen years of age, leaving the mother and 
our subject, with his brothers John and George, at 
home in charge of the farm. John died in 1859, 
leaving the two surviving brothers to care for the 
mother and the farm. The father was a verj' ener- 
getic, pushing man, and his sons inherited from 
hinc that very desirable quality. The two sons 
continued on the farm with their raotiier until the 
opening of the late Civil War, when, in response to 
President Lincoln's first call for 300,000 men, our 
subject enlisted for three years, or during the war, 
at Sidney, Iowa, Aug. 27, 1861. He, with his com- 
rades, went to Davenport to Camp McClellan, and 
then to Camp Harland, at Mt. Pleasant, where they 
were drilled and instructed in the science of war. 
Leaving Camp McClellan they departed for the 
seat of war in the South, by the way of St. Louis. 
The remainder of their military education was ob- 
tained by actual experience under Confederate fire. 

The command of which our subject was a mem- 
ber took an active part in the battles of Springfield 
and Pea Ridge, Mo., where the 4th Iowa Cavalry 
did effective service. Our subject was a member 
of Comp.any A, of this regiment. Beginning with 
the Missouri campaign, the regiment was actively 
and continuously employed, and was present and 
took part in the engagements at Helena, Ark., 
Grenada, Jackson, Guntown and Osage, Miss., 
finding themselves at last a part of Grant's army 
around Vicksburg. His brother George was killed 
near our subject, being the third man from him, in 
the same rank. In this engagement eight com- 
panions of our subject were killed and nine wounded 
inside of twenty minutes. During the siege of 
Vicksburg our subject re-enlisted as a veteran in 
Company A, 4th Iowa Cavalry, when he was granted 
a furlough of thirty days, which gave him an op- 
portunity to visit his home and friends. At the 
^piration of his leave of absence he rejoined his 
regiment at Memphis, Tenn. 

After rejoining his regiment our suViject accom- 

»► 



-^•- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1029 



paiiied it, and participated in the engagements 
at the Big Blue and Montieello. Mo., Selma, Ala., 
and Columbus, Ga., besides taking part in many 
skirmishes, reconnoiteringand foraging expeditions. 
Tliej' were at Macon, Ga., wlien Lee surrendered to 
Gen. Grant at Appomattox Court House. They then 
went to Atlanta, Ga., when they were sent to Dav- 
enport, Iowa, where they were mustered out, and 
honorably discharged Aug. 24, 1865. At Vicks- 
burg he was made a Corporal, and in 1864, at 
Louisville, he was promoted to Duty Sergeant, in 
which capacity he served until the close of the war. 
During his entire term of service, covering a period 
of four years, he never missed a roll call. Our 
subject and his comrade, Jacob Barnett, had the 
best records of any members of the regiment, and 
the commanding oflScer not wishing to make any 
distinction between the two, who were equal in 
every respect, granted them both a duty furlough 
of forty days, as a reward for duties well and faith- 
fully performed. In 1865 he returned home and 
began farming. 

In July, 1866, Mr. Van Doren and Miss Saraii F,. 
Hill were married. The lady is a daughter of Ed- 
mund and Harriet (More}') Hill. The father 
of this lady was born in Ohio, and the mother in 
Maine. The parents went to Henry County, Iowa, 
in 1844, and there lived for a period of eighteen 
3'ears, when they removed to Mills County, Iowa. 
Her father was a wagon-maker, and by his industry 
he became the owner of a farm in Mills Countj', 
Iowa. In the years 1854-57 he visited the gold 
mines in California, and then returned to his family 
in Iowa. His sons, who are living in that State, 
continued to wriie him such flattering letters, and 
described the country in such glowing terms, that 
they induced their father, at his advanced age, to 
sell his home in Mills County and remove to Cali- 
fornia, which he did in 1874, and lived there until 
his death, which occurred Dec. 6, 1887, when he 
was sixty-eight years old. The mother is still liv- 
ing, at Cedarville, Cal., aged sixty-nine years. 

Mrs. Van Doren is the second eldest in a family 
of seven children, her brother Daniel E. being older; 
and George F., Alvin (who died when one year 
old). Nellie A., Charley (who died when four years 
old), and ICva M. are younger. Sarah E. was born 



in Henry County, Iowa, where she lived with her 
parents until she was sixteen years old, when she 
went with them to Mills County, Iowa. At the 
age of seventeen she began teaching school, which 
she continued for three years. After her mar- 
riage she lived with her husband in Mills County, 
Iowa, until they came to Nebraska in 1880. 

The father of our subject, William Van Doren, 
was born in New Jersey, where he was a farmer. 
He moved to Mills County, Iowa, in 1855, settling 
near Emerson, where he prfispered and owned a 
large and valuable farm. He became widely known 
as an excellent judge of cattle and horses. He 
died on his homestead in 1856, aged fifty-four 
years. The mother, Perthenia (Drake) Van Doren, 
was also a native of New Jerse}' ; she was married 
twice, and one child was the result of her first union, 
named James A. Lusk, now an esteemed citizen 
and farmer of Logan, Harrison Co., Iowa. Eight 
children were born to her after her second mar- 
riage, who were named : Ann Maria, Nancy J., 
Caroline, William, Mary E., George W., John (now 
dead), and our subject, Aaron L. George was mar- 
ried, became the father of a son, and is now dead; 
Ann M. resides at Alexander, Dak.; Nancy resides 
in Lawrence, Mills Co.. Iowa; Caroline resides in 
Topeka, Mason Co., 111. ; AVilliam resides in Mal- 
vern, Iowa; Mary E. is the wife of William J. 
Baldwin, for a sketch of whose life see another 
page of this volume. After her husband's death, 
the mother lived on the old homestead, where she 
died in 1886. eighty-five j'ears old. The Van 
Doren homestead is now owued jointly by the heirs, 
but all of them have homes of their own, so none of 
the family live there. 

The paternal grandparents of our subject came 
to America from Holland, and settled in New 
Jersey in the early Colonial times. The mother's 
people came from England at a very early date, 
and settled in New Jersey. 

A family of six children have been born to our 
subject and his wife, named : Edgar W. ; Flora, who 
died aged three months; Frank H., Freddie L., 
Nellie M. and Raymond. His wife is a lady of 
culture and refinement; kind and hospitable, she 
takes and holds one of the first places in the social 
life of the precinct. Coming to the West as she 



»► I I <• 



H^K 



»► ir ^ 



1030 



CASS COUNTY. 



i 



did at an early age, the toils, privations and dan- 
gers of pioneer life are not strange to her, she hav- 
ing borne unflinchingly her full share as a dutiful 
daugliter and faithful wife, and she has richly 
earned the life uf competence and ease which is 
now her portion. 

Mr. Van Doren is a gentleman who presents an 
ideal of manly beauty and strength ; he is rather 
above the medium stature, well and strongly built, 
a frame closely knit, with sinewj' muscles, he has 
all the attributes that make him a man of extra- 
ordinary ph3'sical power. He is a man of great 
force of character, and makes his individuality felt 
and recognized bj- all. His career as a soldier is 
one of which he may be exceedingly proud. There 
may have been others who possessed one equally as 
good, but no one surpasses him in that respect. 
Bearing all the privations, discharging ever^- duty, 
however dangerous, unflinchingly, seeing his only 
brother shot down at his side, and exposing his ovvn 
life to the same fate, show him to be a man of 
courage and resolution. In tracing his ancestry 
back to the early days of our country, no flaw or 
stain can be found attaching to any of the name, 
but each one faithfully discharged every duty of 
patriotism and honor devolving upon them. 

The love of horses exhibited by our subject is in- 
herited from his father, and he has cultivated it from 
his earliest childhood. The horse was an object of 
great delight to him in his early years, and in his 
later life and during the time of the Rebellion he 
held constant companionship with the graceful 
members of the equine tribe, and it is therefore no 
wonder that in his years of mature manhood he 
should engage in a business having for its purpose 
the breeding and development of the most noble 
animal of creation. Such has been his experience, 
the result of study and observation, that his judg- 
ment in all matters relating to stock-raising is ac- 
cepted by his neighbors without question, it being 
proverbial, and the farm which he has devoted to 
this purpose presents to the eye of the observer a 
placeperfect in all its details, designed especially 
for the comfort and accommodation of the many 
flne specimens of the horse — the property of our 
subject. His farm is well improved by substantial 
fences, large and conveniently arranged barns, and 



a commodious, well-furnished dwelling-house, a 
choice orchard, and numerous groves and numbers 
of ornamental trees. A large supply of pure water 
is available, made convenient to the barns and 
dwelling by a system of piping from a large tank, 
filled by a pump operated liy a large windmill. A 
vievv of the place is shown on another page of this 
work. 

Our sul)ject is Junior Vice-Commander of the 
G. A. R. Post at Greenwood, and is Past Chancel- 
lor of the Knights of Pythias. He is a School 
Director of District No. 81, and is now serving his 
third term. In politics he is a strict Republican, 
and takes a lively interest in the success of that 
party. 

ji^^RED WEHRBEIN is one of the leading 
\rr^^ farmers of Plattsmouth Township, and his 
Ji, ^ highly productive farm, one of the most 
valuable estates in this locality, is sufficient evi- 
dence that he has met with more than ordinary 
success in his chosen calling. He comes of an an- 
cient German family', and is a son of Frederic 
Wehrbein, who was born in Lippe-Detmold, Ger- 
many, and was there united in marriage to Amalia 
Goedike. There were eight children born unto 
them, namely: Wilhelmina, Amalia, Charlotte, 
Dorothea, Frederic (who died in infancy), out sub- 
ject, "William and Gustine; the latter is deceased. 
In 1855 Mr. Wehrbein emigrated to the United 
States with his famil3', and located in Jefferson 
Count}', AVis., where he was prosperousl}' engaged 
in farming for some j-ears. In 1868 he removed 
to Nebraska with his wife and children, and made 
his home here until his death, his wife also dying 
here. He was a capalile. self-reliant man, and 
while acquiring a competencj- contributed to the 
material welfare of Cass County. 

The subject of this sketch was born in the home 
of his fathers in far-away Germanj', June 14, 1848, 
and but seven years had passed over his head when 
he left the Fatherland with his jjarents and came to 
the United States, of which he was to become a use- 
ful citizen after attaining manhood. He continued 
to live with his parents until his marriage. He 
first purchased eighty acres of land on section 18, 








^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



«4« 



1033 



Plattsnioiith Precinct, now included in his pres- 
ent farm, and the good success that he liad in man- 
aging it enabled him to buy more land, until he is 
now the possessor of as fine a farm as is to be found 
in Cass County, comprising 227 acres in all. It is un- 
der good tillage, and is amply supplied with every- 
thing necessary for carr3'ing on agriculture after the 
most approved methods. Mr. Wehrbein lias erected 
a conveniently arranged, substantial dwelling, corn 
cribs and other necessary out-buildings, and every- 
thing about tlie place wears an air of neatness and 
thrift. 

To the wife who presides over his pleasant home 
Mr. Wehrbein was united in marriage in this 
county, in January, 1873. Her maiden name was 
Margaret Hagel, and she is also a German bj'' birth. 
Mrs. Wehrbein's parents, Anton and Theresa 
(Schoeule) Hagel, were likewise natives of Germany, 
who emigrated to this country and spent their last 
years in Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Wehrbein have 
five children living, namely: Ida, Emma, Marj', 
John and William. Frederic, their eldest child, 
died at the age of nine months. 

Mr. Wehrbein is a manly, upright man, of good 
financial ability, and prompt and methodical in his 
business habits. In him the Presbyterian Church 
finds a useful and earnest member. Mrs. Wehrbein 
is a much esteemed lady, was reared in the Catholic 
Church, and has remained true to the faith of her 
forefathers. Politically, Mr. W. is a Democrat. 



« IfelLLIAM HENRY SHAFER is distin- 
*Aj* guished in the annals of Cass County as 
WW being the second oldest settler in point of 
settlement, and to him and men of like energ3', en- 
terprise and ability, does it owe its present impor- 
tance and prosperity. He took up his residence in 
Plattsmouth in 1854, when there was scarcely an- 
other habitation for miles around, shrewdly 
noting its eligible position for a town site, and it is 
with pleasure that he has witnessed the various 
stages of its growth from the wild, lonely prairie, 
and then a struggling village, to its present size 
and importance as the metropolis of one of the finest 
counties and richest farming regions in the State, 

•►^^^:'»— 



and it must be to him a source of satisfaction that 
he has had a hand in bringing about this marvelous 
change. lie is extensively engaged in the real-estate 
business in this city, aside from devoting much 
time to looking after his private interests, as he has a 
large amount of property, and at one time owned 
1,000 acres of land in Cass County, besides 1,500 
acres in other parts of Nebraska and Iowa. 

The subje3t of this biographical notice was born 
in Pendleton County, K}^,and his father, Frederic 
Shafer, was likewise born in that State, Harrison 
County being the place of his birth. His father, 
Henry Shafer, was a native of Pennsjdvania, and 
was there reared and married. His first wife died 
there, and he married a second time, the gr.and- 
mother of our subject being his second wife. After 
his second marriage he resided in Mercer County, 
his native State, until his removal to Kentucky 
with several other families. They made the journey 
from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River in a flatboat. 
The country through which they passed presented 
a very different appearance from what it does to-day, 
the picturesque banks of the stream being thickly 
wooded with tall, centuries-old trees. But in the 
depths of the primeval forest lurked the implacable 
enemy of the earl}- settlers, the Indian, and once on 
the waj' they were attacked bj^ the hostile aborigines, 
but all escaped unharmed. The grandfather of our 
subject took up a tract of heavilj' timbered land in 
Harrison County, after his arrrival in Kentucky, 
and cast in his lot with the pioneers of that State. 
The land had never been surveyed, and he marked 
the boundaries of his claim by blazing trees. The 
Indians being numerous, the settlers were obliged 
to build a fort, to which they could flee on occasion 
of hostile demonstrations from them. The men 
had frequently to go out on scouting expeditions, 
and Mr. Shafer was with Poe on one of these when 
Mr. Poe killed the Indian thief, Big Foot. There 
WBre no markets in that part of the country for 
farm products for some years, and the people lived 
in the most primitive manner. The grandmother 
of our subject used to spin, weave, and make up 
all the cloth used in the family, and the skins of 
wild animals were utilized to make clothing. After 
several years of hard labor, and the p.atient endur- 
ance of hardships, Mr. Sliafer cleared a fine farm, 



i 



■•►^h 



•^^fMt 



^^k 



1034 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 



t 



which remained his heme until death claimed him. 
His wife then n moved to Illinois with her ecu John, 
and died at his home in Vermilion Countj'. She 
was the mother of nine children, of whom the father 
of our subject was one. 

The latter was reared in Harrison County, but af- 
ter marriage he moved to Pendleton County, in the 
same State, and bought timbered land, from which 
he cleared a farm. He built a log house for a 
dwelling, and in that humble abode his son, of 
whom we write, first opened his eyes to the light of 
day. The father engaged in general farming there 
for several years, then took up his residence in Gal- 
latin County, where he bought a partially improved 
farm. In 1836, seven years later, we tind him 
among the pioneers of Decatur County, lud., where 
he purchased a tract of land, which he cultivated 
during his six years' residence there. After that 
he spent eight years iu Tipton County, and then 
he found a home in Nebraska with his son, our sub- 
ject, until his death, Oct. 3, 1867, at the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-eight. The maiden name of 
his wife was Sarah Jones, and she was a daughter 
of Joshua Jones, of Pennsylvania. She was born 
in Harrison County, Ky., and died at the home of 
a daughter in Cass County, this State, April 5, 186.5. 
She and her husband were the parents of the fol- 
lowing children: Seth, Milton, Thomas, William 
H., Joshua and Harriet. 

William Shafer was four j'ears old when his 
parents moved to Gallatin County, and about 
twelve years old when they crossed the border 
to take up their abode in Indiana, the removal be- 
ing made with wagons. The home that his father 
selected comprised a tract of land in the wil- 
derness, and tliere our subject was reared amid 
the pioneer influences that often serve to bring out 
strength of character and manly self-reliance. The 
household lived in the most simple manner, lux- 
uries being almost unattainable; the mother did all 
her cooking before the lire in the rude fireplace, 
and it was her skillful hands that made all the 
clothing for her family. Our subject made his home 
with his parents until he was about twenty j'ears 
of age. although he had previously worked out by 
the day or month, receiving for wages fifty cents 
a day in harvest seasons and SB a month at 



other seasons of the year. At the age mentioned 
he went to Switzerland County, Ind., with two of 
his brothers, and they rented land and engaged in 
agricultural pursuits for two years at that point. 
Our subject then married, and after that rented 
land and farmed it on its own account for three 
years. We next hear of. him in Tipton Countj^, 
where lie invested the money that he had accumu- 
lated in a 1 00-acre tract of timbered land, at 
$2 an acre. He built a primitive log struct- 
ure, with an earth and stick chimney at one 
end of it, and in that house he and his wife took up 
their abode. Pioneer conditions still obtained in 
that part of the country, from which the primeval 
forests had not yet been eliminated b3^ the ax of 
the settler; nor had the wild turkeys, deer, wolves 
and other wild animals fled before the advancing 
steps of civilization, but venison and the delicious 
meat of the wild turkey often set forth the table 
of the settler. Mr. Shafer cleared and cultivated 
twenty-five acres of his land, and made his home on 
it until 1854. In the spring of that year he sold his 
land, and migrating with his family to Iowa, pur- 
chased a tract of timbered land, comprising 500 
acres, near Glenwood. opposite Plattsmouth, and 
there resided from ]May 25 until November 19. 
His removal to that place had been by rail to Madi- 
son, Ind., where he had embarked on a steamer for 
Bethlehem, Iowa, traveling on the waters of the 
Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. He paid his 
first visit to Nebraska April 25 of that year, and 
pre-empted the land whei-ehenow lives, which now 
forms a part of the city. May 19 he erected a log 
house on the place, with a stick and mud chimney, 
and a few months later moved into it with his fam- 
ily. At that time there were but two houses in 
Plattsmouth, and the Indian titles had not been 
quieted, but after the ratification of the treaties, the 
Government sold the land for $1.25 an acre. In 1855 
Plattsmouth was survej-ed, and Mr. Shafer assisted 
in the first surve}' by carrying the chain. Two men 
named Martin and O'Neill had kept a store on the op- 
posite side of the river, and had later become the pro- 
prietors of the town site, and had platted the citj-. 
They both died here. In 1855 a post-office was 
established here, it being kept in a log building 
that was for some years used for a store, and the 
:. c^ 



■^►Hl 



CASS COUNTY. 



1035 



mail pame once a week from Glen wood, Iowa. 
After settling here Mr. Shafer turned his attention 
to the improvement of his land, a part of which 
was open prairie and a part of it covered with 
brush. In August, 1850, he commenced freighting 
across the plains to Denver, starting with two 
wagons laden with flour, with three yokes of oxen 
to each wagon. Two men accompanied him, and 
they took provisions and cooked and camped by 
the way. The Indians were at that time peaceable 
and friendly, and did not attempt to molest them. 
Buffaloes, deer, antelopes and other wild game were 
plentiful and were seen nearly every day. It took 
three months to make the round trip to and from 
Denver, and each 3'ear after that he made two trips 
across the plains until 1868, and then made trips 
from Julesburg to Denver. During that year he 
also made two trips from Denver to Ft. Wallace, 
Kan., a distance of 160 miles, for the purpose 
of teaming lumber, and during the time he 
killed several buffaloes. The Indians were then 
hostile, but he fortunately never happened to en- 
counter them. In 1879 Mr. Shafer freighted from 
Denver to the Upper North Platte, and also for the 
contractors on the Union Pacific Railroad, be- 
tween the Upper North Platte and Echo Canyon, 
and from Bayant City to Salt Lake City. In the 
fall of the year he disposed of his team at a good 
price, and returned to his home in Plattsmouth, and 
establislied himself in the real-estate business. In 
the spring of 1876 lie concluded to resume freight- 
ing, and started for Sidney, Neb., with three wag- 
ons and seven yokes of oxen, and there loaded 
freight for the Black Hills. It took six weeks to 
make the round trip between Sidney and Deadwood, 
and the cost of freighting articles to the latter 
point was from two and one-half cents to three cents 
a pound. Mr. Shafer continued freighting be- 
tween those points for three years, and then he 
went upon the route between Ft. Pierce and Dead- 
wood for two years, July 12, 1881, he sold his 
"teams at -Ft. Pierce, and returned home, In 1882 
he set about the improvement of his real estate by 
building, and during that year he erected seventeen 
dwellings and a blacksmith-shop, thus giving Platts- 
mouth's building interests quite a boom. In 1882 
he formed a partnership with AVilliam Wise, and 



they became agents for the Union Pacific Railroad 
for the sale of that company's Cheyenne lands. At 
the end of one season they dissolved partnership, 
and our subject has been dealing in real estate 
alone since that time. His is a busy, active life, 
and has been fraught with much adventure. He 
has accom]^)lished much where a less determined 
and energetic man would have failed, and is now 
numbered among the substantial and wealth}- men 
of this community. 

Mr. Shafer was married, May 30, 1846, to Eliz- 
abeth Gullion,a native of Switzerland County, Ind., 
Dec. 14, 1826, being the date of her birth. Her 
parents, John and Elizabeth (Scudder) GuUion, 
were also natives of Indiana. Dec. 22, 1872, 
this devoted wife and tender mother was removed 
from the cares and sorrows of earth, and many 
there were to share the grief of the family tlius left 
desolate. To her and her husband twelve children 
had been born, seven of whom are living — John F'., 
Melissa J., Missouri A. , Sarah C, Zilva, Hattie and 
Ida. In early manhood Mr. Schafer was a Whig, 
and he cast his first vote for Henry Clay. On the 
formation of the Republican party he fell into its 
ranks, and has firmly supported its measures ever 
since. 

Portraits of this noble old pioneer and liis equally 
noble wife, who had witnessed and participated in 
tlie growth of the city of Plattsmouth from its 
primitive state of open prairie to its present flour- 
ishing condition, are given herewith. 

•"•' I ' ^ ' M'^ * ! '*"' 



:*='?REDERIC GORDER is one of the leading 

PJ) citizens of the city of Plattsmouth, standing 
in the foremost ranks of its energetic and 
enterprising business men, and taking a prominent 
part in its civic life. He was born in Lippe-Det- 
mold, German}', in 1838, and liis father, August 
Gorder, was likewise a native of the same locality. 
He was a shoemaker b}' trade, and followed that 
calling in the old country for some years, after- 
ward, however, engaging in farming. In 1853 he 
embarked for America with his wife and six chil- 
dren, setting sail from Bremen in Marcli, landing 
in New York City the following May. He wtMiito 



■•►-Ih 



•►-Hl^ 



♦^H^ 



1036 



CASS COUNTY. 



^; 



Jeflfei'son Coiintj', Wis., and worked at his tinde of 
shoemaker there for two j-ears. After that he 
bought a tract of improved land in Watertown 
Township, and for several j'ears was prosperously 
engaged in farming. He subsequently retired with 
a comfortable competence to the town of Water- 
town, and there passed his last years, dying in 1880. 
He and his wife were higiily respected by all who 
knew them for their many good traits of character. 
The children born to him and his wife were as fol- 
lows: Frederic, Henrietta, August, William, Mena 
and Sophia. 

The subject of our sketch attended school in his 
native countrj'. and acquired a substantial educa- 
tion. He was fifteen years of age when he accom- 
jjanied his parents to the United States, and he 
began life here by working on a farm at |5 a 
month. After his father bought a farm he resided 
with his parents until marriage, and assisted in the 
management of the homestead, thus gaining a 
sound, practical knowledge of agriculture. Feb. 
14. 1862, Mr. Gorder established a home of his 
own, and to the young lady, Miss Charlotte Wehr- 
bein, whom lie asked to preside over it, he was 
united in marriage. Six children have been born 
unto them, namely: Emma, Fred, Annie, August, 
Louisa and John. 

At the time of his mairiage Mr. Gorder bought 
120 acres of imi)roved land in Waterloo Town- 
ship, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
with good success until 18G8, when he sold all of 
his proi)erty in Wisconsin, having decided to try 
liis fortunes in the young State of Nebraska. He 
came to Plattsmouth and bought a farm in this 
precinct, which he managed with profit for Ave 
years. At the expiration of that time he re- 
moved into town and engaged in buying grain, 
continuing in that business the greater part of the 
time until 1887, and for the past eight years he has 
also been engaged in the sale of farm implements. 
He still carries on that business, and has built up a 
large trade. When the Plattsmouth canning fac- 
tory was established Mr. Gorder became a stock- 
holder and director in the company, and in 1888 
he was appointed manager and secretary. 

Mr. Gorder is a fine example of the self-made 
men of this country who, solelj' bj- their honorable 



ambition, ])ersistence and industry, have placed 
themselves among the most substantial and wealtliy 
citizens of the localities where they reside. He is 
a man whose genuine honesty, capacitj' for affairs, 
and unblemished characters, have been instrumental 
in raising him to responsible offices, as in him his 
fellow-citizens saw one whom they could trust to 
serve them faithfully, and, it is needless to add, 
their confidence has never been betrayed. Mr. 
Gorder is a stockholder in the Cass County Bank, 
and he is prominently identified with the local 
Board of Trade, having been a charter member. He 
has been a member t f the City Council, and is at 
present a member of the Board of Public Works. 
He is independent in politics, voting for the men 
whom he thinks to be best fitted for office, and sus- 
taining such measures as in his judgment are for 
the best interests of the countrj', regardless of the 
party from which thej' may have emanated. He 
and his family are among the most active members 
of the German Presbyterian Church. 



^., RCHIBALD McFALL, who is profitably 
Ig^Jyli engaged in agricultural pursuits on section 
s 13 of Stove Creek Precinct, h.as been in 
Nebraska only a few years, but during his 
residence here he has gained the respect and confi- 
dence of the community b}- his upright dealings 
and fair business transactions. He was born in the 
Province of Quebec, Canada, June 29, 1839. He 
is of Scotch-Irish descent, his patern.al grand- 
father having emigrated from Ireland to Canada^ 
and was a pioneer in the Province of t^uebec, re- 
maining there engaged in farming until his death, 
at the advanced age of eighty years. AVilliam G. 
McFall, the father of our subject, was born in Ire- 
land in 1816, and when three years of age came to 
Canada with his parents. When old enough to es- 
tablish himself in life he bought 100 acres of 
densely timbered land in Canada, from which he 
cleared a farm. He took part in the Canadian Re- 
bellion in 1838, going out as a volunteer in the 
home guards. In 1855 he removed to the Province 
of Ontario, where he began pioneer life anew. He 
•^ 



h 



^^- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1037 



improved a farm of 200 acres, put up good build- 
ings, and remained tliere many years. In 1881, 
disposing of liis property in Canada, he came to 
Nebraska, and has since lived with Ills son at Eagle. 
He is a member of the Baptist Church, and a man 
of e.xcellent personal character. He married Miss 
Ellen Broadie, a native of the Province of Ontario, 
who died there in 1857, when thirty-nine years of 
age. Her fatlier was born in Scotland, and emi- 
griited to Canada when a j'oung man, and spent the 
remaining years of his life there. To Mr. and Mrs. 
McFall were born eight children, namely: Archi- 
bald, Ellen, .James, Adam, William, Mathew, Mar- 
garet and ]\Iichael. 

The subject of our sketch was reared in his na- 
tive town, and remained at home, assisting his 
father on the farm out of school hours, until six- 
teen years of age, when he moved with his parents 
to Ontario. He then worked with his father until 
he attained his majority. Soon after that auspi- 
cious event our subject bought 100 acres of land in 
Canada, which was covered with a dense forest, and 
began the arduous task of clearing a farm. He 
succeeded, put up good buildings, and devoted 
himself to general farming and stock-raising, wheat 
having been his staple product. Becoming dissat- 
isfied with the countrj^ Mr. McFall moved from 
Canada to Nebraska, coming by rail to South Bend, 
thence to his present farm, which he had purchased 
the year before. It was in its primitive state, and 
he at once commenced its improvement. He lived 
in a small house, but has since built a more com- 
modious one, and the first season broke fifty acres 
of ground. The next season he set out groves of 
forest trees and an orchard of 115 fruit trees, and 
fenced his land. His farm is well watered, being 
crossed by two streams of running water, besides 
having two wells on the place. Our subject pays 
much attention to raising cattle and hogs, feeding 
out the larger part of his grain to them. His herd 
of cows comprises some fine grades. He also keeps 
throe teams of horses of a fine grade. 

Mr. McFall was married in Perth County, Can- 
ada, April 7, 1864. to Miss Ellen, daughter of An- 
drew and Sarah (Mathewson) Morrow. Both par- 
ents were natives of Ireland, and soon after their 
marriage moved to Canada, where Mr. Morrow en- 



gaged in the marcantile business in Queb3c. He 
subsequently bought a farm of 300 acres in the 
Province of Quebsc, on which he lived until his 
death in 1864. In 1838 he took an active part in 
the Canadian Rebellion, having enlisted as a volun- 
teer. Mrs. Morrow died on the homestead in 1857. 
They were the parents of six children, as follows: 
Rebecca, Sarah, George (deceased), Ellen, John and 
Gilbert. 

The household of our subject and wife has been 
brightened by the birth of eight children, seven of 
whom are now living, namely: Ellen, wife of E. 
Boyles, of Stove Creek Precinct; Annie, Emma, 
George, John, Ida and Bertha. Mr. McFall is an 
intelligent, industrious man, of sound judgment, 
always interested in local and general affairs, and 
during his residence in Canada was for many years 
a member of the Board of Education, a position 
which he has also filled here to the satisfaction 
of all, and he has likewise been Supervisor of 
Roads. Both Mr. and Mrs. McFall are worthj- 
members of the Christian Church at Elmwood, and 
contributed generously toward building it, and have 
since helped to support it. Mr. McFall was natu- 
ralized in 1886, and has since identified himself 
with the Prohibition party. 



■S^ VERETT E. DAY. As one of the practical 
liN business men of Weeping Water and repre- 
(i^^ sentative citizens of Cass Count3% it affords 
us pleasure to place before the reading public a 
brief commemlatory notice of the gentleman whose 
name appears at the head of this sketch. He is of 
good New England origin, his great-grandfather, 
AVilliam Day, having bsen born in Massachusetts, 
where he spent his entire life. He was President of 
the first body of men who came together to formulate 
a petition to Congress praying for the Declaration 
of Independence. John Day, the grandfather of 
our subject, was born in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., 
Mass., about 1770. He married a Miss Austin, and 
after spending many years of their married life 
in Massachusetts, they emigrated to Ohio with their 
family of fourteen children in 1816. 

Judge William Da}-, the father of our subject. 



•► I I <• 



i^V-M* 



•►HK-^^ 



1038 



CAbS COUNTY. 



was born Dec. 15, 1796, in Sheffield, Mass., where 
he remained until his removal to the Western Re- 
serve in Ohio. When he crossed the Cuyahoga 
River there were only a few houses on the site now 
occupied by the city of Cleveland. He settled in 
Sheffield, Lorain Co., Ohio, where he hewed out a 
farm from the forest-C(3vered land. His father and 
Isaac Burrill, afterward his father-in-law, bought 
tlie whole township of Sheffield. He being only 
about twenty years of age at the time of moving 
to Ohio, remained with his father until he went to 
New Orleans to take charge of a large hotel for his 
uncle, and remained there for several years. In 
1833 he returned to Ohio, and was soon after mar- 
ried to Miss Augusta, daughter of Isaac Burrill, 
who was born in Herldmer County, N. Y.. in the 
latter part of the eighteenth century, and moved 
with his family to Sheffield, Ohio, in 1817, going 
with an ox-team, and cutting his road a large part 
of the way. After their marriage Judge Day and 
his wife settled on a part of his land Which he had 
previously taken up, and he now has a magnificent 
farm, the homestead comprising five or six hun- 
dred acres of land. Besides this he owns other 
farms, but the larger part of his fortune was made 
by dealing in white oak lumber. He has been for 
many jears Associate Judge of the District Court 
of Ohio. He is still living, a hale and hearty old 
man, having the universal esteem of the commu- 
nity, and is a prominent and representative man of 
his county. He, with a few Of the older families, 
was a founder of the Congregational Church of 
Sheffield, and has always contributed liberally to- 
ward its support. The Judge's estimable wife died 
Oct. 9, 1887, her death having been the first one 
in the family since the marriage of herself and hus- 
band fifty-four years before. She left seven children 
and sixteen grandchildren. The record of the chil- 
dren is as follows: E. I. Day lives in Weeping 
Water; Maria is the wife of Prof. G. F. Wright, 
of Oberlin College; William is now at the old 
liomestead; Henry lives in Elyria, Ohio; Marietta 
is now Mrs. Disbrow, of Atlantic, Iowa; Sumner 
B., also living in Elyria, owns a large farm in 
Weeping Water, and Everett E. The children were 
all educated at Oberlin College. 

Everett Day, of whom we write, was born in 



Sheffield. Lorain Co., Ohio, Nov. 3, 1850, and re- 
mained in his native State until through school. 
After leaving the district school our subject en- 
tered Oberlin College, and subsequent!}- pursued 
his studies for two years at Tabor College, after- 
ward returning to Oberlin for another year. Soon' 
after finishing his education he started for the 
West, and in 1870 visited Nebraska. He did not, 
however, make a permanent stay here then, but 
afterward engaged in business in Atlantic, Iowa, 
where he remained two years, and in 1881 came to 
South Bend, Neb., where he bought a bankrupt 
stock of goods and an elevator, stajing there two 
years. He then built two elevators on the Mis- 
souri Pacific Railway, and had Mr. Norton take 
charge of one. Five years later Mr. Day came to 
Weeping Water, and continued the stock business 
which he had before begun. His first investment in 
stock was the purchase of a carload of Herefords 
and Jerseys in Ohio, in 1884, and to this, besides 
the natural accretions and single purchases, he has 
since added two carloads of fine cattle, so that in his 
herd he has fully one-half dozen Herefords im- 
ported from England, and registered in the Ameri- 
can Hereford Cattle Herd Book. He also has thirty- 
five or forty-five .lerseys registered. "Sir Evelyn, 
2d," stands at the head of the Hereford herd. 
"Miss Barbara," full-blooded, at the age of eight 
years won the sweepstakes at the St. Louis Fair. 
"Miss Patti" won the sweepstakes at the Lincoln 
and Omaha Fairs. "Lilac," a fine imported cow, 
also won the sweepstakes at the Omaha Fair, and a 
half'dozen others have taken premiums at various 
fairs. 

Our subject, besides attending to his stock, is 
the owner of E. E. Day's dry-goods store, of 
AVeeping A\"ater, and also of three elevators, one at 
Walton, one at Eagle, one at Weeping Water, and, 
until recently, one at Avoca; the one that he 
owned at Wabash he sold about a year ago. His 
real estate consists of two farms in Centre Precinct, 
one on section 36 and one on section 35, one half- 
mile west Of the town, on which he resides. He 
also owns another farm in South Bend, one-half 
mile from the station, all of which are used as 
stock farms. 

Mr. Day was united in marriage. Dec. 15, 1881, 



•►Hl^ 



>^i 



-•► 



t 



CASS COUNTY. 



1031) i^ 



to Miss Jennie, daughter of G. W. Norton, of 
whom see sketch on another page of this work. Of 
this union two children have been born, Harold E. 
and Mabel Bess. They are yet young, but will re- 
ceive good educational advantages, both parents 
believing a good education the best foundation for 
future success and happiness. 

Our subject is a patriotic, liberal-spirited citizen, 
and, though avoiding all offlces as far as possible, 
does his duty at the polls, voting consistently^ and 
intelligently with the Republican party. Mr. and 
Mrs. Daj- are people of good social standing, and 
during their residence here have made man^- warm 
friends and won for themselves an enviable place 
in the regard of others in the community. Both 
are highly- esteemed members of the Congregational 
Church, and teachers in the Sundav-school. 



^P,BRA.n HATHAWAY. Among the old 
'@EM pioneers of Libwirty Precinct and Cass 
County, the subject of this biographical 
sketch deserves more than passing notice. 
as bj' his industry and practical farming he lias 
been an important factor in the developineut of the- 
rich agricultural resources of this region. The 
farm that he occupies on section 21, in the south- 
eastern part of the precinct, is the same which he 
obtained from the Government by pre-emption in 
the early days of the settlement of Nebraska, he 
having been well satisfied with its location and the 
unusual f.acilities it afforded for successfully culti- 
vating the land, the soil being exceedingly rich and 
well watered. The time, care and money that he 
hasexpsnded ou it liavebeen well rewarded, and tiie 
once wild prairie yields him bountiful returns. 
The buildings are ample and well arranged, and 
ever3'thing about is indicative of the thrift and 
wise management of the owner. 

Mr. Hithaway was born Feb. 16, 1813, in Steu- 
ben County, N. Y., and his parents were P. U. and 
Rebecca (Howard) Hathaway, who were also na- 
tives of that State. During some period of their 
married life they moved to Ohio, and some years 
later to Lake County, lud.,' where they died at an 
advanced age, the father being eighty-two, and the 



mother, who died some years prior to his death, be- 
ing over sixty. He was a farmer all his life, and 
withhis wifea member of the Methodist Church for 
many years. In politics he was a sturdy Demo- 
crat, and zealously promoted the interests of his 
party. 

The subject of this sketch was the third child in 
a family of thirteen cliildren, eight sons and five 
daughters. He was reared in his native State until 
he was fourteen years old, when he accompanied his 
parents to Ohio, and attained his majority in Shelb3- 
County, that State. He afterward lived in In- 
diana for some 3'ears, making his home at different 
times in LaPorte, Porter, Lake and Shelby Coun- 
ties. During his residence in that State he con- 
tracted a matrimonial alliance with Miss Ann Can- 
non, a native of the Hoosier State. She was born 
Oct. 11, 1817, and was a daugliter of Abraham and 
Jane (Thatcher) Cannon, who are both deceased, 
the father dying in the prime of life in Ohio, and 
the mother, wlio had married a second time, djing 
at a ripe old age in Indiana. Mrs. Hathaway was 
reared in her mother's home in that State, and was 
married from there. The marriage of our subject 
and his wife has been blessed with the birth of 
twelve children, one of whom is dead, Elizabeth, 
who was the wife of William Hard^-. The record 
of the others is as follows: Rebecca J., Mary A., 
Peter D. and Esther, all of whom are married ; Beth- 
uel, single; Lewis P. and George, married; Alfred 
D., Sylvesterand Joseph T., single; Charlotta, mar- 
ried. 

Some time after his marriage Mr. Hathaway re- 
moved to Kankakee County', 111., and made his 
home near the river of the same name for nearly 
twelve years, and then crossed the Mississippi 
River to Iowa, and was a resident of Polk County, 
near Des Moines, until his removal to this State. 

Since coming to Nebraska Mr. Hathaway has 
crossed the plains to the Rockies, starting on his 
journey in April, 1850, and after his arrival in the 
vicinity of Pike's Peak engaging in mining until 
September of the same 3'ear. He then returned to 
his home in this county,, richer in experience if not 
in pocket, and he has since lived on his farm in 
contentment. 

Mr. aud Mrs. Hathaway are well known and 



:*^i^ 



•^"^ 



•^ 



1040 



CASS COUNTY. 






wnrinly liked in Cnss Coiintj- as goorl, Ltmcst peo- 
jilf, and to tlieir many fi-ien<ls liiey present cxam- 
[iles of busy lives fully rounded bj' their various 
experiences into a serene and active old age. Mrs. 
Hathaway is a devoted member of the Presbyterian 
Church. Mr. Il!ithana3-, although taking a quiet 
interest in public affairs, has never sought office. 
In his |)olitical sentiments he is a Republican of 
the first water. 

--^ ' ^ ' i^' '^ 



ijL ENRY ENGELKEMEIER. Perhaps no 
\l \i- State in the Union has derived greater 
i)j^ benefits from the enterprise and industry 
(^; of the thrifty German citizen, who is rep- 
resented in such generous numbers along its 
southern line, than Nebraska. Among them may 
be mentioned in no unworth}- terms the prosperous 
agriculturist whose name stands at the head of this 
sketch. He selected his location in the spring of 
1880, on section 34, in Eight Mile Grove Precinct, 
and since that time has been industriously engaged 
in his farming pursuits, taking little part in the 
noise and dissensions of the world outside. By 
this, however, it must not be inferred that he is 
in anywise an ignorant or uninformed man. for on 
the contrary the very appearance of his farm in- 
dicates his native intelligence. 

Our subject is a direct offspring of the Father- 
land, and was born April 10, 1854. The son 
of Henry and Anna M, Engelkemeier, he was the 
fourth of their eight children, seven of whom are 
still living. William, the eldest, continues a resi- 
dent of his native Germany; Frederick came to 
America with friends, and is carrying on farming 
in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, this county; Auo-ust 
lives not far from the brother before mentioned, 
while Charles is a resident of this county. The 
parents have been content to remain upon the soil 
which gave them birth. 

Continuing in his native Province until a youth 
of eighteen years, our subject received the benefits 
of a practical education, and in revolving within 
his mind his plans for the future, decided to seek 
his fortune on another continent. Accordingly, in 
the spring of 1872 he bade adieu to his old friends 



and the associations of his childhood, and embarking 
on a steamer at the port of Bremen, landed in the 
city of Baltimore after an ocean voyage of seven- 
teen days. Thence he made his way directlj- west- 
ward to this county. His honest and intelligent 
face soon secured for him friends and employment, 
and for about seven years he worked b}- the month 
as a farm laborer. He tben commenced operating 
on rented land, and in the spring of 1882 had 
made such good headway that he was enabled to 
settle upon a farm which he could call his own. 
This he still occupies. His first purchase was 160 
acres, for which he paid $2,000, and upon which 
there were no improvements whatever, it being 
simply a tract of uncultivated prairie, which not 
long before had been traveled over by wandering 
bands of Indians. 

The results of energj- and perseverance have 
been finely illustrated in the career of our subject. 
Beginning as he did from first principles, the tasli 
which lay before him was of no small dimensions, 
but with hereditar3- perseverance and by laboring 
early and late, he soon gained a solid footing, and 
there opened before him the prospect of a home 
and a competencj'. In due time he added to his 
first purchase, and is now the owner of 243 broad 
acres, which he has enclosed with substantial fenc- 
ing, and upon which he has erected the buildings 
necessary for his comfort and convenience and the 
successful prosecution of his calling. He keeps a 
goodly assortment of live stock, and avails himself 
of modern machiner}-, making of farm work not 
the drudgery it used to be twenty years ago, but 
changing it in many respects to a pleasure and a 
pastime. 

Among the interesting incidents in the life of 
our subject, none was of more importance than his 
marriage, which occurred in Cass Count}', Neb., 
April 27, 1883, his bride being Miss Lizie Sieker, a 
native of his own country, and born Oct. 29, 
1859. Mrs. Engelkemeier is the daughter of Will- 
iam and Minnie (Engelkemeier) Sieker, the former 
of whom was a farmer by occupation, and died in 
Germanj' about 1858. The mother is now living 
with our subject. Miss Lizie, when a j'oung lady 
of twenty-two years, came with her brother, 
August, in 1881. to America, and located with him 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1041 



i 



in Woodson County, Kan. Later she came to this 
count}' by herself, making her own living until her 
marriage. Of tliis union there have been born 
two children, sons: William, June 11, 1885, and 
Charles, Oct. 7. 1886. Both Mr. and Mrs. E. 
were reared in the doctrines of the German-Lu- 
theran Church, to which they still give their lo^'al 
adherence, attending services in this precinct. Our 
subject, politically, votes the straight Democratic 
ticket. He was well educated in his native tongue, 
and has picked up a fair knowledge of English. 
After coming to this country' he attended school 
for a time, and this fact in itself indicates his 
appreciation of those things which tend to the 
elevation of society and the formation of the use- 
ful and worthy member of the community. 



yif AMES INGHAM, a thorough-going Scotch- 
American citizen, resides on the well-im- 
^^ ' proved farm located on section 30, town. 
^)l s);ip 12 north. range 12. in Eight MileGrove 
Precinct. He was born March 16, 1826, in Aber- 
deenshire, Scotland, and is the son of Adam and 
Alargaret (McGregor) Ingram. Mis mother was a 
descendant of the clan McGregor, who were at one 
time among the bravest of the brave of Scottish 
clans. His father is now residing in Aberdeen, 
Scotland, at the ripe old age of ninety years. 
Our subject is the only child by his father's first 
marriage. He lived in his native countrj' until he 
was fourteen j'ears old, when he went to England 
and worked for three years. He was on railroad 
work the greater portion of the time, connected 
with the track-laying department. Subsequently he 
passed some three and a half years on the Channel 
Islands, erecting a breakwater for the British 
Government. It was designed for the protection 
of their man of war ships. 

During the early years of his life our subject 
availed himself of all the educational facilities 
afforded by the neighborhood in whicli he lived, 
and has, since leaving his native country, made a 
careful study of events, until he now possesses a 
large fund of knowledge. About the year 1847 he 
took |)assage at Liverpool, England, on an Ameri- 



can sailing-vessel, called the " Florida." bound for 
the New World. After an uneventful voyage of 
one month he landed in New York City. Wend- 
ing his way westward he arrived in Buffalo, N. Y., 
July 4. and continued his jc)urney via Chicago to 
Elgin, III., where he obtained employment on the 
Chicago & Galena Railroad, which was then under 
construction, working a portion of the time at track 
laying, when he was promoted to the position of fore- 
man. He remained there about six months. He 
then went to Indiana, and obtained work on the 
Michigan Southern Kailroad, whicii was then being 
built, where he remained about six months, when 
he left, and went on the Chicago & Rock Island 
Railroad, near LjiSalle, III., forabout four months. 

During much of the railroad work done by our 
subject he was eui|)loyed by George Armonr as a 
foreman. Armour was a railroad contractor and 
builder in those daj's. Growing tired of working 
for others he concluded to engage in business for 
himself, when he secured a contract on the railroad, 
which he completed. Subsequently we find him 
connected with the Illinois Central Railroad, as a 
contractor, for about nine months. He then went to 
Guthrie Count}', Iowa, and began farming, wiiich 
he followed for about two and one-half j-ears. 
In the fall of 1856 he came to Nebraska having 
heard the country so highly spoken of and as pos- 
sessing superior ad vantages. Arriving in the then 
Territory he located for a short time in what is 
known at present as Louisville Precinct, where he 
lived until he finally settled on his present farm in 
1865. He " squatted " on 160 acres of land, which 
he afterward pre-empted as soon as it came into 
market. There was about one acre plowed when 
he settled on it. He has improved it since then un- 
til he now owns one of the finest improved farms 
in the country. He novv exercises ownership of 
over 280 acres of land. 

The subject of our sketch and Elizabeth Urwin 
were married May 16, 1857; the lady was born 
in England, Nov. 16, 1840. She is a daughter of 
William and Ellen (Wandless) Urwin. Her father 
now resides in Cass County, Neb., and is one of the 
oldest settlers. He was born in Newcastle, En- 
gland, and when this lady was about eight years old 
the parents emigrated to America, where they set- 



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1 1U42 
tio.i r 



CASS COUNTY. 



tied for a time in Wisconsin, where lier inotber died. 
In the year 1856 her father removed with his fam- 
ily to his present home, where he has resided ever 
since. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ingram have become the ])arents of 
a large family of children, of whom the following 
named survive: William, Elizabeth, James, Adam, 
Ellen, Margaret, George, Elsie, Andrew, Adellaand 
Nora. Elizabeth is now the wife of A. Swasou, 
itnd resides in Kearney County, Neb. ; fillen is the 
wife of George Palmer, and resides in Cass Count}' ; 
Margaret is Mrs. Isaac Tenant, and lives in Kearney 
County, and her brother George is a resident of the 
same county ; three children are deceased. They 
were named: Joseph, Samuel and Mary. 

The improvements that iiave been made b}' our 
subject are of a very substantial and |)rominent 
character. The barn and other out-buildings are 
large and commodious, and well adapted to the pur- 
poses for which they were intended. His resilience 
contains manj' of the improvements that are seldom 
found outside of older settled communities; the 
house is roomy, well designed and nicely furnished. 
His wife is the presiding genius of his home, and is 
a refined and intelligent woman. She has in every 
way possible been an assistant to her husband in 
acquiring the liandsome property which they now 
own. Both husband and wife occupy a prominent 
place among the pioneer families of the county ; they 
are widely and favorably known for their gener- 
osity and hospitality. In politics Mr. Ingram is a 
Democrat. AVitb the exception of being Treasurer 
of the School Board for several years he has ac- 
cepted no public office. 



STERLING F. GIRARDET, senior member 
of the firm of Girardet, Boone & Emens, 
is, with his partners, conducting a lively 
trade in dry-goods, groceries, fanc}' goods, 
notions, carpets, and an unusually full assortment 
of everything pertaining to the country or city 
household. They have as fine an establishment as 
is to be found in Weeping Water, where the busi- 
ness was inaugurated in Januarj' of 1888. Mr. G. 



IS essentially' a Western man, the son of one of the 
earliest pioneers of the county, and was born in 
Nebraska City, April 28, 1858. He is consequently 
a young man still, and he has entered upon what at 
present appears to be an undoubtedly prosperous 
business career. 

Our subject received a good practical education, 
completing his studies in the Normal .School at 
Peru, and also attending the school at Tabor, Iowa. 
He entered upon his mercantile career as the clerk 
of L. Wessel & Co., of Nebraska City, with which 
firm he remained continuously for a period of five 
years at that point. At the expiration of this 
time, still in the employ of the same firm, he was 
assigned to the brancli of their house at Weeping 
Water, which they established in 1 883, and was 
manager of this five years. The building, with its 
contents, being destro3'ed in the general conflagra- 
tion of Dec. 19, 1887, tlie firm withdrew from 
business there. 

In January of 1888 our subject associated him- 
self with Messrs. Boone <fe Emeus, the latter of 
whom had been for some time in his employ as a 
clerk. They opened their doors for business on 
the 10th of January, 1888, in the new brick block 
on the south side of I street. They carry a large 
and finely selected stock, and enjo}' a trade which 
is steadiU' increasing. 

On the 26th of October, 1887, our subject was 
united in marriage with Miss Gertrude Potter, the 
wedding taking place at the home of the bride in 
Ogallala, Neb. Of this union there is one child, 
Max. who was born Aug. 3, 1888. Mrs. Girardet, a 
native of Ogle County, III., was born Sept. 17, 1866, 
and is the daughter of Thomas L. and Urilla 
(Heistad) Potter, who came to Cass County about 
1872 or 1873. They are now residents of Maria, 
Neb. Mrs. G. is a member in good standing of 
the Congregational Church, of which her husband 
is a regular attendant, giving liberally to its support. 
Our subject, socially, belongs to the Modern Wood- 
men of America and tlie K. of P., in the latter of 
which he is Vice Chancellor. As a successful busi- 
ness man he has avoided meddling with politics, 
excepting doing his duty at the polls, when he 
casts his vote with the Democratic party. 

Jules Girardet, the father of our subject, and a 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1043 



native of Switzerland, was born in the Canton of 
Bern, Nov. 6, 1818. When a }'oung man he emi- 
grated to the Unitcit States, settling in New York 
City, where he followed his trade of baker, and 
came thence to Neliraska City in 185(), during its 
pioneer days. He purcliased a tract of slightly im- 
proved lanil in Otoe Precinct, Otoe Count}-, and 
for a number of years labored in its cultivation 
and the building up of a homestead, putting out an 
orchard of apple trees and the smaller fruits, and 
erecting a dwelling and the other buildings re- 
quired for the comfort of himself and family. 
Upon this farm he is still living, and it is now 
numbered among tlie finest homesteads of the 
count\'. The land, 160 acres in extent, has been 
brought to a high state of cultivation. 

In his native Switzerland Jules Girardet was 
united in marriage with Miss Susan Zimmererer, 
and they became the parents of six children, five 
of whom are living and all residents of the West. 
The wife and mother departed this life Aug. ol, 
1872. She was born Nov. 6, 1818. Mr. G. is a 
member in good standing of the Lutheran Church, 
and a man held in high esteem by his fellow- 
citizens. 

Our subject rememliers Nebraska City when it 
was only a village, and often recalls the interest 
witli which the citizens watched the completion of 
the first railroad, the Midland Pacific, which ran 
through it. When he settled in Weeping Water it 
was a little town of between 300 and 400 inhabi- 
tants, and there was being built through it the 
Missouri Pacific Railroad. He has practically 
"grown up vvith the country," and takes the deep- 
est interest in its progress and development. His 
friends predict for him a most prosperous future, 
and that when years have added dignit}' to his age 
he will be numbered among the solid citizens of 
the place. 

T. L. Potter, the father of Mrs. Girardet, was 
married in early manhood to Miss Urilla Heistad, 
who was born in Ogle County, 111., and is now in 
Maria, Neb. Of this union there were six children, 
five of whom are living and residents mostly of the 
W^est. Mr. and Mrs. Potter left this county in 
1887, settling in Perkins County, Neb., where the}' 
are now living, and the father successfully engaged 



in farming. He was formerly in the jewelry busi- 
ness, having harned the trade in Illinois, and was 
one of the first practical jewelers of Weeping Water, 
where he carried on the business until failing health 
comi)elled him to seek a change of occupation. He 
served as a sohlier three years during the late Civil 
War, participating in several active engagements. 
Both he and his estimable wife are members in 
good standing of the Congregational Church. 
Sterling F. Girardet has already signalized himself 
as a citizen interested in education and the other 
enteiprises calculated to build up a cit}-, giving to 
these his support and his substantial encourage- 
ment, and has served as a member of the Village 
Board, besides occupying other positions of trust. 



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+-H 




LIVER JACOBS. In the career of the 
subject of this sketch we have that of a man 
ho has arisen to a liigli position solely 
through his own unaided efforts, and through many 
struggles. He was at an early age thrown upon his 
own resources, and grew up to be a thoughtful and 
industrious young man, self-reliant, and imbued 
with those principles which have developed a char- 
acter respected and liked by all who know him. A 
man remarkably quiet in his demeanor, there is 
little about him at first glance to indicate his strong 
qualities of character, and that which he has accom- 
plished in the space of comparatively a few years. 
He possesses the innate culture and refinement com- 
ing only from an excellent ancestry, and has been 
fortunate in making the most of his opportunities 
of observation, his mind naturally turning to the 
useful and the good. Nature has not endowed him 
with a very strong body, but mentally, he has at- 
tained to the highest manhood. His business is 
that of a merchant in the young and growing town 
of W^abash, whose people have learned to respect 
him for his genuine worth, and with whose devel- 
opment he has been closely identified. 

Mr. Jacobs was born in the citj' of Cleveland, 
Ohio, April 7, 1853, and was orphaned by the 
death of both parents when a tender child of three. 
He was the j'onngest of three brothers and two sis- 
ters, these being named respectively: John, Henry, 



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i 



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1044 



CASS COUNTY. 



Anna and Mary. Mr. Jacobs has no recollections 
of his father, anfl but a faint reinembrance of iiis 
mother. After tiie death of the latter, who only 
survived her husband a sliort time, the little family 
vras separated, and our subject was adopted by an 
Englishman, Thomas Talliot, who lived on a farm 
in the vicinity of Oneida, Knox Co., III. Mr. 
Jacobs was therefore reared amid the quiet scenes 
of rural life, with limited school advantages. 
Through all these years he had his doubts about the 
manner of his education and training, and when a 
3'outh of nineteen left tlie farm, and began working 
in one of the many iron manufacturing establish- 
ments of Cleveland. He was thus employed a 
period of five or six years, but in the fall of 1876 
resolved upon another change of location. 

Mr. Jacobs now leaving Ohio made his way to 
the Wesl. The fall of 1878 found him this side of 
tlie Mississippi, located near Blue Springs, in Gage 
County, this State. Later he sojourned in various 
places at Weeping Water and South Bend, employ- 
ing himself at times on a farm and at times as clerk 
in a store. Amid all these changes he managed to 
pick up much useful information, gaining a good 
idea of business methods. Finally he started in 
business for himself at South Bend as a general 
merchant, and soon afterward was appointed Post- 
master, holding this position two years. 

In April, 18HC, Mr. Jacobs desired to establish 
himself at Wabash, and accordingly securing ground 
began putting up his present store building. It 
was completed in due time, and he moved into it 
with a stock of goods. It is a two-story frame 
structure which would do credit to a burg far more 
pretentious than Wabash, and which will be an 
ornament to the town when it shall have attained to 
much larger proportions. He soon took two part- 
ners in the business, Messrs. Emery, of Iowa, and 
P. Horton, of Wabash, the firm name being Jacobs 
& Co. They are all gentlemen of good business 
abilities, courteous in demeanor, and are rapidly 
building up a large and lucrative trade. 

As one of the first settlers of Wabash and one 
who risked his capital in a new town at a lime when 
other men were afraid to invest a dollar, the name 
of Mr. Jacobs deserves to be preserved in its annals 
for ail time. Liberal-minded and public-spirited, 

-^^ 



he has done ranch to develop the town, and bring 
to it a worthy cl.ass of people. When he put up his 
store building there were few houses in its vicinity, 
it being erected literally in a field. Wabasli has 
now become one of the most promising villages on 
the line of the Missouri Pacific, between Nebraska 
Citj- and Lincoln, and ships more grain and live 
stock than any other village of its size in the State. 
The early experience of Mr. Jacobs among agricult- 
ural pursuits has been of service to him in his later 
enterprises, as in connection with his merchandising 
he operates a market garden of twenty-five acres 
adjacent to the village. Like Horace Greeley, 
nothing gives Mr. Jacobs more pleasure and diver- 
sion than the hours devoted to horticultural pur- 
suits. With an organization fully appreciative of 
the charms of nature, there is not a more lovely 
sight to his eyes than the springing up of vegeta- 
tion on the soil, and its development under the 
action of the sun and rain. He recognizes as the 
sitring of this the great Power which gives life to 
the universe, and before which every intelligent 
person must bow with reverence and praise. 

With an eye to the near future of an intelligent 
community who must have their pleasures and rec- 
reations, Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Horton have established 
a boating' park immediately east of the vill.age on a 
branch of the Weeping Water, which here winds 
around in graceful curves, as if purposely loitering 
to enjoy the beauty of the situation. Mr. Jacobs, 
upon discovering this bit of natural scenery, de- 
cided that a park might here be established with 
comparatively little trouble and expense, and 
accordingly set himself about it with his character- 
istic energy. He has, with the above-named partner, 
spared no pains to make it attractive as a summer 
resort, constructing a little lake, and placing row- 
boats at the service of visitors, while the waters are 
stocked with that favorite fish, the German carp, 
for the recreation of anglers. This enterprise has 
met with the hearty approbation of the people in 
this vicinity, who fully appreciate the enterprise of 
its |)rojectors. 

In fact there have been few projects tending to 
the growtii and progress of Wabash Village to 
which Mr. Jacobs has not lent a helping hand. As 
the iiead of tile Oliver Jacobs & Co. Commission 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1045 



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House of Lincoln, he has intercourse with the best 
business men of the countj', and occupies a high 
place in their confidence and esteem. Although 
not a member of any religious organization he be- 
lieves ia the establishment of churches, and to this 
end has contributed liberally of his means, the 
Methodist and Baptist Churches of Wabash being 
the objects of his especial benefits. Sociall}-, he 
belongs to the Modern AVoodnicn, having a lodge 
at Wabash, in which organization he is the banker. 
Distinctively a man of progress, it is hardh- neces- 
sary to state that Mr. Jacobs is a stanch member of 
the Republican party, to which he lends a hearty 
support, and labors in the maintenance of its prin- 
ciples as he has opportunit3'. During his incum- 
bency of the office of Assessor of Elmwood Precinct, 
he pursued a course which was eminently satisfac- 
tory' to his constituents, and one reflecting great 
credit upon himself. Cass County recognizes no 
more worthy citizen within her limits than Mr. 
Jacobs, who is building for himself a monument 
that shall endure for decades to come. 

jlL^IRAH -STANFORD was an early settler of 
jiTj Stove Creek Precinct, where he is now 
if^^ prosperously engaged in business as a car- 
(^) penter, besides superintending his farming 
and stock-raising interests on section 36. He is a 
native of Boardman, Ohio, March 12, 1823, 
being the date of his birth. His parents, Oliver 
and Olive (Mason) Stanford, were natives respect- 
ively of New York and Massachusetts. His 
father was a pioneer of Ohio. He was a carpenter 
and joiner by trade, and also carried on farming, 
having cleared a 160-acre tract of land from the 
primeval forests of Ohio. In 18.54 he sold his 
property in that State and moved to Wisconsin, lo- 
cating in Elkhorn, Walworth County. He subse- 
quently removed to Waupon, where his death oc- 
curred in 1864, at the age of seventy-two years. His 
widow died in Howard County, Iowa, in 1876, at 
the age of seventy years. They were active mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 
their exemplary lives were illustrated the beauties 
of the Christian religion. He was a man of 



strong convictions, one of which was that the 
policy of the Democratic party of his day was the 
right one to be pursued in the conduct of National 
affairs. To him and his wife were born nine chil- 
dren, namely: Leroy and Orin (deceased), Orce- 
mus, Chauncey, Squire, Hirah, Wesley, William 
and Mar}' (deceased). 

Hirah Stanford grew to manhood on the home- 
stead of his father, amid pioneer surroundings, 
and gained an education in the common schools. 
At the age of twent3--one he left the parental 
home and began life for himself as a carpenter in 
Ohio, remaining there until he was twenty -nine, 
with the exception of three years spent in AViscon- 
sin. After his marriage he removed to Elkhorn, 
Wis., and there established himself as a carpen- 
ter, also engaging in farming a part of the time. 
In 1860 he removed with his family to Nebraska 
City, traveling with a team and driving his cat- 
tle before him. They were five weeks on the 
journey, and forded every river between Wis- 
consin and Nebraska except the Mississippi, 
which they crossed at Savannah, and the Missouri 
at Nebraska Citj-. Mr. Stanford immediately 
identified himself with the agricultural interests of 
Otoe County, beginning to farm on Summit Farm. 
He owned 120 acres of land, which he culti- 
vated five years. He then sold it and moved to 
Nebraska City, built a residence, and his wife, de- 
termining to do her share toward increasing the 
family exchequer, kept a boarding-house, while he 
was actively employed at carpentering. They con- 
tinued their respective employments until the 
spring of 1866, when the}' came to Cass Count}', 
and in Stove Creek Precinct Mr. Stanford took up 
his present farm xmder the provisions of the 
Homestead Act. This 80-acre tract then formed 
a part of the wild, treeless prairie, where but few 
settlers had preceded our subject. Notwith- 
standing the fact that the first few years were dis- 
astrous, and but little was accomplished in the way 
of cultivating the land on account of the grass- 
hopper plague, drouth, etc., our subject has done 
well, and has made many valuable improvements. 
He has five acres of forest trees, an orchard con- 
taining eighty fruit trees; has hedges and wire 
fences around his land; has erected a good dwell- 



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1046 



CASS COUNTY. 




^^ 



ing, barns, and other needed buildings, and has 
everything in order, so that his place compares 
very favorably with others in the neighborhood. 
Besides obtaining a good income from the prod- 
ucts of his land, he finds stock-raising very profit- 
able, and has his farm well stocked with cattle, 
horses and hogs. He has had quite an extensive 
business as a carpenter, besides attending to his 
agricultural interests. 

Our subject was very fortunate in the selection 
of his wife, to whom he was married March 29, 
1850, in Rootstown, Portage Co., Ohio. She has 
been to him a true helpmate, and to their children 
a wise mother. .She is an excellent housekeeper, 
and rules her household with a firm hand, thus 
contributing to the comfort of its members, and 
making their home neat and attractive. She has 
seen much of life on the prairies, and in the trying 
times of pioneer days her cheerfulness and sj"m- 
pathy encouraged her husband. She is a devoted 
Christian and a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church at Elmwood. Of her happy wedded 
life three children have been born — Henry, Nettie 
and Fred. Henry is farming eighty acres of land 
on section 27, Stove Creek Precinct, which he pur- 
chased in 1882. He has it all broken, and has a 
good house, barn, windmill, etc. He is a stalwart 
Republican in politics. Fred married Miss Minnie 
Donell}', and they have one child, Herbert. 
They reside in Nebraska City, where he is engaged 
as book-keeper in Lorton's wholesale grocery store. 

Mrs. Stanford was born in Rootstown, Ohio, 
March 14, 1826. She received a common educa- 
tion and taught school. Her maiden name was 
Sarah L. Shewell, and she was a daughter of James 
and Mary (Chapman) Shewell, natives respect- 
ively of New Jersey and Rootstown, Ohio. Her 
grandfather, Henry Shewell, who was of English 
descent, was a pioneer of Ohio, where he carried 
on farming, and was also a preacher in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. The maternal grandfather 
of our subject, Nathan Chapman, was of English de- 
scent. He was born in Connecticut, where he 
learned the trade of chairmaker. He, too, was a 
pioneer of Ohio, and carried on a farm there. 
Mrs. Stanford's great-grandfather, Paine, was a 
Revolutionary soldier and pensioner. Her father 



and mother were married in Ohio, and there Mr. 
Shewell engaged in the pioneer task of clearing a 
heavily timbered tract of ninety acres, which lie 
improved into a good farm, whereon he and his 
family made their home until 1860. He then sold 
it and moved to Nebraska City, where he died in 
1865, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife 
died on the old homestead in Ohio in 1858, at the 
age of fift^'-one years. Thej^ were stanch mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Four 
children were born of their marriage, as follows: 
Sarah L.; Samantha L., who resides with our sub- 
ject; Oscar, who owns and operates a sawmill in 
Ohio; Henry, a banker in Nebraska City. 

Mr. Stanford is well known and honored through- 
out this community. His high character and gen- 
erous nature are so evident to all as to need no 
comment here. He is a man of good understand- 
ing, and his opinion both in public and private 
carries much weight. In his home life he is kind 
and devoted to his family; in public, he is faithful 
to his obligations to his neighbors and in his duties 
as a citizen; he has been Justice of tlie Peace. 
He takes great interest in politics, and is a prom- 
inent member of the Republican party of Cass 
County, and has served as delegate to conventions. 



^EORGE W. ADAMS, senior member of 
the firm of Adams & Gilbert, is one of the 
leading grain and stock men of Cass County^ 
having his headquarters in Weeping Water. His 
has been a remarkably interesting experience, 
the main points of which, as near as we can gather, 
are as follows: The fifth in a family of twelve 
children, he was born in Crawford Count}-, Pa., 
Dec. 23, 1836, and lived there only until a 
little lad of three years, when the father, accompan- 
ied by his family, started for the West with teams. 
They lived afterward several years each in Ohio, 
Indiana and Illinois. In the latter State the father 
died six months after his arrival, leaving a widow 
and eleven children. 

The mother of our subject after the death of her 
husband returned to Pennsylvania, where her death 
occurred in 1872, she being about sixty-four years 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1047 



of age. David M. Adams, the father of our sub- 
ject, was also a native of Crawford County, Pa., 
where he spent the da3^s of his boyhood and youth, 
and when reaching man's estate was married to 
Miss Grazillia Hickernell, who became the mother 
of seven sons and five daughters. Seven of these 
are now living, being located in Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Kansas, California and Nebraska. 

The subject of tliis sketch is numbered among 
the earliest jjioneers of this county, and one of the 
first men to settle upon the present site of Avoea 
Precinct. There are now ver}' few remaining of 
the men who followed him within the course of a 
few j'ears to this place. His nearest post-office and 
tr.ading point for some time was at Plattsmouth, or 
Nebraska Citv, and for a number of 3'ears these 
places seemed, as it were, to stand still, while In- 
dians roamed over the countr}^ frightening tlie 
white settlers, but really doing no serious injury. 
Wild game was plentiful, and many were the ad- 
ventures of whicli our subject and liis few com- 
panions at that time were heroes. 

INIr. Adams first set foot upon the soil of Ne- 
braska in the summer of 1858, when became to the 
southern part of this county and took up land on 
section 3, in Avoca Precinct, upon which not a 
furrow had been turned or a tree planted. lie 
labored in true pioneer style in establishing a home- 
stead, planting fruit and shade trees, making fences, 
erecting buildings, and bringing about the other 
improvements naturally suggested to the enter- 
prising and progressive mind. In Jit. Pleasant 
Precinct he has now a beautiful farm 520 acres in 
extent, and .another tr.act of 100 acres in Avoca 
Precinct, this also being brought to a high state of 
cultivation. His stock operations yield him .annu- 
alh' a handsome income. He deals largel}^ in fine 
cattle and horses, being able to exhibit some of the 
handsomest and most valuable animals in this part 
of the State. 

Mr. Adams put up the present family' residence 
on his farm in Avoca Precinct in the year 1876. 
It is a very handsome and commodious structure, 
and at the time of being built was considered one 
of the finest dwellings in this part of the county. 
It has stood the storms of twelve years in an ad- 
mirable manner, with no perceptible change in its 



appearance since its completion. On this farm Mr. 
Ad.ams has expended his best efforts, jnueh of the 
land being enclosed with beautiful hedge fencing, 
while he has planted an abundance of fruit trees, 
and has five acres of forest trees, forming one of 
the grandest windbrealis in this section. 

The stock liarn of Mr. Adams is a ver^^ noticeable 
feature of his farm, occup^-ing an area of 40x60 
feet, with a fine basement, and ample conveni- 
ences for the shelter of stock and the storing of 
grain. In his stables are some splendid specimens 
of the equine race, high-bred imported Norman 
horses, and in another department registered Short- 
horn cattle, comprising one of the finest herds in 
the country. Among his horses are Nej', No. 2,950, 
French imported, of the foal of 1882, an imported 
two-year-old ; he is now a beautiful dark iron-gray, 
weighing about 2,000 pounds, with fine points in 
every particular, and valued at $2,000. In all, Mr. 
Adams keeps about thirty head of horses, a number 
of them registered, the others of high grade. INIr. 
Adams is a lover of this nobleanimal, a good judge 
of its value, and thoroughlj^ acquainted with 
the best msthods exercised in its proper care and 
treatment. 

Mr. Adams in 1884 tr.ausferred his farming inter- 
ests mostly to the h.ands of his son Himenus, a verj' 
energetic and enterprising young business man, 
possessing many of the traits of his honored father. 
Moving into the city he associated himself witli 
Mr. Gilbert in the grain business, of which the firm 
has the monopolj' in Weeping Water and vicinity. 
They have a larga elevator here as well as at Elm- 
wood and Eagle, all of which are in constant use 
and prove a great convenience to the business men 
and farmars of the surrounding countr3\ The 
present residence of Mr. Adams is a handsome 
dwelling, finely situated on Eldora avenue, and 
stands in the midst of seven acres of land, which 
furnishes ample grounds for the carriage barn and 
drive, and the various other conveniences and com- 
forts which tend to make a charming suburban 
home. In Avoca Precinct Mr. Adams served as 
Assessor and School Director for a number of years 
and was otherwise identified with local affairs. He 
lays no claim to being a politician, in f.act, is desir- 
ous of avoiding this channel of public life, except- 



J. 



<- 



1048 



L. 



CASS COUNTY. 



ing so far as to do his duty at the polls, when he 
uniformly gives his support to the Republican 
party. 

After the death of the father of our subject, in 
St. Clair County, 111.. George W. Adams passed the 
three years following engaged in boating; tlien he 
started for the West, his sole possessions the cloth- 
ing which he wore, no money, in fact, nothing to 
depend upon but his own resources. It is hardly 
necessary to say that he traveled on foot, 
worked his way along the Ohio, Mississippi and Illi- 
nois Rivers, and finally landed in Peoria County, 111. 
where he purchased a loaf of bread with five cents 
he had left. His equipments were not near fine 
enough to linger in the town, so he made his yrny 
into the agricultural districts, and secured employ- 
ment with a fanner about threa miles from LaSalle, 
for whom he engaged to work the following sum- 
mer for the sum total of $16 and his board. 

Young Adams did not encroach upon his capital 
during the time of his sojourn there,- but in the fall, 
taking his money, made his way across the Missis- 
sippi into Cedar County, Iowa. There he employed 
himself at whatever he could find to do, working 
on the farm in summer, and sawing wood in winter, 
for a period of four years. In the meantime he 
met and married Miss Sabra Girard, the wedding 
taking place in Iowa, Aug. 17, 1858. The young 
couple soon afterward, leaving the Hawkeye 
State, came to this countj% then a bare prairie, and 
began their wedded life together in a small house 
on an open tract of land. The land now consti- 
tutes the farm of our subject in Avoea Precinct, 
but that first humble dwelling was long since aban- 
doned for a more pretentious residence. 

After a few years of earnest labor and strict 
economy, our subject began to realize the reward 
of his toils. It is not necessary to state here what 
has been so often repeated in connection with the 
history of the Nebraska pioneer. Suffice it to say 
that Mr. Adams in his labors, in common with the 
men around him. worked early and late and en- 
dured many hardships and difficulties, and while 
many men abandoned their purpose after coming 
to the Territory, he persevered in his first resolve 
and has had no reason to regret it. The universal 
regard in which he is held by the people around 



him is sufficient evidence of his personal worth and 
integrit}-. He bears the reputation of a man hon- 
est and honorable in all liis transactions, one whose 
word is considered as good as his bond. 

Mrs. Sabra (Girard) Adams, the wife of our sub- 
ject, was born .lune 5, 1840, near LaFayette, Ind. 
She received a common-school education and was 
carefully trained in all housewifely duties — those 
things which have so much to do with the happi- 
ness and comfort of a home. Of her union with 
our subject there were born five children, onl}- two 
of whom are living. The eldest son, Himenus, of 
whom we have before spoken, married Miss Louisa 
Gruber, aud as before stated, is operating the home 
farm. George G. makes his home with his parents 
in Weeping Water. 

James M. Girard, the father of Mrs. Adams, was 
born Aug. 25, 1814, in Ohio, whence he removed 
when a boy to LaFayette, Ind., when it was but a 
small town. He was there married to Miss Eliza- 
beth Miller, and they became the parents of five 
children, four of whom are living. The family 
about 1852 moved across the Mississippi into Cedar 
County, Iowa, where the father, as before, followed 
farming for a number of years, then changed his 
residence to this county, making his home with 
his daughter, Mrs. Adams, where his death took 
place during the winter of 1888. The wife and 
mother passed away at the same place in 1886. 
Besides Mrs. Adams their surviving children are 
located in Nebraska. 



— l-i-l^ 



JOHN G. WUNDERLICH. The subject of 
this sketch is probably about the youngest 
esttiblislied farmer in his community, being 
not quite t.venty-four 3'ears old, and having 
already a snug farm of 160 acres.a wife and a little 
chihi. He owns liis farm, and is of tliat quality of 
chiracter which constitutes him a prudent manager 
and an industrious worker. His land is fertile and 
he has comfortable buildings. 

Mr. Wunderlich lias been a resident of Avoca 
Precinct since the spring of 1880, and purchased 
his present property two years later. He was born 
on the other side of the Atlantic, in th- little King- 




-ij)aJ/^ /^^ (/' ^yWtrzc£^ 



•►Hf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1051 



^i 



dom of Bavaria, July 2, 1865, aixl is the only child 
of John F. and Maggie (Fatal) Wunderlich, who 
were also natives of Bavaria, and of pure German 
ancestry. The father was a blaeksraitli by trade, 
and met his death accidentally in his native coun- 
try, by falling from a train of cars, being caught 
and having both legs severed from his body. He 
onlyiived about fivehaurs. This calamity occurred 
in the fall of 1869. lie was a good and worthy 
man, and labored industriously to maintain his lit- 
tle family in comfort. 

Tlie mother of our subject remained a widow ten 
years after the death of her husband, and was then 
married to Henry Hepner, also a Bavarian bj' birth. 
They came to the United States in the fall of 1880, 
and settling in Avoca Precinct have since made it 
their home. Mr. Hei)ner is carrying on farming 
succ'^ssfully, and is regarded as a worthy citizen. 

Mr. Wunderlich accompanied his mother and 
stepfather to the United States before reaching his 
majority. He had received a practical education 
in his native tongue, and from his youth up been 
accustomed to labor. He was married in Berlin 
Precinct, Otoe County, March 9, 1887, to Miss 
Lena Carsten, who was boin in Avoca Precinct, this 
county. Dec. 26, 1865, being a few months younger 
than her husband. The history of her parents is 
given in the sketcli of Henrj' .Schomaker, which will 
be found on another page of this work. 

Our subject and his young wife settled soon after 
their marriage at their present homestead, and are 
the parents of one child, a daughter, Lotta, who 
was born Dec. 14, 1887. Mr. Wunderlich votes 
the straight Democratic ticket, and both he and his 
wife in religious matters adhere to the faith of the 
Lutheran Church, in which they were reared. 



/^ APT. JOHN T. A. HOOVER, well known as 
(l( the founder of Louisville, Cass County, has 

"^^7 by that fact .alone, independent of his well- 
known character for energy and enterprise, made 
himself a man of much consequence along the north- 
ern line of Cass County. His sagacitj' and fore- 
thought made this point, in his judgment, a good 
one for future operations, and after persuading the 



Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company to 
lay their track as near as possible l.o the projected 
site of the village, contributed §500 for the location 
of a station there. He put up the first house in the 
place, and the town has since been the object of his 
fostering care. 

Capt. Hoover, it is hardly necessar}' to state, was 
one of the pioneers of this county, to which became 
with a ca[)ital of but $320. He has now a fine prop- 
erty, and at his farm on sections 23 and 27, Louisville 
Precinct, he has inaugurated the modern improve- 
ments which have made it one of the most valuable 
estates in the precinct. One noticeable feature is a 
fish pond of seven acres, well stocked with German 
carp, the first enterprise of the kind in this region. 
The Captain has of late years been engaged in the 
manufacture of fire brick, in which he utilizes some 
of the best quality of clay found in the West, the 
product of his own land. A citizen public-spirited 
and liberal, giving generously of histimeand means 
for the advancement of his township, he holds a 
position second to no man in Cass Count\^ He 
was the founder of the Louisville Pottery, one of 
the flourishing industries of the place. 

The birthplace of our subject was in the city of 
Nagold, Wurteraberg, Germany, where he was born 
Sept. 13, 1826. He was the youngest of twelve 
children, seven of whomlived to mature 3'ears, but 
only three of whom now survive. The father, 
Ferdinand Hoover, was a farmer and stock-trader, 
and was married in his native Germany to Miss 
Catherine Scheahinger. This lady was born in 1783, 
being five 3'ears younger than her hnsband, whose 
birth took place in 1778. After marriage they sft- 
tlod on a farm in their native Province, where the 
father carried on agriculture uirtil 1846. He then 
emigrated to America with his family, landing in 
New York City after a V03'age of twenty-one d.ays. 
From the great metropolis they proceeded directly 
to Darke County, Ohio, where the parents settled 
on a farm, and where the death of the father took 
place in 1857. The mother survived her husliand 
a perioi of seventeen 3'ears, pissing avv.iy in 1874. 

The subject of this sketcli was placed in school 
at the age of five years, and followed his studies 
quite closely until a youth of sixteen. He then 
entered an establishment for the manufacture of 



t 



■♦■ 



1052 



CASS COUNTY. 



essences, where he also learned the compounding of 
medicines, and devoted himself to the stnd3f of 
chemistry. He was thus occupied three years, and 
then accompanied his parents to the United States, 
and made his home with them in Ohio until the 
death of his father. Upon the outbreak of the Civil 
War he resolved to assist in the defense of his 
adopted country, and soon after the first call for 
troops enlisted in Company D, 58th Ohio Infantry, 
which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, 
under command of Gen. Smith. He met the enemy 
in some of the most important battles which fol- 
lowed, l)eing in the fights at Ft. Donelson, Pitts- 
burg Landing, the siege of Corinth, and various 
other minor engagements and skirmishes. Such was 
his natural intelligence and energy that he was made 
a First Lieutenant, and was a short time later pro- 
moted to a Captaincy, receiving his commission 
from Gov. Denison of Ohio. He was thus actively 
engaged about two years, and then, on account of 
failing health, was obliged to resign his Commission 
in March. 1863. 

Capt. Hoover now returned to his home in Darke 
County, Ohio, and thereafter engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits. Later he disjiosed of his interests 
in the Buckeye State and determined to locate in 
Nebraska Territory. Coming to this county he 
])urchased land on section 23, Louisville Precinct, 
securing at once 320 acres, upon which there were 
no improvements, with the exce|)tion of a small log 
house. Under many disadvantages he commenced 
the opening up of a farm, and six years later, in 1 869_ 
put up the i)resent stone dwelling, which is a fine, 
substantial structure, commanding the admiration 
of the country around. 'J'he material was quarried 
on his farm, and the building is constructed tostand 
for generatit)ns. The Captain has found that his 
land was best adapted to the cultivation of corn, 
from which he has realized as high as 100 bushels 
to the acre. This he utilizes largely in the fatten- 
ing of swine. His well-regulated pens, to which he 
gives particular care, make a cleanly and healthy 
domicile for his porkers, atid they have been sin- 
gularly free from the diseases usually attending this 
species of live stock. 

The marriage of Capt. .John T. A. Hoover and 
Miss Kva Hufnagel was celebrated in Darke County, 



Ohio, Dec. 31, 1848. Mrs. Hoover was born in 
Lebanon, Pa., in 1832, and is the daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Elizabeth (Breckbiel) Hufnagel, who 
spent their last years in Ohio. This union resulted 
in the birth of ten children, six sons and four 
daughters, all of whom are living, pi-esenting a 
family group which any parent may well be proud 
to look upon. These are recorded as: Benjamin G.; 
Ellen, the wife of G. Metzger; Catherine, T\I is. Hern 
Smith; Lizzie, Mrs. Morris Camay; Emily M.. Mrs. 
William Worth; .James; Mary, Mrs. Nelson Dewey; 
Andrew, William and Isabelle. The two latter are 
at home with their parents. 

After signalizing himself in a most decided man- 
ner as a man well fitted for positions of trust and 
responsibity, Capt. Hoover was, in 1867, elected to 
represent this county in the Nebraska Legislature 
on the Republican ticket, endorsed by the Democ- 
racy. He served his term acceptablj', and in 1870 
was appointed by President Grant the Postmaster 
of Louisville, which position he held a period of ten 
j-ears. He has served in the various other local of- 
fices, and, socially, belongs to the G. A. R., Post No. 
175, of Louisville. This well-known pioneei'tend 
founder of one of the flourishing towns of Cass 
County is fitly represented by his portiait, shown 
on an adjoining page. 



P^HOMAS GOODIER is one of the early set- 
tlers as well as one of the most prosperous 
farmers of Mt. Pleasant Precinct, and re- 
sides on a well-improved farm located on section 2 1 . 
He was born in Manchester, England, Jan. 17, 1831. 
He attended the schools in his native country un- 
til he was about eleven 3rears old, where he 
acquired a taste for reading and study, which he 
continues to the present time, In his twelfth year 
he began the business of gardening, which he fol- 
lowed for two yeai's; from this time for nearly 
twenty years he was employed in the warehouse of 
AVolff, Hassah & Co., in Manchester. England, his 
duties in this house being principallj' the packing 
of goods for foreign shipment. Another year was 
spent in the same business for another firm. 

In September of 1856 Mr. Goodier was married 



CASS COUNTY. 



1053 4i 



-f 



to Frances Woolstencroft, a daughter of John 
AVoolstencroft, who resided near the native city of 
our subject. They are now the parents of five 
children, named: Mar}' E., George, Anna, Maud and 
Thomas. Mary E. is the wife of James Stockem, 
and resides in Custer County, Neb.; the son 
George also resides in the same county; Anna is 
the wife of Jacob Staram, and resides in Mt. Pleas- 
ant Precinct. 

Feeling that there were countries that offered 
better advantages than his native land, our subject 
with his family came to America in 1872, sailing 
from Liverpool, England, in the Cunard steamer 
'■Batavia," and after a voyage of ten days they 
landed at New York City,came direct to Cass County, 
and purchased the eighty acres of land on which 
they now live. When they arrived on their land 
it was in a perfectly wild condition, not a furrow 
had been turned or any improvement of any kind 
had been made. With the pertinacity for which 
his countrymen are noted, he went to work with a 
will to improve his farm, and by close application 
and continuous hard lalior he is the owner of one 
of tlie most productive tracts of land in the county. 

From a wild and unsettled condition our subject 
has seen the countrj- about him develop into the 
splendid, prosperous and highly cultivated state 
it has now reached, and he has taken no unimpor- 
tant part in bringing it to its present high and 
flourishing degree of prosperity, and where a few 
years ago deer and buffaloes roamed at will, we see 
productive fields, pleasant, comfortable homes, 
churches and school-houses abound, denoting an 
intelligent and God-fearing people. 

Our subject is the son of John and Mary Goodier. 
The mother is now deceased. Both parents were 
natives of England. He is the second oldest son of 
the family ; all the surviving members of his parents' 
family are still in England. He has become an 
American citizen by complying with the laws of 
the country relative to that question; all his inter- 
ests are here and his sympathies are wholly and 
entirely with the American people. 

The residence of our subject is pleasantly situ- 
ated, nea';ly designed and comfortably furnished. 
The barns and other out-buildings necessar}' to the 
successful prosecution of the business in which he 

<•— 



is engaged are conveniently located and are suf- 
ficiently extensive to meet his present requirements, 
A fine thriving orchard yields to his family an 
abundance of fruit, and a number of orn.amental 
trees and a quantity of flowering plants and choice 
shrubbery add to the beauty of his home and the 
pleasure of its inmates. The political allegiance of 
ovir subject is with the Democratic partjr. He has 
served one term as School Director, but declines to 
accept further political favors from his neighbors, 
as he cannot spare the time from his farm duties. 
He is large-hearted and public-spirited, and with his 
wife and family, takes a great interest in the social 
matters of their locality. They are members of the 
Christian Church, are widely and favorably known, 
and enjoy the confidence and esteem of all who 
know them. 

fRA GORDON, one of the first business men 
locating in the j^oung town of Wabash, estab- 
lished himself in the hardware trade here in 
March, 1888, and is now carrying on a prosperous 
trade, receiving a generous patronage from the 
people of this part of the county. He came to 
Nebraska in 1879, from Dubuque County, Iowa, to 
which he had been taken by his jjarents when a 
little lad seven years of age, and where he devel- 
oped into manhood on a farm. He was born in 
the Province of Quebec, Canada, near the town of 
Patton, April 15, 1847, and was the fourth child 
in a family of seven, the oB'spring of Ransom S. 
and Rachel (Little) Gordon, who were natives of 
Maine and Ireland. The father died at the old 
homestead in Dubuque County, Iowa, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty years. He was twice mar- 
ried, and was one of a family of fourteen children. 
The mother is still living, making her home with 
her son. Smith Gordon, in Red Willow County, 
this State, and is now seventy -eight j-ears old. 

This branch of the Gordon family is of Scotch 
ancestrj', and was first represented in this country 
forty years or so after the settlement of the 
Plymouth colony by the paternal great-grandfather 
of our subject, Alexander Gordon, who took up his 
abode in Saco, Me. His progenitors were the heirs 
of a large estate in Scotland, Gordon Castle and 



■HMi^ 



•►Hl^^ 



1054 



CASS COUNTY. 



its appurtenances, -which is still in existence, and 
estimated to be worth 140.000,000. The brothers 
and sisters of our subject were named respectively: 
Ransom, Smith, Henry and Lois. The first named 
is now numbered among the prosperous farmers of 
Centre Precinct; Smith is a resident of Red Wil- 
low County; Henrj- is a soldier of the regular 
army, and located at Ft. Windgate, New Mexico; 
Lois is the wife of John Hess, of Elmwood Pre- 
cinct, and a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in 
this volume. 

Mr. Gordon was given the advantage of a practi- 
cal education in the common school, completing 
his studies in Dubuque County, Iowa. He was 
but a boy at the outbreak of the Rebellion, and 
consequently did not enter the army as he wished, 
in company with his brothers and half-brothers. 
In the meantime they had pre-em])ted land in Cen- 
tre Precinct, this county, where they settled after- 
ward. Young Gordon, also deciding upon the 
pursuit of agriculture, purchased, in 1879, eighty 
acres of land in Stove Creek Precinct, to which he 
came with his little family not long afterward. 
He had been married, Dec. 22, 1875, to a Miss 
Ida Tisdale, who was born in Dubuque County, 
Iowa. Mrs. Gordon was carefully reared and 
thoroughly educated, completing her studies in St. 
Marjf's Academy in Dubuque. She became the 
mother of two children, daughters. May M. and 
p]mma M., and departed this life at their home in 
Iowa, July 23, 1879. Thereafter our subject for 
several years following lived in Iowa, and his 
children wer6 taken care of by himself, his sister 
keeping house for him. 

On the 18th of February, 1886, Mr. Gordon 
contracted a second marriage, with Miss Annie, 
daughter of William Thaler, of Palmyra, Otoe 
County, and a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in 
this volume. Of this union there is one child, a 
daughter, Bessie Lurettie. In March, 1888, leav- 
ing his farm in Stove Creek Precinct, Mr. Gordon 
purchased the hardware business of G. W. Wood- 
ruff, the pioneer establishment of its kind in 
Wabash. His energy and enterprise are proverb- 
ial among the people of this section, and he has 
become identified with the various leading interests 
of the town, to which lie gives his encouragement 



and support. He is one of the stockholders of the 
Wabash Publishing Company, and uniformly votes 
the straight Republican ticket. In religious matters 
he adheres to the doctrines of the Free-Will 
Baptist Church, and in Masonic circles is a member 
of Euclid Lodge, at Weeping AYater. He has 
distinguished himself as an able financier, and if 
we may judge anything from the opinions of his 
fellow-citizens, no man stands higher in the busi- 
ness or social circles of Wabash and vicinity than 
I\Ir. Gordon. 



•^-~ 



GREELEY GARRISON. The main points 
in the history of this highlj- esteemed resi- 
dent ot Plattsmouth are as follows: He was 
born near Three Rivers, St. Joseph Co., 
Mich., Feb. 16, 1854, and is the son of William 
Garrison, a native of the State of New York. The 
paternal grandfather it is believed was a native of 
Holland, and upon coming to America early in life, 
located in the State of New York, whence he re- 
moved later to Michigan, settling in St. Joseph 
Countjs and there spent the remainder of his days. 
William Garrison, the father of our subject, was 
reared to manhood in his native State, which he 
left about the time of reaching his majority, cast- 
ing his lot among the pioneers of St. Joseph County, 
Mich. He purchased a tract of timber land near 
which grew up the present flourishing city of Three 
Rivers, eliminated a good homestead from the wil- 
derness, and lived there until November, 1854. 
Then crossing the Mississippi he established him- 
self a short time in Glenwood, Iowa, where he so- 
journed until March, 1855, and with the spirit of 
adventure still upon him, once more changed his 
residence, taking up his abode among the pioneers 
of Nebraska Territory. He located this time in 
Cass County, when there were little indications of 
white men in this i-egiou. 

The removal of the father of our subject from 
Michigan was made overland by means of a team 
of horses and a wagon. He crossed the Missouri 
River at Plattsmouth, before this now flourishing 
city had even assumed the dignity of a platted vil- 



"► i r^ 



CASS COUXTY. 



105.) 



lage. There was one store, which was conducted 
in a log building, and of this Mr. Garrison soon 
secured possession. The Indian titles had been 
only a short time extinguished, and the savages 
themselves still lingered in the country. But few 
white people had ventured within the Territory, 
and the}' were mostly located along the river. The 
land was still owned bj' the Government, and was 
selling at $1.25 per acre. 

For several years afterward the elder Garrison 
carried on general merchandising in primitive 
style, but flnallj' sold out and located on a tract of 
land northwest of the city. This he improved and 
occupied until about the time of the outbreak of 
the Civil War, when he once more gathered to- 
gether his family and his personal effects, and 
journeyed to Douglas County, Col., where he now 
resides. 

Mrs. Mary A. (Crawford) Garrison, the mother of 
our subject, was born in Richland County, Ohio, 
and is the daughter of Robert Crawford, a native 
of Maryland, who emigrated to Ohio and located 
in Richland County during its pioneer days. Thence 
a few years later he pushed still further westward 
into vSt. .Joseph County, Mich., being also among 
the first settlers there. He improved a farm, erect- 
ing buildings and gathering together all the com- 
forts and conveniences needful, and there closed 
his eyes upon earthly scenes. Mrs. Garrison is 
still li ving, making her home with her son in Platts- 
mouth. The parental family included six children, 
live of whom grew to mature years, and are now 
living. 

The subject of this sketch was but an infant 
when his parents cams to Nebraska Territory, and 
he has thus literally grown up with the country. 
He has bsan a resident of this county all his life, 
and has witnesssd the growth and development of 
Southern Nebraska with the warmest interest, and 
borne no unimportant part as an honest man and 
a good citizen in building up its reputation. Platts- 
mouth during this time has grown from a settle- 
ment of a few log cabins and frame slianties to one 
of the most important cities west of the Mississippi, 
and contains now nearly 10,000 souls. Mr. Garri- 
son spent his boyhood and youth at his father's 
farm, amid the wild scenes of pioneer life, and 



upon reaching manhood chose agriculture for his 
occupation, and gave to this the most of his atten- 
tion until the spring of 1888, when he disposed of 
his farm propart}-, and moving into the city es- 
tablished himself m a blacksmith, and is in the 
enjoyment of a good patronage. He is a natural 
mechanic, and without having served any regular 
trade either as blar'ksmith or carpenter, is a regular 
expert in the handling of tools. This talent has 
been the means of saving him many hundreds of 
dollars on his farm and elsewhere. 

The marriage of H. Greeley' Garrison and Miss 
Harriet N. Bailey- was celebrated at the home of the 
bride in Cass County, July 19, 1883. Mrs. Garri- 
son was born in Schenectady County, N. Y., Sejit. 
4, 1855, and is the daughter of William P. and 
Angelique (Van Slike) Bailey, who were natives of 
New York, and are now residing in this township. 
(See sketch of Mr. Bailey.) Of this union there is 
one child, a daughter Letta. Our subject and his 
family occupy a snug home in the northwestern 
part of the cit^', and which is the frequent resort 
of a large number of friends. Mr. G., politically, 
is a member of the Democratic partj\ 



••■^t^w .;»t;^ 



•^««^-»«^Jtf— 



^IL^EZEKIAH A'AN HORN, a highly respected 
|l|j|; farmer of Plattsmouth Precinct, is pui-suing 
•^^' the even tenor of his way on one of its well- 
(^) cultivated farms, and has built up a good 
homestead by his own persevering efforts, unaided 
except by his faithful and devoted wife. He was 
thrown upon his own resources early in life, and 
his possessions are the accumulations of industry 
and economy. He is one of the many men who 
came to Nebraska with faith in its future, and 
whose labors have been crowned with their legiti- 
mate rew'ard. 

The ancestors of our subject were originally 
from Holland, where his paternal grandfather, by 
name Christian Van Horn, was born, and whence 
he emigrated to the United States when a young 
man, locating in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pa. 
He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and 
when his services were nolonger needed located in 
Belmont County, Ohio, about 1836. Thence he re- 



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ioso 



CASS COUNTY. 



moved. to the vicinit}' of Xenia, in Greene County, 
where his death took place in 1858, when he was 
seventy-five years old. His son James, the father 
of our subject, was born in Berks County, Pa., in 
1817, .and aceornpanied his father to the Buckeye 
State. He was there married to Miss Lydia Gray, 
and they became the parents of eiglit children, viz: 
Christian, our subject, Caroline, Thompson, J.ames, 
Zeruiah, William and Edward. The mother died 
when a young woman, aged about thirty years, in 
February, 1853, at the home in Ohio. 

The father of our subject was married the sec- 
ond time, in Ohio, in 1857, to Miss Caroline Ruse, 
a native of Virginia. Of this union there were 
born six children : John W., Howard ; Maggie, who 
died in August, 1885; Joseph, Ida and Laura. The 
family lived in Ohio until the j-ear 1863, then de- 
cided to push on further westward, and located in 
the vicinity of Shawneetown, 111. Not being satis- 
fied with their surroundings at that place, they 
changed their residence to Posey County, Ind., but 
later returned to Illinois, settling in Crawford 
County. Thence in the year 1881 they moved 
across the Mississippi to Union County, Iowa, 
where the}' still live. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Belmont 
County, Ohio, Nov. 8, 1843, and remained with his 
father until a youth of fifteen years. He then started 
out for himself, going first to his uncle, Joseph 
"\an Horn, in Grape Grove, Greene Co., Ohio,with 
whom he remained one year. He then returned 
to his father in Greene County, and in 1863 went 
with his parents to Illinois, and then he journeyed 
alone to Iowa, in September, 1872. Two years 
later he was married, Sept. 10, 1874, to Miss Mercy 
I. Barlow, and they commenced the journey of 
life together in Iowa, where they lived until com- 
ing to this county, Oct. 19, 1879. Mr. Van Horn 
was quite prominent in Grant Township, Iowa, 
serving as a Constable, and occupying other posi- 
tions of trust. Politically, he is a stanch Demo- 
crat. Christian, the oldest brother of our subject, 
was a soldier in the Union Armj- during the late 
war, and was killed at Goldsboro, N. C, about the 
time of Lee's surrender. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there were 
born four children, three of whom are living, viz: 



George C, Albert M. and Emma Laura. One son, 
James M., died Aug. 27, 1882, when seven years, 
two months and six days old. Mrs. Van Horn 
was born Aug. 14, 1851, in Crawford County, 111., 
and is the daughter of Henry M. and Laura E. 
(Barlow) Barlow. The father was a native of Craw- 
ford County, 111., and the mother of Vermont. The 
parental household consisted of three children two 
of whom are now living. 



WILLIAM EDGAR came to Nebraska three 
years .ngo, and immcdi.itelj' attached him- 
self to the farming community of Cass 
County, having previously purchased a partly im- 
proved farm on section 25, Centre Precinct. He 
lias lirought his land to a good state of cultivation, 
and is continually making impiovements. He raises 
both grain and stock, and is meeting with unquali- 
fied success. 

Mr. Edgar w.ts born in Northumberland County, 
Pa., Sept. 9, 1843, to Moses and Mary (Winner) Ed- 
gar. His f.Tther was a native of the Eastern States, 
although it is not known in which one he was born, 
as he died when our subject was a child. He spent 
his last years in Pennsylvania, where lie was en- 
gaged as a weaver. To him and his wife were born 
fourteen children, eleven of whom grew to matu- 
rit}'. After his death his widow, who was a woman 
of much capability and energy, moved with her 
children to Wisconsin, thence to Illinois, and 
finally to Iowa, where the most of the family are 
now living. 

He of whom we write was a lad of ten or more 
years when his mother moved to Wisconsin, and in 
Green Count}-, that State, he obtained his educa- 
tion in the common schools, and was reared to a 
practical, useful life. A few years later the family 
moved to Ogle County, III., an<l he resided there 
until he came to this State. He has always fol- 
lowed farming, and had a good farm, which he had 
brought to a high state of cultivation. But in the 
spring of 1885 he sold all his property in that State 
to start anew in Cass County, Neb., having pre- 
viously purchased this one. It was partly improved, 
but by his wise management and hard labor he has 



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CAS!S COUNTY. 



1057 ' ^ 



greatly increased its value, and has made many fine 
improvements. Tlie pastsummer (1888) lie erected 
a large and conveniently arranged l)arn, 36x44 feet 
in dimensions, with high posts, and well painted. 
Everything about the place is neat and orderly, 
denoting the practical, thrifty man in the owner. 
There is a good orchard and grove, and from the 
former Mr. Edgar already derives an inconie. He 
usuall}' raises about sixty acres of corn and other 
small grains, the fertile soil yielding large harvests. 

Mr. Edgar was married to Miss Mary Jane 
Vaiiderkar, Sept. 22, 1869. She was born in Sara- 
toga County, N. Y., Sept. 14, 1850, and lived there 
until she was five years old, when she accompanied 
her parents to Ogle County. 111. She there grew 
to womanhood, receiving from her good mother a 
careful training in all that goes to make a good 
housewife. She remained in the home of her par- 
ents until oursubject claimed her assistance to build 
up another. Her father, Michael Vanderkar, was 
born in Saratoga County, N. Y., March 2'J, 1827, 
and was a son of John B. and Mary (Warrington) 
Vanderkar, natives of New York. His mother was 
a daughter of James Warrington, who came from 
England, and was a pioneer settler of Saratoga 
County. He improved and owned two farms, clear- 
ing them from the unbroken forest, and on one of 
them he lived and died, having his home on the 
banks of the beautiful Mohawk River. The father 
of Mrs. Edgar married Miss Adeline Vandercook, 
a daughter of Peter and Nancy (Filkins) Vander- 
cook. and a resident of Saratoga County, which was 
also the place of his birth. He was a farmer by 
occupation, but later in life he retired from active 
labor, and died at his home in Cohoes. Mr. and 
Mrs. Vanderkar spent the early part of their mar- 
ried life in their native county. Later in life, 
about 1855, they removed with their family to Ogle 
County, III., where they still reside, he owning a 
valuable fai-m there. They have had nine children, 
seven of whom grew to maturity. 

The shadow of a heavy grief has darkened the 
married life of our subject and his wife, in the 
death of four of the five children who have been 
born to them, Addie being the only one now liv- 
ing. Of the others the following is recorded : 
Blanche died Jan. 18, 1877, aged six years, six 



months and six days; Carrie died January 24, the 
same year, aged three years, twenty-four days; 
Lula died April 4, 1886, aged six years, eight 
months and twenty-eight days; Arthur, the only 
son, died Nov. 11, 1888, aged five years, eight 
months and twenty-seven days. The first two died 
of membranous croup. In this great bereavement 
Mr. and Mrs. Edgar do not sorrow without the 
hope that their darlings will be restored to them in 
a future and brighter life, and to them, in the beau- 
tiful words of the poet: 

More homelike seems the vast unknown 

Since they have entered there; 
To follow them were not so hard, 

AVherever they may fare ; 
They cannot be where God is not. 

On any sea or shore, 
Whate'er betides. Thy love abides, 

Our God, forevermore. 

Mr. Edgar is a man of good understanding, keen 
and prompt, and, withal, honorable in his dealings. 
Although he has been a resident of this place but a 
comparativel}' short time, j'et he has made a favor- 
able impression upon the people by his manly, 
straightforward ways, and, with his wife, is justly 
regarded with feelings of respect and friendship by 
all in the community. He keeps well informed on 
the political issues of the day, and is decidedly in 
favor of the Republican party. 

Mr. Edgar had three brothers in the Union Army 
— John, Reuben ajid Lazarus. John was killed at 
the battle of South Mountain ; the other two were 
spared to return home, but broken down in health, 
as were so many of our bravest soldiers. 

"^ ^-i-B- ^ . 

ANIKL G. MENDENHALL, an old set- 
jj) tier of Stove Creek Precinct, is now num- 
bered among its most successful farmers, 
and is one of its leading citizens. He is a 
son of Pennell and Mariali (West) Mendenhall, na- 
tives of Lancaster County, Pa., the father born 
April 27, 1811, and the mother May 17, 1811. 
Both his paternal and maternal grandfather were of 
English descent, and the former was a native of the 
Keystone State. His father passed his earl3' years in 
the State of his n.itivity, an I wiiea a youth learned 



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1058 



CASS COUNTY, 



4- 



the shiieniaUer's trade. AVlien a young man he went 
U> Clevelanil. Ohio, and was there married. He 
carried on shoemaking in tliat cit3- a short time, 
and then moved to Indiana, and became one of the 
first settlers of Randolph Connly. He bought tim- 
ber land there, improved a good farm of 140 acres, 
built up a nice home for himself and family, and 
was prosperously engaged in agriculture there until 
his death in 1871, at tlie age of sixty-eight years. 
His widow died in Indiana, in 1881, at the age of 
sixty-tive years. Tliey were active members of the 
Free-Will Baptist Church, and occupied a high 
position in tlie society of their community, where 
they were valued for their many good traits of 
character. They had eleven children, as follows : 
Jesse, Sarali, Joseph (deceased), James, Lydia. 
Susan, Daniel G., Eliza, Margaret, Ann (deceased), 
William. Joseph enlisted in the defense of the 
Union as a member of an Indiana regiment, went 
to the front, and in Tennessee died of diarrhcea. 
James enlisted in an Ohio regiment in 1861, served 
three years without a wound, and was honorably 
discharged in 1SG4. 

Dfiuiel G., the subject of this biographical notice, 
was born near Ridgeville. Randolph Co., Ind., July 
7, 184G. He passed his early years on his father's 
farm, and in the winter seasons attended school. 
In February, I860, when a youth of eighteen 
years, he enlisted in the 147th Indiana Infantry, 
was mustered in at Richmond, Ind.. and with his 
reoiment sent to join the Arm}' of the Potomac in 
Virginia, but did not arrive in Richmond until Lee 
had sui-rendered. Our subject acted mostly as 
ouard in the Shenandoah Valley, and was finally 
mustered out at Harper's Ferry, and discharged at 
Indianapolis, having shown himself to be possessed 
of the valor, patriotism, endurance and other quali- 
ties necessary to make a good soldier. After his 
military experience he went back to his father's 
farm, and worked for huB until he attained his 
majority. He then rented the home farm for three 
years. In the fall of 1871 he determined to come 
farther West to build up for himself a home, and, 
coming to Nebraska City by rail, he came from 
there to Stove Creek Precinct, and bought the 
west eighty acres of the northeast quarter of sec- 
tion 25. He broke the land, built on it, improved 



and farmed it for two years, and then sold it. and 
purchased 160 acres on the nortiiwest corner of the 
same section, from the Burlington & Missouri 
River Railroad Company'. This was also wild 
prairie land, with not a tree on it. He broke the 
soil, set out a large grove of forest trees, six acres 
of orchard, containing 600 choice fruit trees, be- 
sides a vineyard and plenty of small fruits. He 
had to draw the timber for his first house from 
McKesick Island, iii the Missouri River. He had 
not paid for the whole of his land when the grass- 
hopper raid came, and for two years he was the 
only one who held on to railroad land in Stove 
Creek Precinct, the others having to leave, starva- 
tion staring them in the face. He pitied himself 
against the grasshopper, and, though these insects 
left nothing but the soil, his staying powers proved 
the stronger, and he won in the end, and has now 
much more than retrieved his losses. His farm is 
in a fine condition, and is one of the best appointed 
in the precinct, with a large, well-arranged house, 
good barns, corn cribs, windmill, tank, etc. It is 
well supplied with running water, and is willow 
hedged and wire fenced. It is admirably fitted for 
a stock farm, and he raises and feeds fine Durham 
cattle, full-blooded Poland-China hogs, with a 
thoroughbred sow, and he has three teams of 
graded horses. 

The marriage that united our subject to Miss 
Jane Smithson, a native of Randolph Count}', Ind., 
took place Aug. 29, 1868, and of their pleasant 
wedded life seven children have been born, as fol- 
lows: Rosetta B., born Aug. 21, 1869; P^lizabeth 
F., Sept. 4, 1870; John W., M.ay 7, 1872; Charley, 
born March 13, 1874, died May 22, 1874; Mar- 
garet A., born Oct. 10, 1875; William H., May 19, 
1877; Frankie O. S., Nov. 27, 1884. 

Mr. Mendenhall is a practical man, endowed with 
sufficient enterprise and tenacity of purpose to 
make him successful in whatever he undertakes. 
That he is an intelligent and skillful agriculturist is 
demonstrated by the appearance of his farm, with 
its well-tilled fields, and well-kept, finely graded 
stock. He stands high in the esteem of his fellow- 
citizens, who show their confidence in his ability 
and integrity by entrusting to him such responsi- 
ble offices .as the Super visorship of the precinct, 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1059 



and electing him to a position on the School Board. 
He is influential in the councils of the Republican 
party of his locality, being a strong believer in the 
principles promulgated b\' that party. He lias 
served as a juryman. Religiously, he adheres to 
the doctrines of the Free-Will Baptist Church. 

^^^EORGE W. GRIMES, who settled in Otoe 
III (— , County, Neb., in May, 1865, in McWilliams 
^Jl Precinct, and Sept. 20, 1869, moved to 
his present home, owns an extensive farm in 
Liberty Precinct, and is classed among the most 
substantial and well-to-do representative agricult- 
urists of Cass County. His farm is supplied with 
good buildings and all the necessary improvements 
to make it one of the most desirable estates for 
many miles around. It comprises 380 acres of 
finely' tilled land, which is distributed on different 
sections as follows: 140 on section 19, eighty acres 
on section 30, and 160 acres on section 17. It has 
living water on it and many other advantages, 
adapting it admirably to stock-raising or any other 
purpose to which the owner chooses to apply it. 

Mr. Grimes was born in Howard County, Mo., 
Nov. 19, 1826. His father, Robert Grimes, was 
a native of what is now West Virginia, and a son 
of Aaron Grimes, a native of Ireland, who, coming 
to America prior to the Revolutionary AVar, cast in 
his lot with the struggling colonists and gallantly 
assisted them in obtaining their freedom from the 
mother country. After the war he settled in that 
part of Virginia now known as West Virginia, and 
there spent his remaining years, liis wife preceding 
him to the grave. They had a large family of 
children, and Robert Grimes, father of our subject, 
was one of the youngest members of the family. 
He attained his majority in Randolph County, where 
was the home of his birth, and while yet a single 
man, accompained by his elder brother George, he 
made his way to Kentucky, living there some j'ears, 
near Lexington. His brother became a prominent 
man in public life, and represented either Bourbon 
or Clark County in the State Legislature for a num- 
ber of terms. He was married, but died without 
children. Robert Grimes was married not far from 



Lexington, Ky., to Miss Temperance Swetman, 
a native of either Clark or Bourbon County' 
where she was reared and lived until marriage, 
after which Mr. Grimes began life as a farmer in 
Kentuck}'. Subsequent to the birth of four children, 
he moved with his family to Howard County, Mo., 
and was among its earliest settlers, having arrived 
therein the fall of 1826. The Indians were numer- 
ous and troublesome at that time, and Mr. Grimes 
took an active part in sujipressing their outrages 
during the various raids made by the savages. He 
had also been a patriotic soldier in the War of 1812, 
while he was still a resident of his native State, 
Virginia. Mr. Grimes later in life made another 
move, and with his wife and children settled in 
Randolph County, Mo., and began to farm in 
Prairie Township, and there he and his wife made 
a comfortable home. He served as Major of 
Militia in the Mormon War in Missouri at the time 
they were driven out of that State and located in 
'Nauvoo, 111. During the last part of their lives 
they moved to the northern part of the same county, 
where they both died, he at the age of sixty-three, 
Nov. 1, 1847, and she eight years later, when past 
sixty years old. They were members of the Chris- 
tian Church, and their daily lives exemplified the 
beauties of its teachings. 

Our subject was the first son and the fifth child 
in order of birth of the six sons and seven daugh- 
ters born to his parents and of this large famil}- all 
are living but two. He comes of a long-lived, hardy 
race, and inherits many of their independent, 
sturdy traits of character, that make him inval- 
uable as a citizen and successful as a, man. He was 
married in Randolph County, Mo., June 15, 1854, 
to Miss Nancy M. Goddard, a native of that county. 
She was born Feb. 10, 1834, and was a daughter of 
John G. and Talitha (Fipps) Goddard, now 
deceased, they having died in Randolph County. 
The father's death was tragic, for as he was stand- 
ing on his own door-step he was shot by bush- 
whackers, Feb. 26, 1865. He was then over fifty 
3^ears old. During the war he had stood on neutral 
ground. His first wife, the mother of Mrs. Grimes, 
ten j^ears before his death had departed this life, 
and he had married a second time. He and his first 
wife were natives of Kentuckj', but were married 



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1060 



CASS COUNTY. 



in Randolph County, Mo., to which county they 
had gone from Kentucky some years before. Mr. 
(ioddard was a lifelong farmer. Mrs. Grimes was 
the eldest of a large famil}' of children, and she 
was reared and educated in the county of her 
nativity. She is the mother of ten children, five 
of whom early passed to the great beyond, two of 
them being named Francis E. and George E. 
The other three died in infancy. The record of 
the living children is as follows: Talitha T. is the 
wife of E. M. Smith, a farmer of this pre- 
cinct; Louvina is the wife of W. P. Comer, a 
farmer of this precinct; Mary A., Floreta and John 
E. are at home with their parents. 

Mr. Grimes has not achieved success without 
hard labor, but his toils have been directed by 
a clear head and cool judgment. He is shrewd in 
his dealings, and his credit stands high in financial 
circles. He and his good wife are active members 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Union 
"Milage, and he is an Elder. In politics he is a 
sound Democrat, and has been true to his party 
ever since he became a voter. 

-^ .#^ ^ 



ylLLIAM HENRY H. CASSEL is a prac- 
tical farmer, who is successfully engaged 
in agricultural pursuits on section 26, 
Weeping Water Precinct. He is the son of one of 
Nebraska's pioneers, his father, John Cassel, hav- 
ing been an earlj' settler of Otoe County, where he 
evolved a valuable farm from the wild prairie near 
Nebraska City. Our subject was only a boy when 
he accompanied his parents to this State in 1856, 
but he may well be denominated a pioneer of Ne- 
braska, not only for his share of the pioneer labor 
needed to improve his father's farm, but for the 
hard work that he has performed since coming here 
in developing his own farm from a state of nature, 
and thus materially assisting in advancing the ag- 
ricultural interests of Cass County. 

Our subject was born in Indiana, May 7, 1 844, and 
there the first twelve years of his life were passed, 
and he gained the rudiments of his education in the 
public schools of his native State. His father was 
a native of South Carolina, and there lived until 



he had attained manhood. He then sought the 
wilds of Ohio, and was there married to Sarah 
Thornas, and with her valuable aid hewed oat a 
farm from the forest-covered land. They subse- 
quently moved to Indiana, and later to Nebraska, 
always keeping on the frontier, and again began 
the pioneer task of building up a home far from 
the haunts of civilization. On the tract of wild 
prairie not far from Nebraska City he improved a 
farm, and there spent his remaining years, dying 
in 1882. He left the record of a life of usefulness 
and good deeds, and his memory is respected by 
his early associates in pioneer days, and by later 
comers, as that of a just and upright man, whose 
kind hand was readily extended to them in times 
of trouble. He was an earnest Christian, and a 
member of the Baptist Church, as is also his es- 
teemed wife, who still survives him. Of their 
wedded life twelve children were born, nine of 
whom lived to maturity. 

,Their son, of whom we write, was a strong and 
active boy of twelve years when they came to Ne- 
braska, and thus it has been his privilege to witness 
the growth of the State, its upbuilding from the 
wild prairies, from which the buft'alo, deer and an- 
telope had not fled when he first came, and where 
the Indian still lingered. He can remember when 
Nebraska City was an insignificant trading-post 
with less than 100 habitations, and most of them 
of rude style of architecture, or of no architect- 
ure at all. In the early schools of that city he 
completed his education, and on his father's home- 
stead he gained a good knowledge of agriculture. 
He remained an inmate of the parental household 
until 1871, when he came to Cass County and pur- 
chased the land comprised in his present farm of 
ninety-two acres, flnelj^ lo3ated on section 6, town- 
ship 10, range 1 1, Weeping Water Precinct. From 
that cultivated prairie he has developed one of the 
most productive farms in this region, and every 
improvement has been the work of his own hand. 
He planted a lovely grove of forest trees that adds 
greatly to the attractiveness of his place; a good 
orchard, and small fruits in abundance. His farm 
is mostly fenced with hedge, and the buildings that 
he has erected are in good order, and look neat and 
substantial. He devotes his time principally to 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1061 



stock-raising, and his cattle, horses, and hogs of 
good grades, are always in fine condition, and bring 
good prices when thrown on the market. He makes 
a specialty of raising hogs, finding them very 
profitable. The first dwelling in which our subject 
lived on his land was the typical dugout of these 
Western States, which he built himself, and in 
which he for a time kept a bachelor's establishment 
until he could secure a more commodious residence. 
The following 3^ear, 1872, after making various 
improvements, he was mai'ried to Miss Sarah Emery, 
and she lias cheerfully aided him in building up 
their present comfortable home. In this four chil- 
dren have been born to them, of whom three are 
still living, namely: Way land, Lottie and Earl. 
Their son Harry died when one year old. Mrs. 
Cassel was born in Canada, and came to Nebraska 
with her parents. They settled near Tecumseh 
and lived there until latel}', when thej' moved to 
Crab Orchard. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cassel are members in good staqd- 
ing of the Baptist Church, of AVabash, and they 
earnestly and sincerely strive to live up to their 
professions. They are cordially liked in this com- 
munity, and none know them but to respect them. 
Mr. Cassel votes with the Republican party, and 
always takes an intelligent interest in politics. He 
uses his influence to procure good educational fa- 
cilities in this precinct, and has done good work 
for the cause while serving as Director on the 
School Board. 



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ylLLIAM FRANS and his son R. H. are car- 
rying on an extensive mercantile business 
in tiie town of Union, and the}' .nay well 
be classed among the leading merchants of this 
part of Cass County. Mr. Frans was one of the 
original settlers of Cass County, and during the 
first decade of the settlement of Nebraska he was 
one of its active pioneers. There are but few 
people now living in this State who visited it as 
early as he did, and saw it in all its primeval wild- 
ness, when it was the domain of the Indian, with 
scarce!}' a trace of civilization, and some time be- 

4* 



fore its great possibilities were realized, or it was 
dreamed that it would one day become a powerful 
commonwealth, occupying a proud position .is one 
of the States of the great American Union. The 
lime of Mr. Frans' first visit here to which we refer 
was 1848. He w^s in the Government service, it 
being the last 3-ear of the Mexican War, when he. 
ail adventurous, high-spirited youth of eighteen, 
crossed the Missouri River at Ft. Kearney, now Ne- 
braska City, to enter the employ of the Govern- 
ment as teamster. The fort was then occupied b}' 
five companies of United States troops, known as 
tiie Oregon Battalion, that had been recruited in 
Missouri for service in the Mexican War if needed, 
and had been sent from Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., to 
tivke possession of the unoccu|)ied post at Nebraska 
City. In the fall of that j'car old Ft. Kearney was 
finally abandoned, and the garrison moved to what 
was afterward known as new Ft. Kearney, in the 
southern portion of the State, on the Platte River. 
Our subject w.as engaged in iiauling supplies to the 
new fort, making three trips during the year, and 
on the last one he went in a diagonal direction across 
the Territories from new Ft. Kearney to Ft. Leav- 
enworth, where he was discharged from the service, 
having been in the Government employ just five 
montlis. He then returned to his home in Bu- 
chanan County, Mo., and remaineil there until 1851, 
when he took up a claim near Plum Hollow in Fre- 
mont County, Iowa, and made several improve- 
ments on his 80-acre tract of land, continuing 
to reside on it until 1854. He then crossed the 
Missouri River at a place kflown as Thompson Feriy, 
which he himself had managed in 1853, and found 
himself once again in the Territory of Nebraska, 
this time as a settler He took up a claim where 
the old town of Rock Bluff was first laid out, and 
with his father-in-law and a son of the latter who 
had come with him, each of whom took up claims, 
paid the Indians a tribute of $13 for the privilege 
of being allowed to stay and not be molested, as 
those settlers who refused to pay the tribute ex- 
acted were run off by the natives to whom the land 
then belonged. Our subject and his kinsmen re- 
mained on their farms until 1802, and during that 
time had materiall}' aided in building up the now 
defunct town of Rock Bluff, which was at that time 



M^l 



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1062 



CASS COUNTY. 



ii thriving little village, iind one of the foremost in 
the county on the Missouri River. In 1862 Mr. 
Fr.ins sold all his interests in the Territor}', and 
again took up his abode in Buchanan County, Mo. 
While a resident of Nebraska he had engaged to 
some extent in freighting, and from the 17th of 
March, 1861, until Jan. 10, 1862, had made three 
trips to Denver on his own account. He afterward 
made two other trips across the plains, one to 
Denver, Col., and oue to Jewelbnrg, Neb. Mr. 
Frans did not escape the vicissitudes of life in a 
pioneer country, and avers tiuit it was desperately 
hard times for the pioneers in 1858 to 1861, and 
the only way to make money was to freight pro- 
visions across the plains, and at that business he 
was financially successful. 

The early years of the life of our subject were 
passed in Meade County, Ky., on the banks of the 
Ohio River, where he was born March 1, 18;31. His 
father, Tazwell Fraus, was a Virginian by birth, and 
spent the first few years of his life in the Old Do- 
minion, but while he was still a boy his parents, 
likewise natives of Virginia, moved from there to 
Kentucky and settled among the pioneers of that 
State. The}' built a home in Meade County, and 
there John Frans and his wife, the grandparents 
of our subject, passed away, full of years, leav- 
ing the blessed memory of well-spent lives. They 
were Missionary Baptists in their religious faith. 
and held tenaciously to the tenets of their church, 
The father of our subject grew to manhood in 
his father's home on the beautiful banks of the 
Ohio, and there he and Ruan Hardin united their 
lives for better or for worse, and began their 
wedded life on a farm in that vicinty. Mrs. Frans 
was a relative of the celebrated Ben Hardin. The 
most of their family were born there, and in 1844 
they migrated to Missouri and settled in what was 
commonly called Platte Purchase, being the north- 
west corner of the State of Missouri. Their remain- 
ing years were passed there, the father dying in 
1864, in the opening month of the year, and the 
mother preceding him in death six months before, 
having died in July, 1863, and they were both aged 
sixty-three years. They were of the Baptist faith, 
and were strictly honorable, upright people. Of 
' ' the sixteen children, eight sons and eight daugh- 



•► ■ <■ 



r 



ters, born of their marriage, thirteen lived to marry 
and settle in life, and twelve are yet living. 

Our subject, who was the fourthchild of that large 
family, was a lad of fourteen years when he accom- 
panied his parents to their new home in Missouri. 
We have seen that two or three years later he 
started out in the world for himself, and have traced 
his life to his return to Buchanan County, and we 
will now resume the thread at that point. After 
his return from the mountains he left Nebraska in 
1862 and went to Buchanan County, Mo. He 
there turned his attention to farming, which occu- 
pation he laid aside awhile in 1864, at the call of 
duty, to enlist with the State troops for the pro- 
tection of the State. He was in the service for 
seven months, and was then honorably discharged 
without having taken part in any battles. He con- 
tinued to reside in Buchanan and DeKalb Coun- 
ties until 1884. In the latter county he sold his 
interests and in the year just mentioned returned 
to Nebraska, and in Factoryville, this county, 
entered into the mercantile business with his son 
R. H., who had established himself there the 3'ear 
before. They continued to conduct their busi- 
ness in Factoryville until October, 1887, when they 
moved their stock of goods to this point, regarding 
the location as more favorable for their trade. They 
have a new and commodious store, 36x40 feet iu 
dimensions, with a wareroom at the rear, 20x16 
feet, a fine basement beneath the whole, and a com- 
fortable tenement above. Thej' carry about $10,- 
000 worth of stock, and have an annual sale of 
about $20,000 of general merchandise, having to 
suppl}' all the country trade for miles around. The 
post-office is also in the store, and R. H. Frans has 
held the position of Postmaster for several years, 
while our subject is Deputy Postmaster. Mr. 
Frans is a stanch Democrat, and takes an active in- 
terest in local and National politics. He is a man 
of honor, who is cordially liked by all with whom 
he has dealings, and his credit stands high in the 
commercial world. He is a man of deep religious 
feelings, and has been for years Deacon of the 
Baptist Church, of which his wife and all but their 
three youngest children are also valued members. 

Mr. Frans and Miss Rebecca Spiers were united 
in marriage in Buch:inau County, Mo. Mrs. Frans 



-•► 



I 



*► 11 <• 



-•»- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1063 



is a native of Ohio, born in Coshocton C'ount3', 
Sept. 9, 1835, and is a riaughter of Benedict and 
Ruphena (Rife) Spiers. They were natives of Ger- 
manj\ hoin near the famous Rhine, wiiere they were 
reared and married. Soon after the Intler event 
they came to America and located in Ohio, where 
Mr. Spiers carried on farming and milling, being a 
professional miller. In 1843 the family made their 
way to Buchanan County, Mo., and there Mr. 
Spiers was engaged as a miller for some time. In 
1854 he and his family came to Nebraska, and set- 
tled in Rock Bluff Precinct. In 1875 he left his 
Cass County home, and with his wife and son 
moved to Kansas, and settled in Smith County, 
where they are yet living, the parents both being 
past eighty' years of age. Mrs. Frans was quite 
young when her parents moved to Missouri, and 
there she completed her education. Of her mar- 
riage with our subject eleven children have been 
born, all of whom are living, and the following is 
recorded of them : Augustus lives in DeKalb County 
as a merchant, and he married Clara Jones; R. H., 
in business with his father, married Jennie Fitch; 
Charles W., a farmer in Wyoming Precinct. Otoe 
County, married Belle Fitch for his second wife, his 
first wife having died some years ago; Florilda is 
the wife of Joseph Sands, a farmer near old Rock 
Bluff Village; Rosanna is the wife of Robert Cog- 
dill, a farmer of Factoryville; Isabel is the wife of 
Dr. M. L. Thomas, a ph3-siciau of Union ; Betsy is 
the wife of Wyatt Hutchinson, a fanner in Rock 
Bluff Precinct; Lavinia is the wife of William 
W. Wolfe, a blacksmith at Union; Colmore R. is a 
clerk in the store, and lives at home; Harrj' is also 
at home, and a clerk in the drug-store of Dr. 
Thomas; Emma is at home. 

eHARLES A. WEBSTER, proprietor of the 
leading jewelry and book store of Weeping 
Water, also carries a fine line of stationery 
and fancy goods, and is transacting a large and 
lucrative business. The house was established in 
the winter of 1881-82, first as a jewelry store, and 
was the first of its kind in the place. It has grown 
gradually from a modest beginning, and enjoys a 



constantly incre.ising patronage. Mr. Webster is a 
thorough business man, a master jeweler, and num- 
bered among the stirring and enterprising men of 
his community. 

Our subject was born in Batavia, N. Y., March 
18, 1840, and lived there until a lad twelve years 
of age. He then accompanied his widowed mother 
to Oberlin, Ohio, and four years later, in 1856. to 
Mills County, Iowa. He was a resident of the 
Hawkeye State until after the outbreak of the Re- 
bellion, and on the 12th of August, 1862, he prof- 
fered his services .as a Union soldier, enlisting in 
Company K, 29th Iowa Infantry, as a private. lie 
was soon promoted to Sergeant. His regiment was 
made a part of the Western Army^ and operated 
mostly in Arkans.as and Louisiana. Mr. Webster 
participated in many of the important battles of 
that period, including the fights at Helena, Elkius- 
ford, Poison Springs, Camden, Jenkins' Ferrv, the 
siege of Spanish Fort, and numerous other engage- 
ments and skirmishes. He escaped unharmed, and at 
the expiration of his term of service was mustered 
out at New Orleans, Aug. 10, 1865, and reached 
home the first week in September following. 

Mr, Webster now began his business career at 
Tabor, Fremont Co., Iowa, where he first carried on 
farming and then engaged in general merchandis- 
ing a period of five years. Selling out in Jan- 
uary, 1876, and coming to this countj-, he first pur- 
chased 160 acres of land in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, 
and occupied this farm until 1881. He effected some 
excellent improvements, and added later to his 
original purchase, providing the whole with good 
fences, and setting out an apple orchard and trees 
of the smaller fruits, putting up buildings, and gen- 
erally adding to the value of the property. In the 
year mentioned he sold out, and invested a portion 
of his capital in his present enterprise. He is a 
man who gives his strict attention to his business, 
meddling very little with politics, otherwise than 
giving his decided support to the principles of the 
Republican party. He was one year persuaded to 
accept the office of Alderman, and frequently 
serves as School Director in his district. 

Mr. Webster was married in Iowa, Nov. 13, 
1862, to Miss JerUsha S. Reed, of T.abor, and they 
became the parents of four children, only threa of 



■ ► II <•• 






1064 



CASS COUNTY. 



whom are living, namely: Ellen L. S.. Charles E. 
and William. They are all at home with their 
parents, and are being trained and educated in a 
manner which shall make of them worthy mem- 
bers of the community. Mrs. Webster was born in 
Gustavus Count3', Ohio, in 1842, and is the daugh- 
ter of Augustus and Serena (Hutcliins) Reed, who 
were natives of Connecticut, and the father for 
many years was one of the prominent farmers of 
the Buckeye State. About 1853 he removed to 
Iowa, engaging in business at Tabor. Later, com- 
ing to Nebraska, he took up his residence in 
Weeping Water Precinct, and died about 1881. He 
was one of the earliest pioneers of Washington 
County, Iowa. Mrs. Reed is still living, making 
her home in Weeping Water with her son. 

William H. Webster, the father of our subject, 
was born in Connecticut, and received a thorough 
education, being graduated from Yale College. 
Later he took up the study of medicine, completing 
his medical course in one of the New York hos- 
pitals. He commenced the regular practice of his 
profession at Batavia, N. Y., and during a period 
of eight j'ears accumulated a fortune while still a 
young man. He possessed unbounded energy in 
the duties of his calling, and labored beyond his 
strength, in fact, working himself to death, de- 
parting hence while in his prime, about 1842. He 
had married Miss Victoria Bowen, of Fall River, 
Mass., and they became the parents of four chil- 
dren, the youngest of whom died after the death of 
the father. The mother subsequently came to the 
West, and spent her last j^ears in Kansas with her 
daughter, dying about 1869. 



"IL-^ENRY SCHOMAKER. Among the practi- 
jlfjlj cal and thrifty farmers of Avoca Precinct 
'^^ who have made a specialty of stock-raising, 
■f^j the subject of tills sketch occupies a good 
position and is quite an extensive property holder, 
being the owner of a fine farm of 320 acres on 
sections 1 and 1 4. Tlie greater part of the land is 
in productive condition, well watered, and with 
good buildings. The whole forms a pleasant pict- 
ure of country life, and suggests the idea of i)lenty 



•► 



■•^ 



and comfort where it would seem that that rare 
article — happiness — might contentedly abide. 

Mr. Schomaker may properly be- numbered 
among the self-made men of Southern Nebraska, 
having come here comparatively wirJiout means, 
and commenced in a modest way to \>uiU\ up a 
home and a competence. His first pureh.ase was 
1 60 acres of land, to which lie has added 1)3' degrees, ' 
and sucii has been his career both as a thorough 
farmer and a reliable citizen, that he occupies an 
enviable position socially and financially. He has 
been a resident of Avoca Precinct since the sum- 
mer of 1871. In .June of that year he crossed 
the water from the Fatherland with his mother and 
other members of the family, all of whom settled in 
this locality, where they now Iiave con)fortal)le 
homes. They arc not ashamed to admit that they 
were as poor as " church mice" when they landed in 
the United States, and their career has been an admir- 
able illustration of the result of perseverance, in- 
dustry and iionesty. There are now no more highly 
respected residents in the county than the family of 
Schomakers. 

A native of the Uuchy of Sleswick-Holstein, 
the subject of this sketch was horn Sept. 7, 1851, 
and is the third child and second son of Peter and 
Anna C. (Lau) Schomaker. who are both now de- 
ceased ; the father died in his native Germany in 
1849, at the age of fifty-nine. He is remembered 
by his sons as a kind-hearted, honest and intelligent 
man, one whose lot in life it w.is to be poor in 
purse and who midehis living by hard labor. The 
mother after the death of her husband came to 
America with her four younger children, namely: 
Henry (our subject). Christian, Jlargarette and 
Herman. They settled in Avoca Precinct, where 
the sons contributed to the snppf>it of the mother, 
and where they all lived together until her death, 
July 25, 1880; she was then fift3'-nine 3'eai-s of 
age. Both parents were members of the German 
Lutheran Church. 

Mr. Schomaker, our subject, landed in America 
about the time of reacliing his majority, and later 
found a bride in Avoca Precinct, being married. 
Dee. 20, 1877. to Miss Minnie Carsten. This lady 
w.as born in Cass County, this State, Sept. 20. 18G1. 
and is the daughter of Frederick and Sarah (Storm) 



t 



•*-«=«^ 



t 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•»> 



1065 



Carstcn, tlie father a nntive of Mecklenburg. Ger- 
many, and the noother of Elsass. They ennigrated 
to tlie United States about 1850, coming to Ne- 
braska and settling in Otoe County, where the 
father died July 23, 1883, when ripe in years. He 
had been a good citizen and a successful farmer, 
and at his deatli left his wife and three children a 
good propert}'. The}' are all living, tlie mother 
making her home with her son, Louis Carsten, in 
Berlin Precinct, Otoe County, and being now 
about fifty 3'ears of age. 

Mrs. Schomaker was reared to womanhood in 
Cass Count}', and remained a member of the 
parental household until her marriage. Slie is now 
the mother of three children, viz: Frederick, 
Bertha and Eda. In politics Mr. Schomaker is a 
stanch Republican, and both he and his excellent 
wife are membei'S in good standing of the Lu- 
theran Church. 



^f^ 



WILLIAM WETENKAMP, who is well and 
favorably known throughout Plattsmouth 
Precinct and vicinit}', is numbered among 
its most successful Germ.an farmers, possessing all 
the industr}' and perseverance of a substantial an- 
cestary. A native of Hanover, Germany, he was 
born -while it was under the rule of its own King, 
Dec. 29, 1833, and was there educated and 
reared to man's estate. His parents were Albert H. 
and Margaret (Schwers) Wetenkamp, and spent 
their entire lives upon their native soil. They 
were of pure German stock. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 
eight children, seven of whom are in the United 
States. William emigrated to America in the 
spring of 1857, when a young man in the twenty- 
fourth j'ear of his age, crossing the ocean on the 
sailing vessel "Republic," and after a voj'age of 
twenty-seven and one-half days landed in New 
York City. Thence he proceeded to Wisconsin, 
settling near Manitowoc, where he lived two years, 
and engaged in milling. Then he came to Ne- 
braska Territoi'y, and commenced working by the 
month on a farm in Cass County. He was thus 



employed for two j'ears, and then was given the 
post of overseer of a train of twenty-five wagons, 
and began freighting to Denver and the mountains, 
being thus employed a period of seven years. 

The wild frontier experience of Mr. Wetenkamp 
is one which he will remember vividly all his life. 
The Indians were numerous and troublesome, and 
Mr. Wetenkamp and his men were often obliged to 
skirmish with them in order to protect their goods 
and animals. He withdrew from this contract with 
a reasonable amount of money. His homestead em- 
braces 400 acres, which he has brought to a flue 
state of cultivation, erecting thereon substantial 
modern buildings, and gathering about him the com- 
forts and conveniences required by the progressive 
agriculturist. He has besides this 240 acres of 
prairie land, and fifteen acres of valu.ible timber. 

Mr. Wetenkamp came to this county without 
means. His career is an admirable illustration of 
what may be accomplished by perseverance and in- 
dustry. It has taken years of labor and thousands 
of dollars to bring his farm to its present condi- 
tion. The handsome brick residence now occupied 
by the family was put up in the summer of 1879, 
at a cost of $4,000, and among his other buildings 
is a brick structure for the purpose of packing 
meat, and which proves an admirable repository 
for this product. The corn cribs, cattle sheds and 
improved farm machinery, with the herds of cattle 
and swine, and the fat horses always associated 
with the thrifty German farmer, give to the home- 
stead that air of comfort and plenty which is de- 
lightful to contemplate. 

Our subject usu.allj' raises about twenty-five 
head of cattle anuall}', and feeds upon an average 
fifty head for market. He also keeps a herd of 
about 1 00 hogs, and feeds to his stock most of the 
grain raised upon his farm His labors and strug- 
gles have been shared by one of the most estimable 
of ladies, who in her girlhood was Miss Mary 
Long, and to whom he was married in this town- 
ship, July 8, 1868. Mrs. Wetenkamp is the daugh- 
ter of S. I. and Elizabeth Long, a sketch of whom 
appears elsewhere in this volume. Of her union 
with our suljject there have been born three chil- 
dren, one of whom, Elmer W. died at the age of six 
years in 1880. The survivors are: Grant, born 



•►Hl^ 



1066 



CASS COUNTY. 



Dec. 8, 1869, and Albert A., Oct. 14, 1871. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Wetenkamp are members in good 
standing of the Presbyterian Church, and our sub- 
ject, politically, is a solid Republican. 

'\f7AMES SEARS. Among the men of note 
and public-spirited citizens of Tipton Pre- 
, cinct, this gentleman occupies a position in 
'^Mli tlie front ranks. Although not an old resi- 
dent, he has become widely and favorably known 
on account of his enterprise and intelligence. He 
is well educated and well informed, and in all re- 
spects a citizen calculated to assist in the social and 
moral advancement of his community. He owns 
and operates a well-regulated farm of 160 acres on 
section 36, and makes a specialty of live stock, 
shipping one or two carloads annually. 

In noting the career of a man who has r.iised 
himself to a prominent and worthy position in life, 
it is the most natural thing in the world to glance 
backward at the place and people whence he 
sprang. Mr. Sears is of an excellent family; his 
parents were both natives of the Empire State, his 
father, James, Sr., born in Orange County, and the 
mother, in her girlhood Miss Hester Rutan, in 
Sullivan County. The paternal grandfather, also 
named James, was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., 
and moved later to Chenango County, during the 
period of its earliest settlement. He cleared a farm, 
established a sawmill, accumulated a good property, 
and lived to the advanced age of eighty-six 3^ears. 
He traced his ancestry to Ireland. The Rutans 
were of German descent. 

The father of our subject was reared to manhood 
on a farm in his native county, and upon starting 
out for himself in life took up his abode in Sulli- 
van County, N. Y., where he engaged extensively 
in agriculture, and like his father before him, also 
operated a sawmill. He became prominent in the 
affairs of Sullivan County, represented his town- 
ship in the Board of Supervisors many years, and 
after the organization of the Republican party was 
one of its most active members. He departed this 
life in March, 1888, at the old homestead, when 
ninety-six years old. The mother had preceded her 

-<• 



aged partner only a few weeks, dying in February of 
that year, at the age of seventy-eight. She was a 
good woman in the highest sense of the term, and 
a conscientious member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 
ten children, namely: Margaretta, Abigail, Eliza- 
beth, Isaac, Deborah, James, Mary, Alfred, Charles 
and William. Charles died when about thirtj^-six 
years old. James, of our sketch, was born at Phil- 
lipsport, Sullivan Co., N. Y., April 15, 1838, and 
remained a member of his father's household until 
twenty-six years old, assisting in the emplo.yments 
of the farm, and for two or three years worked on 
the Delaware & Hudson Canal. He was married, 
Sept. 7, 1865, to Miss Lucretia Crossman, a native 
of his own county, and a lady of fine education. 

Mr. Sears soon after his marriage purchased 100 
acres of partiall3' improved land in Sullivan County, 
N. Y., upon which he operated seven years. There 
was a blue stone quarry in the county, which prom- 
ised excellent results to any man who could work 
it understandingly, and of this Mr. Sears deter- 
mined to become the possessor. He accordingly 
sold his farm and invested a portion of his capital 
in the quarry, which he began working, and ship- 
ping the product thereof to the various cities East. 
The young State of Nebraska, however, seemed to 
offer better inducements than even the blue stone 
quarry, and accordingly, selling out once more he 
crossed the Mississippi, and a few weeks later- we 
find him settled on a farm in Otoe Precinct, Otoe 
County, this State, which he conducted until the 
spring of 1882, when he changed his residence to 
this county, purchasing the farm which he now 
occupies. 

All the improvements which we behold to-day 
arouud the Sears homestead were effected by the 
present proprietor. The fences are all of his build- 
ing and the forest and fruit trees of his own plant- 
ing. The land is finely watered by a branch of the 
Nemaha. In addition to his cattle and horses Mr. 
Sears is considerably interested in full-blooded Po- 
land-China swine. His farming operations are 
carried on in that systematic manner wiiich is cliar- 
acteristic of the man. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Sears there were born two daugh- 



-•►Hf 




""M,* 




Q—tyLfCO 



■'■'■ i.f 




:^f^^<^ 



•►Hf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1069 



^h 



ters and one son, namely: Bertha 'M., Olive L. and 
Elmer. Bertha is the wife of Joseph II. C'lapp, a well- 
to-do farmer of Tipton Preeinct, this county; the}' 
have two children, Leslie and an infant unnamed. 
The other daughter is at home with her parents, as 
is their son Elmer. Mr. and Mrs. Sears are mem- 
bers in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and Mr. S., politically, votes the straight 
Republican ticliet, as liave all the mole members 
of the family so far as he has any record of them. 
He takes satisfaction in the thought that he cast 
his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. 
He frequently has been sent as a delegate to the 
various State and County Conventions, has served 
on the Petit and Grand Juries, and is a man of de- 
cided views, whose opinions are generally re- 
spected, as they are the outgrowth of his honest 
convictions. 



=E>- 



WILLIAM H. PICKENS has for some years 
actively promoted the growth of Platts- 
moiith in his capacit}' of contractor and 
builder, lie ranking among the first in that business 
in Cass Count}'. He has been very successful in 
pursuit of his vocation since coming here, and 
has accumulated much property, from which he de- 
rives a good income. 

Mr. Pickens is a worthy descendant of an lionor- 
able ancestry, some of whose representatives have 
been prominent in the public life of this country. 
He is a native of Ireland, although of Scotch par- 
entage, and his birth took place in the city of Bel- 
fast. July 4. 1 848. His parents, Arthur and Ann 
(Clai-k) Pickens, were natives of Glasgow and Edin- 
burgh, Scotland, respectively. His paternal grand- 
father, Andrew Pickens, was born in Berivs County, 
Pa., as was also liis great-grandfather, Gen. An- 
drew Pickens. The latter took an active part in 
the American Revolution, and was one of tiie 
youngest and bravest of the Generals under Wash- 
ington. He distinguished himself in the battles of 
Cowpens, Eutaw Springs, Thickety Creek and Ft. 
Harrison. After the war he w.as elected to Congress 
from South Carolina, and served with distinction In 
that body. He was of French parentage, and 

^ 



went to the home of his fathers, loaded vvitli years 
and honors, to die. His wife was a sister of Sena- 
tor Carr, of South Carolina. Tlie grandfather of 
our subject grew to manhood and married in his 
native State, and then crossed the water to Scot- 
land and settled in Glasgow, where he worked at 
his trade of stonemason, and there died. His son 
Arthur, father of oursubject, was reared in his native 
city, and In his youth learned the trade of weaver. 
Some years after marriage he moved to Belfast, 
Ireland, where he operated a linen factory until his 
death in 18-19. His wife survived him but a few 
years, dying in Belfast in 1857. There were four 
children born of their marriage: Lucy married 
John Adams, and lives in Belfast; Margaret married 
R. C. Montgomery, and lives in Chicago; Joiin, 
who was an engineer, was killed In a collision in 
California in March, 1888. 

The other son, the subject of this notice, was 
one year old when he was deprived of a father's 
care, and was nine years old when the sad event of 
his motlier's death left him an orphan. In March, 
1858, he accompanied his brother and sister to this 
country, and as soon as he arrived went to live 
with Lyman Trumbull in Hyde Park, 111. He made 
his home with that gentleman until he was fifteen, 
and then commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, 
serving three years, and acquiring a thorough, 
practical knowledge of his work in all Its details, as 
he had a natur.al aptitude for handling tools. He 
subsequently did journeywork for a year, and 
then established himself as a contractor and builder, 
with one sliop in Chicago and another In Hyde 
Park. He continued In business In those places 
until November, 1873, and on the thirteenth day of 
that month he enlisted for five years as a soldier in 
the regular army, becoming a member of Compan}' 
E, 5th United States Cavalry. He thus had an 
opportunity to see the greater part of our western 
territory, and became quite familiar with the great 
plains, from British America on the north to the 
Gulf of Mexico on the south, and from the Missis- 
sippi on the east to the Rocky Mountains on the 
west, as he was at different times statlone<l in Ari- 
zona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, 
Wyoming. Montana, Dakota, Utah, Nevada and 
Texas; and he also s.iw soraetliliig of the Pacific 



■•►Ht 



•►Hl^^ 



t 



1070 



CASS COUNTY. 



tAi 



Coast, as he was at one timestationefl in California. 
He met with many stirring adventures, and one 
listens to him with pleasure as he recounts tales of 
his soldier life. He was with Gen. Crook in Da- 
kota at tiie time of the terrible Custer massacre, 
and ills regiment was at the same time under orders 
from Gen. Slieridan to march for the place where 
tlie massacre occurred, at the junction of the Big 
Horn and Little Big Horn Rivers. While they were 
cncamiied on Rosebud Creek the only survivor of 
Custer's command came into camp and announced 
the direful fate that had befallen the beloved and 
gallant commander and his men. Two days later 
our subject and his comrades were on the battle- 
field, where they took up the Indian trail to Yellow- 
stone River. While on that expedition thesoldiei'S 
had lived fourteen da3's on horse meat, without any 
salt for savor. In 1874 Mr. Pickens took part in 
the battle of Tonto Creek, Ariz., and after the battle 
was promoted to the rank of Corporal by order of 
Gen. Crook, for personal merit and braver3' in 
action. In 1877 he was on the Wind River expe- 
dition, under Gen. Wesley Merritt, and in the 
month of July he received promotion to the office 
of Sergeant, an<l also served as Quartermaster-Ser- 
geant and Sergeant-Major. AVhile in the army he 
was with his regiment in all of its marches and en- 
gagements, and took part in more than fifty en- 
counters with the Indians. At the expiration of his 
term of service he was discharged at Ft. McKenney, 
Wyo., and returned to Chicago in November of 
the same year. The December following found 
him in Omaha, and in July, 1879, he came to 
Plattsmouth from tliat cit}% and at once established 
himself in his business as contractor and builder. 
In 1879 he bought a lot in a desirable residence 
portion of the city, and in 1881 erected the neat 
and commodious dwelling in which he and his 
family make their home. In 1883 he bought more 
land, and built another house, and since tlien has 
erected three other residences in Vallery's Addition. 
He now owns five houses, several vacant lots, and 
ten acres of improved land with buildings, joining 
the city. 

Mr. Pickens was married, Oct. 12, 1880, to Miss 
Emma A. DeSpain, and their pleasant home is 
gladdened by the presence of two children — William 



Edward and Janetta. Their son Arthur John died 
at the age of six months. Mrs. Pickens was born 
in McDonough County, 111., a daughter of AVilliam 
J. DeSpain, who was born in Green Count}', Ky., 
March 19, 1812. His father, Peter DeSpain, whose 
birthplace is unknown, was of French ancestry. He 
was a Revolutionary soldier, serving under Wash- 
ington, and after the war he settled in Kentuck}', 
and was a pioneer of Green County, where he 
cleared a farm from the wilderness, and there his 
days were lengthened out far beyond Scriptural 
limits, one hundred years having passed before his 
vigorous constitution yielded to death. Mrs. Pick- 
ens' father grew to manhood in his native count}', 
and there learned the trade of carriage and wagon 
maker. He went to Illinois when a young man. 
and located near Decatur, where he plied his trade. 
Later he was a resident of Sangamon and McDon- 
ough Counties. In 1855 he moved to Schuyler 
County, Mo., and buying a tractof wild land there, 
devoted most of his time to its improvement, liv- 
ing there until 1860. He next made his home 
in Iowa for four years, and then became identifie<l 
with the business interests of Plattsmouth, erecting 
a shop here and following his trade for awhile. He 
was elected Police Judge in 1876, and was re- 
elected in 1877, dying while still an incumbent of 
that office, Dec. 22, 1877, being the date of his 
death. He was an incorruptible Judge, and his 
sterling worth made him an invaluable citizen, 
whose death was a severe blow to the communit}'. 
The maiden name of William DeSjiain's wife was 
Janetta Eaton, and she was born in Woodford 
County, Ky., Oct. 31, 1815. Her father, George 
H. Eaton, was born in the same count}', and his 
father, Joseph Eaton, was a descendant of one of 
three brothers who came from England in the " May- 
flower." He was one of the first settlers of Wood- 
ford County, Ky., where he improved a farm and 
spent his last years, dying at the age of eighty- 
seven years. The grandfather of Mrs. Pickens was 
reared and married in Kentucky, and in 1830 
moved with a team to Illinois, and bewime a pioneer 
of Macon County. He settled five miles from De- 
catur, and three years later his death occurred in 
his new home. The maiden name of his wife was 
Mary Shannon, and she was a Pennsylvanian by 



^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



birth. Mer father, Jose|)h Shannon, was a Euro- 
pean, wlio, coming to America, settled in Penns^'l- 
vania, and during the war of the Revolution served 
in the Continental Army as teamster. He subse- 
quently became a pioneer of Woodford County, 
Ky., and there died. Mrs. Pickens' mother was 
left a widow with ten children by the premature 
death of her husband, but she bravely toiled for 
their sakes, and kept them together until they 
were grown and able to care for themselves. She 
passed her last years peacefully in the homes of her 
children in Sangamon County. There were ten 
ciiildren born to Mrs. Pickens' parents, all of whom 
grew to maturity, namely: Augustus S., Mary F., 
Oscar U., Columbus, Amanda, Eliza, Albert, Emma, 
Nettie and Belle. Oscar served in the late war as 
a member of a Missouri regiment. 

Mr. Pickens is a man of calm, clear intelligence, 
just and generous in his treatment of others, an<i 
his force and stability of character commend him 
to those with whom he associates as one to be re- 
lied upon in any and all cases. A fine portrait of 
Mr. Pickens is given on an accompanying page. 

--fo - ^ I' ^g -- 

Jj SAAC N. WOLF, Assessor of Greenwood Pre- 
l| cinct, is also numbered among its steady-going 
ll and well-to-do farmers, and represents a good 
property lying on sections 34, 11 and 9. A man 
beginning life at the foot of the ladder, he has 
made a good record, struggling amid the difficulties 
which fall to the common lot of man, and better 
than all, has gained the esteem and confidence of 
his fellow-citizens. His snug home is suggestive 
of peace and comfort, without any pretensions to 
elegance, and it is quite possible that the inmates 
enjoy life's blessings in as large a degree as many 
others who are possessed of a greater amount of land 
and gold. Aside from his present office, Mr. 
Wolf has been quite prominent in public affairs, 
and is a man enjoying in a marked degree the 
good-will of those around him. 

Mr. Wolf comes from excellent Pennsylvania 
stock, his parents, Martin and Elizabeth (Clouse) 
Wolf, being natives of the Keystone State. They 
removed, before their marriage, to Ashland County, 



Ohio, settling in Lake Township on a farm, where 
the subject of this sketch was born Aug. 7, 1839. 
Martin Wolf was a carpenter by trade, but was 
also fond of farming pursuits, which he followed 
almost exclusively the latter part of his life. From 
Ohio the family finally removed, in 1855, to Indi- 
ana, and thence a few years later they came to 
Nebraska, where the death of the father took place 
in Greenwood Precinct, in March, 1877, when he was 
seventy-five years old. The mother is still living, 
and makes her home with her daughter, Mary S. 
Wolf, in Greenwood Precinct. She is now aged 
eightj- -three, one of the oldest ladies in the place. 
The parental household included nine children, all 
of whom are living, making their homes mostly in 
Nebraska. The}' are named respectively: George 
W., Jacob, John C, Elizabeth, ]\Iartin V., Isaac 
N. (our subject), Mary S., William S. and Eliza, 
deceased. 

Mr. Wolf accompanied his parents in their re- 
moval to Indiana and Nebraska, and in Michigan 
made the acquaintance of Miss Margaret Ann 
Clouse, to whom he was married in Dover Township, 
Lenawee Co., Mich. Mrs. Wolf is the daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Barbara (Wolford) Clouse, who 
were natives respectively of New Jersey and Ohio. 
In the latter State Mrs. Wolf lived until a girl of 
twenty-one years of age, then removed with her 
parents to Michigan. Mr. Clouse was considerable 
of a traveler, delighting in going from one place to 
another and learning what he could of different 
sections of the country. The family were after- 
ward residents of Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. 
Mr. C. died at the home of our subject, in this 
State, Dec. 20, 1884, when eighty-two years old. 
The motherhad died some years before, aged forty- 
five. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wolf lived 
for a time at Clayton, Mich., where Jlr. W. was 
in the employ of the Michigan Southern Railroad 
Company a period of three years. In the spring 
of 1869 he came to this county and homesteaded 
eighty acres of land in Greenwood Precinct. 
Their first dwelling was a box house, in which they 
lived in a style similar to the people around them 
until they could do better. The plodding indus- 
try of Mr. Wolf in time resulted in the cultivation 



•► 




•p-if^ 



l » ~1l •<• 



1072 



CASS COUNTY. 






of the greater part of his land, of which l;e still 
retains possession. He has heen a man more than 
ordinaril}' public-spirited and liberal, uniformly 
willing to assist by the best means in his power 
the projects calculated for the good of the com- 
munity around him. He is a stanch Eepublican, 
politicallj^ and is serving his third term as 
Assessor. In 1880 he was the Census Taker of 
Greenwood Precinct, and has frequently served on 
the Petit Jury. He has been active in the coun- 
cils of his party in this section of the county, and 
frequently been sent as a delegate to its various 
conventions. Upon the organization of his school 
district he was chosen a Director, serving as such 
many 3'ears. He organized the second school in 
his precinct. In religious matters, both he and 
his estimable wife belong to the Free-Will Baptist 
Church. They have two children only, iMary E. 
and Nancj' L., who continue under the heme roof. 



'\f OHN M. LLOYD is a practical farmer and 
stock-raiser of Liberty Precinct, and he is 
successful}}- engaged in agricultural pursuits 
J on a fine farm of 160 acres on section 34. 
It is well located and has on it an elegant residence, 
very commodious and comfortable, beautifully situ- 
ated on a knoll overlooking a fine scope of country. 

Our subject is a native of Lycoming County, 
Pa., his birtli having occurred March 8, 1857. His 
father, P^dvv.ird Lloyd, was a native and lifelong 
resident of the same State, his death occurring 
when our sul)ject was a boy eleven years old. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Mont- 
gomery, is still living, and is a very intelligent, 
thoughtful woman of less than threescore j-ears. 

J. M. and his twin brother, Harrison W., a 
farmer in Liberty Piecinet, are the youngest but 
one of the members of the family. His brother is 
a married man, having taken as a wife Risa Bing- 
ham, of Pennsylvani.T,. He of whom we write was 
carefully reared b}' his mother, and was partly edu- 
cated in his native Stale. He was a self-reliant 
lad, of more than ordinary' push and intelligence, 
and when fifteen years of age came to Nebraska, 
making his home in Otoe County the first year. 



He was in the employ of the Government as a star 
route agent between Nebraska City and Ashland, 
Neb. He was later engaged as a cattle herder for 
some time, and finally took up his home in Liberty. 
He was subsequently married in Liberty Precinct 
at the home of his bride, Mrs. Maria R. Compton, 
nee Reed. She was born in Fountain County, Ind., 
Nov. 7, 1846, being a daughter of Hiram and 
Sarah A. (Lyon) Reed. Her father is now deceased, 
having died at Covington, Fountain Co., Ind.. in 
December, 1883, at the age of sixtj'-four. Mrs. 
Reed is yet residing in Covington, and, although 
sixty-nine years old, is still hale and hearty. Hiram 
Reed was a native of Pennsylvania, and came of a 
good old Pennsylvanian family. He was a farmer, 
and when a young man went to Indiana to pursue 
his calling, and he was there married, his wife com- 
ing from Ohio, her native State. Mrs. Lloyd, of 
this notice, was reared in Fountain County, and re- 
ceived an excellent education, which well fitted her 
for the vocation of teacher, which she followed 
with success a short time before her marriage, in 
her native count}", to John Compton, also a native 
of Fountain County, he having been born near 
Hillsboro in July, 1846. He was a son of Terry 
and Mar}' Compton, who are still living in Foun- 
tain County in the enjoyment of a serene old age, 
having retired from active life as farmers. Imme- 
diatel}' after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Compton made 
a trip to this State and settled on llie farm in Lib- 
erty Precinct, Mr. Compton having previously ob- 
tained it some years before. It was the 3'ear 187.5 
that they settled in their new home and began life 
as farmers with every prospect of future success. 
But two years later death invaded the little home 
and removed the husband. His marriage had been 
blessed to him and his wife bj' the birth of one 
child. Lulu, who died some months after her father's 
death. 

Since Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd were married, Nov. 
17, 1878, they have spent three years in Fountain 
County, Ind. After their return to this State they 
settled on the farm which had belonged to her first 
husband. Since it has come under our subject's 
management, by a judicious expenditure of money 
and labor he lias made extensive improvements, 
and has <;reallv increased the value of the estate. 



-!^iU 



•►HF^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1073 



which may now justly be ranked ainoiig the model 
farms t>f Cass County. 

Of the happ}' marriage of oui- subject and liis 
wife live children have been borii, as follows: 
Hiram Reed, Henry L., Elizabeth M., John M. 
and Grace. 

Mr. Lloyd is a young man of high standing in 
the farming communit}' of Cass Count3', his enter- 
prise, independence and capacity for work making 
him a valued citizen. He is a close and intelligent 
observer of the political aspects of the day, and 
gives his hearty support to the Republican party. 



«l IfclLLIAM A. JOHNSON is a popular, highly 
i\\ , /// respected citizen, residing in Salt Creek 



W 



Precinct, where he owns and operates a 
valuable farm of 400 acres on section 15. He is 
the son of Abraham and Nancy (Carney) Johnson. 
Both of his parents were natives of New York 
State. His father was a laboring man, and leaving 
his native State he moved westward and settled in 
Ohio, where he lived a consistent life, displaying a 
marked individuality and morality. He died in 
187G, seventy -seven years old. The Carneys were 
among the celebrated Knickerbocker families of 
New York, so graphically described by the famed 
author, Washington Irving. The mother died at 
their home in Ohio in October, 1868, aged fifty 
years, leaving a family of six children, named: 
Margaret A., Mary, William A. (our subject), 
Georgiana, Eliza J. and Cornelius. After the death 
of the mother, the father contracted a second mar- 
riage, and was the father of one child, Sadie. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Tompkins 
County, N. Y., in 1841. His earliest recollections 
of life extend back to the journey westward to 
Ohio, during which his father had a violent quarrel 
with a dishonest boatman. Their home was in the 
heavily timbered district of Ohio, and at an early 
age he was taught to swing an ax. At the age of 
fourteen our subject made his father an oflfer as fol- 
lows: That if he would give him his time until he 
was twenty-one, he would give the father in return 
one-half of his earnings, to which the parent con- 
sented. He then worked out on a farm by the 



month for six years. He did not attend school six 
months altogether in his life, and the great store of 
practical knowledge which the gentleman possesses 
at this time is the direct result of the study and 
close observation of events as they transpired about 
him. 

Our subject enlisted as a soldier in Company II, 
80th Ohio Infantry. He accompanied his regiment 
to the seat of war in the South, and participated 
with them in many skirmishes and engagements. In 
looking over a list of the battles in which he took 
part, the names are found of Farmington, Ky. ; 
Corinth, where, in 1862, he received a wound in 
the knee; Colil water. Holly Springs, Tallahatchie, 
Memphis, Helena, siege of Vicksburg, Raymond 
and Jackson. In the latter engagement he was se- 
verely wounded in the left side. Here the rebels 
came up and captured him. One of them tapped 
him on his shoulder and said: •• What do you think 
of Vallandigham.^ He is in our lines now, and is 
going to be Governor of the State of Ohio." He 
thought that if such feelings and sentiments were 
expressed by the rebels, he could no longer be a 
Democrat, and it was at Jackson, Miss., that he was 
converted to the Republican faith, which he has to 
this time steadfastly maintained. 

Our subject pursued the following line of reason- 
ing: Here is a man who has been tried for treason, 
given every advantage and technicality under the 
law of the land he has sought to betray, has been 
found guilty, and banished to the side that held his 
sympathy, yet in the face of all this he was taken 
up by the Democratic party, and put forward as 
one of its principal leaders. I can never swallow 
that dose, and reclining backward, the wound that 
was made by the rebel sharpshooter allowed the es- 
cape of the last drop of Democratic blood in his 
organism. From this battle-field he was taken to 
Libby Prison, where he remained until he was 
paroled, and he was finally exchanged at Columbus, 
Ohio, in October, 1863. He then rejoined his regi- 
ment at Stevenson, Ala., and took part in the 
battles of Mission Ridge and Huntsvdle. Ala. At 
Paint Rock River his right leg was broken while 
assisting in building a stockade. He was sent to 
the hospital at Chattanooga. Tenn., where he was 
examined, and then sent back toKnoxville marked 



• > II <• 



^¥^\- 



•►^H 



1074 



CASS COUNTY. 



"ir 



" rliscbargerl," and sent to the Louisville Hospital, 
thence to New Albany, Ind., from where he went 
to the solfliei-'s home at Indianapolis. Desiring to 
obtain a furlough he applied to Gov. Morton, of 
Indiana, who at all times and in all things was the 
soldiers' friend, and he procured it for him. 

At the expiration of the furlough our subject 
was appointed on the Secret Police by Gov. Mor- 
ton, and rendered the State valuable service in that 
capacity, assisting in the detection and capture of 
several desperate characters, who were opposed to 
the Union cause. He was instrumental in ridding 
tlie city of Indianapolis of the notorious " Knights 
of the Golden Circle." From his earliest boyhood 
days he was a true patriot, an<l his heart was im- 
bued with an intense love of his country. While 
a young man he was called upon to climb to the 
top of a liberty pole in West Bedford, Ohio, to ar- 
range the rope for hoisting a flag. His father was 
strenuously opposed to his enlistment in the service, 
as he was a Democrat of the old school. After his 
enlistment members of the Democratic party tried 
to bribe him "to desert and fly to Canada, but his 
honor as a man and a soldier would not permit 
him to so disgrace himself. He is now proud of 
the record he made in the army, and of the assist- 
ance he gave his country in her time of need, and 
he is certainly justified in all he feels. 

While at home on his furlough our subject was 
married to Miss Rachel Loder, July 7, 1663. This 
lady is the daughter of James and Ann (Polick) 
Loder. She was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, 
where they made their home for the six years fol- 
lowing the close of the war, when he removed to 
Hancock County, III., where he resided on a farm 
until 1881, when he moved to Nebraska and pur- 
chased eighty acres of land. He was prospered, 
and has at various times added to his original pur- 
chase, until he now owns 400 acres of choice, 
eligibly- located farm land, which he devotes largely 
to raising cattle and hogs for the general market. 
He has now 280 head of cattle and 140 head of 
hogs. The buildings on his farm are of the most 
substantial and extensive character, conveniently 
located, and complete in all their appointments for 
the purposes for which they were designed. The 
farm is divided into fields of convenient size by 



substantial hedge and wire fences; an orchard of 
choice varieties of fruit and a large number of 
ornamental trees add to the beauty and value of 
his property. His home is nicely located, is neatly 
and tastefully arranged, and well furnished through- 
out, and his wife takes especial pride in maintain- 
ing lier home as one of the nicest of the many in 
the precinct. The^- have become the parents of 
nine children, of whom the following are living: 
John Thomas. Kichard, James, Louis and Minnie. 
Mr. Johnson has been an active member of the 
Jlethodist Episcopal Church since he was fifteen 
j-ears of age. He has been Superintendent of the 
Union Sunday-school in Salt Creek Precinct, Neb. 
He is a member of Greenwood Post, G. A. II., and 
also holds a membership in the Odd Fellows' Lodge 
at Ashland, and is a leading member of the Knights 
of Pythias. In politics he is now and forever a 
Republican. He is a progressive, wide-awake citi- 
zen, a hard worker, popular among his fellowmen, 
deserving and holding the respect of all who know 
him. He is an earnest and hearty supporter of 
every plan devised to further the best interests of 
the community in which he lives. 



'J OHN KRAEGER is one of those earnest, 
hard-working German- American citizens 
who have contributed so largely by their 
perseverance and skill to make the State of 
Nebraska the fruitful garden it is to-day. He resides 
on his fine farm of 320 acres located on section 2 
of Mt. Pleasant Precinct. He is a native of Hesse- 
Darmstadt, Germany, where he was born April 5, 
1864. There he lived with his parents, John and 
Eve Kraeger, attending school until he reached the 
age of fifteen j'ears, when he began learning the 
trade of stonemason, which trade be followed for 
six years. His life from that time to the present 
has been passed in farming. In the fall of 1864 he 
took passage for America in a sailing-vessel from 
the port of Bremen, and after a voyage of thirty- 
one days landed at New York City. 

After he had reached that city our subject went 
direct to Tazewell County, 111., where he lived until 
1878, in which year became to Cass County, Neb., 



!tJU 



•►HI-4*- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1075 4 



where he has since lived. He was married to Sophia 
Orth, Nov. 15, 1870, in Illinois. The lad.y was 
born in Germany, June 1 6, 1848, and is the daugh- 
ter of Peter and Elizabeth Orth. She came to 
America with her parents when she was five years 
old, and settled with them in Canada, where the 
parents still reside. In 1867 she came alone to 
Illinois. They have become the parents of nine 
children: Elizabeth was born Aug. 27, 1871; 
George, Jan. 12, 187.3; Adam, June 8, 1875; Johui 
Jan. 9, 1877; Annie, ,Ian. 9, 1879; Louisa, Nov. 8, 
1882; Jacob, Dec. 28. 1884; Mary, Nov. 6, 188G, 
and Henry, in 1887. 

Mr. Kraeger emigrated with his family to Cass 
County, Neb., in the spring of 1878, and settled on 
the farm where he now lives, to the improvement 
of which he has from that time to the present de- 
voted his every energy. His buildings, provided 
for general farm purposes, barns, sheds, etc., are 
among the best in the precinct; his residence is 
large and tastefully designed and handsomely 
furnished. The grounds about the house are orna- 
mented witli evergreens and shrubbery. A thriv- 
ing orchard of choice varieties of fruits, and both 
natural and planted groves, add value to the 
premises. 

When our subject arrived in America he had no 
means with which to help himself. He contracted 
a debt of $20 to tide him over his necessities until 
he could settle down to work at something. He is 
truly a self-made man, and in gathering the fine 
property together which now surrounds him, he 
has shown an immense amount of energy and 
.perseverance. In all things he has been ably assisted 
by his wife, who has at no time ever hesitated to 
assume any responsibility or enter upon the dis- 
charge of any duty, however hard or unpleasant it 
might be, th.at would forward the interests and wel- 
fare of husband and familj-, and now having at- 
tained the fulfillment of their hopes and desires, 
they are enjoying a full competency, which they 
have striven so long and hard to reacli, and have 
been so richly rewarded. 

The friends and neighbors of the subject of this 
sketch have frequently solicited him to accept of- 
ficial positions at their hands, which he has invari- 
ably refused, except the office of Seliool Director, 



in which position he felt that he could accomplish 
the greatest amount of good, and the duties of which 
office he has filled in a highly acceptable manner. 
Himself and wife are valued and honored members 
of the Lutheran Church. He is a Republican in 
politics, and is an earnest worker in behalf of that 
party. He is one of the leaders in the social life of 
the precinct. 

— -^^m- — 

^^M SA COLMAN, of Liberty Precinct, has been 
^^^Jji one of its solid institutions for many years, 
I it and occupies his father's old homestead, 
^ wliich comprises 220 acres of valuable land, 

pleasantly located on section 6. The elder Colman 
homesteaded this during the pioneer days of this 
county, and was numbered among its most valued 
citizens. The modern improvements, however, 
have been effected mostly by the present occupant. 
A stream of living water runs through the farm, 
adding greatly to its natural fertility, and aiding in 
producing some of the finest crops in Southern Ne- 
braska. 

Mr. Colman has been a resident of this county 
since November, 1858, having come here at that 
time with his father's family vvlien a j-oiith of nine- 
teen years. He has since also continuously resided 
in Liberty Precinct on the old farm. He was born 
in Noble County, Ind., Oct. 10, 1839, and is the 
son of Hartwell and Elizabeth (Engle) Colman, 
who were natives respectively of New York and 
Ohio. Both the parents became residents of Noble 
County, Ind., in their youth; they were married in 
Ohio, and began life together on a farm in Noble 
County. Both the maternal and paternal grand- 
parents of our subject were among the pioneer set- 
tlers of Noble County. The brothers and sisters of 
our subject were mostly born in that county. The 
family in the fall of 1851, leaving Indiana, moved 
across the Mississippi into Jones County, Iowa, 
settling on a tract of new land. The father effected 
considerable improvement, with the aid of his sons, 
then sold out once more and resolved to cast his 
lot with the pioneers of Nebraska. Coming to this 
county he selected land on section 6, Liberty Pre- 
cinct, which lie took up from the Government, and 
here with his estimable wife spent the remainder of 



>► 1 1 <•• 



?^»- 



*► 11 <• 



1076 



*4r* 



CA.SS COUNTY. 



liis (lays. lie nas horn in 1800, and died in De- 
cember, 18C4, being sixty-four 3'eais of age. The 
wife and mother continued to live a few jears at 
the homestead here, but finally returned to Indiana, 
and spent her last da3S at the home of licr daugh- 
ter in Tippecanoe County, where her death .took 
place about 1878, after s-iie had reached her three- 
score years. She was a good woman, and a member 
of the Methodist Church. 

The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood and 
youth upon the pioneer farm in Noble County', Ind., 
and accompanied his parents in their subsequent 
removals, first to Iowa and then to Nebraska. In 
due time he made the acquaintance of Miss Eliza 
Copple, of Itock iJluff Precinct, to whom he was 
married at her home there in January, 18C5. Mrs. 
Colman was born in Barry County, Mo., Sept. 10, 
184i), and came with her parents to Nebraska dur- 
ing the progress of the Civil War. Thej' settled 
fiist in Rock Bluff Precinct, but later sold out and 
moved to Weeping Water, where the parents are 
now living, retired from active labor. 

Mrs. Colman was reared under the home roof, 
and educated in the com m(jn schools. Of her mar- 
riage with our subject there were five children, as 
follows: Ida M. is the wife of Oliver Murdoch, and 
they live on a farm in Gosper County; Delmer S., 
Varrow H., Grace E. and Ray are at home with 
their parents. Mrs. Colman adheres to the relig- 
ious faith of her excellent mother, being a member 
of the Methodist Church. Mr. Colman, politically, 
is a sounil Republican. 



^ RS. LOUISA MATHEWS, an accom- 
plished, intelligeut, self-reliant woman, of 
* rare executive abilit}-. is the owner of 240 
acres of land on section 30, Stove Creek 
Precinct, where she has resided for a score of j'ears, 
and which she has managed with unusual skill since 
the death of her husband, showing excellent judg- 
ment in all her business transactions, and a thor- 
ough knowledge of the duties devolving upon her. 
She was born in Freedom, Beaver Co., Pa., Nov. 
10, 1841, and is of mingled Scotch and German 
descent, her paternal grandfather, William Graham, 



who was a farmer of Penns}lvania, having been of 
Scotch origin, though a native of the Keystone 
State. He was a strong Presb3'terian, and adhered 
tenaciously to the faith of that church. His son 
Joseph, father of Mrs. ]\Iathews, w-as born in Butler 
County, Pa., where he married Henrietta Ghost, a 
native of the same county. Her father, the ma- 
ternal grandfather of our subject, was born in 
German}-, but emigrated to America and settled on 
a Pennsylvania farm. Mrs. Mathews' father was a 
gunmaker by trade, and erected a gun factory in 
Freedom, Pa., and carried on his business there on 
a small scale. In 18.55 he sold his factory and 
moved to Iowa, becoming one of the pioneers of 
Scott County. He located twenty miles east of 
Davenport, taking up 160 acres of land, which he 
improved, and to which he has since added by pur- 
chase, until he now has one of the largest farms in 
Scott Count}-, where he still resides at the advanced 
age of seventy-three years. His wife died in 1849, 
at the early age of thirty-five jears. They were 
the parents of three children, namely: Louisa; 
Catherine, of Moline, 111., and Susan, deceased. 

Our subject received a good education in her 
native town, remaining there until fourteen j-ears 
of age, when she removed with her father to Iowa, 
and remained under the parental roof until her 
marriage, Sept. 1, 1862, to Mr. J. M. Mathews. 
He was born in Washington County, Ohio, Aug. 8, 
1833, and was a son of William and Mary Ann 
Mathews, early settlers of Ohio, born in 1808 and 
Ma}- 2, 1812, respectively. His father was a stone- 
cutter by trade, and also carried on a small farm, 
continuing thus employed until his death, Dec. 12, 
1863, at the age of fifty-five years. His mother is 
still living in Ohio. Of the children born to them 
two are still living, Charles W. and Alpha C, both 
in Ohio. J. M. Mathews, hu.sband of our subject, 
was a diligent scholar, who, improving every op- 
portunity for study, acquired a very good educa- 
tion in early life. When fourteen years of age he 
was put in sole charge of the farm, his father hav- 
ing work at his trade, and he remained thus en- 
gaged for four years. In 1851 he went to Scott 
County, Iowa, and worked on n farm until the time 
of his marriage with our subject. Two weeks later, 
filled with patriotic enthusiasm, and inspired by 



•►Ht^ 



»^t- 



»► I I < • 



•«»• 



CASS COUNTY. 



1077 



the loyal courage of his bride, he enlisted in the 
defense of his country in the 20th Iowa Infantry, 
and was mustered into service at Clinton. In the 
fall of that year he was sent into Missouri, and 
afterward took an active part in the battle of Prairie 
Grove, Ark., where he was shot in the breast, the 
ball coming out below his arm, and was obliged to 
spend the winter in the hospital, not being able to 
join his regiment again until the following March. 
Mrs. Mathews was sick at the time and was unable 
to care for him. He afterward participated in the 
siege of Yicksburg and the battle of New Orleans, 
subsequently joining Farragiit's expedition to Mo- 
bile and Ft. Fisher, and at the close of the war was 
mustered out of the service at Clinton, Iowa, re- 
ceiving an honorable discharge in July, 186.5, hav- 
ing served two years and eleven months. After 
resuming his duties as a private citizen Mr. 
Mathews rented land for three years, and in the 
fall of 1868 he removed with his family to Cass 
County, Neb., and located on the present home- 
stead owned by his widow, taking up onlj- eighty 
acres at first. The laud was entirely uncultivated, 
and he set out trees, planted an orchard, and put 
up a dwelling, 15x12 feet, at a cost of §200, the 
lumber for which he hauled from Nebraska City. 
He met with the usual luck of settlers in a new 
country, suffering at times from the wind or drouth, 
and during the grasshopper raid met with severe 
losses. Bj^ his energetic labors and perseverance, 
coupled with wisdom and thrift in management, 
he succeeded in evolving a line farm from the raw 
prairie land, to which he afterward added 160 
acres on section 31, which he bought of the Bur- 
lington & Missouri River Railroad Company. The 
farm is all improved, and surrounded by hedge or 
wire fence, and has a 10-acre orchard containing 
600 trees of various kinds. It is all well watered, 
has a windmill, tanks, and various other improve- 
ments. The original house has given way to one 
of a more modern construction, and new barns and 
out-buildings have been erected. In all of these 
improvements Mr. Mathews took great pride, and 
since his death, which occurred Feb. 10, 1886, our 
subject has paid equall}- good attention to its man- 
agement. In politics he was a good, honest Repub- 
lican, firmly adhering to the principles of that 

4 * 



party. He was a member of the United Brethren 
Church. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Mathews was 
blessed by the birth of eight children, namely: 
Charles W.; EUaB., wife of A. B. Lewton; Amelia 
M., wife of George "Whisleman, of Stove Creek 
Precinct; Rosa E., Laura B., George AV., Mamie 
A. and Jessie. 

Our subject, though still living on her farm, 
expects soon to retire from active life and locate in 
the beautiful residence that she has built in Elm- 
wood. She is a large-hearted woman, of genuine 
refinement, noted for her courteous and hospitable 
manners, and her love of the beautiful is indicated 
by her surroundings. She is a kind neighbor, sin- 
cere friend, and true Christian, exemplifj'ing in her 
dail}^ walk the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which she is a member. 

Mr. Mathews' uncle, Daniel iMathews, was a min- 
ister of the ]Methodist Episcopal Church for many 
3'ears, and was the first white child born in Wash- 
ington Count3% Ohio. 



OBERT McGILL, a pre-emptorof 1857, and 
a resident of Avoca Precinct for a period 
of thirty-one years, is now living with his 
*^son-in-law, William Case, on section 2, 
where thej' own together 160 acres of land. This 
constitutes one of the finest farms in this part of 
the county, with excellent improvements, more than 
ordinarily good farm buildings, and a fair assort- 
ment of live stock. The farm is watered by a liv- 
ing stream from Spring Creek, and yields to its 
owners annually a handsome income. 

County Down, Ireland, was the native place of 
our subject, and he was born May 24, 1819. He 
has consequently attained nearlj- his threescore years 
and ten. The family Is of Scotch ancestry', being 
among those who fled from their native land to the 
North of Ireland during the religious wars. His 
grandparents on both sides of the house were of 
pure Scotch blood. His father, Robert McGill, Sr., 
a well-to-do farmer of County' Down, married Miss 
Mary McKnight, spent his entire life In his native 
Ireland, and attained to the advanced age of over 
elghtj' years. He was a lifelong Presbyterian, and 



f 



i k 1078 



CASS COUNTY. 



had been a prominent man in liis coinmiinitj', oc- 
cup3'ing many positions of trust and responsibility. 

The mother of our subject, after the death of her 
husband, came to America with her son Robert, in 
1848. and died in Akron, Summit Co., Ohio, when 
over seventy years of age. Robert, Jr., attained to 
his majority in his native county, learning the trade 
of weaver, an industry which was very generally 
prosecuted iu that region. He was married there 
to Miss Isabelle Young, who was also born and 
reared in County Dovvn, and was of Irish ancestry. 
Mr. McGill preceded his wife and little daughter to 
America, they joining him in Summit County, Ohio, 
in 1849, when little Mary was four years old. Mr. 
McGill upon coming to the United States secured em- 
ployment in a stove foundry at Akron, Ohio, wliere 
he continued until coming to the farther West, in tlie 
spring of 18.o7. In the meantime Mrs. Isabelle 
McGill, his wife, had died in Akron, Ohio, about 
1854. Our subject was thus left with two young 
children, one of whom he took care of as best he 
could, and the other was taken into the home of a 
Mr. Walton, of Tallmadge Centre, Summit Co., 
Ohio, who gave her a college education. She was 
treated as their own child, and is now the wife of a 
gentleman formerly living in Summit County, but 
now a successful nursery-man of Washington Ter- 
ritory. 

Miss Mary McGill remained with her father until 
her marriage with William Case, a native of Ohio, 
who later removed to Iowa, and finall}' to Nebraska 
with his father, Augustus Case, one of the earliest 
settlers of Rock Bluff Precinct, this county. Here 
William Case was reared to manhood, and is now 
the owner of eighty acres of land adjoining that of 
his father-in-law, our subject, which they have con- 
structed into one farm, and which they operate with 
a mutual interest. Mr. Case is securing by home- 
stead claim IfiO acres in Lincoln County, he having 
been a soldier of the Union Army during the late 
war, belonging to the 1st Nebraska Cavalry. He 
was in several skirmishes with the Indians, and upon 
one occasion seriously injured bj' the falling of the 
horse upon him, and in consequence was confined 
in the hospital at Cottonwood Springs for some 
time. Both Mr. McGill and his son-in-law are 
stanch Republicans, politically, and Mr. Case is a 



gentleman highly esteemed in his community, hold- 
ing some of the local ofHces, and otherwise identi- 
fied with its interests. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Case there have been born eight 
children, one of whom, a son, Bertie, died when a 
little over three years of age. Those surviving form 
a most interesting and intelligent group. The eld- 
est daughter, Bessie, is an interesting young lady 
of twenty years; Robert is a promising youth of 
eighteen; Leora is aged sixteen; Fannie thirteen; 
Guy ten; Roy seven, and the baby, Maude. 



"S^ZRA MURPHY has one of tlie finest stock 
fe) farms in Cass County, which he is mauag- 
(X=^ ing with great skill and with satisfactory 
pecuniary results. It has a very fortunate loca- 
tion on section 7 of the fractional part of Liberty 
Precinct, and embraces 2 40 acres of land especially 
adapted to stock purposes, as it has good living 
water on two " eighties" and has excellent facilities 
for pasturage; and it is also well fitted for other 
purposes, Mr. Murphy also paying considerable 
attention to other branches of agriculture besides 
stock feeding. 

Our subject is descended from one of the old 
pioneer families of Indiana, and is a native of that 
State, having been born in Madison Township, 
W^ashington County, Jul^' 1, 1852. His father, 
George Murphy, likewise a native of the Hoosier 
State, was born, reared and married in Washington 
County. He was the sou of David Murph}-, who 
was born and reared in Virginia. He was married 
in his native State to Mary Hintou, and in the vigor 
of earl}' life they sought a home in the wilds of 
Indiana during Territorial days, going there about 
1812, and as pioneers doing their share in develop- 
ing it and promoting its growth. They settled in 
Washington County, and there spent the remainder 
of their wedded life, rounding it out to a lengthy 
period, both dying well advanced in years. They 
were typical pioneers, of hardy, resolute natures, 
with strong powers of endurance, and capable of 
any sacrifice that thej^ might build up a comfort- 
able home for their children, and they were also 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1079 



4 



true Christians. The father of our subject married 
Eliza Rutherford, a daughter of H. H. Rutherford, 
wlio had settled in Washington Count3' with his 
parents in a very early day, having come from 
North Carolina. He married Catherine Clawham- 
mer, also a native of Nortli Carolina, whose parents 
were earlj' settlers of Washington County. She 
and her husband spent many j-ears together, and 
both died in Washington County, Mr. Rutherford 
at the age of eighty-two and his wife aged about 
seventy. George Murphy and wife began their 
wedded life on a farm in Madison Township, in 
the county of their nativity, and made their home 
on tlieir homestead until their death in the prime 
of life, Mr. Murphy dying in 1861 at the age of 
fortj'-two, and the mother in 1871 when she was 
forty-five years old. She was a lifelong msmbsr 
of the Mathodist Episoopal Church, and was in 
every respect a most exemplary woman. Mr. 
Murphy wa5 a good ma,n, whose conduct in the af- 
fairs of life commended him- to the respect of his 
fellowmen, and he occupied a warm place in the 
hearts of those who knew him. He was a Jackson 
Democrat in his political beliefs, and held un- 
swerving allegiance to his party. 

Our subject is the youngest of the two sons and 
three daughters born to his parents. His brother 
Franklin died in infancy. Two of his sisters were 
married. Mattie, now deceased, who was the wife of 
Robert Maxedon, M. D., a practicing physician of 
Hardinsburg, Ind., and Marj', who is the wife of 
Henry Rawlins, a farmer near Hardinsburg. Ezra 
Murphy was reared on his father's farm in ^Madison 
Township, and there received the benefit of a sub- 
stantial education. He lost his parents before he 
was very old, and he and his sister Emilj' have 
since lived under the same roof, and have never 
either of them been married. In 1880 they came 
together from Salem, in their native State, to Otoe 
County, this State, and after living there two 
years came to this county, and have resided on 
this farm since 1883. They have a cozy home, re- 
plete with all the most desirable comforts, and its 
hospitable board is often set for the entertainment 
of the stranger who happens under their roof or 
for the numerous friends that they have gathered 
about them by their kindly and pleasant social 



ways since taking up their residence here. Mr. 
Murphy is a man of steady habits and excellent 
principles, with a good fund of sound common 
sense and natural shrewdness. As a good citizen, 
he is, of course, interested in the political situations 
of his country, and his influence is used in favor 
of the Democratic party. 



-#3-#- 



-5— 



^^USTUS HENRY WIEDEMAN. Among 
11 <^w} ^^^ S^^odly land-holders of the county, and 
^\^j) a gentleman respected for his sterling worth 
and integrity, is the subject of this sketch. He re- 
sides on his farm of 640 acres, being the whole of 
section 15, in Greenwoo<l Precinct. He is a typical 
German-American citizen, and was born April 11, 
1850, near Berlin, in Germany. At the age of 
three j'ears lie came with his father to America, and 
located in Niagara County, N. Y., where he lived 
until 1861, when he moved with his father to Des 
Moines County, Iowa. From the latter county he 
moved to Montgomery County, Iowa, wliere he 
lived for four years, then going back to Des Moines 
County, Iowa. In 1883 he came to Cass County, 
Neb . where he had bouglit his farm two years 
prior to his settling on it. He paid §20 per acre 
for tiie land; the improvements consisted of two 
frame shanties of but little value. 

During the residence of our subject in Des 
Moines County he was married to Miss Mary 
Sciiearbaum, Feb. 24. 1876. This ladj- is a daugh- 
ter of Henry Schearbaum, a farmer living in Des 
Moines Couiitj'. Her father was a native of Ger- 
many, and came to America about the same time 
our subject did. Mr. Wiedeman is the second old- 
est in a family of seven children. His sister Clara 
is older, and Hannah, Charles, Elias F., Henry and 
Herman. Clara is the wife of Herman Gerbeling, 
a farmer of Des Moines County; Hannah is mar- 
ried and lives in the same county; Elias F. mar- 
ried Miss Julia Kampmyre, and follows the occu- 
pation of carpenter in Des Moines County; he was 
born in Niagara County, N. Y., in 1854. Charles 
was married to Miss Olive Davis, daughter of Ben- 
jamin Davis, and now lives on section 14, Green- 
wood Precinct; he was born in Niagara County, 



•► 



\f 1080 



•►HI:-4« 



CASS COUNTY. 



N. Y., in 1858. Henr}' was boin in Niagara 
County, and lives with liis mother on section 15, 
this precinct. Herman was l)orn in Des Moines 
County, Iowa, in 1862, and lives with his motiier 
and brother Henry in this precinct. 

The father of our subject, Herman, was born 
near Berlin, Germany, Aug. "20, 1812. He made 
his home in the mother country until 1853, when 
he with his family emigrated to America, where he 
located in New York State. The mother was born 
in 1816, in the same Province of which her husband 
was a resident. Both parents are descended from 
the oldest German families of the Province. Their 
friends and relatives have taken a prominent part 
in the life of their country, and the names of many 
can be found on tiie roll of honor which contains 
the names of her heroes, soldiers and statesmen. 
In America, where everyone stands on his own 
merit, and official distinctions and castes are un- 
known, where every peasant, so long as he is law- 
abiding, is a peer to any in the land, our subject 
can refer with gratification and pride to the long 
line of honored ancestors which has preceded 
him. 

Our subject and his good wife are the parents of 
five children — Ilenr}', John, Edward, Arthur and 
Walter. The}' are all at home with their parents. 
They possess the strong, rugged constitution which 
is characteristic of their German origin, and are of 
the same material of which the American citizen is 
made. They are attending the excellent schools of 
the neighborhood, and are availing themselves of 
every advantage to secure a good education. The 
father attended the public schools of New York 
State in his earlier years, and in addition he re- 
ceived a good education in German from his par- 
ents, who from their knowledge and experience 
were able to instruct him thoroughly'. 

When our subject purchased his land it was in a 
but little better than an absolutely wild state. The 
two frame shanties that were on the land at that 
time have given way to a fine, modern built resi- 
dence. It is handsomely located and presents a 
nice outward appearance. The interior is fitted 
with many of the latest improvements calculated to 
add to the comfort of home. The grounds sur- 
rounding the house are ornamented with trees, 



flowers and shrubberj'. The various out-buildings 
are large, weH designed and substantially built, and 
the barns and cattle sheds are supplied with water 
by a system of iron piping from a tank filled by a 
modern wind engine. In addition to his general 
farming our subject prizes his fine herd of cattle 
verj' highly', and it is admitted by all that he ha's 
n3flnj' fine specimens of the bovine tribe. They 
will not suffer in comparison with other herds that 
have been exhibited at the different expositions 
and highly praised by the judges of animals of that 
class. In addition to the pleasure this branch of 
the business affords him it proves a source of great 
profit. His herd is so extensive that he counts them 
by the hundred. The sheds required to shelter them 
are immense, and the largest corn cribs in the coun- 
try contain a sufficient quantity of grain to supply 
their needs. Taken altogether, from the arrange- 
ment of his buildings to the division of his farm 
into its various fields, his is one of the best ap- 
pointed and most completel}' equipped farms in the 
Count}'. Everything is in such order that he man- 
ages the entire place with the least possible help 
and expense. He is one of those good German 
farmers of which the old countr}' is so full, and 
which she has supplied to the New World. 

In the person of his wife the subject of this 
sketch has an earnest, intelligent counselor, and his 
present successful life is due to a large extent to 
her valuable assistance and advice. Thej' are pro- 
verl)ially hospitable and social. He has served on 
the juries of his count}' impartially and conscien- 
tiously. He is Republican in politics, but has 
never sought or held any public office of trust. 



MBROSE BICKERT is a prominent general 
farmer in Stove Creek Precinct, of which 
he was one of the very first settlers. He 
is in good circumstances, financially, owning 
a good farm on section 28, which he manages him- 
self, besides attending to quite an extensive busi- 
ness as a carpenter and wagon-maker. He is a 
veteran of the late Civil War, and has an honorable 
military record. 

Our subject Is a German by birth, a native of 



•► 



I 



.»-ll^ 



ii^H 



CASS COUNTY. 



1081 



i 



Hessen, Gerraan3', l)orn Nov. 20, 1835, to George 
J. and Elizabeth (Faust) Bickert, natives of the 
same Province. His father carried on farming 
quite extensively' in the old country, and had an 
estate of some size there. His parents are now 
dead, his father dying in 1870, at the age of seventy 
years, and his mother in 1883. also aged about sev- 
enty years. They were connected wiih the Catiiolic 
Church, and led good Christian lives. Of their 
happy wedded life seven children were born, as 
follows : Joseph, in Germany ; John and Theresa, 
deceased; Ambrose; Gertrude, also deceased ; Mo- 
niga, in West Virginia, and Johanna, in Germany. 
Our subject staid on the home farm in Germany 
until he was twenty-one j'ears old, obtaining an ex- 
cellent education in the meantime in tiie good 
schools of his birthplace, which he attended until 
he was fourteen. When he was twenty years old he 
began to learn the wagon-maker's trade, and worked 
at that until he was twentj'-five. In the spring of 
1860 he sought to better his fortunes in the United 
States, sailing from Bremen in the ship "Charles the 
Great." and landing in Baltimore forty-two days 
later. He made his way to Wheeling, W. Va., and 
thence on the Ohio River to Marietta, Ohio. He there 
obtained work in a chair factory, and was a resident 
of that town when the great Civil War broke out. 
On the first call for troops he dropped his work, 
and enlisted in Compan3' F, 39th Ohio Infantry, 
and was mustered in at Cincinnati. Ohio, and was 
soon despatched to the seat of war with his regi- 
ment. He and his comrades did gallant service in 
the following battles: Lexington, Mo.'; Island No. 
10, under Gen. Pope; Madrid, Mo.; Ft. Pillow, 
Pittsburg Landing; Corinth, under Gen. Halleck, 
the regiment of which our subject was a member 
being the first in that battle that placed a flag on the 
rebel headquarters. He took part in other lesser 
engagements around Corinth; was at luka Springs, 
under Rosecrans, in the second battle of Corinth, 
at Pulaski; then his regiment was sent to join Sher- 
man at Chattanooga. It was at the battles of Res- 
aca, Dallas. Kenesaw, Marietta, Ga.. Chattahoochee 
River, Jonesboro and at Atlanta. The latter, 
which occurred on the 22d of July, was the hardest 
l)attle in which he fought. On that day our sub- 
1 ' ject's regiment was surrounded three times by the 



enemy, but each time managed to fight its wa}' 
out with desperate energy. On the 28th of July 
the right wing of the army, including the 39lh Ohio, 
was ordered to the rear, and then sent back to 
Chattanooga, and thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, where 
he and his comrades were honorably discharged. 
Mr. Bickert then went to Marietta again, and worked 
there in a wagon-shop until the spring of 1865, 
when he came to Nebraska by boat, putting up a 
wagon-shop in Nebr.aska Cit}', and was activel}' 
engaged at his trade until the spring of 1869. At 
that time he came to Cass County', and purchasing 
eighty acres of land on section 28, began to farm 
it, besides giving much attention to carpentering 
and wagon-making. He broke his land with oxen, 
planted six acres of groves, an orchard of 300 trees, 
a willow hedge, and made various other improve- 
ments. He built the first frame house in the pre- 
cinct, having to draw the lumber for the purpose with 
oxen from Nebraska City. His land is well watered, 
Stove Creek having its rise on his farm, and it is 
well adapted to raising stock. He buys and feeds 
cattle, and has a flue herd of graded stock, and his 
hogs are among the finest in the neighborhood, as 
are also his horses, of which he has twelve of stand- 
ard breeds. He has erected a large house and barns, 
of which a view is shown on another page, and has 
one of the finest places in this locality. So success- 
ful has he been that he has been enabled to pur- 
chase more land, 120 acres on section 28, 40 on 
section 29, and at another time 80 on section 33, 
and now has 200 acres of finely improveil land. 

Jlr. Bickert was married in Marietta, Ohio, July 
22, 1860, to Miss Magdalena, daughter of- Adam 
and Elizabeth (Eisnach) Schentelhurd. Her par- 
ents are natives of Germany, tlie father owning a 
farm in Hessen, where he lived and died, his death 
occurring in 1841. at the age of fort3'-seven ^-ears; 
the mother died there in 1859, at the age of 
sixty-four years. They were the parents of seven 
children, five of whom grew up — Barbara, Joseph, 
Mary A., Catherine and Magdalena. The latter, 
the wife of our subject, was born in Hessen, May 
28, 1836, and in 1860 came to America on the same 
ship as our subject. Their pleasant wedded life has 
been blessed b^' the birth of nine children, as follows : 
Henry, John, George, Lizzie, Mary, Theresa, Will- 



-^^ 



^U. 



1082 



CASS COUNTY. 



•► 






iam, Robert and Julian. Henry and John are en- 
gaged in farming in Colorado. 

Mr. Bickert, as one of the pioneers of Stove 
Creek Precinct, takes a lively interest in its ad- 
vancement, and in him it finds one of its most use- 
ful citizens. Besides doing much to develop its 
agricultural resources and to extend its business 
interests, he has taken an honorable part in Its 
government, and is at present Supervisor. He is 
also one of the leading Democrats of Cass County, 
and has been a delegate to County and State Con- 
ventions several times. He is identified witii the 
G. A. R. at Elm wood, Kenesaw Post No. 123. He 
has served on the Grand Jury two terms. He and his 
wife are zealous members of the Catholic Church, 
at Elunvood, and were active in securing the erec- 
tion of the present house of worship. 



ENRY HOWLAND. Among the pioneers 
of Cass Count}' who have taken part in the 
upbuilding of Plattsmouth is the subject of 
this sketch. He is a well-to-do wagon 
manufacturer, and for more than thirt}- years has 
been identified with the industrial interests of this 
part of the county. He erected the first w.-igon- 
shop in this region, and for many years carried on 
his business in this city. He finall}' sold out at a 
good profit, and built for himself another shop on 
his estate adjoining the cit^-, and is still activel}' 
engaged in his trade. He is well patronized, as his 
wagons are made of good materials and are found 
to be strong and durable, and he never fails to 
give satisfaction to his customers. 

Mr. Howland was born near Centre Square, 
Montgomery Co., Pa., Aug. 6, 1826. coming of 
sturdy New England stock. His father, Isaac 
Howland, was a native of Rhode Island, and his 
grandfather, whose name is thought to have been 
Joseph, was, so far as known, a native of the same 
State. The fatherof our subject went to Philadelphia 
when quite young with an aunt, and he was there 
adopted by a man named Stover, who took him to 
his home in Montgomery Count}'. After he was 
married he engaged in a wood-working establish- 
ment, making mast hoops and w.ngon bows, follow- 



ing that trade a number of 3'ears. He was a man 
of sober, honest habits, and by prudence and thrift 
saved a competencj', upon which he retired in 1805. 
He died at his home in Montgomery County in 
October, 1876, leaving behind the precious legacy 
of an untarnished name. The maiden name of his 
wife was Ann Neavil. She was born in Montgom- 
ery County, and there died in 1861. She was a 
daughter of David Neavil, a soldier of Revolu- 
tionary fame. She and her husband were the 
parents of ten children, five of whom grew up, 
namely: Henry, William, Franklin, Joseph and 
Mary J. 

Henry Howland attended school in his youth, and 
as soon as he was larg(3 enough to be useful he 
commenced to assist his father in the shop, and was 
thus employed until he was twenty-two. He then 
went to Philadelphia and found work in a fluid 
factor}', laboring there the ensuing six 3'ears. In 
18.54 he started westward, via rail to Alton, III., 
then the terminus of the railway; from there he 
went down the Mississippi River to St. Louis, 
where he embarked on a stage for Glenwood, Iowa, 
eight days and eight nights being consumed before 
he reached his journey's end. He found Glenwood 
to be but a small place, with but two or- three 
stores. His first work there was in a saw and grist 
mill in the village, and later ho helped to construct 
a mill on the Missouri bottom. In the winter of 
1856-57 he worked in a wagon-shop there. He 
shrewdly foresaw that in the Territory of Nebraska, 
which had alreaily begun to attract the notice of 
men seeking land for cultivation, there would 
be a demand for wagons, and he came to Platts- 
mouth to locate and establish a manufactory. He 
made a claim at once to the land he now occupies, 
anil when it came into the market entered it at the 
lahd-offlce at Nebraska City, paying the Govern- 
ment $1.25 an acre for it. He erected a small 
frame house, 13x15 feet, but has since replaced it 
by a more commodious dwelling, replete with all 
the comforts that could be desired. His land, com- 
prising nearly 200 acres, the most of which is well 
wooded, is, owing to improvements and to its 
proximity to a flouri>hing and wealthy metropolis, 
now a very valuable estate. When our subject 
came here in 1 857 the settlements in the Territory 



■•►HI- 



•►Hl^ 



■•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1083 



i 



of Nebraska were eonfinerl to the region arljaeent to 
the Missouri River, and it was still far from its pres- 
ent advancerl state, and a little further west deer 
and antelope were plentiful only a few miles away. 
In the month of Maj' he erected the first wagon- 
shop, and became the pioneer in the manuf.acture of 
wagons. His building was of the most primitive 
style of architecture, consisting of posts set in the 
ground, and a board roof. That fall he erected a 
frame building, 16x20 feet, and continued to carry 
on business in it for twenty-three years, until he 
sold out and retired to his present manufactory, 
as before related. 

Mr. Howland was married, in April, 1857, to Miss 
Catherine Kuntz. She was born in Northampton 
County, Pa., and is a daughter of Jacob Kuntz. 
Mr. and Mrs. Howland have four children living, 
namely: Jasper N., Fred G., William and Ann 
Belie. 

Our subject is a man of strong understanding, 
with a well-informed mind, whose intelligence and 
unswerving integrit3- make him a most desirable citi- 
zen. His political views are identical with those 
of the Republican party, of which he is a strong 
supporter. 

- orx> ■ 
' oi5o ■ 

■« JfclLLIAM A. RHODEN, one of the younger 
\^// ™enibers of the farming community of 
\y^ Rock Bluff Precinct, has a snug homestead 
of 120 acres, the land of which he purchased in the 
3'ear 1880, before it had undergone the process of 
cultivation. His industry has been amply rewarded, 
he having been successful in his farming operations, 
and besides raising the products of the soil in their 
season, he has erected a good set of frame buildings, 
fenced his land, planted an apple orchard and the 
smaller fruit trees, and from time to time added the 
comforts and conveniences necessary to the well- 
being of the family, and essential to the complete 
home. 

Our subject, a native of Missouri, was born Nov. 
6, 1851, in Schuyler County, where his father lived 
a period of probably twenty-five years, and of which 
most of the children of the family were also natives. 
They ivere named respectively: Josephine, James 
Allen, Jiilia, Alexander, Dama, George, Don, Ricli- 



ard and Thomas. The parents left Missouri in the 
year 1865, coming to Nebraska Territory, and 
locating on section 17, in Rock Bluff Precinct, 
where there were added to the household circle Mary 
and Lily, the latter of whom died in infancy. Of 
this largp, family of thirteen children eleven are 
living. One son, Alexander, was shot b}' Indians 
in Idaho Territory, Nov. 23, 1877, while at work 
on a ranch. William A. Z. and Nancy (Arnold) 
Rhoden, the parents of our subject, were nntives 
respectively of Indiana and Schuyler County, Mo. 
The father left his native State when a young man, 
stopping for a time at Galena, 111., and later migrat- 
ing to Schuyler County, Mo., where he was married. 
The paternal grandfather, James Rhoden, married 
Miss Elizabeth Lashbrook. He was a farmer by 
occupation. The great-grandfather was named 
William Rhoden. William A. Z. Rhoden departed 
this life. Feb. 18, 1885, at his home in Rock Bluff 
Precinct. The mother is still living, making her 
home with her children in this county. William A., 
our subject, was married, Nov. 24, 1881, to Miss 
Josephine, daughter of Harvey and Agnes (Sim- 
mons) Carper, and thej' have three children — Will- 
iam, LeRoy and Jessie. Mr. Rhoden, politically, 
is a Democrat, and has served a number of times on 
the Election Board. Sociallj', he belongs to Lodge 
No. 6, A. F. & A. M., of Plattsmouth. He has 
many friends in this vicinity, and is numbered 
among the men who have a decided influence in 
bui<ding up their cammaiiity socially, morally and 
financially. 

^RANK FETZER. In the subject of this 
) record we have a man who has ever been 
willing to put his shoulder to the wheel 
in the busy walks of life, and who, after per- 
forming his part in the strife, has now retired from 
active labor, and is enjojing the comforts of a 
pleasant home in the town of Louisville. He came 
to this place in 1876, and established a shop for 
blacksmithing and the general m.anuf.acture of road 
veliicles. He was actively engaged in the prose- 
cution of this business until 1888, giving emploj^- 
ment to a number of men and securing a compe- 



ipe- 



1084 



CASS COUNTY. 



tence. Such was the quality of his workmanship 
that he had no difficulty in disposing of it at re- 
munerative prices and in the home market. He is 
a mechanic of no mean skill, and therefore well fitted 
to superintend the operations of such an establish- 
ment. 

Mr. Fetzer is a native of \\'isconsin, and was born 
in Manitowoc County, Dec. 22, 1854. He is the 
youngest of a family' of six children, comprising five 
sons and one daughter, tlie offspring of (iodfrey 
and Rosa Fetzer, who were both natives of Germany. 
The parents emigrated to America about 1849, and 
from New York City proceeded directly to the 
young State of Wisconsin, which had been ad- 
mitted into the Union the previous 3'ear. The 
father secured a tract of land, and there both parents 
spent the remainder of their d.ays, engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits, the mother passing away in 1874. 
at the age of fifty-four years, and the fatlier in 1886, 
in his seventy -third year. 

Our subjejt attended the district school until 
about fourteen years of age, and then began an ap- 
prenticeship at the blacksmith trade, serving three 
years. Later he worked as a journeyman with his 
old employer, Mr. Charles Schumacher, but in the 
fall of 1874 resolved to seek a home in the farther 
West. He -sojourned at Plattsmouth two and one- 
half years, then came to Louisville, and established 
himself in business as bsfore stated. Dec. 22, 1881, 
witnessed the marriage of our subject with Miss 
Bertha Heitzhausen, who was born in Mayville, 
Wis., and is the daughter of Dietrich and Minnie 
Heitzhausen, who were natives of Germany. The 
mother lives in Louisville; the father is deceased. 
Mr. and Mrs. Fetzer began their wedded life to- 
gether in Louisville, where the}' have since lived, 
and are now tlie parents of one child, a daughter, 
Celia M. Mr. Fetzer owns his residence and shop, 
the formsr making a neat and comfortable home, 
and the latter thoroughl}- equipped witli all the 
implements necessary for the business, which is now 
carried on by Charles Siekjost. Besides this property 
he has a valuable timber tract of 320 acres in 
Perkins County, this Stiite. He is a solid and re- 
liable citizen, and has contributed his full quota to 
the industrial interests of his adopted town. 

Mr. Fetzer cast his first Presidential vote for 



•»-^h^ 



Tilden and is an uncompromising Democrat, a 
warm supporter of the late administration. He 
has been quite prominent in local affairs, officiat- 
ing as Town Trustee and serving as a mem- 
ber of the City Council a period of seven years. 
He is an industrious worker at the time of gen- 
eral elections, never begrudging the time and 
money spent to carry out the principles of which 
he has been a supporter for a period of twelve 
years, when he entered upon the privileges and 
duties of citizenship. 



-^-^B" 



'■^NDREW C. FRY, a respected resident of 
©/4Hl Plattsmouth, was among tiie gallant de- 
li' fenders of our country during tlie trying 
times of tlie late Rebellion, and is now 
peacefully pursuing agriculture in Cass County, 
Neb. He is a native of Franklin County, Pa., 
where his birth occurred June 2, 1838. His father, 
George Fry, was likewise born in the Keystone 
State, an<l was there reared and married, his wife 
dying when our subject was a mere babe, leaving 
eight children. After her death Mr. Fry moved 
to Allegheny County, Pa., and was there married 
again. He resided there until after the death of 
his second wife, then removed to Jefferson County, 
Iowa, where he died at the home of his son Jacob, 
in January, 1879. Of his second marriage one son 
was born. 

When Amirew was a boy he went to Stark County, 
Ohio, to live with his brothers John and Jacob. He 
staid there two j'ears, and in July, 1853, removed 
to Jefferson County, Iowa, where he made his home 
until 1873, excepting when he was in the South 
fighting for the defense of his country. He was 
married in that State, Aug. 2, 1860, to Miss Clara 
Davis, and of their union eleven children have been 
born, namely-: Charles, Ella (now Mrs. Martin 
Ruby), George, Jennie, Cora. Fdwanl, Clarence, 
Frank, Anna May, Walter and Harry. Walter is 
deceased. 

In 1862 Mr. Fry felt it to be his sacred duty to 
cast in his lot with his noble fellow-citizens, and 
assist them in the defense of the Government 
under which he had been born and reared, and 





'M>^^ 



•►Hl^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1087 



August 9 of that year he enlisted in Company B, 1 9th 
Iowa Infantry. From that time until his services 
were no longer required he was a brave and etii- 
cient soldier, taking an active |)art in many of the 
principal engagements. He was in the battle of 
Prairie Grove, Ark., Dec. 7, 1862; was present at the 
siege of Vicksburg, and went through the fifty-five 
days of actual battle unscathed; he fought in the 
battle of Ymzoo City, Miss., in Jul}', 1863; thence 
his company was sent to Ft. Hudson to reinforce 
Gen. Banks, from there to Madisonville, where 
they had an engagement with the enemy ; thence 
to Morganidy's Ben(), where 300 of his regiment 
were taken prisoners; from there to Brownsville, 
Tex., where they had a slight encounter with the 
rebels. Our subject was then granted sixty days' 
furlough, and was once more reunited with his fam- 
ily. At the expiration of his leave of absence he 
hastened to rejoin his regiment in September, 1864, 
at New Orleans, and from there he was sent with 
his comrades to Florida. He there took part in the 
eng.agemeuts that resulted in the capture of Fts. 
Morgan and Gaines, and of the Spanish Fort. This 
latter was the last battle fought by his regiment. 
Mr. Fry was honorably discharged Aug. 7, 1865, 
and returned home in sound health except from the 
effects of exposure. 

On March 15, 1873, Mr. Fry came to Hastings, 
Neb , and in October of the same year his family 
came to Plattsmouth, where he joined them, and 
where they have ever since made their home. Mr 
Fry is a sturdy, honest, upright man, a good citi- 
zen, a kind neighbor, a faithful husband and tender 
father, in every way worthy of respect and confi- 
dence. He is an earnest Republican, and a valued 
member of McConnie Post No. 45, G. A. R. 



^f^ii^^zr> ** 'V/w* 



^y- 



■-•"jim^m^^ 



iLj^ENRY J. DAVIS, actively engaged in the 
||f~jV management of his fine, productive farm on 
■^^^ section 36, Liberty Precinct, is a good rep- 

{^j resentative of the stalwart men who came 
here less than a quarter of .a century ago, and have 
in the meantime witnessed the wonderful trans- 
formation of this section of the State from a wild, 
unbroken prairie, sparsely inhabited, to a fruitful 



farming region, with thriving vill.iges and prosper- 
ous towns. 

In the development of Cass County our subject has 
taken an intense interest and given material assist- 
ance. He is an intelligent, industrious man, of keen 
preceptive faculties, and has proved himself a most 
desirable citizen of his adopted town. His pleasant 
homestead, which consists of 240 acres of arable 
land, well watered and under good improvement, 
with its comfortable house and substantial farm 
buildings, compares favorably with any in the ])re- 
cinct, and is a credit to his executive ability, skill 
and good judgment. Mr. Davis gives mucii atten- 
tion to the raising of stock, his cattle being princi- 
pally Durhams. At the head of his large herd is 
the well-bred bull Jumbo, which comes of a high 
gr.ade of that breed. Besides his homestead our 
subject also owns another good farm, principally 
grass land, lying on section 31 of the fractional 
township and precinct of I^ibertv. 

Mr. Davis was born in Monongalia Countj'. AV. 
Va., Dec. 21, 1828, being of Welsh origin. His 
parents, William and Sarah (Pride) Davis, were 
natives of Virginia, and settled on a farm there, 
where the death of Mrs. Davis occurred when her 
son Henry was only four years of age. She was an 
estimable woman, and a devoted wife and mother. 
To her and her husband were born nine children. 
The father of our subject married for his second 
wife Mrs. Betsy McGill. who died on their Virginia 
homestead. Of their union one child was born. 

Later in life Mr. Davis moved from Virginia to 
Ohio, and after a stay of two years in that State 
went to Ottumwa, Iowa, where he remained about 
a year. He then spent a few months in Boone 
County, that State, going thence to Des IMoines, 
but did not establish himself in an}' part of the 
State, not being as pleased with that part of the 
countr}' as with Ohio. Accordingly, accompanied 
by his son Henry J., Mr. Davis started for his old 
home in the Buckeye Stale, but was attacked by 
the cholera while on a steamlioat on the Ohio River, 
and died near Cairo, 111., in the spring of 1854. and 
was buried in Vanderbnrg County. Ind., being then 
sixt3'-three j'ears of age. Our subject was at that 
time but a j'oung man. and the sad scenes of that 
journe}' will never be forgotten by him. He was 



#^1-^ 



•►Hl^ 



1088 



CASS COUNTY. 



N r the 



the only member of the family i>rivileged to care 
for his father in his last moments, and to perform 
the last sad rites at the grave. 

Subsequently the subject of our sketch returned 
to Iowa, whence he came in 1857 to Nebraska, cross- 
ing the Missouri River August 13 of that year, and 
locating in Nebraska City. The ensuing year Mr. 
Davis pre-empted 160 acres of land in what is now 
AVyoming Precinct, Otoe County, selling it a few 
months afterward, but slightly improved. In 1872 
he purchased his homestead propertj', wliere he has 
since lived. 

Mr. Davis has been twice married. During his 
residence in Des Moines, Iowa, he was united to 
Miss Elizabeth Hughes, a native of Highland County. 
Ohio. She accompanied her husband to this State, 
her death occurring during their residence in Otoe 
County, July 4, 1859. She bore her husband two 
children, .Tohn and William, both of whom are de- 
ceased. The second marriage of our subject oc- 
curred in Nebraska CitJ^ May 28, 1861, when he 
was united to Miss Irena Barnhill, who was born in 
Wayne Count}\ in the southern part of Illinois, 
April 1 4, 1837. She was reared in that State, and re- 
moved to Wyoming, Otoe Count}', with her parents 
in 1857, and remained under the parental roof un- 
til her marriage with our subject. Her parents, A. 
H. and Nancy (Walker) Barnhill, were natives re- 
spectively of North Carolina and Kentucky. After 
tlieir marriage they lived several years in Illinois, 
and tlien coming to Nebraska, lived in Wyoming, 
Otoe County, for three years. They subsequently' 
moved to Saunders County, where Mr. Barnhill 
died in the fall of 1885, having lived be^'ond the 
allotted threescore years and ten of man's life. Mrs. 
Barnhill survives her husband, and is now living in 
Saunders County, at the ri[)e old age of seventy- 
seven years. She is a member of the Baptist 
Church, and a good Christian woman. 

To our subject and his wife have been born seven 
children, of whom four are deceased, namely : Henry 
H.. Admiral, Elizabeth and an unnamed infant. 
The three living are Mary Docia, Emmer Elsie and 
Ina A. They are bright, intelligent children, and are 
receiving good educational advantages. Mr. Davis 
is a true gentleman, possessing all the polish and 
the warm, generous heart, and the high mind char- 



acteristic of the Southerner. He and his family 
move in the highest social circles of their commu- 
nity. In their religious views they ha-ve the courage 
of their opinions, and believe that following the 
teachings of the Golden Rule, and living a moral, 
upright life on this earth, will fit them for any- 
thing that may come beyond the grave. In poli- 
tics our subject is a Republican. The portrait of 
this enterprising citizen is given on an accompany- 
ing page, and is that of one of Cass County's best 
farmer residents. 



\TSRAEL WARD is a contented and happy far- 
I mer living on his original homestead of eighty 
/ii acres on section 8, in Elmwood Precinct, where 
he arrived many years ago. after a tedious and 
wearisome overland journey in company with his 
wife and little son Albert, then a babe of four 
months. This gentleman was born in Eden Town- 
ship, Licking Co., Ohio, Jan. 5, 1839. At the 
early age of seven years he lost his mother by 
death. He lived with his parents, for his father 
remarried, until he was twelve years old. alternately 
attending school and working upon the farm, when 
his father removed with the entire family to Ogle 
County, 111., in 1851, where they lived the ensuing 
five j'ears, when his father bought another farm in 
Marshall County, near Lacon, III., to which he re- 
moved. From here he removed in 1859 to Mus- 
catine County, Iowa, where they resi<led three 
years, and in 1862 they settled in Keokuk Count}', 
Iowa, our subject accompanying the family on 
tiieir various migrations. While residing in Mus- 
catine County, Iowa, he met the lady who is at 
present his wife, ftliss Louisa Ellen Eveland, a 
half-sister of Peter Eveland, Esq., at present an es- 
teemed citizen of Elmwood Precinct, and whose 
biography is presented on another page of this 
book. 

This lady is the youngest of a family of three 
children. Her sister Jeanette and brother Beal 
Dimraitt are older. She was born in Clermont 
Count}', Ohio, where she lived with her father, 
Joseph, and her stepmother until she was eight 



■•►Hh 



» ,r^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1089 



•1-^^ 



years of age, when the entire family removed to 
Iowa, where, in the public; schools of tlie neighbor- 
hood, she laid the foundation for tlie practical 
knowledge which distinguishes her. Her raotliet 
was Louisa Ellen Dimmitt. who died when her 
daughter was only two weeks old. .Six years' after 
the marriage of our subject and his wife, he found 
that he was afflicted with serious lung trouble and 
lie determined to make his home in the West. His 
brother-in-law, Peter Eveland, having come to 
Nebraska and settled, and being so well pleased 
with the prospects about him, Mr. Ward decided 
that this was the place for him. So he started on 
his journey westward with a good wagon and team. 
During the trip he was so unfortunate as to lose 
one of his horses, which was a serious loss to him; 
but he repaired it and com[)leted his journey, and 
he is to-day comfortably situated in his new home. 
Four children have been born to this couple: Al- 
bert was born in Iowa; Mary C, and Florence and 
an infant, deceased. 

The father of our subject, William Ward, and 
his mother, Abigail Huston, were married in Lick- 
ing County, Ohio, where the father was a farmer 
and one of the earl}- settlers. He was a leading 
member of the community, and was allied with the 
Abolitionist party, taking a strong and active in- 
terest in its purposes. The mother was a native of 
Ohio. She died in 181:6, aged twenty-nine 
years. Grandfather Ward was born in Pennsyl- 
vania. The great-grandfather, William, was a silk 
weaver, and was born in England. A family con- 
sisting of four children were born to the parents of 
our subject — Isr.ael, Elizabeth, John and Howard. 
Elizabeth is the wife of John W. Torrey, and re- 
sides in Russell County, Kan.; John and Howard 
reside in Cass County, Neb. 

Mr. Ward is a wide-awake and progressive far- 
mer, and believes in enjoying life as it passes, as is 
shown by the improvements which he has com- 
pleted and projected on his farm, which at present 
embraces necessaries and many of the comforts, 
often only found on farms that have been culti- 
vated much longer than that of Mr. Ward. He 
values a good education for his children as being 
paramount to all other advantages; he therefore 
provides every facility for them to oljtaiu the high- 



est place, and they certainly deserve it. He is 
notably one of the happiest dispositione<l men of 
the precinct. He claims that by treating his fellow- 
men well and honestly, and living soberly .and up- 
rightly, to be the prime source of his extreme con- 
tentment. His wife is a sister of Peter Eveland, a 
farmer of Elmwood Precinct, is an educated and 
refined lady, and a model housekeeper. Mr. Ward, 
with his wife and eldest daughter, Mary, who is by 
common consent admitted to be one of the handsom- 
est young ladies in Elmwood Precinct, form an im- 
portant factor in the social circles of the neighbor- 
hood. Our subject and his two brothers were 
among the earliest grain threshers in Elmwood 
Precinct, and none were considered to do their 
work any better. He was with Mr. Eveland on the 
buffalo hunt when the latter met with the misfort- 
une referred to in his biography, which crippled 
him for life. 

Our subject has alwa^-s taken a lively interest in 
the public affairs of the precinct, especially in edu- 
cational matters. He assisted in the organization 
of School District No. 61, and has discharged the 
duties of a Justice of the Pe.ice in a highly accept- 
able manner. Both himself and wife are consistent 
members of the Congregational Church. In poli- 
tics he is a straight Republican. 



— -f-+ 



+-J- 



m 



%ji 



APT. EDWARD DONOVAN has a dis- 
tinguished military record as an able and 

_ gallant officer in the Civil War, and later in 
the regular army in its campaigns on the north- 
western frontier and in Texas. He is now a resi- 
dent of Plattsraouth, where he is engaged as ac- 
countant with the Burlington & Missouri River 
Railway Company'. He has a lovely home in this 
city, beautifully located on high ground, com- 
manding a tine view of the surrounding couutr}'. 
The house was built by him in Oreopolis, and 
moved to its present locition. He has spent much 
time in beautifying the grounds, which are neatly 
and tastefully arranged, and he raises plenty of 
small fruit for himself and friends. 

Our sul)ject comes of an old and respected Irish 
famil}-, and was himself born in Ireland, the city of 



•►Hl^^ 



1090 



CASS COUNTY. 



Dublin his birthplace, and June 7. 1833, the date 
of his birth. His fothcr, the Rev. George Dono- 
van, who was a learned and polished gentleman, 
was born in Ballymore, County Wexford, Ireland, 
and was a son of Richard Donovan, a native and 
lifelong resident of the same county. The father 
of our subject was reared in his native county, and 
was given the advantages of a liberal education. 
He was graduated from that famous institution of 
learning, Trinity College. Dublin, and was soon after- 
ward ordained to the ministr}', taking orders in the 
Church of England. He first preached at Camolin, 
County Wexford, and was then given a pastorate 
at Castle Knock, County Dublin, and later had 
charge of a church at Leixlip, County Kildare, 
eight miles from Dublin. And there his useful and 
honored life was brought to a close, and he now 
lies peacefully sleeping his last sleep in the quaint 
old churchyard of the church to whose members 
he used to minister the consolations of religion. 
His good wife lies by his side. She was a native 
of Countj' Dublin, and her maiden name was Cath- 
erine McKenna. Eleven children were born to 
this worthy couple. 

The son of whom we write was fourteen 3'ears 
old when his father died. Prior to that time he 
had alwaj's attended school, as his parents were 
anxious to give him a good education, but that sad 
event changed the course of his life, as the family 
were then scattered, and our subject "was appren- 
ticed to a druggist in the town of Carlow, Count3' 
Carlow. He served five years, and then went to 
Dublin to attend lectures on pharmacy, and re- 
ceived a certificate as assistant apothecary. ]n the 
month of May, 1 855. he left the shores of his native 
isle, and proceeding to Liverpool, secured a posi- 
tion as apothecar3' on board of an American-bound 
vessel, and five weeks later disembarked at New 
York Citj'. The second day after his arrival he 
found employment in McKesson & Robin's whole- 
sale drug-store, and remained with them six months. 
We next hear of him far away from there in a 
Southern city, he having gone to New Orleans, 
where he was engaged .as a manufacturing chemist 
in G. N. Morrison's wholesale drug-store. Six 
months later he tried life in Chicago, and was with 
a firm of wiiolcs.ile druggists for a time. He then 



entered into business on his own account, opening a 
drug-store at Evanston, a few miles from Chicago. 
He there met Dr. Evans, who was then booming the 
town of Oreopolis, in this county, and that gentle- 
man persuaded him to accompany him to Nebraska 
in the fall of 1857. Oreopolis was situated one and 
one-half miles from Plattsraouth, and at one time 
had a much better class, of buildings, and much 
brighter prospects of a prosperous future than this 
city, but in the mutations of time the situation h.ns 
been reversed, and Plattsmouth has shot ahead of 
its ancient rival. Onr subject manfully took what- 
ever work came to hand, and one winter chopped 
wood. He lived in that town until 1861, when the 
Rebellion broke out, and he was among the first to 
volunteer for the defense of the institutions of his 
adopted country, and in the trying j-ears that fol- 
lowed none of bis comrades displayed more un- 
flinching courage in the face of danger, more patient 
endurance, heroic daring, or faithful service than 
he. He was a member of Company A, 1st Ne- 
braska Infantry, enlisting in Ai)ril, 1861. and was 
mustered into the ranks at Omaha as a private. 
His regiment was ordered to Missouri, and thence 
to other places, where he took part in several im- 
portant battles and minor engagements. He was 
present at Ft. Donelson and Shiloh when they 
surrendered, and at the siege and capture of Cor- 
inth and Cape Girardeau, and for a long time fol- 
lowed and fought the bushwackers and guerrillas 
in Arkansas and Missouri. He veteranized in the 
winter of 1863-64, and served until July, 1866. He 
was commissioned Second Lieutenant Jan. 2. 1862, 
and at the battle of Shiloh he commanded his com- 
pany, the First Lieutenant and Captain not being 
present, and for gallant and meritorious conduct 
during that hotly contested battle he was promoted 
to the rank of First Lieutenant, his commission 
bearing the date of Jnne 1, 1862. He received his 
commission as Captain Oct. 11, 1865. After the 
war closed his regiment was sent to the north- 
western frontier; here he was for a time Assistant 
Inspector General. While holding that ofHce he 
had to travel from Ft. .Sedgwick to Omaha and 
return each month, and thus had a stage ride of 
some 400 miles, and each two months he had to 
go to Dakota City, Xeb., where he received iiis 



r«/ 



11-^^ 



•► 1 1^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



-«► 



1091 



(liscliaige witli bis regiment in .Inly, 18GG, and tlien 
returned to Plattsmoutli. He was engaged in the 
<lrug business in Omaha until 1867, when he ob- 
tained a commissiou as Second Lieutenant in the 
regular army, and was attached to the 41st Regi- 
ment, wliich was afterward consolidated with 
another, and became the 24th Regiment. In 1869 
our subject was made Adjutant of the regiment, 
and served in that capacity three years, when he 
resigned the position, and subsequently he served 
with his command the greater part of the time in 
Texas until his resignation from tiie army in 1878 
to accept his present position. 

Capt. Donovan was married, in 1856, to Cath- 
erine Keife, a native of County Dublin. She was 
a woman of many lovable qualities, who held a 
warm place in the hearts of many friends, and her 
death in 1882 caused sadness in other households 
besides that of her own family. To her and her 
husband four children were born — Robert, Katie, 
George and Flora C. Katie married John M. 
O'Grady, and died in Plattsmouth at the age of 
twenty-two. Our subject and his famil}' are all 
communicants of the Episcopal Church. The Cap- 
tain combines the quick wit. the warm and gener- 
ous heart, and the never-failing courtesy and tact, 
of the true Irish gentleman, and he is popular with 
all. 

HRISTOFF MEYER. The enterprising 
German citizen is to be found all over the 
United States, pusliing his way into new 
sections, and, planting his stakes, usually abides, 
distinguishing himself for his thrift, industry and 
prudence, and so laboring as usually to obtain a 
competence. His children who come after him will 
proudly rei>eat the stor\' of his life, and thus he has 
Ills reward. 

The subject of this sketch, a true son of the 
Fatherland, is substantially located on a good farm 
on section 4 in Avoca Precinct, where he has now 
158 acres of thoroughly' cultivated land. His 
original purchase embrace<l 165 acres, a portion hav- 
ing been cut off by the Missouri Pacific Railroad, 
wliich runs across a corner of his farm. He settled 
^ ' here when the land was in its primitive condition, 



without a building upon it, and unfenced. The labor 
of years has resulted in one of the most finely im- 
proved farms in this section, with an imposing two- 
story stone dwelling, ereeteil in 1880, and the 
out-buildings naturally arising to meet the require- 
ments of the modern farmer who keeps track of the 
improvements of thed.ay,and operates accordingly. 
None but he who has performed it can gain a cor- 
rect idea of the labor involved in the construction 
of the well-regulated farm, and in addition to this 
there has been no small amount of hard cash ex- 
pended in connection therewith. This, however, 
has proved a safe investment for capital, being out 
of the reach of the defaulting bank cashier. 

The Atlantic Ocean separates Mr. Mej'er from the 
home of his childhood, he being a native of the 
Empire of Germany, and born Dec. 23, 1824. He 
was reared under the paternal roof, and received 
an excellent education in his native tongue. At an 
early age he distinguished himself as a natural 
mechanic, being able to handle all kinds of tools 
with facility, and this gift lias been the means of 
saving him hundreds of dollars in connection with 
his farming operations. 

The parents of our subject were Charles and 
Lucy (Newe) Meyer, also natives of the Empire 
of Germany, and who spent their entire lives in 
their native land, dying at a ripe old age. 'Iheir 
family consisted of two sons and four daughters, of 
whom Christoff, our subject, was the only one com- 
ing to the United States. He was unmarried at 
this time, making the journe.v in the summer of 
1854. Soon after landing upon American soil he 
proceeded to Washington County, "Wis., settling 
among strangers and without means. His honest 
faee and evidently correct habits soon procured 
him friends and employment, and he lived in Wis- 
consin until the spring of 1860. In the meantime 
he was mirried, Sept. 18, 1858, to Miss Ellen 
Hal mas. 

Mrs. Meyer, also a native of Prussia, was born 
April24, 1841, and came to the United States with 
her parents when a young girl of thirteen years. 
They also located in the Badger State, living in 
Oconto County until after the marriage of their 
daughter Ellen. Later they removed to Chicago, 
111., where the fathei' died in middle life. The ^ ' 



■► II ^» 



1092 



CASS COUNTY. 



molher fulifc qiieiitly can.e Ici Kcliarkn, .ir.d died at 
the home of her son Kitbolns.-in this county. She 
wns about seventj-four years of age. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hahnas were tlie parents of five children, all 
of whom are living and located mostly in the 
United States. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Meyer there have been born 
thirteen children, two of whom, Lucy and John, 
died at the ages of one and six years respectively-. 
The survivors are Nicholas, Mathias, Marj% Mar- 
gareMa, Susanna, Peter. Charles, Lizzie, August, 
Henry and Joseph. Jlathias is married and living 
in this county; Mary, Mrs. Jergonson, is a resi- 
dent of this county; Margaretta is the wife of J. 
Denue. and makes her home in Otoe County. Mr. 
Meyer, politically, is a stanch Dcmociat, and 
botii he and his estimable wife are members of the 
German Catholic Church. They are people of 
standing and importance in their cc'mmunity. and 
are am|)Iy worthy of vi presentation in the Album 
of Cass Coui.ty. 



R. JOSEPH E. HALL, a regular practicing 
physician and surgeon of good standing in 
f^J^^ Weeping Water, located at this i)laco aliout 
1881, and during his seven j'ears' residence 
has built up a remarkably fine business. He bears 
an excellent reputation as a citizen and a practi- 
tioner, and enjoys in a large degree the confidence 
and esteem of the people of this vicinity. He is a 
gentleman of marked ability, a close student, and 
conscientious in the discharge of the duties of his 
profession. 

Dr. Hall first set foot upon the soil of Nebraska 
June 17, 1881, and at once took up his location in 
Weeping Water, of which he has since been a resi- 
dent, attending strictly to business. In 1887 he 
completed a fine residence on South Randolph 
street, which, with its surroundings, forms one of 
the attractive homes of the city. In its enterprises 
and Improvements he has taken an active part since 
becoming a resident here, serving on the School 
Board three years, and has held the office of County 
Physician two years, also for two 3'ears that of 
surgeon of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Companj'. 



Socially, he is a K. of P.. and also belongs to 
the Modern Woodmen of America, holding vari- 
ous olficial ca])acilies in his lodge at Weeping 
Water. 

Dr. Hall was born in Alexandria, Ind., April 24, 
1858, and lived there until he was a young man 
twenty years old. He had in the meantime re- 
ceived a good'preliminar^' education, and now be- 
gan the reading of medicine with Dr. J. W. Perry, 
of the same jjlace, continuing with him one year, 
and spending the year following with Drs. Chitten- 
den & Jones, of Anderson, Ind. Later he entered 
upon a course of lectures in the Indiana Medical 
College at Indianapolis, from which he was gradu- 
ated with honors IMarch 3, 1881. He still belongs 
to the Sydenham Society of that college, and is also 
prominentlj' connected with the State Medical So- 
ciety of Nebraska, and the Railroad .Surgical So- 
ciety of the State. 

Dr. Hall, after being graduated, established him- 
self at once in Weeping Water, where he has one of 
the finest equipped ollices in the city, and a remark- 
ablj' complete assortment of surgical instruments 
and appliances, together with a library' and every- 
thing else needful for the successful prosecution of 
his practice. 

Our subject, on the 4lhof May, 1882, was united 
in marriage with Miss Rosetta J. Blake, of Alex- 
andria, and they are now the parents of three chil- 
dren, two sons and a daughter, namel}': Virgil, 
Ethel and Homer. Mrs. Hall was born March 27, 
1858, in Markleville, Ind., and is the daughter of 
W. P. and Isabella (Williams) Blake, who are now 
living upon a farm in the vicinity of Alexandria. 
She was carefully trained and educated, and taught 
school a period of four years before her marriage. 
They have a snug home in the central part of town, 
and enjoy the society of many friends. 

Jesse H. Hall, the father of our subject, was born 
in Highland County, Ohio, Nov. 22, 1822, and 
lived there until a lad of eight j'eais. He then re- 
moved to Indiana with his pareuts, they settling in 
Madison County dining its pioneer days. Upon 
reaching man's estate he was married to Miss Eliza- 
beth Ellis, and they became the parents of thirteen 
children, eleven of whom lived to mature years, and 
six sons and two daughters are still living. Mr 



»» - l L^ 



Mr. 4 



-^- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1093 '' 



•► 






Hall was successful in his labors as an agriculturist, 
and carried on farming extensively in Lis adopted 
State (luring the latter j-ears of his life. In early 
manhood he was engaged as a teacher a period of 
twelve years. He is a very intelligent man, one 
who keeps himself well posted upon current events, 
and is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, 
in whose principles he trained his sons, and of which 
our subject, th§ Doctor, is an equally ardent ad- 
vocate. Both parents have been for many years 
connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and from their sterling worth and integrity of char- 
acter stand high among the people of their com- 
munity. 

Joseph H. Hall, the paternal grandfather of our 
subject, w.as a native of Ohio, whence he removed 
to Indiana about 1830, where he spent his last days, 
dying at the old homestead in Madison Count}', in 
February of the year 1872, when sixty -six years 
old. Dr. Hall's wife is a member of the Baptist 
Church in Weeping Water, of which they are regu- 
lar attendants, and to which they contribute a lib- 
eral support. 

■«l +»+■«^^I^■p5)•i^-w^-•^ 

^^EORGE OBERLE. a well-known and sue- 
Ill ,— , cessful agriculturist of Tipton Precinct, has 
^^^ a well-regulated farm pleasantly located on 
section 30, and which embraces 250 acres of good 
land. Upon it are neat and substantial buildings, 
including a tine new residence, commodious and 
built in modern st3'le of architecture, which has 
been but recently completed, and is the admiration 
of the country around. Our subject belongs to 
that nationality to which the Great West is largely 
indebted for its growth and development, and was 
born on the beautiful Rhine River, near the village 
of Ottenheim, March 9, 1840. 

Mr. Oberle spent his boyhood and youth in his 
native Province, acquiring, in common with the 
young people of German}'^, an excellent education 
in the public schools. Afterward he emplo.yed him- 
self mostly at hunting and fishing, rem.aining on 
his native soil until 1867. In the meantime he 
entered into partnership with his brother and other 
men, they being engaged in building a stone wall 

4* 



on the River Rhine, to protect the land. In 
18S6 our subject entered the army during the war 
between Germany and Austria, and was under 
the enemy's fire in many a battle. After a service 
of six months he returned to his old business, but 
in the April of 1867 resolved to seek his fortunes 
on the other side of the Atlantic. Repairing to 
Havre, France, he made his way by steamer to 
Liverpool, and there embarked on the ocean vessel 
"Walda," landing in New York City after a vo}-- 
age of eighteen days. 

Our subject tarried a very little while in the me- 
tropolis, then proceeded westward to St. Clair 
County, in Southern Illinois, and in the vicinity 
of Belleville found emplo3'ment as a farm laborer, 
and sojourned in that locality a period of five 
years. In the spring of 1872 he made his wa}- 
west to Nebraska City, and the year following 
came to this county and homesteaded a tract of 
land in Tipton Precinct, which is included in his 
present farm. He commenced at first principles 
in the construction of a homestead, there having 
been no attempt, whatever, at improvement. His 
first business was to cultivate a portion of the soU, 
after which he commenced fencing his land, putting 
up buildings, planting trees in groves iind orchards, 
and gradually gathered around himself the com- 
forts and conveniences which have made his home- 
stead a noticeable feature of his precinct. Later he 
added to his first purchase as follows: Fifty acres 
on section 29, eighty on section 30 and 130 on 
section 31. It has all been brought to a productive 
condition, and is amply watered by the Little Ne- 
maha. Mr. Oberle gives considerable attention to 
stoclc-raising, producing excellent grades of horses, 
cattle and swine, having usually a herd of fort^- 
cattle, sixty hogs and ten head of horses. 

Mr. Oberle was married, in Nebraska City, March 
15, 1873, to Miss Mar}^ Stolz, a native of the same 
Province as her husband, and born in April, 1847. 
Mrs. Oberle came to America in her girlhood with 
friends. She is the daughter of George Stolz, who 
was of German ancestry, and whose family con- 
sisted of four children. Three of these are living, 
located in the old country. The parents are de- 
ceased. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Oberle there have been born 
i» 



f 



* ► J l "^ 



-•► 



1 094 



CASS COUNTY. 



five children, namely: Geofge. Jr.; Carl, who died 
when about six years old; Frederick, Rudolph and 
Emil. Mr. and Mrs. O. are Lutherans in religion, 
and our subject, politically, is a solid Republican. 
His parents were Deibold and Auna (Hauser) 
Oberle, who were natives of the same place as their 
son. They spent their entire lives in their native 
Germany, and the father was by occupation a fisher, 
hunter and trappei*. He served for a time in the 
German Arm}', and after rounding up a ripe old 
age passed away in 1880. The mother survived 
her husband four ^-ears, dying in 1884. They were 
members of the Evangelical Protestant Church. 
Their family consisted of eight children, of whom 
our subject was the fourth child born. They were 
named respectively: Deibold, George, Carl, Fred- 
erick, Annie M., Kate, Christina (who died when 
about thirty 3'ears old) and Lena. Three sisters of 
these came to America. 

LBER r E. LEWIS is a prosperoiisyoung far- 
(j^'iOj iiier who came to Nebraska in February, 
(4 1880, and settled on eighty acres of land on 
the southern half of the northwest half of 
section 31 .Ehnwood Precir.ct,to the improvement of 
which he has devoted his entire time and attention. 
Coming to Nebraska without any great financial 
means, in fact, a poor man, he lias done exceedingly 
well, and the various improvements which he has 
planned and begun making bespeak a future replete 
with comfort and happiness, should his life be 
sjjared to realize a full fruition of all his hopes. 

Mr. Lewis was married in the fall of l>i80 to 
Miss Lydia E. Hite, the daughter of DaVid and 
Mary (Curyea) Hite. Her father was a native of 
Ohio, and her mother of Virginia, and she was one 
of a family of nine children born to her parents : John 
M., now deceased; .lames Alva, Theodore >!., Flora 
B., Charles F., Lydia E., Nellie M., Lenora M. and 
Alice M. Mr. Lewis is the youngest of three chil- 
dren. The other two were named Ellizabeth and 
William R. He was born on the 28tli of July, 
1850. in LaSalle County, III. He evinced a great 
love for study and books at an early age, and never 



lost an opportunity of attending the schools near 
his home. The father of Mr. Lewis came to Illinois 
in 1838. He died in 1871. sixty-five years of age. 
The mother. Eliza A. (Holder) Lewis, died at the 
age of forty-one \"ears. 

Mr. Lewis is a man who aspires to attain the 
highest place among his fellows, and shoukl he con- 
tinue to live in the years to come as he has lived in 
years that have gone, there is no question hut that 
the fondest aspirations of his heart will be fully 
realized in this direction. He has been in his pres- 
ent location eight years. During that time, by 
strict integrity of purpose, and a close attention to 
all the details of farm life he has been enabled to 
build a snug little home. Although small in ex- 
tent, there are none showing a greater amount of 
happiness and home comfort, and giving a belter 
promise of brighter days in the future. All the 
avenues leading to a snug competency are open to 
him, and we find him most zealously pursuing his 
way to reach that goal. In his wife he has a true 
and in fact a genuine helpmate, always ready and 
anxious to share every burden and every care, and 
bestow every joy and comfort of which she is capa- 
ble. A lady of refinement and taste, her home 
shows evidence of her skill as a housewife. To- 
gether they are a most estimable couple, and deserve 
all the good tilings that can come to them. In 
politics Mr. L. acts ivith the Democratic party. For 
a sketch of the lady's ancestry see the history of 
David Hite, Esq. As to the ancestry of the gentle- 
man's mother, refer to the sketch of William R. 
Lewis. 



Vi: 



•►^t^ 



ILLIAM MARSHALL, manager of the 
loot and shoe house of Charles Marshall, 
Weeping Water, has charge of one of 
the largest concerns of the kind in the city. The 
business was established by the father of our sub- 
ject in September, 1872, and has been familiarly 
known as Marshall's Shoe .Store eversince that time, 
although having been owned by difl:'erent members 
of the same family. Its success is indicative of the 
good judgment and discretion which have character- 
ized its management from the beginning. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Yorkshire, 



f 



-J^ 



•^ 



4- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1095 



England, April 17, 1862.anil ca'ue to America with 
his parents when a little lad ten years of age. 
After landinif upon the soil of this continent they 
made their way directly westward to this county, 
settling in Weeping Water, where the father en- 
gaged in the boot and shoe tra<le, and where our 
subject was reared to manhood. Here also he 
completed a practical education, and spending much 
time during his youthful days in his father's store, 
became at an early age familiar with all the details 
of the business. He assumed the management in 
.Iul3% 1886, and is keeping u|) the reputation of the 
family and the house in the old-time manner. 

Mr. Marshall was married. Nov. I 'J, 1885, to 
Miss Ella B. Savage, who was born in McDonough 
County, 111., Dec. 16, 1863. .James Savage, the 
father of Mrs. Marshall, was one of the solid 
farmers of that county, his property being located 
within the township limits of Macomb. He came 
to Nebraska about 1882, and purchased land in 
Hamilton Count}', where his death took place in 
July, 1884. Mrs. Savage is still living, and makes 
her home with her daughter Ella in Weeping Water. 
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall are the parents of one child, 
a son, Spencer J., who was born .Sept. 4, 188G. 
Mr. M. belongs to the I. O. O. F.. the K. of P. and 
the Modern Workmen of America. 

John Marshall, the father of our subject, was born 
in Yorkshire, P^ngland, April 18,1830, and lived 
there until 1 872. He married Miss Charlotte Day, 
a native of Worcestershire, and they became the 
parents of ten children, six sons and four daughters, 
who, with one exception, all came to America with 
him. Weeping Water at the time of his settlement 
here was a little town of 400 or oUO people, and he 
established his shoe store on the corner of Randolph 
and I streets, where it still remains. In due time 
there was a sign put out having upon it Marshall <fe 
Son, and later, as the father witlidrew from the act- 
ive business, and the sons took his place, it was. 
changed to Marshall Bros. The first two brothers 
assuming charge of the business were John T. and 
William. Next the former withdrew and William 
and Arthur U. conducted the business. It is now 
the property of Charles Marshall, who makes his 
home in Syracuse, Neb. 

John Marshall and his sons are equal to several 



full teams in their advocacy of the principles of the 
Repul)lican party. They meddle vei-y little with 
politics, but keep themselves thoroughly posted 
upon State and National events, and wield a silent 
influence whicfl has its weight. They are first-class 
business men, attending strictl}- to the details of 
their trade, .are prompt to meet their obligations, 
and in both the business and social circles of Cass 
County are marked A No. 1. 



\^=^JCHOLAS HALMES, one of the most lib- 
I )// eral and public- spirited citizens of Platts- 
lk\,£L) mouth Precinct, is pleasantly located on a 
good farm occupying a portion of section 8, and 
may be properly ranked among the self-made men 
of Cass County. Of German birth and ancestry, 
he is a native of Prussia, where he was born Aug. 
15, 1831. His parents were Martin and Mary 
(Newell) Halmes, the mother a native of the same 
Province as her son; they spent the latter part of 
their lives in Wisconsin and Nebraska. Both are 
now dead. 

Martin Halmes, Sr., the grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was born in the Province of Elza, France, 
where he married, and where Martin, Jr., was also 
born. The latter in 1814 joined the French Array, 
and the year following was taken prisoner by the 
Prussians into their countr}', and subsequently 
served in the ranks of the Prussian Armj^ a period 
of three years. At the close of the war he married 
a Miss Newall, and was a resident of Prussia until 
the year 1853. 

In thej-ear above mentioned Martin Halmes, Jr., 
accompanied by his wife and five children, emi- 
grated to America, and proceeding westward lo- 
cated in Wisconsin, where he followed farming 
until 1857. He then retired from active labor, and 
was making his plans to come to Nebraska and live 
with his son, our subject, when his death occurred 
in 1860, after having spent a few months in Chi- 
cago with his daughter, Mrs. Margaret Craig. 

After the death of his father our subject brought 
his mother home, and she lived with him until her 
death, which occurred in the year 1878. Mr. Halmes 
came to Nebraska Territory in 1857, locating in 



?^J 



I 



•►Hl^^ 



i 



-•►Hl- 



1096 



CASS COUNTY. 



the vicinity of the present town of Weeping AVater, 
pre-empting 160 acres of land, which he occupied 
until 1866. Then selling out he removed to 
his present home on sections 7 and 8. Here he 
purchased 200 acres, twenty acres of which had 
been broken, but further than this there was little 
improvement. He at once put up a stone house 
and began farming. He was prospered in his la- 
bors, and invested his surplus capital in additional 
land, being the possessor of 1,010 acres, all of 
which is in a productive condition. 

For a man who landed upon the soil of Nebraska 
with a capital of §5 in his pocket, Mr. Halmes has 
cartainly made a good record. A part of this he 
invested in a pair of boots, and then began work- 
ing for the farmers around. The first $300 which 
he made he lost, being the victim of misplaced 
confidence. He secured unto himself a wife and 
helpmate in 1860, being married to Miss Henrietta 
Obernolte, of Plattsmouth. Of this union there 
were born seven children, namely: Mary, Nicholas, 
Peter, Lena, Rosa, George and Joseph. Mrs. Hen- 
rietta Halmes departed this life in 1880. 

The present wife of our subject, to whom he 
was married in 1881, bears the name of Henri- 
etta Plager. This lad}', as was the former wife 
of our subject, is a member of the Lutheran 
Church, while Mr. H. belongs to the German Cath- 
olic. He is a man of decided ideas and votes in- 
dependently, aiming to support the men whom he 
considers the most trustworthy and efficient for 
office. 



,OBERT EMEN8 is a member of the firm of 
Gerardet, Boone & Emens, pioneer dry- 
IV goods, grocery and notion merchants of 
^ tiie city of Weeping Water. Tiiese gen- 
tlemen are young, active and enterprising, and 
have a bright and promising future before them. 
, Our subject was born in New Jersey, May 21, 
1857, a son of Abraham Emens, who was born in 
the same Stale in 1830. The father was in busi- 
nsss in Dayton until middle age, and there married 
Anna Van Arsdale, a most estimable woman, and a 
member of the Reformed Church. They are the 
parents of two children, Gertrude and our subject. 



Their daughter is now Mrs. F. E. Adams, of Pekin, 
111. When Mr. Eraens was about forty years of 
age he abandoned his native State, and the home 
of liis birth, with all its associations, to begin life 
again in tiie Prairie State, and settling in Pekin, 
III., established himself in tlie mercantile business, 
which he carried on for three years witii good suc- 
cess. After that he turned his attention to farm- 
ing, and he now owns a fine farm eight miles west 
of Pekin, where he and his vvife make their home. 
He is a man of prominence in that locality, and 
has held several township and county offices. His 
father, Jonathan Eraens. was a native of New 
Jersey, where lie carried on farming and was also 
engaged in other business. 

Robert Emens was twelve years old when his 
parents became residents of Illinois, and he com- 
pleted his education in the excellent Higli School 
of Pekin. After leaving school he engaged with 
his father on the farm until he attained manhood, 
and he then started out in life for himself. He re- 
mained in Illinois until 1882, when he came to 
Weeping Water. For some 3'ears he acted as clerk 
for different merchants in this State, a part of the 
time for Mr. Gerardet, his present partner, who was 
then manager for Wessel & Kohn, of Nebraska 
City. After the big fire of 1887 our subject, with 
other members of tlie firm, opened a new store, the 
doors being first opened to the public Jan. 10, 1888, 
since which time the}' have done a good and prom- 
ising business. Their establishment is well fitted 
up and neatly arranged, and every department is 
well stocked with goods, tlie best in the market, 
and at reasonable prices. 

Mr. Emens was married to Miss Cora Boone, of 
Utica, Neb., Nov. 26, 1884. To this union have 
been born two children — Sterling, Jr., and Hazel. 
Mrs. Emens was born in Manito, 111., in 1863, and 
is a daughter of Tnomis and Harriet (Robinson) 
Boone, Her father was a native of Pennsylvania, 
and in later life he moved to Illinois, where for 
some years lie was engaged in farming, and there 
his death occurred. His wtilow moved to Utica, 
Neb., where she lived until the marriage of her 
daughter Cora, and is now living here with her. 

Our subject is a wide-awake mm. of good busi- 
ness principles an I e.K33ptio:ial haliits, and his 



•► 



.^h 



•►Hl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1097 



sense of honor ami honesty is held in such higli 
respaot by those with whom lie has dealings that 
his word is as good as a bond. He avoids all poli- 
tics, except so far as duty calls him to the polls, 
where he votes with the Republican partj-. He is 
prominent socially, and is a Iv. of P. 



0~ HARLES H. WARNER, of Plattsmouth Pre- 
^ cinct. came to this county without means in 
' 1876, but is now the possessor of a gooil 
property embracing a fine farm of 150 acres, which 
he has brought to a good state of cultivation, and 
upon which he has erected neat and substantial 
frame buihlings. He is a man highly esteemed in 
his community, a Republican in politics, and with 
his estimable wife a member in good standing of 
the United Brethren Church. He has been quite 
prominent in local affairs, serving as School Treas- 
urer in his district two terms, and is at present a 
Director. 

Mr. Warner is a self-made man in the strictest 
sense of the term, having been thrown upon his owu 
resources when a mere child, and obliged to look 
out for himself. Ho was born in Woodford County, 
111.. Dec. 25, 1853. and is the son of Calvin and 
Nancy A. (Clark) Warner, who were natives re- 
spectively of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The paternal 
grandfather, John S. Warner, w.as a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and the great-grandfather of our subject 
a native of Germany. The latter emigrated to the 
United States at an early day, settling in Pennsyl- 
vania, where it is supposed he spent the remainder 
of his life. 

John Clark, the maternal grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was of Scotch ancestrj', and possibly born in 
the "land of the thistle."' It is known, however, 
that he was one of the earliest settlers of Wayne 
County, Ohio, where he spent his last days. Cal- 
vin Warner took up his abode in Woodford County, 
III., when his son Charles H. was a small boy. He 
■was born in 1817, and departed this life at his home 
in Woodford County, 111.. May 15. 1862. Mrs. 
Nancy A. (Clark) Warner survived her husband a 
period of twenty years, and also passed from earth 
p at her home in Woodford County, in 1882, at an 



»► I L ^* 



advanced age. The parental household included 
five sons alid two <laughters. Six of these children 
are living. 

Our subject was the fifth child of his parents, and 
was only seven years of age at the time of his 
father's death. He was then taken into the home 
of his uncle, Reuben Skinner, who married a sister 
of our subject's father. The boy lived with them 
until fourteen years old, then starting out for him- 
self, made his way across the Mississippi to Ne- 
braska Territory, and thence a short time later to 
Texas. He was a resident of the Lone Star Slate 
a period of five years, employing himself at what- 
ever he could find to do. and then returned to bis 
old haunts in Illinois. From there he came back 
to Nebraska in 1876. 

Mr. Warner was married, Dec. 23, 1879, to Miss 
Barbara E., daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth 
(McCorkle) AViles, of Plattsmouth Precinct. They 
commenced the journej' of life together here, and 
are now the parents of three children — Altiii G., 
Millie M. and Frederick M. The eldest of these 
is seven j^ears of age, and the j'oungest two. 

ETER PETERS. The name of this gen- 
tleman is entirely familiar among the lead- 
ing farmers and stock-growers of Cass 
County, with whose agricultural interests 
he has been closely identified for many j^ears. His 
history is not widely different from that of many 
of the prosperous men around him, he having 
crossed the Mississippi poor in purse and depend- 
ent upon his own resources. He now represents a 
fine property, and during his tweut3'-flve j'ears' res- 
idence in Cass County has continuously made his 
home in Avoca Precinct, and has built up a repu- 
tation second to none in the county as a skilled 
agriculturist and an upright business man. His 
farm of 160 acres is under a high state of cultiva- 
tion and improved with substantial buildings, 
while his live stock is first-class, including horses, 
cattle and swine, he making a specialtj^ of the two 
first mentioned. 

Prior to becoming a resident of Nebraska Mr. 
Peters had sojourned in Lake County, 111., for 



f 



A 1098 



■•►Hl- 



CASS COUNTY. 



some years. He had emigrated to the Prairie 
State from Missouri, where he located when coming 
a stranger to a strange land. He was born in the 
Duchy of Holstein, Germany, in 1833, and was 
the fifth child and fourth son of Teis and Sophia 
Peters, the latter of whom died when he was a 
small child, and he consequently knows very little 
of her family history. The parental household 
consisted of five sons and three daughters. Teis 
Ifeter, also a native of Holstein, was reared in the 
agricultural districts, and upon approaching man's 
estate was in the Government service of Denmark 
for some time, and during the progress of the 
Danish and Prussian War. He spent his entire 
life aftervrard in his native Holstein, where his 
death took place when he was about fifty-flve years 
old. 

Young Peters, in common with the youth of 
Germany, was placed in school at an early age, 
where he acquired the rudiments of a practical edu- 
cation in his native tongue, and being a bright 
and observant bo^', he early in life began to lay 
his plans for the future. Not being satisfied with 
the prospects in the Fatherland, he before attaining 
his eighteenth year set out alone for the United 
States, embarking on a sailing-vessel from the 
port of Hamburg, and arriving sixteen weeks 
later, in 1850, in New Yoi'k City. Thence he 
proceeded to Chicago, 111., by water and rail, and 
soon found employment on a farm in Cook 
County. He remained there long enough to have 
his heart ensnared )»y Miss Magdalena Schomaker 
and they were married in Cook County, Aug. 16, 
1858. 

Mrs. Peters, like her husband, was a native of 
Holstein, and born Feb. 23, 1826. She was the 
youngest of half a dozen cliildren, the offspring of 
Michael and Anna (Johaken) Schomaker, who are 
both now deceased. The father died in Germany 
when his daughter, Mrs. Peters, was a child five 
years of age. Later the mother emigrated to 
America with her little family, settling in this 
county. Her last days were spent at the home of 
her daughter, Mrs. Timm, in A voca Precinct, where 
she died when nearly seventy-five j'ears old. Both 
parents were Lutherans in religion. 

Mrs. Peters was reared to womaniiood in her 



native Empire, and was about eighteen years old 
when coming to this country with other members 
of the family. .She has become thoroughly Arasri- 
canized, and is a lady in every respect praiseworthy 
as a wife, mother and neighbor. Of her union 
with our subject there have been born eight chil- 
dren, all of whom are living : Sophia C. W. is the 
wife of Richard Francen, a farmer of Valley 
County, this State ; T. J. William married Miss 
Sophia Buck, and they live on a farm in Avoca 
Precinct ; Herman O. F. B. married Miss Anna 
Betts, and is conducting a saloon in Avoca ; H. C. 
Louis married Miss Ettie Bozard, and resides at 
Cook Station in Otoe County ; A. Amelia H. is 
the wife of Louis Lence, a farmer of Valley 
County ; P. George A. remains at home assisting 
his father in the management of the farm ; Einma 
C. C. and Alvina A. M. (twins) are also at home 
with their parents. 

Mr. Peters upon becoming a naturalized citizen 
identified himself with the Democratic party, and 
cast his first Presidential vote for Douglas. He 
has held the various local offices and signalized 
himself as a member of the community, thoroughly 
interested in its progress and welfare. Both he 
and his estimable wife are members in good stand- 
ing of the German Lutheran Church, attending 
services at Avoca. 



'I(,ENRY F.TAYLOR is one of the most promi- 
Ijfjl] nent of the energetic and successful farmers 
!*V^ and stock-raisers who have been instru- 
■(^ mental in [jlacing Cass County among the 
first counties of the State by the development of her 
wonderful resources, and he is now among the fore- 
most in sustaining her material prosperity. He h'as 
a large and very valuable farm, lying partly on sec- 
tion 25, and partly on section 36, Liberty Precinct, 
his residence being on the former section. Every- 
thing about the farm shows the presence of tlie 
master mind and hand, and in all its appointments 
it is a model estate. Mr. Taylor came to Cass 
County in 1864, and after being employed for a 
year in breaking prairie and teaming logs, he made 



t^* 



•► I I ^«- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1099 



-t 



his first purchase of IGO acres of land included in 
his present faini, and has ever s'nce been actively 
engaged in improving and adding to it. His home 
farm comprises 500 acres, and the sura total of his 
land is over 1.000 acres. In 1876 he turned his 
attention to raising mules, and has since been ex- 
tensively and profitably engaged in that branch of 
business, keeping three animals of choice breed for 
the purpose all of the time, and he can boast of 
supplying the county with as fine a lot of mules as 
there is in the State. 

Mr. Taylor was born in l^edford County, Xa., 
Sept. 11. 1837. and his f.ather, Henry Taylor, was 
also a native of the Old Dominion, coming of Scotch 
parents, who were American-born. The father of 
our subject was reared in Bedford County, his place 
of birth, and was reared to the calling of farmer. 
He was married to Jane Agnew, a native of the 
same county as himself, and although her parents 

■ were American-born, they were undoubtedly of 
Scotch descent. After marriage Henry Taylor and 

. wife lived in Bedford County until 1848, when, 
with their family, they took up their abode in 
Meigs County, Ohio. They settled on a farm in 
that county, and there some of their children were 
born. At the time of their settlement Meigs 
County, especially' the part in which they located, 
was still in a wild state, and theirs was the pioneer 
task of aiding in its development by clearing a farm 
from the surrounding primeval forests, and in the 
home in Salem Township that the}' thus built up, 
with the attendant hardships and struggles of pio- 
neer life, Henry Taylor and his wife died, he April 
13, 1863, at the age of sixty-five, and she March 1, 
1884, aged seventy-six. Their old farm is still in 
possession of their sons. 

The subject of this sketch was the fourth child 
and third son of the family of ten sons and two 
daughters, nine of whom lived to maturitj-, six 
of whom are yet living, and five of these are now 
married. He was reared on the old homestead in 
Ohio, having been a boy of nine years when his 
parents lefo their Virginian home for the one in 
Ohio. He was a quick, self-reliant, helpful little 
lad, and he was obliged to .issist iiis father in de- 
veloping his farm, so that his school privileges were 
very meager, but he m.anaged, nevertheless, tojjick 



up enough of an education to make him a good 
business man, and make life a success. After he 
became of age he left Ohio, and started for the 
West in 1860, and arriving at St. Joseph, Mo., he 
and seven others formed a company to cross the 
plains to the Rocky Mountains in search of gold. 
He and his comrades crossed the Missouri River 
April 20, 1860, and after a long and weary journey 
over the plains reached their destination in Colo- 
rado Territorj'. Mr. Taylor worked at mining in 
Russell Gulch for one season, and in the vicinity of 
Pike's Peak the rest of the time, where he had an 
interest in the Lode claims. He met with fair suc- 
cess, but owing to Indian troubles springing up, he 
having considerable property in teams and wagons, 
considered that his chances of retaining them were 
very slim on the pl'iins or in the mountains, where 
the redskins might seize them at any moment, so 
he disposed of them, and selling out all his inter- 
ests in mines and claims, retraced his way back un- 
til he arrived in Nebraska, and, as we have seen, 
subsequently settled on his present farm. 

That same year, 1864, our subject was married 
in Lil)erty Precinct, October 23, to Miss Barbara A. 
Lynn. She was born in Pennsylvania. Aug. 24 
1 849, and is a daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Truax) 
Lynn, who are now living near Union, in this county. 
Mr. Lynn is a well-known, prosperous old settler of 
this county, he having crossed the Missouri River 
about 1857 or 1858, and has ever since made his 
home where he now lives on section 23. Mrs. Ta}'- 
lor was only a year old when her parents moved 
from her native State to Ohio, and later to South- 
ern Illinois, where they lived five years. From 
there they moved to Fremont Countj', Iowa, and 
one year later to Nebraska, and began life on an 
unimproved farm, her parents then being very poor. 
Mrs. T.aylor was trained to a thorough knowledge 
of domestic work, is a fine housekeeper, looks well 
to the ways of her household, and is a devoted wife 
and mother. To her and her husband twelve chil- 
dren have been born, two of whom, Thomas and 
Ida, are de.ad. Those living are: Emma J., the wife 
of Charles Morton, a farmer in Liberty Precinct; 
Eva L., wife of A. L. Becker, a farmer in Liberty 
Precinct; the others are all at home, and are receiv- 
ing good educations in the public schools, their 



?^ri-^ 



naiues lieing as follows: William. Mary, Andiew, 
Louisa, Callahill. Luella, Minnie and Elsie B. 

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are among the active and 
energetic people of this county, have done their 
share toward its improvement, and have had no 
unimportant share in its present wonderful develop- 
ment. Mr. Taylor is a sound Republican, and takes 
an active interest in local politics. 

^ ^^^ ^ 



t 



SAAC N. APPLEGATE is prominently identi- 
fied with the local interests of Liberty Precinct, 
and is one of its leading farmers and stock- 
raisers. His farm on which he resides is undoubt- 
edly as well improved and under as good a state of 
cultivation as the best in the neighborhood, and its 
broad, fertile acres yield him a fine annual income. 
Our subject was born in Mason County, Ky., 
March 17, 1832, being a descendant of some of the 
brave, sturdy pioneers of that State. Kichard Ap- 
plegate, the grandfather of our subject, was a pa- 
triot of the Revolution, and also fought in the War 
of 1812. He was a native of Virginia, and a far- 
mer by occupation. He was reared to a strong and 
vigorous manhood in the Old Dominion, and was 
there married to a lady whose maiden name is 
thought to have been Wall. They afterward moved 
to near Washington, Mason Co., Ky.,and were vevy 
early settlers of that part of the State. They im- 
proved a farm in the wilderness, and after many 
long years they died of old age, and all that is 
mortal of their remains is reposing in the old fam- 
ily graveyard on the old homestead, which is still 
in possession of some of their descendants. 

Their son Vincent, the father of our subject, was 
the youngest son of a family of four sons and three 
daughters, all of whom are deceased. He was 
reared to manhood in Mason County, and after he 
attained liis majority he went to Ripley, Brown Co., 
Ohio, and was married to Ann Lemon. She was a 
native of Miry land, as were her parents, who had 
moved to Ohio when she was young. Her father, 
Hugh Lemon, and her mother spent their declining 
years in Brown County, where they died at an ad- 
vanced age. After marriage Vincent Appjegate re- 
turned to his native county in Kentucky, and lived 



there for some time. He subsequently went back to 
Ohio with his family, and settled in Brown Countj', 
and there he and his wife lived to build up a com- 
fortable home and to rear a family of eight chil- 
dren. In November, 18G9, the father closed his 
eyes to the scenes of earth, having rounded out a 
busy life of seventy-four years. His wife survived 
him until May 12, 1881, when she too passed away, 
having attained the venerable age of seventy -seven 
years. They were both upright, Christian people, 
the mother being a member of the Methodist 
Church. 

Our subject was the fourth child and third son of 
those worthy people, and he was quite young when 
they took up their residence in Brown Count}', 
Ohio. He was there reared and educated, and after 
he became of age, attracted by the many induce- 
ments for settlement in the Great West, held forth 
to stalwart, energetic, self-reliant young men like 
himself, who wished to build up comfortable homes, 
he made his way to Iowa, and the next fourteen 
years of his life were spent there, three years in 
Fremont County and eleven years in Montgomery 
County. In the latter county .he improved a farm, 
■which he sold on coming to this State. In 1865 he 
visited Cass County and purehase<] his first land 
(1 60 acres, which he has given his son), but did not 
live on the place until 1868, or attempt any im- 
provements until that time. His farm now com- 
prises 320 acres of land, nearly all well watered, and 
admirably adapted in every way to raising stock, 
to which he pays special attention, with great suc- 
cess, and he has his farm well stocked with cattle of 
good grades. He has provided it with comfort- 
able buildings. 

During his resilience in Iowa Mr. Applegate was 
married, Nov. 28, 1855, to Miss Margaret Carlisle. 
She was born in Highland County, Oliio, 5iay 23, 
1837. Her father, James Carlisle, was born in Vir- 
ginia, of Virginian parentage; he was reared in his 
native State. He w.as married there, in Adams 
County, to Miss Abigail Wade, and they subse- 
quentl}- began their wedded life in Highland County, 
where he engaged in farming. In 1852 the}' moved 
to Iowa with a family of eight children, and settled 
permanently in Montgomery County, being among 
the earl}' settlers of that part of Iowa. Mr. Car- 



■•»• 






<• 



•► 1 1^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1101 



lisle pre-emptetl land, and with the assistance of his 
wife, built up a home from the wild prairie. They 
died on the homestead, the mother Aug. 13, 18t)9, 
at the age of sixty-six years, and the father in De- 
cember, 1878, being then fourscore years old. Mrs. 
Applegate was in her girlhood when her parents 
moved to Iowa, and there she liecame of age. Since 
their marriage she and her husliand have devoted 
their earnest efforts to making a comfortable, happj' 
home. They have one child. LeRoj', who is at 
present engaged at his trade of blacksmith, at Ne- 
hawka, where he has a smith^', and is carrj'ing on a 
flourishing business. He married Ida F. Warfield, 
and they have three children — Joy R., Clce and 
James C. Mrs. LeRoy Applegate was born in 
Rochester, Mo., Dec. 9, 1861, and is the daugh- 
ter of Samuel and Emma (Elkin) Warfield, now 
residents of Broken Bow, Custer Co., Neb., where 
Mr. Warfield is conducting the tinner's trade. Our 
subject is gifted with much sagacity, foresight and 
practical tenacity of purpose. In his political views 
he is an independent Democrat. 



^^TRUS RODNEY ANDRUS, a homesteader 
[l( of 1869, took up tlic southeast quarter of 

■^^7 section 26. in Tipton Precinct, in the fall of 
that year, and has since given to it his best efforts 
in the construction of a farm. In noting his sur- 
roundings to-day the traveler is impressed with the 
fact that the labors of Mr. Andrus have met with 
ample reward. His land has been brought to a 
good state of cultivation, and improved with neat 
and substantial buildings, and the whole premises 
very nearly approach the modern idea of the com- 
plete country home. Mr. Andrus has now reached 
his fifty-first j'ear, but is strong and robust, as the 
result of temperate living and correct habits, and 
would pass for a man many years younger. 

The career which our subject marked out for 
himself in his early manhood and which he has 
endeavored to follow, has been such as to commend 
him to the good opinion of his fellow-citizens, who 
regard him with the highest confidence and esteem. 
He comes of an excellent old New England family, 



being the son of Thomas and Eliza (Beardsley) 
Andrus, the father a native of Rutland, Vt., and 
born in 1803, and the mother born in Hartford. 
Conn., in 1808. The paternal grandfather, also 
Cyrus Andrus, was a Vermont farmer in good cir- 
cumstances, but finally left his native State and 
migrated to Pennsylvania, where he continued the 
pursuit of agriculture until his death, after he had 
arrived at the advanced age of eighty-six years. 
The great-grandfather of our subject was a man of 
propertj', being owner of the entire marble quarry 
at Green Mountain, Vt. On the mother's side 
Grandfather Isaac Beardsley was born in Connecti- 
cut, whence he migrated to Pennsylvania, engaged 
successfully in farming, and rested from his earthly 
labors at the age of eighty-four j'ears. 

Thomas Andrus, tlie father of our subject, leavino- 
New England when a boy, settled with his parents 
near Seneca Lake, New Y'ork State, and was reared 
to manhood on a farm. At this period of his life 
he became interested in the lumber business, en- 
gaged in making shingles, and otherwise became 
identified with this industry in the Empire State. 
There also he was married to Miss Beardsley, and 
not long afterward they removed to Pennsylvania, 
joining the parents on both sides of the house. Mr. 
Andrus took up a tract of timber land in Bradford 
County, and before leaving the Keystone State had 
cleared three farms. 

In the fall of 1867 Thomas Andrus decided to go 
beyond the Mississippi, and see something of the 
Great West. The end of his journey found him in 
Muscatine County, Iowa, where he settled and re- 
mained two years. Not quite satisfied with the 
prospect, he -again changed his residence, coming in 
the fall of 1869 to this county, and homesteading 
eighty acres of land in Tipton Precinct. He was 
fairly prosperous in his labors of opening up a 
farm, and operated with his usual industry until 
advancing years admonished him it would be wise 
to retire. He, with his estimable partner, made his 
home with his son Cyrus, our subject, where he 
died Dec. 27, 1888, aged eighty-five years, seven 
moiUhs and sixteen days. Prior to coming to this 
State the3' had been for manj- years identified with 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. 
Andrus was a chief pillar, officiating as Class- 



t^l-M* 



•►Hl^^ 



^ ^n <• 



1102 



CASS COUNTY. 



Leader, and holding; other positions of trust. Since 
coming to Nebraska they have been connected with 
the United Brethren. 

To the parents of our subject there were l)orn 
eight children, naniel}': Jane and Mabel, who died 
wiien eigliteen and forty-six 3^ears ol<l ; Marietta, a 
resident of Pennsylvania; Truman, living in Ore- 
gon; C. Rodnej% oursubject; Tlionias J. and Hiram, 
deceased ; and Susan, a resident of Nebraska. Tru- 
man and Thomas served as Union soldiers in the 
late Civil War, the former three years, and the lat- 
ter nearly four. Thomas died from the effects of 
hardships and exposure in Pennsylvania. 

The subject of this sketch was born near Canton, 
Bradford Co., Pa., March 17, 1838. and spent his 
boyhood and youth after the manner of most 
farmers' sons. He attended the brief winter season 
of the district school until seventeen years of age, 
and continued a member of the parental household 
until reaching his majority. At this period, desir- 
ous of starting out for himself, he purchased sev- 
enty-five acres of timber land in the vicinity of the 
olil homestead, a part of which he cleared, made 
good improvements, and remained upon it until 
1867. He had in the meantime visited the State 
of Iowa, and after that could not get rid of the idea 
that he was on the wrong side of the mountains. 
He accordingly, in 1867, disposed of his property 
In Pennsylvania, and returning to Muscatine County, 
Iowa, operated on rented land there two years. In 
the spring of 1869, deciding to push still further 
westward, he gathered together his family and per- 
sonal effects, and started overland with two mule- 
teams for the young State of Nebraska. Mr. 
Andrus made the journey to Nebraska in better 
style than many of his compeers, having sent his 
household goods by rail, therefore to the family 
it was rather a pleasure trip than otherwise. They 
crossed the Missouri River at Plattsmoulh, and pro- 
ceeding to the southwest corner of this county our 
subject pitched his tent in Tipton Precinct, and in 
February, 1869. horaesteaded eighty acres of his 
present farm. Upon it there iiad been no attempt 
whatever at improvement, and he could not even 
see a iiuman dwelling from his place. His first busi- 
ness was to put up a shelter for the family, and for 
this he was obliged to haul lumber from Platls- 



mouth, thirtj'-five miles awaj'. There were then no 
paved streets or even a macadamized road, and the 
task of transporting building material over the 
country can better be imagined than described. 
The men of that time, however, were well equipped 
with resolution and perseverance, and Mr. Andrus 
was in nowise lacking in these qualities. It never 
occurred to him to look back after he had put his 
hand to the plow, and he surmounted this as well as 
the scores of other dilHculties which presented 
themselves from time to time. 

After effecting tlie most urgent arrangements for 
the comfort of his family our subject began the 
cultivation of his land, the planting of fruit and 
forest trees, the fencing of his fields, and the erec- 
tion of additional buildings as he had need. He 
has now a flourishing apple orchard of 380 trees, 
and a fine grove. The land is plentifully watered 
by a running stream, and tiie fields are enclosed 
with hedge and wire fencing. Mr. A. in due time 
ad<led to his real estate b}^ the purchase first of 
eighty acres, his father's homestead, and liter 160 
acres of well-improved land besides. The farm is 
largely devoted to stock-raising, Mr. Andrus having 
good grades of cattle, horses and swine. 

Our subject prior to leaving his native State pro- 
vided himself with a wife and helpmate. Miss Anna 
Matson, their marriage taking place at the home of 
the bride in Bradford County, Pa., Feb. 1, 1860. 
Mrs. Andrus was born in Maj', 1841, iu Ohio, and 
is the daughter of James and Mary (Kels) Matson, 
who were natives of Vermont, and are now in New 
Jersey. Of her union with our subject there were 
born, in 1861, twins, who died not long afterward. 
Thej' have since had no children. They have, how- 
ever, performed the part of parents to a boy known 
as John Andrus, who is now living on his homestead 
claim in Lincoln County, Neb. In that co'Mity also 
Mr. Andrus has a tract of 160 acres of timber claim. 

The first Presidential vote cast by Mr. Andrus 
was for Abraham Lincoln. In view of this fact it 
is scarcely necessary to add that he is a Republican 
of the first water, and he has assisted in the election 
of every Republican President since that time. He 
has been .active in the support of the princiiiles of 
his partj' in this section, officiating as a delegate to 
the county conventions, and laboring as he has had 



•►H !:::<!«•: 





M 




(?j) coi.-^^^ • (p-.^A^d^^ 



•►Hl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1107 



opportiinitj' to further its interests. He lias been, 
most of the time since coming here, a member of 
the School Board of his district, served as Justice 
of tiie Peace two years, and has re|)resented his pre- 
cinct in the County Board of Supervisors. Both 
he and his estimable wife are members in good 
standing of the United Brethren Church, attending 
services at Union. Mr. Andrus ofliciates as Class- 
Leader, and is Assistant Superintendent of the 
Sunda3f-school. In this brief summary of his life 
it will be seen that he has been a good and useful 
citizen, and one whose name will beheld in remem- 
brance long after he has been gathered to his 
fathers. 



•^ 






"^F SGIL S. WILL. There is no pleasanter 
< .©/lJI , picture to be found on the face of the globe 

jjl IM than a well-regulated country estate, with 
^§ fields of green and gold, with well-fed cat- 

tle, horses and swine, substantial farm buildings, 
groves of forest trees and orchards of fruit trees, 
and the air of plenty and comfort which surrounds 
the ideal homestead. These thoughts were sug- 
gested in a most forcible manner as the biographer 
strolled over a portion of the farm belonging to 
the subject of this sketch. He found hiin comforta- 
bly located on section 1, in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, 
and the owner of 400 acres of land, of which he 
became the possessor in February, 1883. 

During the early settlement of Nebraska, and 
before making his present purchase, Mr. Will had 
for some years operated on rented land, and thus 
acquired the capital with which to secure his first 
quarter-section, which lay in Rock Bluff Precinct. 
In the spring of 1886 he added to his real estate, 
and by subsequent purchase has become the owner 
of 400 broad acres, which, under his wise manage- 
ment, makes an estate of great value. Tb« improve- 
ments are first-class, the dwelling being convenient 
and substantial, and the barn and other out-build- 
ings suitably arranged for the storing of grain and 
the shelter of stock. Of the latter Mr. Will keeps 
about 200 head of cattle alone; he is, in fact, one 
of the largest stock-feeders in this locality. By 
close attention to business this industry has been to 



him tlie source of a fine income. The Will home- 
stead, with its appurtenances, is one of the distinct- 
ive features of Mt. Pleasant Precinct, and reflects 
great credit upon the perseverance and industry of 
him by whom it was inaugurated and is being per- 
petuated. 

A native of the Old Dominion, our subject was 
born in Highland County, April 2.3, 1848, and is 
the son of Washington W. and Elizabeth ( Arbo- 
gast) Will, the former of whom died about 1877. 
They also were natives of Virginia, and traced 
their ancestry to England. The paternal grand- 
father settled in Virginia during its early days, 
and there spent the remainder of his life. On the 
mother's side of the house the family were among 
the pioneers of Highland County. The parental 
family inctluded seven children, six of whom are 
living. Of these Asgil S., our subject, -was the 
eldest born son. Susan is the wife of Josiah Pal- 
mer, of Highland County, Va.; Swope H. came to 
the West about 1883, and lives in Mt. Pleasant 
Precinct, this county; Virginia married J. A. Har- 
old, and they continue residents of West Virginia; 
Molly, the wife of Isaac Eckard, also lives there ; 
William came to Nebraska about 1887. The mother 
is still living, being now nearly seventy years of 
age, and continues a resident of her native State. 
She is a good woman iti the broadest sense of the 
term, and is held b}- her children and neighbors in 
the highest regard. 

Mr. Will was reared to man's estate in his native 
county, where he was early trained to habits of 
industry, and received but a limited education. 
He, however, availed himself of every opportunity 
to gain useful knowledge, and there are few men 
possessed of more practical information, and with 
whom it is more pleasant or profitable to converse. 
He found his bride in his native county, being mar- 
ried, Jan. 16, 1870, to Miss Barbai-a, daughter of 
Miles and Catharine (Waybright) Harold, who 
were also Virginians by birth, and who are now 
living in that State. 

Mr. and Mrs. Will commenced their wedded life 
together in Highland County, Va., and there be- 
came the parents of three children. Their house- 
hold finally numbered seven, four sons and three 
daughters. These were named respectively: Fred- 



■•►Hh 



•►Hl^^ 



1108 



CASS COUNTY. 



erick S., Jasper N., Blanche, Nora B., Thomas, 
Minnie and Grover. Mr. Will cast his first Presi- 
dential vote for Horace Greeley in 1872, and has 
since continued a strong supporter of Democratic 
principles. He is at present serving as a School 
Director in his district, and lends a helping hand 
to those projects designed for the general welfare 
of the conimunit3-. A man prompt to meet his 
obligations, and one scorning a mean action, he is 
a typical A'irginian, with decided ideas, and one 
who, while having a thorough respect for the old 
usages, avails himself also of the new methods, 
and takes advantage of the age of progress, reduc- 
ing to practice the theories which commend them- 
selves to his judgment and understanding. In the 
management of his farm and business interests he 
displays the practical good judgment which is in- 
variablj^ crowned with success, and thus we find 
him surrounded by all of the comforts and many 
of the luxuries of life. 

Portraits of our subject and his estimable wife 
appear on adjoining pages, and elsewhere in this 
volume will also be found a view of his fine resi- 
dence, which is a feature of the precinct. 

^! OSEPH T. JMILLS, a prosperous farmer and 
leading citizen, resides on section 8, Elm- 
wood Precinct. He was born July 19, 1838, 
in the town of Argyle, Washington Co., 
N. Y., where he lived with his p.arents until reach- 
ing the age of twelve years, when the family re- 
moved to Peoria County, 111., where his mother 
died in 1880, aged seventy years. He was the eldest 
son in a family of ten children, four sons and six 
daughters, born to his parents. His father now re- 
sides on section 4, in Elmwood Precinct, seven tj'- 
seven years old. The early j-ears of our subject 
were spent in the ordinarj^ farm duties of the time, 
and for many winters he drove oxen, hauling saw- 
logs and other similar work, in which he became an 
expert, having driven as high as nine teams of oxen 
at once. He pursued this life until the Civil War 
opened, and he at the age of twentj'-four enlisted, 
Aug. 11. 1862, in Company- E, 77th Illinois In- 
fantry. He was mustered into the service at Peo- 



ria. From Peoria the regiment was sent South, and 
was attached to the 1st Brigade, 4th Division. 13th 
Army Corps. They first encountered the rebels in 
the swamps of the Yazoo River, before the battles 
of Vicksburg. They also i)articipated in the en- 
gagement at Arkansas Post. 

The regiment of which our subject was a mem- 
ber was engaged in digging the canal that was de- 
signed by Gen. Grant to turn the floods of 
the Jlississippi River, and leave Vicksburg an 
inland town. They took an active part in the 
siege of that city, and had a fierce and bloody en- 
counter with the rebels at Champion Hills. In 1863 
they were in the Louisiana campaign; in the 
autumn of the same year were in the Matagorda 
Ba^' expedition. In the spring of 1864 he was in 
the Red River campaign. In the desperate battlt, 
at Sabine Cross Roads or Mansfield, he and many 
other comrades were taken prisoners by the reliels 
and taken to Camp Ford, as the prison at Tyler, 
Tex., was known. At this place thej' suffered 
everything but death. The second night after 
arrival they had only raw cornmeal and salt meat 
to eat, and no water to drink. After suffering 
similar hardships for a long time, Lieut. Henry L. 
Bushnell and our subject planned to escape, and on 
Feb. 12, 1865, they were successful in getting 
away, and they eluded their pursuers until they 
reached Louisiana, when they were recaptured and 
placed in the bull-pen at Shrevesport, La. The 
adventures and experiences had by the comrades 
wei'e at once hazardous and romantic. Being pur- 
sued, and right in the rear of the rebel army, 
making their way slowly onward, suffering every 
hardship and hunger, cold and exposure, and their 
final recapture, would furnish an inexhaustible 
theme for the pen of the novelist. 

In April, 1865, they were removed from Shreves- 
port to Tyler, Tex., and confined in their first 
prison. For many weeks and months he, with his 
comrades, eked out a miserable existence in this 
Southern hell. While there the last time he became 
.acquainted with John T. Roberts, of Lieut. Earl's 
United States Secret Service, who had been taken 
prisoner while out on a scouting expedition up the 
Mississippi River, and taken to Shrevesport, 
La. Here also he met Confederate Maj. Robin- 



•► ^f"^ 



^iPllr 



CASS COUNTY. 



1109 



son, who proved to be a loyal man at heart, 
although forced to serve in the Confederate 
Army. Upon conversation the3- found they were 
both born near the same place in New York. The 
Major gave our subject a blanket and woolen shirt, 
which he needed very badly. While traveling in 
New York State a year or two ago he was happily 
surprised to meet the Major, and they passed many 
hours recalling the life in Tyler. The soldier Rob- 
erts, above referred to, did not dare reveal his 
identity, either to the prisoners or the Confeder- 
ates. Had he done so he would have been tried 
and executed as a sp3^ He passed himself off as 
being a member of the 2d New York Cavalry. 

Our subject was the only man who gained his 
confidence to such a degree that he told him his 
real character and the branch of the service to 
which he belonged, and when captured was out on 
an expedition as special spy. Roberts was an in- 
teresting character, and it would have been pleas- 
ant to have continued the friendship formed under 
such trying circumstances, but Mr. Mills has lost 
track of him since he parted with him at New Or- 
leans, at the close of the war. "Roberts of Natchez," 
as he was usually called, was a Southern born man, 
but a loyal Union citizen. He was offered a com- 
mission as Lieutenant Colonel if he would enter 
the Confederate service, but he hated the rebels 
and their cause, and to all their overtures he re- 
plied: "The stars and stripes shall be my winding 
sheet." They tried to make their escape in many 
ways. A second attempt was unsuccessful; they 
were quickly discovered and brought back to the 
prison. While in that prison our sul)ject saw deeds 
of cruelty that would make one's blood run cold. 
Although they were often defeated in their attempts 
to get away they were determined to trj- again, and 
were always on the watch for something to turn 
up that would be to their advantage, and it was 
hot long until the opportunity came. One day 
twenty prisoners were out in the woods for the 
purpose of gathering brush for fuel. Roberts and 
our subject met a disabled prisoner from the 6th 
Kansas Cavalry. Arrangements were made at 
once to have him go back to prison in order to 
make the number twenty, and let Roberts escape, 
and Roberts was to wait until Mills could make his 



•► 



escape and meet him. Like a flash this plan sug- 
gested itself: Twenty more of the boj'S would be 
let out in the afternoon to gather brush, and it was 
his plan to jump over the stockade while the 
guards were not looking. In this hazardous under- 
taking he was singularly successful, and the same 
afternoon he joined Roberts at a ravine west of the 
grave3'ard. as previously agreed upon. 

Mr. Mills and his comrade Roberts now being 
out of the stockade, laid their course toward the 
Sabine River. Thej^ had no arms or means of de- 
fense but a dirk knife. They put asafetida on 
their feet so the hounds might not trace them. At 
length, after enduring many hardships and priva- 
tions, the^' reached the river. The.y ingeniously 
constructed a raft from sassafras poles that had 
been used in a trap to catch wild hogs. Moimt- 
ing their raft away they went down the river, 
until finally the raft, began to sink, the wood hav- 
ing absorbed so much w.ater, and they were obliged 
to abandon it. Scouting along the river bank they 
finally discovered a flat-bottom boat, which they 
appropriated to their use, and continued their 
journey down the river for a distance of 400 miles. 
It would require a volume to describe this journey 
with all its incidents, narrow escapes and dangers. 
They traveled at night and camped in the day- 
time, when the^- would conceal themselves and 
their boat. At one time the^' were lost in one of 
tlie numerous bayous. 

For the first time in their journey they were not 
able to agree — Roberts wanted to leave the boat 
and Mills wanted to keep it. Roberts was of a 
very nervous disposition, and he broke down en- 
tirely. Being lost in a dismal place and at the 
point of starvation, and at the constant risk of be- 
ing recaptured, were things that would test the 
bravest heart. Roberts swore, prayed and cried 
alternately. Mr. Mills finally succeeded in per- 
suading him to stick to the boat, and carefully 
watching the current of the water, they were, 
in the course of an hour afterward, in the main 
channel of the Sabine River. Their objective point 
was the United States gimboats, which they knew 
were on the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. They 
had but little food for several d.ij^s, and were now 
growing desperate. The small amount of parched 
■» 



T 



t. 



•►Hl^ 



t 



1110 



CASS COUNTY. 



J^ , He a 



cornmeal and sugar Mr. Mills had received from 
the bo\'S, which he had stored away in his haver- 
sack while in the prison, was exhausted. Roberts 
declared he would sooner starve than be caught in 
attempting to procure food, but a hungry man will 
undertake almost anything to relieve his sufferings. 
One night about 12 o'clock they came to a large 
plantation. Roberts at first thought it would be 
advisable to kill a mule with their knife, but finally 
they came to a place where a lot of hogs were con- 
fined. He got a piece of a rail and raised it to 
strike a porker on the head, but the blow took 
effect on a beam overhead. This aroused the hogs 
of course, so he came down to the river again, as 
he had left it, without any food. 

There was a fine cypress canoe belonging to the 
plantation, which they decided to take in exchange 
for their old friend, the flat-bol torn boat. After a 
little consultation they formed the following plan: 
:Mills should go up again to the plantation and 
make an effort to get some corn out of the crib, 
and if he was detected he should run back to the 
canoe, get into it and float down with the current. 
He was to lie flat on the bottom of the boat so he 
could not be hurt should he be fired at. This was 
a good plan, and its fulfillment undoubtedly saved 
his life. He approached the corn-crib very care- 
fully, as he thought, but not so still but that he 
awakened a pack of hounds, who came rushing at 
him. He, thinking discretion the better part of 
valor, made for the canoe with all the speed of 
which he was capable. By the time he reached the 
boat twenty of the dogs were on the bank ready to 
.attack him, he having escaped them by a very 
small margin of safety. Entering the boat with 
Roberts they resumed their journey down the 
stream. Their search for food in this instance 
proved unavailing. 

As morning was approaching they turned their 
boat into a bayou for the day's rest, and both be- 
ing exhausted they fell soundly asleep. Our sub- 
ject awakening from a frightful dream heard 
strange noises. Climbing to the top of a burr-oak 
tree he could see a large plantation in the distance. 
The noise which awoke him were the yells of a 
colored woman who was being terribly whipped. 
He aroused Roberts and told him of their danger- 



o\is situation. Without another word they got 
into their boat and moved down the river, seeking 
a more secluded place, which they found, and 
where they landed and concealed their boat. They 
had just got the boat hidden and themselves into 
shelter, when three white men, armed with guns, 
rowed down the river, evidently looking for our 
refugees. They apparently belonged to the plan- 
tation where the hounds had made the racket the 
night before. This was one of the many provi- 
dential escapes and deliverances which occurred 
during this eventful journey. For two days more 
they had nothing to nourish them but sweet-briar 
root. Every night they would pass from two to 
four rebel boats. In such instances they rowed 
alongside of the rebels, so the men on board those 
boats could not see our wanderers, who had pro- 
cured and wore the rebel uniform. If they had 
rowed on the opposite side of the stream they 
would have been seen and detected. During all 
the journey they spoke only to negroes, and when 
they got food or other supplies from them they 
swore them into eternal silence. 

Mr. Mills says he will never forget one full- 
blooded African he met. One night, driven by hun- 
ger, they stopped at a large plantation and went up 
to arouse one of the negroes, and if possible pro- 
cure something to eat. Of course this was a great 
risk. He succeeded in arousing a colored man and 
making him swear that he would never tell on 
him, and that he would support Abe Lincoln's 
government, and much more on the same line, to 
which the colored man eagerly assented, and faith- 
fully gathered up all the crumbs and food left from 
the previous evening meal, and a quantity of corn 
meal, which he gave Mr. Mills. The old darkey was 
loyal to the heart's core, and he jjleaded that he 
might go with our subject, promising him that he 
would assist liim all he could, and when the war 
ended he would live with him all his life. They 
did not take him with them, but sped on their 
journey down the river. 

The rebels were stationed close to Sabine Lake, 
near which the refugees must pass. There they 
sunk their boat and concealed themselves in the 
rushes, having no weapons but 03rster shells to 
protect themselves from the alligators, which 



»► ir^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1111 



abounded in the water. Resuming their journe}' 
at nightfall they repeated the experience the fol- 
lowing day. On a large beech tree they cut their 
names; our subject says he would give $50 for a 
small piece of that tree if he could get it now. 
They pushed their way onward, and soon found 
themselves at the delta of the Sabine, which they 
found to coincide exactly with the information 
they had received from the colored man who was 
so anxious to accompany them. The next prob- 
lem that presented itself for solution was to pass 
the rebel fort without being discoverd. After 
liaving suffered so much they were now confronted 
by one of the gravest difficulties. At the hazard 
of their lives they rowed past the piling along the 
side of .the fort. It seemed as though their hearts 
were in their throats, and that they would never 
get past it, although thev pulled at the oars like 
madmen. 

Having successfully passed the fort a new and 
hitherto unthought-of difficulty presented itself. 
They had no water to drink; the bodj' of water on 
which they were was brackish, made so by the salt 
waters from the Gulf, so that the}^ were enduring 
not onlj' the pangs of hunger but of thirst also. 
They passed the wrecks of the steamers "Sachem" 
and "Clifton," that were wrecked by the rebels, 
the crews of which they had seen while imprisoned 
at Tj4er, Tex., the place they were now fleeing 
from. After suffering everything but death in 
their perilous journey of sixteen days and nights, 
they at Iflst beheld the United States man of war, 
named "Owasco," commanded by Capt. Penning- 
ton, Ij'ing some four or five miles out to sea. The 
wind blew a gale and the waves rolled fearfully, 
yet not to be deterred by these, they started di- 
rectly toward the ships. As the waves would raise 
them to the crest they signalled the ships, a life- 
boat was lowered from one, uniformed men and offi- 
cers starting out to meet them. 

By this time our subject and his companion were 
so seasick and exhausted from their privations that 
they could not lift an oar. They were clothed in 
Confederate gray, and when thej' met the rescuing 
vessel the Captain greeted them thus: "Hello, 
Johnnies!" Roberts said: "Damn you, we are not 
.Tolinnies." Captain: "Well, who the devil are 



youthen.?" Roberts: "We're live Yankees from 
Tyler, Tex." Captain: "Do you loiow the offi- 
cers of the "Sachem" and "Clifton? " They replied 
that they did. Our subject was so sick and weak 
he could scarcely climb the ladders lowered to the 
boats. He was so emaciated he could have easily 
spanned his waist. Upon stepping on board the 
vessel the reaction from the long-continued sus- 
pense was so great that Mr. Mills trembled vio- 
lently, the first time in his life he had ever ex- 
perienced anything of the kind. The ship on which 
they were received was the man of war "Owasco," 
commanded by Capt. Pennington. 

Our subject says his conception of heaven is no 
sweeter than the feelings he experienced when he 
found himself on board the "Owasco," after pass- 
ing through the many perils and dangers in his 
journey from Tyler to freedom. The officers and 
soldiers on board the vessel vied with each other 
in showing deeds of kindness. Their clothing, 
which they had worn so long, was infested with 
vermin. It was taken away, and after a lux- 
urious bath, and passing through the barber's chair, 
where they were shaved and had their hair cut, Mr. 
Mills and Mr. Roberts were provided with nice 
flannel shirts and officers' clothing. They were 
daily tendered princelj' receptions, and were 
allowed the freedom of the boat. After living this 
life for sixteen days, the United States mail 
steamer "Augusta Dinsmore" took them on board, 
and landed them in New Orleans, where they met 
the members of their old company who had been 
with them in Tyler, who had been exchanged and 
had arrived in New Orleans six days before our 
subject and his companion. Here our two com- 
panions in misery, j\lr. jMills and Mr. Roberts, were 
obliged to separate, and they have never met since 
that time. Mr. Mills was mustered out of service 
and honorably discharged at Springfield, 111., in 
June, 1865. Upon his arrival at New Orleans he 
had written to his home at Peoria advising of his 
safe return, the receipt of which was like a mes- 
sage from the dead, and many s.ad hearts were made 
happy. 

Mr. Mills was married, in 1867, to Miss Frances 
Morris, a native of Indiana. After their marriage 
they made their home for one year in Henderson 



r 



••► 



<t 



1112 



CASS COUNTY. 



County. 111., where tbey rented a farm. Like 
many other old soldiers he came to the growing 
State of Nebraska, in 1868, and settled in Elmwood 
Precinct. Their experiences were common with 
all other early settlers in this State; their hardships 
were no greater and no less. They have an inter- 
esting family of five children— ^Lizzie, Hattie, 
James M., .Joseph T. and jMabel. In 1869 Mr. Mills 
sold his homestead to Mr. Towle, and the same year 
purchased his present farm on section 8. where he 
has prospered and done well. Both himself and 
wife have worked hard .and long, and in conse- 
quence they And themselves surrounded witli com- 
forts and a competency that will carry them 
through to the end. 

The father of our subject, .James Mills, as well as 
his mother, were natives of Washington County, 
X. Y. Grandfather Mills served in the American 
Army during the War of 1812. The ancestors of 
both parents came to New York from Ireland and 
Scotland. 

Our subject has just purchased .nnother tract of 
eighty acres of land, making him the owner of 
280 acres in all. His farm is very valuable on ac- 
count of its favorable location, as well as the many 
improvements thereon. He has planted a fine 
orchard, large quantities of shrubbery and orna- 
mental trees, has two fish ponds well stocked with 
carjD. His residence is large and roomy, his barns 
and cattle sheds are first class, and taken altogether, 
it shows that the gentleman is well informed and 
abreast of the times in the science of agriculture. 
He is a member of the G. A, R., and a strong Re- 
publican. 



'^ OHN WOLPERT. In the record following 
we have that of a man who has seen much 
of pioneer life, and has performed his part 
^&)j in the development of a section of land in 
this county. Self-made in the strictest sense of the 
word, he from the beginning was dependent upon 
his own resources, acquiring early in life the habit 
of industrj' and perseverance, which served him so 
well in later j'ears. He came to this county in the 
summer of 1871, and for a time worked around 
among the farmers, gaining anioiig them a reputa- 



tion for honesty and indufli^y. i^liitl) made friends 
for him wherever he went. In the spring of 1874 
he settled upon tlie land which he now owns, and 
which, under his good management, soon began to 
assume the jiroportions of a comfortable home- 
stead. 

A native of the Province of Baden, Geimany, 
our subject was born Jan. 15, 1831, and is the son 
of Sebastian and Margaret (Kiihngamberger) Wol- 
pert, who weie also of German biilh and ancestry. 
The father was a farmer by occupation, and the 
parental houseliold was cympleted by the birth of 
six children, of whom the fullowing survive, naniel^^ : 
Michael F., a resident of Detroit. Mich.: John, our 
subject, and Sebastian. Jr., of LaSalle County, III. 
The parents are deceased. 

Mr. Wolpert continued in the Fatherland until 
reaching man's estate, receiving a good practical 
education in tiie public schools of his native Prov- 
ince. March 23. 1852, he took passage at Havre 
on a sailing-vessel bound for the United States, and 
after an ocean voyage of thirty-two days landed 
safely in the city of New Yoik. He was accom- 
panied I)}' neighbors, and after a ver^' brief sojourn 
in the great metropolis, set out for Southern Ohio, 
and for two months was employed at gardening 
in tl)e vicinity of Cincinnati. Later he migrated 
to Indiana, and spent about one year in the city of 
Indianapolis and vicinity. During his migrations 
he was by degrees learning to speak and read in 
the English language, and made very good head- 
way. Finally returning to Ohio, he went up into 
the northeastern part of the State, and for a short 
time worked on a farm near Sandusky City. We 
next find him in Chicago, 111. He there employed 
himself at whatever he could find to do, and later 
sojourned in various parts of the Prairie State, 
whence he finally came to Nebraska. 

It will thus be seen that Mr. Wolpert has traveled 
over a considerable portion of the West, and in his 
migrations he kept his eyes open to what was going 
on around him, gaining a good idea of the people 
of the United States, and the manner in which they 
carried on business. After becoming a resident of 
Nebraska, and ready to establish a fireside of his 
own, he was united in marriage with Miss Annie 
Exmaker, the wedding taking place in Cass County, 



•^ 



"► II M* 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•»> 



1113 



Feb. 10, 1874. Mrs. Wolpert, like her husband, 
was a native of Germany, and a lady possessing all 
the womanly virtues, being a faithful and devoted 
wife, a true and careful mother. There were born 
of this union three children, namely: Joseph, Nov. 
21, 1H74; Maggie, March 22, 1878; and Katie, 
April 17, 1880. Mrs. Annie Wolpert departed 
tliis life at tlie homestead in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, 
Dec. 14, 1884, leaving a most affectionate family to 
mourn their loss. They have sadly missed her since 
she passed away, and her name will ever be lield in 
the tenderest remembrance. 

The farm of Mr. Wolpert was a raw prairie when 
he first tooli possession, without buildings or other 
improvements. In his career have been finely illus- 
trated the thrift and prudence inherited from his 
ancestry. To the German nationality, Nebraska, 
as well as other Western States, is largely indebted 
for the development of her resources, and the sub- 
ject of this sketch has in nowise been behind his 
countrymen in contributing his quota to the best 
interests of his adopted country, as a representative 
of her thrift and intelligence. Mr. W. cast his first 
Presidential vote for Fillmore, and is an unwaver- 
ing supporter of Democratic principles. In re- 
ligions matters he belongs to the German Catholic 
Church. 



^fjOHN G. HANSEN. The large and well- 
I cultivated landed possessions of the subject 
^_^ of this sketch are finely located on section 
(^^^ 1 1 in Avoca Precinct, to which the proprie- 
tor came and selected his claim when there was not 
a white man within sight. He was in fact the very 
first settler in this part of the county, and has been 
a resident of Cass and Otoe Counties since 18o4 — a 
period of thirty-four years. He pre-empted his 
present homestead of 160 acres in the fall of 1857, 
and for thirty years has given his time and atten- 
tion to its cultivation and improvement. It is one 
of the finest bodies of land along the southern line 
of the county, amply watered by a branch of the 
Weeping Water. The home farm of our subject by 
no means comprises the extent of his possessions, 
for he is one of the largest land-owners in Cass 



County, his property probably embracing an area 
of nearly 800 acres. The most of this is very fer- 
tile, and largely devoted to stock-raising. At the 
homestead proper is a substantial stone residence, 
flanked by the other farm buildings indispensable 
to the modern agriculturist, together with the other 
surroundings of modern country life. 

A native of the Duchy of Holsteln,«CTermany, our 
subject was born Sept. 18, 1828, of parents who 
were of pure German ancestry. His father, Peter 
Hansen, was a highly educated gentleman, and for 
years a teacher in the public schools of the Father- 
land. Later he turned his attention to farming, 
and spent his entire life upon his native soil, passing 
away in 1846, when fifty-two 3'ears old. He had 
married in early manhood Miss Catherine Huesman, 
who is still living, and has now reached the ad- 
vanced age of ninety-two j'ears. She continues a 
resident of her native Holstein, and for some time 
has been afflicted with blindness. The household 
circle included nine children, four of whom are liv- 
ing, and residing mostly in Germany and the United 
States. 

Mr. Hansen began his early education in the 
schools of his native land, and when reaching man's 
estate joined the army, and participated in the 
Revolution of 1848. Later he was a soldier of 
the regular army of Denmark, and during those 
years of his military service saw considerable active 
fighting. He was still unmarried when in April, 
1853, resolving to seek his fortunes on another 
continent, he took passage at Hamburg on the sailing- 
vessel '-John Hermann," Capt. Hickman command- 
ing. He had an unusually smooth voyage of six 
weeks and three days, and landed upon American 
soil in the city of New York. Thence he proceeded 
to Davenport, Iowa, where he employed himself as 
a farm laborer. He had been thrown upon his own 
resources early in life, and came to this country a 
poor man. After reaching Iowa he labored with 
genuine German thrift, prudence and industry, and 
in due time found himself in a condition to operate 
as his own man. 

Mr. Hansen decided to commence farming for 
himself on the soil of Nebraska, and coming to this 
county, July 3, 1854, l)egan operating on land 
which he pre-empted. He kept bachelor's hall 



t 



t 



••► 



1114 



CASS COUNTY. 



until the summer of 1861, but on the 17th of June 
of thnt year secured unto himself a wife and lielp- 
mate in the person of Miss Wilhelmina Ohernolte. 
This lady was born in the town of Detmold, Ger- 
many, Nov. 8, 1843, and is the daughter of Christ 
and Henrietta (Kahee) Oliernolte, who came to 
America with their f.imily in May, 1869, locating 
first in Cook County, 111. Later they sought the 
fartlier AVest. and settled at Platlsmouth, this 
State, in 1860, where the father died the year fol- 
lowing, aged sixty-eight years and nine months. 

The father of Mrs. Hansen was a bricklayer and 
stonemason by trade, at which he was employed 
from early manhood until his decease. The mother 
survived her husband many years, spending her 
last days with her daughter, and passing away Sept. 
7, 1887, when nearly sixty-nine years old. Both 
parents were members of the Lutheran Church. 
Mrs. Hansen was a maiden of sixteen years when 
she came to the United States, and she remained 
under the licuie rdof until her nmrriage. Of her 
union with i.ur suliject there have hi en born nine 
children, one of whom died in infancy; Peter C. 
married Miss Maggie Burdis, and is farming in 
Cass County, Neb.; Emma C. is the wife of Henry 
Obernolte, and they live on a farm in Sibley 
County, Minn.; Simon, E. George, Helena A., Au- 
gustus F., Charles W. and Anna M. H. are at home 
with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Hansen are 
Lutherans in religion, and our subject, politically, 
votes the straight Republican ticket. In the con- 
struction of one of the finest farms of Cass County 
he has thus contributed to its general development 
and progress, and should by no means be left un- 
recorded in a work of this kind. 



ELAM K. PARMELE, proprietor of a livery, 
feed and sale stable at Elm wood, is one of 
the oldest settlers of Nebraska, coming here 
in 1857, and he has spent all but four years in this 
State since that time. He may be denominated a 
pioneer of this town, to whose upbuilding he is con- 
tributing much bj' his enterprise. He has quite an 
extensive livery establishment here, and is doing a 
thriving business. 

Our subject is a native of New York, born near 



Buffalo, March 1, 1833, and his early years were 
passed in the place of his birth, gleaning an edu- 
cation in the public schools. His parents, Quortus 
and Martha (Kincaid) Parmele, were natives of 
Pennsylvania, of English and Scotch descent re- 
spectively. The paternal grandfather was a farmer 
in Pennsylvania. The father of our subject studied 
medicine; and was graduated from some school, 
from which he received a diploma. He was a fin- 
ished scholar, and subsequently adopted the pro- 
fession of Readier. He was also a talented musician, 
one of the finest singers in New York State, and at 
one time taught singing school. He afterward en- 
tered the mercantile business, having a dry-goods 
store in Rochester, N. Y. His establishment was 
burned at the time of the Rociiester fire, and he did 
not resume business in that cit}'. In 1847 he 
moved to Chicago with his familj", going from 
Buffalo on a sailing-vessel, the •' Sandusky," by the 
lakes. In that city he was employed two years 
keeping books. At the end of that time he took 
up his residence in Mackinaw Township, Tazewell 
Co., III. His death occurred in that town in 1853. 
He was a man of good parts, of a vigorous mental- 
ity, and was in his day a man of prominence in his 
community. He was gifted with oratorical pow- 
ers, and was a noted stump speaker in his native 
State, being a leader in the Whig part}'. To him 
and his wife were born eight children, as follows: 
Lydia, who died in Illinois; Calvin H., a banker in 
Plattsmouth; Ellen, now Mrs. Hutchinson, of Lin- 
coln ; Elain K. ; Sarah, who died in Plattsmouth ; 
Coralineand Martha; Allie lives in Weeping AYater. 
Elam K was fourteen years old when his parents 
moved to Chicago, and he attended the public 
schools in that city until the removal of the family 
to Tazewell County, two years later. When nine- 
teen years of age he began life for himself, secur- 
ino- work in a foundry, and was in the employment 
of Mr. D. W. Wizner, driving a four-horse team for 
three years. He tlien went to Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 
the interests of a lightning rod agency, and was 
thus engaged for the ensuing five years. 

While in the employ of Mr. Wizner, who oper- 
ated a sawmill, our subject drew the first load of 
timber to Bloomington that went into the Illi- 
nois Central Railway depot at Bloomington, 111. 



^t^ 



^tJ f ■* 



CASS COUNTY. 



•«»> 



1115 



'^ 



In 18o7 he came to Plattsmoulh. finding it but an 
insignificant place, amid wild surroundings, witii a 
few rougli liouses. and tlie one store liept in a log 
house. He went into partnership with his brother 
in the livery business. They remained together 
one year, and then his brother disposed of his share 
to him. and our subject continued business alone, 
doing a prosperous business. In 1861 he went back 
to Marion County, Iowa, and estal)lished himself in 
the same business in tlie town of Knoxville, putting 
up a livery barn. He had it well fitted up with a 
good supply of horses, and was doing well, when a 
fire occurred in 1864, and everything was destroyed, 
barn, teams and .all. This was a severe loss, and 
nearly ruined him financially, but with characteris- 
tic pluck, he was soon up and at it. setting up an- 
other stable, and gradually picked up his olil trade. 
In the spring of 1865 he returned to Nebraska, 
driving across the country, and again opened a 
livery stable in Plattsraouth. He continued there 
until 1879, when he sold out, and moving to Saun- 
ders County, purchased 120 acres of wild land, a 
part of it improved, near Ashland. He there en- 
gaged in fai^raing and stock-raising. But that vent- 
ure did not prove successful, so at the end of two 
years he disposed of his property, and once more 
took up his residence in Cass County. He bought 
a farm of eighty acres in Elmwood, which was well 
improved, and had a large orchard. He managed it 
for two 3'ears, and did well financially. In 1874 he 
traded it for a livery stable in Greenwood. He 
went into partnership with another gentleman, but 
their connection proved disastrous, and in 1876 
Mr. Parmele sold out. and in the month of April 
came to Elmwood to reside and do business. He 
soon erected his present commodious barn, 36x80 
feet, with a windmill attachment to the well, sixty- 
three feet in height, and all the other appointments 
of a first-class livery stable, and he is doing an ex- 
tensive business. He has erected one of the finest 
houses in the town, the one in which he resides, 
pleasantly located ; it is well built and well fur- 
nished, and is provided with the modern conveni- 
ences. 

To the lady who presides over this beautiful home 
our subject was married in Iowa in 1858. She was 
at that time Miss Emily Marks, a native of Mc- 



Connellsville, Ohio. She is a woman of fine tact 
and education, and pleasing disposition. To them 
two children have been born: Matt, who died in 
Plattsmouth at the age of two months; and Paor- 
tus, who was born in Cass County, March 19, 1870, 
and is at home with his parents. 

Mr. Parmele is well endowed mentally and 
physically, and his frank, obliging manners have 
drawn to him manj' warm friends, and he and his 
estimable wife move in the best society in this com- 
munity. She is a sincere member of the Christian 
Church, and he contributes very liberally toward 
its support. He has a good capacity for business, 
and conducts it by strictly honorable methods. He 
is a straight-out Republican, and is influential with 
his party, acting as delegate occasionally at County 
or State Conventions. He has served on the Grand 
and Petit Juries in the court at Omaha, under Judge 
Dundey. Mr. Parmele is identified with the I. O. 
O. F., having joined the order at Knoxville, Iowa, 
during the war. 



-^^^ 



I 



FREDERICK SCHOMAKER. One of the 
finest farms of Avoca Precinct is located on 
, sections 1 and 12. and is well known as the 
(^^1/ property of Mr. H. H. Timm, uncle of our 
subject. The latter is one of the most successful 
stock-raisers in the county, and owns 160 acres of 
good land in Berlin Precinct, Otoe County, which 
he purchased in the spring of 1881. He came to 
the young State of Nebraska in May, 1867, and 
has since made his home with his uncle, Mr. H. 
H. Timm, a prominent citizen of Avoca, and a 
sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. 
Mr. Schomaker came to this country a poor boy, 
" worse off than nothing " as he expresses it, having 
had to borrow money to pay his passage across the 
Atlantic. This debt was liquidated long ago, and 
his stead}' perseverance and industry have consti- 
tuted him one of the prominent property-holders 
in this part of the country. He was born in Hol- 
stein, Germany, Jan. 31, 1849, and is the eldest son 
and second child of Peter and Anna (Lau) Scho- 
maker, who are both now deceased. The father 
died in his native Holstein, in 1869, at the age of 



.^►-i^ 



r?^^:^^ 



•►Hl^^ 



1116 



CASS COUNTY. 



fifty-two 3'ears. The motlier after the death of her 
husbanil came to the United States with her four 
younger children, and they located on section 1 in 
Avoea Precinct, where the mother died July 25, 
1880, at tlie age of fifty-nine years. They were 
good, honest people, although it was their lot in 
life not to be able to accumulate much of this 
world's goods. The father during his early man- 
hood served as a soldier in the standing array of 
Denmark, and received the education common to 
the youth of Germany, being placed in school at an 
early age and pursuing his studies until master of 
them. He is remembered by his children as a kind 
and indulgent parent, and a man generally respected 
by his neighbors. 

Mr. Schomaker, our sut)ject, received a very good 
education in his native Germany, and was a youth 
of eighteen years when coming to the United States. 
He took up his residence with Mr. and Mrs. Timm, 
with whom he resided and married their adopted 
daughter. Miss Christina Baumgartner. This lady 
was born at the homestead where she still lives, Jan. 
22. 1860, and was the only child of her mother, who 
died when little Christina was but two 3'ears old. 
That excellent lady, Mrs. Timm, proved to her a 
true mother, and she was reared to become a good 
and intelligent woman. Of her union with our 
subject there have been born two children — Katy M. 
and Edwin H. Mr. and Mrs. Schomaker are Lu- 
therans in religion, and politically, Mr. S. uni- 
formly supports the principles of the Republican 
party. 

\ij ACOB SCHLANKER is a fine representative 
of the farming community- of Cass Count}', 
^,^ ] who has been instrumental in advancing her 
(^^ agricultural interests, owning and managing 
a large farm on sections 34 and 35, Stove Creek 
Precinct, with a substantial home on the former 
section, and neat barns, other out-buildings, stock- 
yards, etc., on the other section, across the street 
from his house. He was a pioneer of this precinct, 
and one of the first settlers on the prairie where he 
still lives, and in him this community has found 
one of its most trustworthy public officials. 

Our subject is derived from good German and 



French stock. His father. Jerard Schlanker, was 
born in the vicinity of the beautiful, famous Rhine 
River, in one of the German Provinces. His 
mother was a native of Holland, but was married in 
German}'. The paternal grandfather of our sub- 
ject, Mathias Schlanker, was born in France, and 
when he became of suitable age he entered the 
French Army and fought under the illustrious Ka- 
poleon during the memorable Russian cami)aign. 
He was a blacksmith, and after leaving the army he 
followed that trade, and became well-to-do. The 
father of our subject was also a blacksmith, as well 
as a farmer, and did very well at both callings. He 
likewise did military service, but with the Prussians, 
serving in the arm}' seven years. On account of 
religious beliefs, he determined to emigrate to 
America, where he could have more freedom, and 
exercise his reason as he chose. Accordingly, in 
1848, with that end in view, he embarked with his 
family at Amsterdam for Liverpool, where they 
boarded an American-bound sailing-vessel, and a 
few weeks later landed in New York. He and his 
family proceeded to Iowa, going by way of Chicago 
to Freeport, thence on to Clayton County, Iowa, 
where he located near Clayton Centre, above Du- 
buque. Mr. Schlanker bought wild land, he being 
a pioneer there, cleared it and improved a very- 
good farm with the necessary buildings, etc. He 
also set up a smithy, and was actively engagel at 
his trade for a number of years. In 1864 he sold 
out all his property in that place, and moved to 
Dubuque, where he lived in retirement until his 
death, at the advanced age of eighty years, he hav- 
ing accumulated sufficient money to enable him to 
spend his declining years in ease. His wife died in 
Clayton County, Iowa, iu 1853. He was a man of 
liberal and progressive views, and was tolerant of 
others' opinions while holding tenaciously to his own 
convictions. He and his estimable wife lived re- 
spected and died regretted, as they were people of 
great worth. They were the parents of the follow- 
ing children: Peter and Catherine (deceased), An- 
nie, Agnes, Paul, Verona and August B. (deceased), 
Jacob. August was a veteran of the Mexican War, 
in which he served until its close, and during the 
late Rebellion he offered his services again to his 
adopted country, enlisting in Dubuque in 1863, and 



•►-lh-4*- 



•^•^ 



-^•■ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1117 



was a faithful soldier unlii its close. After retir- 
ing from the army he settled in New Orleans, where 
lie engaged in the butcher business until his death 
of yellow fever in 1868. 

The subject of whom we write was born in Ger- 
many, Nov. 15, 1848, and when quite small came 
with his parents to this country. He grew up in 
lona, attending the common schools and assisting 
his father iu his work. He staid at home until 
nearl}' sixteen years of age, and in the spring of 
1864, ambitious to become a soldier and assist in 
the defense of the stars and stripes, he enlisted, but 
was not accepted bj- the military authorities, on ac- 
count of his youthful appearance, presumablj-. He 
then started for the -West, determining to try life 
on the plains. lie went down the JMississipi)i to 
Hannibal, thence by rail to St. Joseph, where he took 
the steamer for Council Bluffs. After a stay of 
two weeks in that town, where he worked iu a ware- 
house, in the month of June he crossed the plains 
on a freighting expedition to Denver, thence to 
Empire City. lie thus made several trips back and 
forth for the next two years. After that he began 
working on a farm on Wilson Creek, and was em- 
ployed there four j-ears. In 1867 be tiled a pre- 
emption claim on eighty acres of his present farm. 
He followed threshing and other farm work, and a 
year later paid for his land. By persistent and en- 
ergetic toil he has since wrought a wondrous change, 
in which the wild prairie land has been converted 
into an exceedingly productive and valuable farm, 
equal to an3' in the neighborhood. He broke all 
the land himself, set out a grove of cottonwood 
trees, orchards, etc., and has his land under fine 
tillage; has his farm ampl}^ provided with good 
barns and other necessary out-buildings, with wind- 
mills, tanks, and all the conveniences for conduct- 
ing agriculture successfull3'. Notwithstanding the 
serious drawbacks in the shape of grasshoppers, 
drought, etc., that the early settlers had to contend 
with, he has been more than ordinarily successful, 
and has added much to his original homestead, so 
that his estate now comprises 320 acres of well- 
watered, well-fenced, and well-improved land. In 
1878 he bought his second 80-acre tract of land, 
adjacent to his first purchase, and in 1880 bought 
another eighty joining that, and in 1886 he bought 



his fourth 80-acre tract. The lumber for his house 
and other buildings was brought from Nebraska City. 
Mr. Schlanker devotes his attention largely to raising 
horses, graded C'lydes and Normans, of which he 
now has seventeen head, and Poland-China hogs, 
of which he has quite a herd. 

Mr. Schlanker and Miss Sarah Radcliff were 
united in marriage in Nebraska City, March 16, 
1870. She was a native of New York, and to her 
skill and management he is greatlj^ indelited for his 
comfortable home, and for the material prosperitj* 
that he enjoys. Ten children have blessed their 
union, namel^^ : James, Venora, Viola; William 
(deceased); Hattie, William, Clarence; Hugh (de- 
ceased); Ro.y and Mary Ettie. 

Mr. Schlanker is eminently public-spirited, and 
liberally contributes to various improvements in 
the precinct, and does all that in him lies to benefit 
the community. His wisdom and advice have l)eeii 
sought in the guidance of public affairs, and he has 
served three 3'ears as Supervisor, and eight years as 
School Treasurer, and iu 1868 was a member of the 
Petit Jury. In him the I. O. O. F. of Elm wood has 
a valued member, and the Republican party one of 
its strongest allies in this vicinity. 



AVID WOODARD. one of the earliest pio- 
neers of Cass County, is to-day a promi- 
nent and representative citizen of Weeping 
'\^'ate^. He conducts one of the most pop- 
ular livery stables along the southern line of Cass 
County, and within its precincts numbers hosts of 
friends. He has held the office of Constable for a 
period of nine j^ears, being still its incumbent, and 
for the last year (1888) has officiated as Deputy 
Sheriff. He bears the honor of being the first man 
to establish a livery stable in Weeping Water. 

Mr. Woodard was born in Saratoga County, N. 
Y""., Jan. 29, 1840, and lived there until a youth of 
fourteen years. The next five years were spent in 
Connecticut. Subsequently he emigrated to Stark 
Count}', 111., where be sojourned a period of seven 
years, and from the Prairie State came to Nebraska 
in the spring of 1869. Selecting eighty acres of 
new land on section 13 in Centre Precinct, he 



«»-Hr^ 



I 



1118 



CASS COUNTY. 



operated there successfully as a farmer, and effected 
vast improvements in the condition of the proi^erty, 
putting out orchards and trees of the smaller 
fruits, planting hedge, erecting the necessary build- 
ings, and bringing the land to a good state of cul- 
tivation. 

In the fall of 1874 Mr. Woodard sold his farm 
property, and thereafter was a resident of' Platts- 
mouth a short time. Near the close of the year, 
however, he came to Weeping Water, and until 
1876 was connected with the mercantile hovise of 
Reed Bros. We next find him operating as "mine 
host" of a hotel, the Weeping Water House, the 
first institution of its kind in the place, and not 
long afterward he established the livery stable 
which to-day is the leading institution of its kind in 
this section. lie withdrew from the hotel business 
in 1878, and turned his entire attention to that in 
which he is now engaged. He keeps first-class 
road horses, with a tasteful assortment of vehicles, 
and receives the patronage of the best people of 
Weeping AVater and vicinity. In the spring of 
1885 he completed a fine residence south of the 
creek, which, with its surroundings, forms a most 
beautiful home. 

Mr. Woodard was the Constable of Louisville 
two years. He cast his first Presidential vote for 
Lincoln, and uniformly supports the principles of 
the Republican party. Socially, he belongs to the 
L O. O. F., and is a member of the Masonic frater- 
nity, also theK. of P. He has been prominent as an 
office-holder in his lodges, and takes a warm inter- 
est in the principles of the orders. He is a man 
genial and companionable, prompt in his business 
obligations, and in fact one of the representative 
men of the flourishing little city of Weeping 
Water. 

Mr. Woodard was married in early life to Miss 
Oretta Rhodes, of Toulon, 111., who died while still 
a young woman, leaving two little daughters, Eva 
and Ella. The younger makes her home with her 
father, and the elder is the wife of Daniel Rock- 
well, of Centre Precinct. Mr. Woodard, about 
1876, contracted a second marriage, with Mrs. Mary 
E. Dunn, who was born in New York, Dee. 14, 
1839. She came to Nebraska with .her children 
about 1870. Her parents ai'e deceased. Of this 



marriage there are no children. Mr. Woodard has 
given to his two daughters a good education. 

Martin Woodard, the father of our subject, is 
supposed to have been a native of New York 
State. He married Miss Lj^dia Shaw, and they be- 
came the parents of three children, who lived to 
mature years. The father died when his son David 
was a little lad of seven years, and as he remem- 
bers him he carried on farming and shoemaking 
combined in Saratoga County, N. Y. He spent his 
last years at the farm, where the mother remained 
until her second marriage, to Joseph Flansburgh. 
They are now living in Plattsmouth, Neb. Silve- 
nous A., a brother of our subject, accompanied 
him West, and located on a farm on section 22 in 
Elmwood Precinct. He died about 1878. His sis- 
ter Hannah, Mrs. Rockwell, is a resident of Louis- 
ville, this county, where her husband is engaged 
as an attorney-at-law. 

^|, LFRED HAWKINS, of Tipton Precinct, 
Il^\ and a gentleman numbered among its most 
useful and prominent men, owns and oper. 
ates a snug farm on section 32. He be- 
lieves thoroughlj' in the theory of Horace Greeley 
that a small farm well cultivated is more desirable 
than a larger extent of land partially neglected. 
He has neat and substantial buildings, and all the 
adjuncts of a good home. A soldier of the Union 
Army during the progress of the Civil War, he 
came out of the struggle with his health greatly 
impaired, and from the effects of which he never 
expects to recover. As a pioneer settler of his 
precinct, he is accorded that tacit respect naturally 
given to those who looked upon Nebraska in its 
pioneer days, and who, in the building up of a 
good homestead, have contributed so much to its 
general prosperity. 

Our subject is the son of William and Elnora 
(Hill) Hawkins, who were both natives of Wash- 
ington County, Pa., the father being born in 1813, 
and the mother in 1816. The paternal grands 
father, Thomas Hawkins, also a native of Washing- 
ton County, was of Holland-Dutch descent, and a 
farmer in good circumstances. He left his native 



t= 



••► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1119 



State for Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1835, and 
there spent the remainder of his days. On the 
mother's side Grandfather James Hill was born in 
Ireland, and crossed the Atlantic at an early day, 
settling in Washington County, Pa., in time to 
take a hand in the Colonial and Indian Wars and 
in the War of 1812. He died when ripe in years 
in Washington Countj-. 

The father of our subject settled in Columbiana 
County, Ohio, at an early day, and, purchasing a 
tract of timber land, felled the trees and improved 
a good farm. In 1848 he changed his residence to 
Shelby County, settling in the vicinity of the pres- 
ent flourishing town of Sidiie}', where he prose- 
cuted agriculture until his death, March 14. 1854. 
The mother continued at the old homestead until 
the fall of 1865, then, coming to Nebraska, settled 
with her family near Peru, in Nemaha County, 
where she at present resides, surrounded with all 
the comforts of life. She is a member in good 
standing of the Protestant Methodist Church. 

The parental household of oxar subject included 
six children, Alfred being the eldest. The second 
son. Freeman by name, died when about twenty- 
two years old; Lyman, Madison and Mary A. are 
all residents of this State. Freeman, during the 
late war enlisted in the 20th Ohio Infantry, which 
was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, and 
died at Shiloh, and was buried there. L3'man was 
a member of the Home Guards in Shelby County. 

Alfred Hawkins, our subject, was born in the 
vicinity of Georgetown, Columbiana Co., Ohio, 
Nov. 12, 1837, and was a lad of eleven 3'ears when 
his parents removed to Shelby County. He com- 
pleted his education in the schools of that county 
and was a youth of seventeen years at the time of 
his father's death. Being the eldest of the family, 
he necessarily was obliged to take upon himself 
many responsibilities. He assisted his mother in 
keeping the family together, and remained with 
her until the spring of 1860. Then, desiring to 
see something of the farther West, he journe^^ed 
to Gentry County, Mo., where he worked for a 
time on a farm, but there being more laborers 
than work to perform, he proceeded on his way 
westward, and landed in Nemaha Countj-, this 
State, in June of that year. Here he found em- 



ploj-ment in the vicinity of Peru, cradling in the 
harvest field at $1 per day. He sojourned there 
until December, 1861. Next we find him experi- 
menting as a soldier in the New Mexico Brigade, 
which was consolidated at Ft. Leavenworth with 
the 8th Kansas Infantry and sent to Ft. Riley. A 
mouth later they were ordered back to Ft. Leaven- 
worth, and then south to Corinth, Miss. Tliej' 
afterward saw the smoke of the battles of Holly 
Springs, luka and Florence, Ala., and then entered 
upon a forced march to Louisville in order to 
head otf the rebel General, Bragg, in which ex- 
pedition they succeeded. Later thej' participated 
in the engagements at Perryville and Nashville. 
Mr. Hawkins was finally detailed to one of the 
pioneer corps, becoming a member of Companj' 
K, in the 2d Battalion, which followed Gen. Bragg 
to Stone River. Near the close of the war he 
joined his old regiment at Atlanta, participating in 
the siege of the city, then followed Hood to Nash- 
ville, and took part later in the battles at Franklin 
and Spring Hill. 

Up to this time Mr. Hawkins had not been ii\ an 
ambulance or hospital, but now succumbed to 
the hardships and privations which he had en- 
dured. He was sent to the hospital at Nashville, 
afterward transferred to Louisville, and finally to 
Jeffersonville, Ind. Upon recovering he rejoined his 
regiment at ^luntsville, Ala., and not long after- 
ward, in January, 1865, received liis honorable dis- 
charge at Louisville, K3\ 

Upon retiring from the army our subject re- 
turned to his old haunts in Shelbj' Count}', Ohio, 
and thence, in the spring of 1865, returned to the 
West. He first worked on a farm in Nemaha 
County, this State, but in the fall of 1866 pur- 
chased land in that county, which he operated 
until the spring of 1869. Then, selling out, he 
took up his abode at his present home in Tipton 
Precinct. It was then a tract of uncultivated land, 
and his first shelter was a dugout, which he occu- 
pied for five 3'ears. After getting in the crops of 
the first season here, he commenced making fences 
and planting trees. The lapse of a few 3'cars has 
effected a remarkable change in the condition of 
his property. The present residence was erected in 
the spring of 1874.- Adjacent to it is a spring of 



i 



•►Hl^ 



■•►Hl- 



1120 



CASS COUNTY. 



living water, an excellent orchard of 150 bearing 
apple trees, and a grove of three acres of forest 
trees. The fields are mostly enclosed with wire 
fencing. Mr. Hawkins makes a specialty of cattle 
and swine, and has a number of fine horses. 

Upon coming to Nebraska, like many of the 
men around him, Mr. Hawkins had many dif- 
ficulties to contend with, the most serious being 
the state of his health, as he was scarcely able to 
walk. His career is a fine illustration of the result 
of determination and jierseverance. To the lady 
who has been his faithful partner and companion 
for a period of fourteen years, and who in her girl- 
hood was Miss Ruth Marrs, our subject was married, 
in Whitley County, Ind., March 11, 1874. Mrs. 
Hawkins was born March 11, 1829, in Champaign 
County, Ohio, and is the daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Johnson) Marrs, who were natives re- 
spectively of Kentucky and Virginia. They emi- 
grated to ludiana at an early daj', and there spent 
the remainder of their lives. Of this union there 
are no children. Mr. Hawkins, politically, is a 
sound Republican, and has been quite prominent 
in local affairs, serving as a Road Supervisor and 
Constable, and holding otlier positions of trust. He 
is also a member of the G. A. R., belonging to Mas- 
field Post, at Palmyra. He is a charter member of 
the United Bretliren Churcli, to which his excel- 
lent wife also belongs, and has officiated as Super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school a number of years. 
His choice, however, would be with the Methodists, 
but there being no society of this denomination 
convenient he has been willing to cast his lot with 
the United Brethren. 



UILLIAM J. MONROE. The livery, feed 
and sale stable interests of Weeping Water 
^^^ are creditably represented by the subject 
of this sketch, who operates the largest business of 
the kind in the central portion of Cass County. His 
arrival in Nebraska dates from March, 18fi9, when 
he came from Omaha to Centre Precinct, this county, 
and purchased 160 acres of new land, comprising 
the southwest quarter of section 25. Upon tin's not 
a furrow had been turned : neither were there an}' 



other signs of improvement. His first business was 
to put up a dwelling, and then he began breaking the 
sod. setting out trees, and adding from time to time 
the other buildings necessar}' for his comfort and 
convenience. Upon this farm he lived and labored 
a period of eleven years, during which time he 
brought the land to a high state of cultivation, and 
constructed a homestead which bore the reputation 
of being one of the most valuable for its age in that 
section of country. 

In March, 1880, Mr. Monroe sold this farm anil 
l)urchased another nearer town, in Weeping Water 
Precinct, upon which he lived four years. In 
the meantime he proceeded as he had done before, 
making improvements, and brought this propertj' 
up to the status of the first. This he traded in 
1884 for his present business — a change which he 
has had no re.ason to regret. His livery stock con- 
sists of a goodly number of driving horses and sev- 
eral " boarders." He has one very fine English 
full-bred coach horse, a registered animal, " Buck- 
sliales," No. 1438 (Hackney Stud Book), imported 
from England in July last. He is a magnificent 
animal, of perfect s^yminetrj', and possessing some 
of the finest points of his race. Mr. Monroe is 
a good judge of horseflesh, understands fully the 
care and keeping of equines, and takes pride in hav- 
ing the best establishment of its kind in this part of 
the county. It is hardlj' necessar}' to state that he 
enjoys the patronage of its best people. 

Mr. Monroe was born fifty-one years ago, Oct. 1, 
1837, in Chautauqua County, N. Y., and when six 
years old went with his parents to Lagrange County, 
Ind., where he lived until coming to Nebraska. He 
was given a practical education, completing his 
studies in Lagrange Collegiate Institute, after which 
he occupied himself in farming until embarking in 
his present enterprise. He is a prominent man in 
his community, and has held the various local of- 
fices, altliough making no pretenses to be a politician. 
He keeps himself well posted, however, upon current 
events, and uniformly votes the Republican ticket. 
Socially, he belongs to the K. of P. 

While a resident of Indiana Mr. Monroe was 
united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Fuller, Oct. 
6, 1800, the wedding taking place in Lagrange. 
Mrs. Monroe was born June 10, 1840, in Gilead, 



■•►Hh 



^1-^^ 



-•► 



•40 



CASS COUNTY. 



1121 



Mich., and is the daughter of E. W. and Katurah 
(Sanders) Fuller, the father a native of Genesee 
County, N. Y.. and the mother of Virginia. They 
settled first in Branch Count}'. Mich., then removed 
to Lagrange County, Ind., where Mr. Fuller is still 
living. The wife and mother died many years ago, 
about 1849. To Mr. and Mrs. Monroe there have 
been born three children, the eldest of whom, a 
daughter, Helen M.. is the wife of E. A. Sackett, 
who is engaged in the hardware trade in Weeping 
Water; they have one child. The younger daugh- 
ters, Hatlie E. and Jessie W.,are at home with their 
parents. They all have been carefully trained and 
educated, and hold a good position in the social 
circles of their community. 

James Monroe, the father of our subject, was 
born in Paulet, Rutland Co., Vt., Jan. 28, 1808, 
where he spent the days of his boyhood and youth. 
Upon leaving New England he emigrated to Chau- 
tauqua County, N. Y., where he married Miss Har- 
riet Joyce. The young people settled in the wil- 
derness on a tract of timber land, from which the 
father felled the trees, prepared the soil for culti- 
vation and built up a good homestead. There their 
two children were born: William J., our subject, 
and his sister Haltie, who died when a 3'oung child. 

James Monroe, about 1844, changed his residence 
from the Empire State to Lagrange County, Ind., 
and only lived five years thereafter, his death" tak- 
ing place at the farm, Jul}' 14. 1849. He was a 
man of more than ordinary intelligence, an old-line 
Whig in polities, and a member in good standing 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Possessed of 
great perseverance and industry, he improved two 
farms, and wherever he lived was regarded as one 
of those solid and reliable men whose word is as 
good as their bond. 



dl felLLIAM P. BAILEY, a substantial English- 
\/sJ/' '^orn citizen, now of Plattsmouth Precinct, 
V7\P occupies a good position among the agri- 
culturists of this county, to which he came in Sep- 
tember of 1879, and purchased 280 acres of land 
on sections 3 and 4, Plattsmouth Precinct. Upon 
it there was a small house, and an embryo orchard 



planted bj- some discouraged settler, who had aban- 
doned his enterprise and moved to another locality. 
Mr. Bailey thus from this small beginning com- 
menced to build up a homestead, and his present 
surroundings would indicate that his labors have 
l>een amply rewarded. He has now a substantial 
residence, with stables, corn-cribs and the other 
necessary out-buildings — in fact, is surrounded by 
all the comforts and conveniences of farm life. 

The infant years of the life of our subject were 
spent in Yorkshire, England, where his birth took 
place June 25, 1815, under the modest roof of his 
parents, Abraham and Sarah (Powell) Bailej'. They 
were of excellent English stock, and the father 
was a cabinet-maker bj' occupation. The latter, not 
being satisfied with his condition and prospects, de- 
cided to emigrate to the United States, and accord- 
ingly set sail for the land of promise in the year 
1818. Landing in New York City, the father be- 
gan work at his trade, and conducted the business 
of cabinet-making about two 3'ears, when liis death 
took place at Schenectady, N. Y., Dee. 20, 1820, 
leaving his wife and one child, William P. The 
mother was subsequently married to Ahasuerus Van 
Slyck. and spent the remainder of her life in Sche- 
nectady, dying Feb. 12, 1865. 

Our subject was reared in Schenectady, N. Y., re- 
ceiving his education in its common schools, and 
upon approaching manhood learned the carpenter's 
tr.ade, at which he was engaged until 1879. There 
also he was married to Miss Angelica Van Slyck, 
Sept. 25, 1839. They became the parents of eleven 
chililren, eight of whom survive, namely : Sarah, 
now Mrs. A. Howland; Jane, Mrs. D. Haltz; Will- 
iam P., Jr.; Nicholas; Angelica, Mrs. Irwin How- 
land; John D.; Harriet N., Mrs. Horace G. Garri- 
son, and Charles H. The deceased are Jane, Abra- 
ham and Henry. 

Nicholas and Jane (Smith) Van SIvck, the par- 
ents of Mrs. Bailey, were natives of New Yoi'k and 
England respectively, and were married in the Em- 
pire State, where their eight children were born and 
reared. Of these Mrs. B. was the eldest daughter, 
and but three are now living. Mr. Van Slyck died 
in his native State of New York. Nov. 12, 1864. 
The mother had emigrated to the United States 
with her parents when a little girl ten years of age. 



Ht^ 



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1122 



CASS COUNTY. 



and her father died soon afterv?ard. She is now de- 
ceased, having died in 1863. 

Mr. Biiley is a quiet and unobtrnsive citizen, 
pursuing the even tenor of his wa}', confining his 
attention mostly to his farming pursuits. In poli- 
tics he is a lifelong Democrat of pronounced ideas. 



^h^ 



MMI B. TODD, a retired farmer, is a 
prominent citizen of Cass Cou ity, and has 
li borne an honorable part in its public life- 
He is a son of one of Cass County's pio- 
neers, and, coming here when a boy of fifteen, the 
I'eniaining j'ears of Ins youth were passed here, and 
he has thus witnessed almost the entire growth of 
the township and county, and it has been his privi- 
lege to aid in tlieir development. He was born in the 
town of Chautauqua. Chautauqua Co.. N. Y., April 9, 
1842, to Thomas Jefferson and Mary (Smith) Todd, 
natives of Herkimer County, N. Y. His paternal 
grandfather, the Kev. Caleb Todd, a native of 
Vermont, was a pioneer of Herkimer County. He 
tuove() from there tt> Chautauqua County in 1818, 
with a colony, 'the removal being made with teams 
through the wilderness, where they had to cut 
down trees in some places to make a road. He 
bought a tract of land of the Holland Patent, which 
was heavily timbered. He cleared a fine farm of 
300 acres, Ijeaulifuliy located on the banks of 
Chautauqua Lake, opposite Fair Point, and he re- 
sided there until his death. 

The father of our subject was fifteen years old 
when his. parents moved to Chautauqua County, and 
he there grew to manhood. He learned the trade 
of cabinet-maker, and continued to reside in Chau- 
tauqua County until 1845. During that time he 
had studied medicine, and in that 3'ear he moved 
to Ohio, and practiced his profession in Geauga and 
Monroe Counties for awhile. He then moved to 
Owen County, Ind., and turned his attention to 
farming, buying a farm six miles from Spencer. 
He was thus prosperously engaged there until 1857. 
when he came to the Territory c)f Nebraslia, start- 
ing in April with two wagons, two pair of oxen, 
and one pair of horses and a carriage. He was 
accompanied 1)3' his wife and four children. Thc-y 



traversed the State of Illinois, crossed the Mississippi 
River at Ft. Madison, and thence across the State 
of Iowa, crossing the Missouri River at Plattsmouth, 
and tlius arrived at their destination. Mr. Todd 
bought a claim to some Government land in the 
precinct, four miles from the city, paj'ing $1.25 
an acre for it. He built a dngout, which the fam- 
ily' occupied until the fall, and he then erected a 
small frame house. The surrounding country was 
in a wild slate, settlements being few and far be- 
tween, and but little attempt had been made to 
cultivate the land. The Indians had been removed 
from here, but were frequent callers as they passed 
through the country. Deer, prairie chickens and 
other Willi game, were plentiful a little farther west. 
He improved a valuable farm, and continued to 
manage it until 1879, when he moved into the 
town, and lived in retirement until his death, Aug. 
11, 1880. 

The subject of tliis sketch was six years of age 
when his parents moved to Indiana, and he at- 
tended school there as opportunity offered, and as- 
sisted his father on the farm. After coming to 
Nebraska he attended school two terms here, and 
then completed his education by attending the 
Waubansey School, in Mills County. Iowa, one 
term. After he had grown to manhood he took 
charge of his father's farm until his marriage. He 
subsequently engaged in farming until 1882. He 
then rented his farm and came to Plattsmouth, and 
has resided here since. 

Mr. Todd was united in marriage to Mrs. Mar- 
garet Thom.as {aee White), in 1872. She was born 
in Ohio, and. her parents dying when she was very 
young, she was adopted by the Rev. Mr. White. 
She was married to W. L. Tlioinas, and came to 
Nebraska in 1861. They resided in Plattsmouth 
for a time, and then removed to a farm in the pre- 
cinct, where he died in 1869. Two cliildren were 
born of tliat marriage, Leiia and Harry. The 
luip[)y married life of our subject and his vvifo was 
terminated in February, 1888, by her deatli. She 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Cl)urch, 
and was faitliful to all that belongs to true Christian 
womanhood, leaving behind her a sweet and pleasant 
memory. 

Mr. Todd is lield in high estimation by his fel- 



"•►Hh 



•► .V " 



4- 



CASS COUNTY. 



112.5 



low-citizens, and in him tliey finrl one who is always 
ready to co-operate with them to advance the in- 
terests of the city or county. He was elected 
County Commissioner in 1882, and was re-elected 
to that important office in 1885, and again in 1888. 
While acting in that capacitj' he paid close atten- 
tion to the duties devolving upon him, discharging 
them in such a manner as to give general satisfac- 
tion, and his official career is without a stain. He 
is a leading Republican in Cass County, and lie has 
been a delegate to numerous conventions of his 
party. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lin- 
coln, and has since been a stanch supporter of the 
party. 



-^!1^= 



^\z 



-i»t!»i 



'S^OHN FREDERICK STULL. (This name w.as 
I I always spelled in the German language b}- 
Ij his ancestors, StoU. His father also spelled 
(^J/y it Stoll, but John F., our subject, changed 
the spelling to Stull, after he became old enough to 
do business for himself. When he writes in Ger- 
man he spells it Stoll, in English, Stull — hence this 
explanation). Mr. Stull was a pioneer of Nebraska, 
and to him and men of like decision, courage and 
practical energy, Cass County, of which he was an 
early settler, is greatly indebted for its high rank 
among its sister counties in regard to commerce, 
agriculture, and the various interests that go to 
make up a prosperous and wealthy community'. Me 
is prominently identified with the farming and stock- 
raising interests of Plattsmouth Township, where 
he has a large and valuable farm and a pleasant, 
commodious home. 

Mr. Stull was born in Germany, May 13, 1831, 
and in October, 1834, he came with his parents, 
Henry and Elizabeth (Degen) Stoll, to the United 
States. They were likewise natives of Germany, 
as had been their ancestors as far back as known. 
They located in Pike County, Ohio, where the 
mother, a woman of genuine worth, passed away 
from the scenes of earth Oct. 20, 1840. After her 
death our subject and his father kept house alone 
for two years, when the father married Magdalena 
Spohn. Two years later John Frederick and five 
brothers and sisters went out in the world to eain 



their own living among strangers. Our subject at 
that time began to learn the trade of blacksmith at 
Piketon, Ohio, with Louis Rogers and Horatio 
Adams, serving an apprenticeship of two and one- 
half years. He subsequently opened a shop for 
himself two miles out of town, and continued 
in business for himself there for two years. In 
1849 he went to Kentucky, but after a stay of two 
j'ears there he returned to Ohio, and lived in Co- 
lumbus for a time. From there he went to Illinois 
and worked awhile at his trade, and then he sought 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the fall of 18.')5, finding it 
only a small town, with but few houses. He met 
there a Mr. Savers, agent for the Western Stage 
Company, whom he had known in Ohio, and that 
gentleman wanted to employ him to shoe horses for 
the company, he having previously worked for that 
company in Ohio. 

Mr. Stull was thus engaged for a short time, and 
then took a trip into Nebraska, on a sort of ex- 
ploring expedition, going as far west as Salt Creek, 
thence south about 100 miles, where he emiiarked 
on the Missouri River and came to Plattsmouth, 
arriving here Feb. 28, 1856, at which time there 
were but three shanties in the place. Here he was 
offered twelve lots in the business part of the town 
if he would put up a smithy, the contract being 
that he keep the shop open for business one vear 
before receiving the deeds. He was also offei-ed 
eight lots in Omaha, and four lots in Council Bluffs, 
with a shop and stock, if he would locate in either 
of these places. But he liked this point so much 
better than other parts of the Territory that he de- 
cided in favor of Plattsmouth, on account of the 
quality of the land, and erected the first blaek- 
smitli-shop in the county. The City Board of 
Plattsmouth was in Glenwood, Iowa, and at the end 
of the year, when he was to get his deeds for his 
lots, they had so risen jn value as to be worth from 
$500 to $1,000, so that he got but one lot. He sold 
out his shop and claim for $1,500 one month before 
the year expired, and took up a pre-emption claim 
of 320 acres on the land where he has made his 
home ever since, and became the first actual settler 
on the Platte River bottom. He built a frame house, 
arranging the planks |)erppndiculai-ly. and then a 
wallof sod two feet thick and planks outside of that. 



•►Hl^ 



• ^ l •<• 



1126 



CASS COUNTY. 



4thei 



building in that fashion as a means of defense 
against the Indians, putting holes through the thick 
walls so that he might shoot at them if he were at- 
tacked. In the same summer (that of 1857) the 
Indians threatened to kill all the white settlers at 
Plattsmouth, and the women and children were 
shipped across the river to Glenwood, Iowa. But 
Mrs. Slull. with dauntless heroism, resolutely re- 
fused to accompany them, saying that she would 
not leave her husband, and if he died she would die 
too. Therefore thej' braved together the horrors 
of living in a region where life was made uncertain 
on account of the treacherous redskins, and bravely 
staid on in their gunboat, styled house. 

A Frenchman at St. Mary's, Peter A. Sarpj', for 
whom Sarpy County was named, who was an agent 
employed by the Government, scared the Indians 
out of their first threatened raid by showing them 
some mowers which had been shipped up the river, 
and told them they were cannon that the Govern- 
ment had forwarded with orders to kill the " red 
devils" if they did not behave themselves, and the 
Indians were thus quieted for a time. They were 
very troublesome in other ways, however, as they 
would beg or steal everything they saw. Mr. and 
Mrs. Slull passed through those trying days with 
better success than some of their fellow pioneers, 
and with the growth of the county, which they have 
witnessed and aided, their prosperity is deservedly 
insured, and they are now numbered among the 
substantial and well-to-do citizens of this township, 
■where they have made their home for so many 3'ears. 
Mr. Stull lias a fine farm comprising 400 acres, with 
all the necessarj' improvements, and he raises all the 
stock that the farm will cany, feeding all his grain. 

In 1866 Mr. Stull, having incurred many expenses 
througli the long illness of his wife and the resultant 
doctor's bills, took a trip across the plains as a 
teamster with others, in order to make money more 
rapidly than he could at home, he having his own 
team. Thej' journeyed through the heart of the 
country where the Indians were the most trouble- 
some, and while on the frontier were pursued many 
times, quite often having slight encounters with the 
savages. On their return the towns and settle- 
ments were burned and the inhabitants killed in 
their rear, our subject and his companions being 



only a day ahead of the Indians, who were on the 
warpath. On his return from the trip across the 
plains a Mr. Davis accompanied him from the 
northwestern part of Nebraska, near Cottonwood, 
to Salt Creek. That gentleman had some §80,000 
in gold and bonds in a belt, and he asked Mr. Stull 
to let him travel with him in his wagon, as he did 
not want his men to know that lie had so much 
money with him for fear they would kill him for it. 
He and Mr. Slull took out the thimbles of wagons 
that the Indians had burned, and filled them with 
gold and bonds, and thus concealed them. Mr. 
Stull remembers very elearlj' about the murder of 
the Johnsons and a Mr. Kell3' in 1857, and he i.-* 
under the impression that they were killed for their 
monej' by a mol) of about nine men, who were very 
likely citizens of this county, and that they threw 
their bodies into the Missouri River. He speaks of 
this, as it has been jireviously written that " we, the 
citizens of Cass County, put the murderers across 
the river," while, in fact, it was only a mob who 
did the whole work, beyond a doubt. 

In 1857 Mr. Stull broke and cleared forty acres 
of land on his 320-aere claim at a cost of $5.50 an 
acre for breaking, and he erected a small house 
thereon, at a cost, for the lumber, of $85 a thousand 
feet. He also planted a large orchard on it and 
made other improvements, but the man who had 
pre-empted the land for him sold it to a speculator, 
and our sultject had to leave and begin life anew, 
having lost all that he had previously saved, 
amounting to $3,000. However, he did not lose his 
pluck and ambition, but by honest endeavor, inces- 
sant and well-directed toil, aided and encouraged 
by a good wife, he retrieved his fallen fortunes. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stull were united in marriage Dec. 
25, 1856. She was formerly Agatha Hengstler, and 
was born in Baden, Germany, on the 17th of January, 
1836. They have six children living, namely: John 
J., John F., C. Laurence, Amelia. Henry and 
Agatha. Mr. Stull .and his wife are deservedly held 
in high esteem by the many true friends that they 
have gathered about them in their many years' resi- 
dence here, not only as early settlers of this town- 
ship, in whose upbuilding they have had a hand, 
but on account of their many good qualities of 
head and licart. They were reared in the Lutheran 



lerau ' ■ 



•►Hf^^i^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1127 



•►Hh-^^ 



belief, but as there is no church of that denomi- 
nation here they have united with the Presbj'terian 
Church, and are faithful and zealous workers in the 
cause of Christianity. Mr. Stull is a wide-awalje, 
intelligent, well-informed man, and is deeply inter- 
ested in a'ny scheme for the advancement of his 
adopted townsliip. Especially is this true concern- 
ing educational matters, arrd for twent}'-eigiit3'ears 
he has been identified with the local School Board in 
various official capacities, and he has done all tiiat 
lies in his power for the education of the young. 
In politics he is a Democrat. 

The portrait of this pioneer settler of Cass County, 
and well-known and highly respected citizen, ap- 
pears on an adjoining page. 



iICHARD DOUGLAS JONES, one of the 
thrifty and intelligent farmers of Cass Coun- 
t3', is living pleasantly on his farm on sec- 
^tion 18, Liberty Precinct. He owns ICO 
acres of land, which is admirably tilled, is under 
good improvement, and is well stocked. Our sul)- 
ject is in prosperous circumstances, owing not onh- 
to his own skill as a farmer and to his wise and 
judicious management of his property, but also to 
the fact that during his wedded life of forty years 
he has been ably assisted hj a good and true wife 
in the building of the cozy and substantial home in 
which they are spending their declining years, sur- 
rounded b3' ever}' comfort that heart could wish. 
Mr. Jones has been identified with the agricultural 
interests of Nebraska since 18G7, and for two years 
and a half was a resident of Custer County, where 
he owned 320 acres of fine farming land. 

Mr. Jones is a native of Tennessee, born in White 
County, March 4, 1825, coming of Southern parent- 
age. His father, Ebenezer Jones, was of Welsh de- 
scent, and was a native of North Carolina. He was 
reared to a farmer's life in his native State, and was 
married there to Elizabeth Cass, a native of that 
State, who came of similar parentage as her husband. 
They subsequently moved to Tennessee in pioneer 
days, and settled on a tract of land in the unbroken 
forests of White Count}-, not far from the Cumber- 
land River. They built up a good home, and im- 



proved aflne farm, from which they derived a com- 
fortable income. They spent most of their wedded 
life amid the scenes where they had been pioneers, 
but after they became quite old they moved over 
into Warren Count}', the same State, and lived with 
their son, E. Jones, Jr., until their long pilgrimage 
of nearly fourscore years on this weary earth was 
over. They were people of rugged and stalwart 
virtues and strong natures, and their simple, unos- 
tentatious lives were above reproach. They were 
Cumberland Presbyterians, and were charter mem- 
bers of the first churc'h of that denomination estab- 
lished on the Cumberland River, and as its members 
were dissenters from the old-school Presbyterians, 
they called their church by the name of the river 
near whose waters it stood, and the name is still re- 
tained to designate a branch of the Presbyterian 
Church. Mr. Jones was particularly active in the 
organization of that church, being one of the four 
who planned it. and he was for years one of its 
Elders, and was otherwise prominent in religious 
circles in his community. 

Our subject was the youngest of the seventeen 
children, thirteen sons and four daughters, born to 
his parents. It is rather a remarkable circum- 
stance that the parents lived to see every child of 
this large family grow to maturity, marry and settle 
in life. There are only three of the family now 
living: John, who resides in Arkansas, at the age of 
eighty years; Andy, who lives in Warren County, 
Tenn., and is sixty-seven years old, and our sub- 
ject. The latter was reared and educated in Ten- 
nessee, and was married in his native county to 
Miss Elizabeth Weaver, the date of their wedding 
being Feb. 7, 1849. Mrs. Jones was born Nov. 9, 
1831, in White County, Tenn., to William and 
Fanny (Hampton) Weaver. Her father was a 
farmer by occupation, and he and his wife died on 
their homestead in Tennessee. Mrs. Jones was 
reared in the home of her birth, and she was oue of a 
family of sis children, two sons and four daughters. 
Mr. and Mrs. Jones removed from their native 
State in 1851, and as their parents had done liefore 
them, became pioneers in a new State, settling in 
Iowa, and in Polk County, that State, Ml'. Jones 
was actively engaged in farming. In 18(57 he 
sought "greener fields and pastures new" in Ne- 



H»^l 



■M^ 



128 



" ^ ► ^ 1 ■ ^ « 



CASS COUNTY. 



braska, and two years and a half later pitched his 
tent in Cass County "When he first purchased this 
place it was but slightly improved, and althciiigh Mr. 
Jones was not rmong the first settlers, he may be 
classed among its pioneers for the work that he h.ns 
perforn^ed in developing his farm, and so adding to 
the large agricultural interests of the county. 
Since coming here he has put up a first-class set of 
farm buildings, and in 1870 built his present resi- 
dence, a neat and substantial brick house. He is a 
man of more than ordinary scciabilitj-. genialit}- 
and tact, and has inspired a warm friendship in the 
hearts of man}' in this community, as he treats 
everyone with that degree of respect that makes 
them feel proud of his companj'. He and his wife, 
who is held in equal esteem by their mutual friends, 
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Chuich. of Union, of which he is an Elder, and they 
ever hold firmly to the failh of their fathers. Mr. 
Jones is strongly in sympathy with the Democratic 
part}' in his political sentiments. 



— -H-f^-- 



^ I^ILLIAM P. C. CRITCHFIELD, an agri- 
\\/iJi t'ulturist of energy, abilitj- and enterprise, 
V^^ residing on section 24, Centre Precinct, 
operates a fine farm, which shows for itself the 
amount of time, judicious labor and skill, which 
have been used in bringing it to its present condition. 
Our subject was born in Holmes County, Ohio, 
Nov. 15. 1857. His parents, Lewis H. and Harriet 
(Shreve) Critehfield, were also natives of the same 
State. (For further parental history, see sketch of 
Mrs. Harriet Critehfield). 

William was reared in his native town and re- 
ceived a good common-school education. Being 
brought up on a farm, where he assisted liis fatiier, 
he early became acquainted with the duties and 
details connected with the tilling of the soil, and 
concluded to make farming his life occupation. He 
remained at home until the spring of 1881, when 
he came to Nebraska with his family, and settled 
on the farm in Centre Precinct where he has since 
lived. The land was at that time uncultivated 
1 'prairie, with scarcely any improvements. But Mr. 



Critehfield at once went to work with a will to 
evolve a farm from the raw land, and in all bis un- 
dertakings he has met with success. He is a worthy 
representative of the sturdy 3-eomanry of this sec- 
tion of the country, who. commencing life with no 
heritage save that of strong hands and willing 
hearts, have won for themselves substantial positions 
and fair competences. • 

The marriage of our subject with Miss Jessie 
Price, of Valparaiso, Ind. was celebrated Sept. 10, 
1878. She is a native of the Hoosier State, born 
in Porter Countj% Oct. 16, 1856. Her early days 
were spent in her native town, where she received 
a good education, and was initiated by her excellent 
mother into the mysteries of housekeeping, so that, 
since marriage, she has been able to be a true help- 
mate to her husband and to aid him by her thrift 
and good management in his varied duties of de- 
veloping a farm from the wild prairie. Of her 
marriage with our subject four children have been 
born, namely: Edith, Otto, Maud and Day. Mrs. 
Critchfield's father, James A. Price, is Deputy 
Recorder of Cook County, 111., and lives in Chicago. 
He married Miss Eunice House, b}' whom he had 
one child. Mrs. Critchtield. The latter's mother 
died when she was three years of age. 

Our subject is a man of much force of character, 
is well thought of in his neighborhood, and, making 
many friends, retains them all by his frank and cor- 
dial manners. Socially, he is a member of the 
Roj'al Arcanum. • 

-^ €-*-^ ^^ 



\f| OHN DOMINGO is an enterprising, indus- 
trious farmer, of good business capacity and 
great intelligence, who resides on section 25, 
1]^/' township 11, range 11, Centre Precinct. He 
was born in Denmark, Ma}' 5, 1854, and was there 
reared and educated. His parents, Jorgen (in En- 
glish called John) and Ellen (Christenson) Domingo, 
spent their entire lives in Denmark, his father dying 
there in 1861, and his mother in 1872. They 
were industrious, well-educated people, holding an 
important position among the citizens of their 
town. Of their union four children were born, 
three of whom are n(jw living, one of them on the 



-4» 



•^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1129 



home farm in D3iim.ark, aud two of tliem in this 
State (see sketch of Jacob Domingo.) Mi\ Do- 
mingo owneil his farm in Denmark, he having lived 
and died on the same one on which he was born. 
He was a prudent, thrifty farmer, who gave his 
sons good educations and some money to start life 
with. 

Our subject was educated in his native country*, 
aud at the age of eighteen years emigrated to this 
country alone. He at first located in Bloom ington, 
111., staying there until 1881, and the same year 
bought the farm of 160 acres where he now resides. 
It was then under cultivation, and some buildings 
had been erected. With characteristic energy our 
subject set to work to l)uild for himself a home, and 
in the few j-ears that have since elapsed he has ef- 
fected a vast improvement in his property. He has 
fenced his entire farm, and has a good bearing 
orchard, and has quite a large grove of fine forest 
trees. He has erected a good set of farm build- 
ings, having just completed an elegant frame house, 
26x26 feet, two stories high, which is a model of 
convenience and taste, and would be an ornament 
to any village or city. The pasturage on his farm 
is all tame grass, being especially' adapted to stock- 
raising, to which he pays much attention. His 
herd of Short-horns, 100 in number, is of great 
value and very fine. He also raises a large num- 
ber of horses aud hogs, finding stock-raising of all 
kinds to be a lucrative business. 

Mr. Domingo was married, June 7, 1881, to JMiss 
Lottie Wiuff, who was also a native of Denmark, 
born June 7, 1864, and who came to America in 
1880. Her parents, Jesse and Metta Maria (Ander- 
son) Wiuflf, natives of Denmark, are now living in 
Humboldt, Iowa. They have had eight children, 
five of whom grew to maturity. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Wiuflf are members of the Lutheran Church. 
The union of our subject and his wife has been 
blessed by the birth of three children, namely: 
Ellen, born April 28, 1882; Jesse, Sept. 13, 1883; 
Laura, June 7, 1886, her birth having occurred on 
the anniversary of her mother's birth and wedding. 

Mr. Domingo is a man of sterling worth and 
ability, and is highly respected by his fellow-citi- 
zens. By his industry and thrift the small sum of 
nioney that lie had when he came here has I)een gradu- 



»► I L^ ' 



ally increased, and by using it advantageously he 
has now a good income, a fine homestead, and is as 
pleasantly situated as any man could desire. Our 
subject uniformly casts his vote with the Republican 
part3', but has all the business he can attend to 
without desiring to take upon himself the respon- 
sibilities of office. Both Mr. .and Mrs. Domingo 
are members of the Lutheran Church, and contrib- 
ute generously toward its support. 

RANCIS G.KENDALL. Numberedamong 
the practical and progressive agriculturists 
of Cass County is the subject of this brief 
biographical history, who is prosperously engaged 
in his independent calling on section 12, Liberty 
Precinct, where he owns 160 acres of well-improved 
land, which he entered in 1857 from the United 
States Government under the pre-emption law. 

Our subject was born Sept. 10, 1835, in Erie, 
Erie Co., Pa., where his paternal grandfather, Frank 
G. Kendall, was an early settler and spent his last 
years. Robert Kendall, father of our suiiject, was 
married in Erie, Pa., to Miss Anna McNair, whose 
father. Col. David McNair, was originally from near 
Pittsburgh, and was one of the original settlers of 
Erie County, and platted the city of Erie, where he 
built the first distillery and brewery in the county. 
He took an active part in the sieges of the War of 
1812, and spent his declining years in Erie, where 
he had prominently identified himself with all its 
interests. Robert Kendall and his wife remained 
in Eric County until their remo.al, with their fam- 
ily, to Monmouth, III. There they acquired con- 
siderable property, and lived until well advanced 
in years. Both were active members of the United 
Presbyterian Church, and donated liberally toward 
its support and to the college of that denomination 
in that place. They had six children, three of 
■whom are now living: David M., the eldest sou, 
lives at Monmouth, Warren Co., 111.; Francis G.; 
Margaret, wife of Amos Buford, a prominent far- 
mer and stock-raiser of Monmouth Township, War- 
ren Co., 111.; William £. died at the age of twenty- 
one years; James died at the age of ten years. 
Clark A. was a graduate of Monmouth College, and 



t 



1^1 



.^t^ 



1130 



CASS COUNTY. 



ii noble and promising youth; he lost hi? life in the 
battle of Ft. Donelson. He was a member of Com- 
pany F, 17th Illinois Infantry, a brave and ambi- 
tious soldier, and a favorite among his comrades, 
by whom his early death was lamented. 

Francis G. of our sketch received a good educa- 
tion in his native town, remaining there until the 
removal of his parents to Illinois, in March, 1853. 
In 1857. desiring to try his fortune in some other 
part of the country, Mr. Kendall came to Cass 
County, bringing with him a sawmill, which he had 
bought in Chicago and shipped to Muscatine, Iowa, 
and thence here in wagons, anil set it up in Liberty 
Precinct. It was the first mill of the kind in the 
precinct, and he operated it for two years, then sold 
it. He subsequently visited Colorado, and spent a 
few months prospecting among the mines of the 
Rockies, but returned to Nebraska, and in June, 
1861, enlisted in defense of his country at Plaits- 
mouth, joining Company A, commanded by Capt. 
Livingston. 1st Nebraska Infantry, the regiment 
under comniand of Cul. Jolin M. Th.-iyer. The regi- 
ment was ordered to the front, and Mr. Kendall 
was witli it in the J)attles of Ft. Donelson, Pitts- 
burg Landing and many other minor engagements, 
being once thrown from his horse and severely in- 
jured. He was tiien sent home on a sick furlough, 
but afterward returned to the ranks, and was hon- 
orably discharged with the rank of Corporal at 
Omaha, having served with honor three years and 
three months. He afterward secured a position as 
Captain of the Guards at the Government corrallat 
St. Louis, Mo., which was a depot of supplies for 
receiving and branding horses. 

After the war closed Mr. Kendall went to Mon- 
mouth, 111., and spent a year, then returned to liis 
farm in this State, which he has since occupied. He 
has worked hard, and made all the necessary im- 
provements to place his homestead among tiie finest 
in the locality. It is well watered, very productive, 
and stocked witli horses and cattle of good grades. 
A stream of running water heads about 100 rods 
from his house from springs on his farm, and mean- 
ders through his farm, crosses his feed lot, and gives 
an ample supply of water the year around for slock 
purposes. 

Mr. Kendall has been twice married. His first wife. 



whose maiden name was Rachel Allison, was a native 
of Washington County, Pa. Of that marriage three 
children were born — Birdie, deceased ; Rol)ert C. and 
Mary. The second marriage of our subject took place 
in Nebraska Cit}'. where he was united to Mrs. Vir- 
ginia Ballinger, npe Jones. She was born in Mis- 
souri, May 28, 1843, and is a daughter of John C. 
and Maria (Brinker) Jones. Her father, who is 
now living in Arkansas, was born more than four- 
score years ago in White County, Tenn. When a 
j'oung man he moved to Missouri, where he was 
married. His wife was a native of St. Louis, where 
he was a merchant for a time. In 1845 Mr. and 
Mrs. Jones moved with their small family to Des 
Moines, Iowa, where he became one of the pioneer 
drj'-goods merchants, and for many years carried 
on the mercantile business on what is now one of 
the busiest thoroughfares of that city. Mrs. Jones' 
death occurred during their residence there in 1 853. 
Mrs. Kendall, the wife of our subject, was only two 
years of age when her parents moved to Des Moines, 
where she was reared and educated. She presides 
with hospitalit3' over the household of her hus- 
band, and they lead a pleasant and social life. Mr. 
Kendall was a brave, gallant soldier, who served his 
country well in time of war, and now, in time of 
peace, does his duty equally well as an intelligent, 
patriotic citizen. In politics he is an active Re- 
publican, and stands firmly for the principles of 
the party. 



Ih.A RS. SINA WILBERN is a lady of worth 
and refinement, holding a prominent place 
in the social life of Salt Creek. She is the 
widow of Robert Wilbern, who settled on 
the site of her present homestead in 1872. This 
lad}^ was born Dec. 24, 1824, in Gallatin County, 
111., on the banks of the Ohio River, near Sbawnee- 
town. Her father was Robert Henderson, and her 
mother was Cassandra (Ta3'lor) Henderson. Her 
father was born in Brandenburg, Ky., and went to 
Illinois with his parents when he was seventeen 
years old, in the earlj' Territorial days of that now 
proud State. The Henderson family were among 






> ► I I M - 



CASS COUNTY. 



1131 



the first settlers in Kentucky, originally settling 
among the Shawnee Indians. Iler father died in 
Kentucky, in 1828, aged twenty-eight 3'ears. Her 
mother died near East St. Louis, 111.; when about 
seventy-five years old. She was a native of Virginia, 
and was born in 1807. 

The mother of the subject of our sketch bore two 
children by her first marriage, Sina and Maria. She 
was married the second time, and became the mother 
of six cliildren. four boys and two girls, all of 
whom are living. Mrs. Wilbern attended the pub- 
lic schools of Union County, near Morganfield, 
and was in a Catholic convent at Morganfield for 
the period of three j'ears. She removed with her 
parents to Sangamon County, 111., in 1840, and 
there became acquainted with Robert Wilbern, 
whom she afterward married. This gentleman was 
born in Kentucky, and was four years old when his 
parents went with their family to Illinois in 1818, 
and settled in Sangamon County. Mrs. Wilbern 
and her husband were married in 1842, and resided 
in Sangamon County, 111., until they came to 
Nebraska, and settled on their present homestead 
in 1873. They were the parents of eight children, 
named: Robert, Thomas J., Elizabeth, Jennie, 
Charles, Eddie, Lottie and John W. Charles and 
Lottie are dead; Robert resides in Decatur Countj', 
Kan., where he is a farmer; he is married to Miss 
Doom, and is the father of five children — Myrtle, 
Robert, Gordon, MoUie and an infant unnamed. 
Our subject's son Thomas J. married Miss Lena 
Chapiu (see sketch elsewhere in this volume); 
Elizabeth is now the wife of W. J. Mastou, a 
merchant living in Oxford, Harlan Co., Neb., and 
is the mother of three children — Sina, Robert and 
Addie; Jennie is now the wife of N. B. Hamilton, 
an enterprising hardware merchant, and resides in 
Emporia, Kan., and is the mother of one child. 
Lottie; John W. is at home and manages his 
mother's interests on the home farm; Addie is 
the wife of F. C. Baldwin, and resides in Salt 
Creek Precinct. 

Mr. Wilbern was during his life an earnest and 
conscientious member of the Baptist Church. Mrs. 
Wilbern is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Greenwood. She is widelj' and favorably 
known as a lad3- of large heart and generous 



impulses, ever ready to assist in a substantial man- 
ner any who come to her in need. Her life is a 
bright and shining example of Christian devotion, 
which is not without its effect for good on the 
people among whom she lives. 



(S\ IfelLLIAM ROSE. Imagine that you see a 
\^// tailor by trade, poor in purse, dressed up 
WW in a style suggestive of his calling and cir- 
cumstances, starting out from the cit^' of St. .Joseph , 
Mo., with a diminutive road wagon loaded up with 
a small outfit of household supplies, among which 
is a pleasant looking little woman. To this wagon is 
attached a yoke of ancient and very small oxen, 
worth about 14.50 each, and the owner working 
about as hard as they in order to continue them in 
their slow locomotion and hasten them if possible. 
They started out over a new and lonesome looking 
country toward the West, and in this manner pur- 
sued their way for some days. They finally 
"squatted" on a piece of land lying along the banks 
of the Weeping Water River, in what is now 
Avoca Precinct, this county. The above furnishes 
the outline of the first appearance of the subject of 
this sketch in Cass Counter. It is hardlj^ necessary 
to state that under these circumstances he was, as 
he says, the "greenest kind of a farmer." His later 
life has exhibited in a remarkable manner the large 
amount of energy and perseverance with which he 
was endowed by a kindly Providence. He is now 
called "a big-hearted and successful farmer and 
stock-raiser," and few men are more popular in his 
precinct. He still retains the land where he first 
settled, although he has added to its boundaries, 
and his labors have resulted in the construction of 
one of the most valuable farms in this region, and 
lying on section 13. 

The first arrival of Mr. Rose in this county dates 
from the fall of 1857, when he pre-empted his land, 
but did not settle on it until 1861, being employed 
in the meantime as a tailor. In the 3'ear last men- 
tioned, he, with his little family, took possession of 
a plank house, when his neighbors were few and 
far between,, and the face of the country gave little 
indication of the presence of the white man. His 



>► 11, o 



>^1r 



-■»• 



1132 



CASS COUNTY. 



subsequent record is that of hundreds of other pio- 
neers of Cass County, whose experiences are de- 
tailed over and over throughout this volume. His 
possessions now embrace 480 broad acres, the greater 
part under a high state of cultivation, and embracing 
very little waste land. He has erected convenient 
and substantial buildings, aud at the same time 
made for himself a record ns an agriculturist and a 
citizen second to none in the county. 

In view of the facts above noted it will not be 
surprising to learn that Mr. Rose is a native of 
Germany, born in the Duchy of Brunswick, Sept. 15, 
1832. He is of unadulterated German stock, and 
of a good family, being the son of Henry Rose, 
who was a skilled mechanic, and who, with his esti- 
mable wife, in her maiden days Miss Christina M. 
Muehe, spent his entire life in his native land, 
both passing away in middle life. They were the 
parents of two children. 

The subject of this sketch acquired a good edu- 
cation in the German language, learned the trade 
of tailor, and when a youth of eighteen years left 
home, and journeying to London, England, so- 
journed in that city three and one-half years. Upon 
leaving England, in August, 1854, he set sail for 
the I'nited States, landing in Ne.w York City, and 
worked there and at other places in the East for 
some years. We find him in Missouri about 1857, 
and later he established a shop in Elmwood, Kan., 
which he conducted until September, 1861. Then 
selling out hi' resolved to cast his lot among the 
pioneers of Nebraskaj He had prior to this se- 
cured his land in this county, upon which he set^ 
tied in the fall of 1861. 

Commencing with scarcely any knowledge of 
agriculture, Mr. Rose had more than the ordinary 
amount of difficulties to contend with in a new set- 
tlement. He, however, after a few seasons had 
learned much from experience, which, after all, 
is the most practical and useful teacher a man can 
have. What he lacked in the practical knowledge 
of farming he made up in industry and persistence, 
and his labors in due time met with their legitimate 
reward. 

During his sojourn in St. Joseph, Mo., our subject 
was united in marriage with Miss Kersten Peter- 
son, the wedding taking place Sept. 27, 1859. Mrs. 



Rose was born in Norway, June 16, 1834, and came 
to this country in her girlhood with her mother, 
her father having died in his native Scandinavia. 
She was then a young girl of fourteen years, and the 
family located in the vicinity of St. Joseph, where 
they made their living by farming, and where the 
mother remained until her death. Their family 
consisted of three children, who are now in Nor- 
way and the United States. 

We have already gained an idea of the manner 
in which Mr. and Mrs. Rose commenced the jour- 
ney of life together. They have labored side by 
side in the accumulation of their property and the 
building up of their homestead, the wife and 
mother performing her duties in her sphere as 
faithfully and conscientiously as has her husband 
in his. They became the parents- of six children, 
three of whom are deceased — Ida M., Ellen K. and 
an infant unnamed. The survivors are: Anna H., 
the wife of Elsworth Norris, a farmer of Avoca 
Precinct; William A., unmarried, and operating a 
farm not far from the homestead, and Fred P., who 
remains with his parents. Mr. Rose, politically, is 
a sound Republican, and both he and his wife are 
Lutheran in religion. Mr. R. is a man of intelli- 
gence and abilit}-, and is prominent in local affairs. 

yp^ILLIAM W. DAVIS. This enterprising and 
public-spirited citizen isafarmer and stock- 
^^' raiser on the northwest quarter of section 
14, Weeping Water Precinct. He is the eldest in a 
family of ten children. He was born in Mercer 
County, Pa., April 2, 1830, and lived at home until 
he was twenty-eight years old. He attended the 
common schools of the neighborhood, but his other 
sources for education weie quite limited, for when 
ten years of age he began working on his father's 
farm, among the roots and stumps of Pennsylvania. 
His grandmother helped to start the plow, and from 
that time on he almost ran his father's farm witliout 
other assistance. When twent3'-three years of age, 
in 1853, his father moved to Tama County, Iowa, 
where he took up a large tract of land. Our subject 
took charge of it, broke the virgin soil, using three 
yoke of cattle, set out the grove and orchard, and 



•►^1^ 



»^l- 




Residence of G.W. Grimes,Sec.19.(io=ia.) LibertyPrect. Cass Co. 




RE51DENCE0F H . G. HaWLEY, SEC.31. M^. PLEASANT PrECT. CA55 CO . 




Residence OF Ambrose Bickert^Sec.28.StoveCreek Prect,Ca55 Co 



^f= 



4^ 



^ii^^h-* 



CASS COUNTY. 



1135 



biiilL the fences, houses anrl stables; lie persevered 
in this work until 160 acres were brought under a 
high state of cultivation, remaining here until his 
twenty-eighth j-ear. In 1858 he went to Toledo, 
in the same county, where he started a dry-goods 
store, which he operated for four years and was 
eminently successful ; he was in partnership with his 
cousin, who got aw.iy with most of the assets, and 
left our subject at the foot of the lailder ready to 
begin again. 

In 1862 our subject bought 120 acres of land in 
Tama County, which he improved and operated 
until 1873, when he sold it and determined to try 
his luck in Nebraska. He came overland withthree 
teams, crossing the Missouri River at Plattsmouth, 
coming on to Weeping Water, where he left his 
stock and went to Red Cloud, Kan. ; not liking it 
there he came back to Weeping Water, and bought 
IGO acres in Avoca Precinct, improved it. and made 
it bis home until the spring of 1878, when he sold 
it aud moved to his present home, on 160 acres of 
section 14. Only seventy acres of this was under 
plow when he purchased it. He has made all other 
improvements, set out fifteen acres of grove aud an 
orchard of 600 trees, planted hedge and built wire 
fences to divide the farm into convenient fields. 
He hauled all the lumber from Nebraska City to 
build the various houses and barns and other im- 
provements necessary to the successful and profita- 
ble operation of the farm, which he devotes to 
general farming, raising cattle, and dairy purposes. 
The Short-horn breed of cattle are his favorites, of 
which he has a fine herd of high-grade animals, and 
which certainly reflect high credit on the proprie- 
tor, showing care and strict attention as well as a 
thorough knowledge of the business. The herd is 
headed by two thoroughbreds. He has six hand- 
some horses, Hambletonians. 

The father of this gentleman, John Davis, was 
born in Westmoreland County, Pa. The mother 
wasMarjr Tice, born in Canada. Grandfather Davis 
was in the Revolutionarj' War and the Warof 1812, 
was a farmer in easj' circumstances, and vvas of Ger- 
man descent. Grandfather Frederick Tice was born 
in Canada, of German parentage, was in the British 
Army, and during the War of 1812 he deserted and 
joined the Americans. He had a large amount of 



»»Htr»" 



property in Canada, but never dared return to claim 
it. The father and mother were married in Mercer 
County. Pa. The father was a brickraason and 
stone-cutter. He also owned a farm, and lived 
in Mercer County until the fall of 1853, when he 
disi)osed of his property and removed to Iowa, 
where he bought more than a section of land in 
Tama County. He was one of the pioneers in that 
section, being the fourth man to settle in the count}'. 
Here he turned all his attention to improving 
his propert}' until he died. He enlisted in the 28th 
Iowa Regiment, but was olijected to on account of 
physical disabilit}'. He died in 1879, sixty-seven 
years of age. The mother died in Weeping Water 
in 188.T, seventy-three years old. He was the eld- 
est in a family of ten children, many of whom are 
dead, and the remainder are widely scattered. Mary, 
John H., Frederick T., Jesse and Frank are in 
Weeping Water ; Sarah A., in California, while Eliza- 
beth, Richard and an infant unnamed are dead. 
Tlie brothers, J. H. and Jesse, served creditably in 
the late Civil War, in the 28th Iowa Infantry. They 
were mustered into the service at Iowa City in 1861, 
and served until the close of the war, when they 
were honorabh' discharged. J. H. was severely 
wounded, being shot through the thigh, but has re- 
covered. 

Our subject and Miss Jennie Parker, daughter of 
Harrison and Lucia (Strickland) Parker, were mar- 
ried in Tama County, Iowa, Feb. 28, 1856. The 
lady's father was a native of Mentor, Lake Co., 
Ohio. Her mother was born near Boston, Mass. 
Grandfather Strickland was a native of England. 
Grandfather Parker was born in Virginia. The 
lad}''s father and mother were married in Massa- 
chusetts, and went to Mentor, Ohio, where he farmed 
and traded with the Indians. They removed from 
there to Constantine, St. Joseph Co., Mich., where 
they bought and improved land. The father sailed 
on the lake during the summer season, trading with 
the Indians. In the spring of 1855 they removed 
to Iowa, where he farmed 160 acres of land, and in 
1860 he went to Nodaway County, Mo., also farm- 
ing there, where he died in 1872, fifty-eight j'ears 
old. The mother is still living in Avoca, and is 
seventy-three years of age. 

The wife of our subject is the fourth child in a 



•►Hf^ 



■•►-41- 



CASS COUNTY. 



family of twelve; she was born in Mentor, Lake 
Co., Ohio, Sept. 15, 1841. This couple have a fam- 
ily of nine children: Ida, now married to Mr. L. 
McDermid, residing in Weeping Water, has four 
children. — Glennie, Verie, Elmer and Jennie. The 
remaining children of the family of our subject are 
Allen and Alfred (twins), who died when eight 
months old ; Frederick died aged ten months ; Will- 
iam died at six months; Jessie, Lottie, Stewart and 
Elsie are at home. The gentleman has occupied 
various positions of trust and confidence reposed in 
him by his neighbors, served on the School Board 
six years, was Supervisor of Roads for ten years, 
is an esteemed member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church at Weeping Water, and has served as 
Trustee of that society. In politics he is a strong 
lie publican. 



<Sf^DWARD POST, the third homesteader of 
l^ Tipton Precinct, and one of its first actual 
/*' — ^ settlers, has been a man of note in his com- 
munity, a man second to none in assisting Cass 
County to its development and prosperity. An old 
army veteran, he saw hard times in the late war, 
from which he came out so seriously crippled as to 
be unable to accomplish much manually, but Provi- 
dence endowed him with a large and generous 
spirit, and bis influence has been felt amid the vari- 
ous causes and enterprises which have received 
the commendation and encouragement of good 
men. Inasmuch as the pen has been designated as 
mightier than the sword, so the influence of a sin- 
gle man in a community may enter very largely 
into its development, and in establishing its stand- 
ard of morality. The record of Mr. Post has been 
one of which his descendants can never be ashamed. 
He is at present living in a pleasant home, sur- 
rounded by all the comforts of life, his companion 
an amiable and intelligent lady, and his friends 
surrounding him b3' the score. His farm propert}' 
lies on section 10, and comprises 160 acres of good 
land with modern improvements. 

Mr. Post comes of good ancestry, who settled 
in New England during the Colonial days. His 
father, Martin Post, was born in Hebron, Conn., 



March 20, 180.5, and married Miss Abigail Hen- 
drick, also a native of that State. The paternal 
grandfather, Daniel Post, also born in Connecticut, 
was reared to farming pursuits, and finally emi- 
grated, about 1808, to Chenango County, N. Y. 
He purchased land from the Government, from 
which he constructed a good farm, and there spent 
the remainder of his days. 

The paternal great-grandfather of our subject, 
in company with four brothers, came over from 
England prior to the Revolutionary AVar, in which 
they all served as 'soldiers. They enlisted from 
Connecticut, and after the war became scattered-, 
one remaining in Connecticut, another settling in 
Vermont, a third locating in New Jersey, and the 
two others were lost track of. Edward, our sub- 
ject, is a descendant of the one who settled and re- 
mained in the Nutmeg State. On the mother's 
side grandfather Joel Hendrick, a genuine Con- 
necticut farmer, finally left New England, and 
also, like the Posts, took up his residence in Che- 
nango County, N. Y. He served in the War of 
1812 as a commissioned officer. 

Martin Post, the father of our subject, was but 
three years of age when, with his parents, he took 
up his residence in Chenango County, N. Y. At 
an early age he developed much skill as a natural 
mechanic, and his mind was given to scientific re- 
searches. He was a lover of books, and employed 
his leisure hours among them. Upon approaching 
manhood he started out for himself and engaged to 
work by the month for Mr. Hendrick, who in due 
time became his father-in-law. At the age of 
twenty-one years he was married, and purchased 
land in Chenango Count}', from which he cleared a 
portion of the heavy forest, and put up one after 
another three sawmills, two having been burned. 

The father of our subject in 1850 disposed of his 
interests in the Empire .State, and rented land one 
year in the same State. After the death of his 
father he purchased the interest of the heirs in the 
old homestead, and carried on farming there until 
1874. Then selling out and retiring from active 
labor, he made his home with his children until his 
death, which occurred at Afton, N. Y., April 17, 
1877, when he was seventy-two years old. The 
mother had died July .3, 1871. Both were active 



•P^h 



•►Hl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



]137 



members of the Baptist Clmrcli at West Baiiibridge, 
N. Y. 

To Martin and Abigail Post there were born 
eiglit cliildren, namely: Celestiii; Edward, our sub- 
ject; Lucina; Pldelia; Ellen, who died in 1842; 
Lydia, Eliza J. and Hubert. Edward was born 
near Bainbridge, in Oxford Township, Chenango 
Co., N. Y., Feb. 8, 1833. His childhood and youth 
were spent at the old homestead, and he was at an 
early age trained to habits of industry and econ- 
omy. He assisted his father on the farm and in 
the sawmill, and attended the first school established 
in the district. He remained a member of the pa- 
rental household until reaching his majoritj', then 
began farming on his own account. 

In the fall of 1854 our subject migrated to the 
vicinity of Grand Rapids, Mich., and purchased in 
Allegan County eighty acres of land, which he 
cleared, and upon which he effected some improve- 
ments. There also he found his wife, being mar- 
ried, Aug. 10, 1856, in Michigan, to Miss Marilla 
Hanor. Mrs. Post was born in Oakland, Mich., 
Aug. 20, 1835, and departed this life at her home 
in Michigan, Nov. 18, 1865, after having been the 
companion of her husband a period of nine years. 

Mr. Post continued on his Michigan farm until 
the spring of 1861. In the meantime he purchased 
other land, which he improved and sold, and thus 
built up three different farms, selling all. The 
second year of the war he enlisted as a Union sol- 
dier in Company E, 1 1 4th New York Infantrj', being 
mustered in at Norwich, his regiment assigned to 
the Army of the Gulf. They were first sent to 
Baltimore, and later joined Gen. Banks' expedition 
in the Southwest, doing duty along the railroads 
in Texas, and Mr. Post frequently assigned to de- 
tached service. He was often given responsible 
positions under the Government. 

In the spring of 1863 this division of the army 
was sent to Southwestern Louisiana, and met the 
enemy in some of the most important engagements 
of the war. On the 14th of June, 1863, Mr. Post 
was wounded in the right thigh by a minie ball, 
and in the left arm by a double buckshot. This 
laid him up for several months, and when conval- 
escent he returned to camp. In the spring of 1864 
he joined the Red River expedition, meeting parties 



•►^t:^ 



of the Confederates nearly every da}', skirmishing 
along the line until the serious engagement at Sa- 
bine Cross Roads, when they fell back to Pleasant 
Hill on account of being out of provisions. After- 
ward they took boats to New Orleans, expecting to 
join the Army of the Potomac, but at Ft. Monroe 
were ordered to Washington for the defense of the 
capital. They arrived there in time, remaining as 
long as it seemed necessary, then repaired to tlie 
valley of the Shenandoah, joining the command of 
Gen. Sheridan. Later followed the battle of Win- 
chester, Sept. 19, 1864, when Mr. Post was shot in 
the right ankle, entirely shattering it. He was 
placed in the hospital, and the entire limb swelled 
to the size of a barrel. It was four days before the 
ball was extracted, and then it was found wedged 
into the bone so tightly it was almost impossible 
to withdraw it. He remained in the hospital at 
Winchester until the close of the war, being then 
unable to bear his weight on his foot. He received 
his honorable discharge at Chestnut Hill Hospital, 
Pa., April 4, 1865, and returned home. 

Mrs. Marilla Post departed this life at her home 
Nov. 18, 1865. A few months later the family was 
broken up, and Mr. Post, removing to St. Clair 
County, 111., engaged as clerk in a general store 
nearly two years. Then returning to Michigan he 
sold his farm of 120 acres. He tlien went back to 
New York State, and in the fall of 1867, turning 
his steps southwestward, he established himself in 
Macon City, Mo., where he spent that winter. In 
the spring of 1868 he came to Nebraska overland 
on horseback, landing in Nebraska Cit}"^ on the 1st 
of June. Later he returned to Macon City to cast 
his Presidential vote for Gen. Grant, and this done, 
bent his steps toward Tipton Precinct, this county. 

Mr. Post on the 6th of June, 1869, homesteaded 
eighty acres of land, which is included in his pres- 
ent homestead. He hired a breaking team, and 
after pajing for his papers and breaking his land, 
he had left $5 in money. He now went back to 
Nebraska City, where he lived until his money was 
gone, and when hardly able to walk went to 
work for a Mr. Pendleton near there, remaining 
with him during the harvest season. Later he se- 
cured a job at husking corn on Cascade Creek, at 
five cents per bushel. In the spring of 1869 he 



•► 



1138 



CASS COUNTY. 



went out to his liomestearl, purchased a ''plug" 
team, commenced breaking more land, and planted 
his first crops on his own property. He had in 
the meantime sheltered himself in a dugout, but in 
the fall put up a house and set out trees. He took 
out the remaining papers for his homestead in Tip- 
ton, and purchased eighty acres of land adjoining, 
of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Com- 
l)any. He was fairly prospered in his labors as a 
tiller of the soil until 1874, when the grasshoppers 
came along and destroyed his crops. The season of 
1877 he rented his place for a term of five years, 
the consideration being $100 per year. 

Tliis furnished our subject with money to buy 
land, and he took up his residence in Anderson 
County, where he purchased 160 acres and farmed 
there five years. Later he returned to the farm in 
Tipton Precinct, and turned his attention to stock 
raising. He gathered together a herd of good cat- 
tle, Polled-Angus mostly, and also swine, with 
blooded English horses, of which latter he now 
has ten head. He has by his own industry effected 
all the improvements which we find upon his place 
to-day, including substantial buildings, a grove of 
three acres of forest trees, an orchard of 100 apple 
trees, with good out-buildings, windmill, water 
tanks, and the necessary machinery for carrying on 
agriculture successfull3^ 

Mr. Post was married the second time, in Elm- 
wood Precinct, this countj^ Aug. 8, 1870, to Miss 
Jane Brittain, who was born Aug. 8, 1833, in 
Trumbull County, Ohio. Mrs. Post received care- 
ful home training in her youth, and a good educa- 
tion, developing into a school teacher, which pro- 
fession she followed before her marriage. Of this 
union there have been born three children, namely: 
Merrett M., who died when fourteen months old; 
Lulu, also deceased, and Francis, who was born 
Sept. 2, 1875, and is at home attending school. 
The two children of Mr. Post by his first marriage 
were Judson and Ardilla. The former is farming 
in Hitchcock County, Dak.; Ardilla is the wife of 
Albert A. Hardy, and lives in the viciuitj' of Vic- 
toria, this State. 

Mr. Post was the first Justice of the Peace in 
Tipton Precinct, and officiated at the first mar- 
riage taking place here. He was also the first 



Postmaster at Sunlight, holding the position four 
years. He has occupied other positions of trust 
and responsibility, and has made the record of an 
honest man and a good citizen. Socially, he be- 
longs to Kenesaw Post No. 123, G. A. R. at Elm- 
wood. Both he and his estimable wife are members 
in good standing of the Congregational Church at 
Eagle, in which Mr. P. has officiated as Deacon for 
the last three years. To this, as to other laudable 
enterprises, he has contributed liberally, and in 
politics, it is hardly necessary to add is a straight 
Republican. 



1^^— ^^^J/OT»»>- 



■vTOHN W. WILBERN. This gentleman is, 
I I perhaps, one of the youngest of the many 

d energetic citizens represented in the pages of 
I ■' this volume. He was born in Christian 
County, III., April 14, 1862, forty miles from 
Springfield, the State capital. His educational ad- 
vantages were excellent, and he improved them to 
tiie fullest extent and when a boy of twelve years he 
came to Nebraska, coming to Salt Creek for the first 
time with his father, who then purchased a tract of 
160 acres of land in. Salt Creek Precinct from Curtis 
Sheffer. 

After the return of our subject with his father to 
Illinois, he was general chore boy at his father's 
side in making the preparations for their removal 
from Springfield to Greenwood. Finally all work 
was completed, and the journey was begun, with 
five wagons loaded with goods, and seventeen loose 
horses in the procession ; they brought no cattle 
with them. It was a trip he will never forget. He 
bore his part of the work, and care incident to the 
management of that amount of property, without a 
complaint. After the}' arrived in Nebraska, for 
many long weary days John followed cattle herding 
until the death of his father, when he took charge 
of the homestead, and for years after cultivated 
the same fields. During his earliest years in Ne- 
braska he was given the opportunity of attending 
the country schools and the graded school at Green- 
wood. He early acquired a taste for reading and 
study, and in addition to the advantages for ob- 



■•►HH 



t 



CASS COUNTY. 



••►^ 



1139 



taining a school education that were afforded him. 
he has made a close stud3' ever since of the papers 
and man3' good books which are now within the 
reach of everyone. 

We now Qnd him in charge of 200 acres of land, 
160 of which belongs to his mother, with whom he 
lives. He takes rank as one of the most prosperous 
j-oung men of Salt Creek Precinct, and it is safe to 
prophesy that he has a brilliant and successful busi- 
ness career before him. • He is well and favorably 
known as being a hard-working, temperate, energetic 
young man. The mother with whom he lives is a 
lady of great worth and refinement. She takes the 
greatest comfort in the company of her son, and finds 
in him the most intense devotion to her interests and 
welfare, and there is no doubt but that the gentleman 
will, in the years to come, receive at the hands of his 
fellowmen a continuation of the esteem which he 
now holds, and that he will fill his place in life with 
honor and credit to himself and benefit to the peo- 
ple about him, and that he will at the end of life 
be able to say, " I have finished the work and I hope 
the world is better for mj' having lived in it." In 
politics he is a Democrat. 

?RAXCIS H. WILLIAMS has been identified 
with the farming and industrial interests of 
Stove Creek Precinct since 1875, formerly 
owning an extensive farm here, which he managed, 
while at the game time engaged in the manufacture 
of wagons. He is now in the evening of life, 
mostly retired from its cares, being an invalid, 
although he still makes his home on what has re- 
mained of his farm after providing for each of his 
children. By a life of well-directed toil, and by 
the excellent management of his affairs, he now has 
an ample income, and is classed among the sub- 
stantial, well-to-do men of this precinct. 

Our subject was born in Monmouthshire, Wales, 
June 27, 18:0. His parents, Thomas and Ann 
( Roberts) Williams, were natives of the same count}', 
and were there married. The father was a master 
blacksmith, having a shop of his own, besides a 
Louse and lot. He did well in business, and at the 
time of his death, in 1830, at the age of sixty years, 



•►Hl::^ 



he had accumulated a competency. His wife died 
in Wales in 1858, at the age of seventy j-ears. They 
were devoted members of the Episcopal Church, 
and for their good and virtuous lives and many 
acts of kindness were held in respect and affection 
by their neighbors. Unto them were born ten chil- 
dren, four of whom grew to m.<iturity, but three of 
them are dead — Morgan, Thomas and James, the 
two latter twins. 

Their sou Francis IL, of whom we write, re- 
mained an inmate of the home of his birth until he 
was sixteen j'ears old, and was then apprenticed to 
gain a knowledge of the wagon-maker's trade, be- 
ing bound under the Government for seven years, 
his father being his bondsman. Our subject served 
his time, and became a first-class wagon-maker, 
and then worked at his trade in different places, 
finally putting up a shop in his native shire, and 
erected a house. Besides carrying on the manu- 
facture of wagons he also did cabinet work and 
made furniture. He continued in that business in 
Wales until 1850, when he determined to try his 
fortunes in America, and sailing from Newport to 
Bristol on a packet, there embarked on the ship 
"Mar}- Ann Peters," and after a voyage of eight 
weeks, in which severe storms were encountered, 
he landed safel}' in New York. He went to L'tica. 
N. Y., and worked at building there for a year and 
a half. After that he followed the same vocation 
in Racine, Wis. He established his home there, 
but was often engaged in Chicago a part of the 
time, in the employ of the Chicago & Galena Rail- 
way Company, building bridges, and he worked on 
the bridge of that company that spans Rock River 
at Rockford, 111. A year later Mr. Williams re- 
moved to Allamakee Count}', Iowa, of which he be- 
came a pioneer, purchasing 140 acres of wild land 
from the Government. It was partly timbered and 
partly prairie land, and with infinite toil he eon- 
verted it into a well-improved farm, with a good 
set of buildings, and there lived in his comfortable 
home until the spring of 1865, when he sold out, 
having decided that Nebraska possessed superior 
advantages and attractions, and wishing to avail 
himself of them. He and his family came by rail 
to Plattsmouth, and he was soon settleil on his 
present i)lace. having about 320 acres of arable laud 






<• 



•►Hl^^ 



1140 



CASS COUNTY. 



on the Burlington & Missouri River Railway. 
There were no improvements on it, and not a stick 
of timber where he now has fine groves of forest 
trees and a good orchard, all of which he planted 
himself, or had them put out under his supervision. 
He built a large house, ample barns, and other nec- 
essary buildings, and before his retirement in 1882, 
had as fine a place as any in the vicinity. His farm 
is well supplied with running water, and is admira- 
bly adapted to both raising grain and stock. 
He has now given all but 120 acres to his sons and 
daughters. 

Mr. Williams was married, in Monmouthshire, 
Wales, Sept. 29, 1833, to Miss Ann Harris, daugh- 
ter of William and Margaret (Lewis) Harris, na- 
tives of W.ales. Her fatlier was extensively 
engaged in farming in his native land until his 
death, in 1826. at the age of eighty-four 3'ears. He 
was a member of tlie Episcopalian Church, and his 
wife, who died in 1858, at the age of seventy-five, 
belonged to the Baptist Church. They were the 
parents of five children, namely: William is a 
resident of Wales; John, Henry, Ann, and Margaret, 
deceased. Ann, the wife of our subject, was born 
in Monmouthshire, Wales, March 7, 1810. To her 
and her husband seven children have been born, 
as follows: Margaret, Ann E., Emma C, Louisa 
P., William H., JNLithew B. and Sarah J. Mar- 
garet married Thomas W. David, who is at present 
farming in Allamakee County, Iowa; Ann E. mar- 
ried H. Harris, a farmer of Allamakee County, and 
they have one child, Ida S; Emma married S. 
Osley, a farmer in Winneshiek County, Iowa, and 
they have four children, namely: Ida N., Ernest 
S., Alden and Nellie. Louisa mapried Silas Green- 
slate, a merchant of Elmwood, and they have five 
children, namely: Delbert, Bertha, Ellis, Fern and 
Dean. William, who is farming in Colorado, is 
married and has one daughter, Maud; Mathew, a 
farmer in Stove Creek Precinct, is married and has 
two children, Silas B. and Lottie M; Sarah mar- 
ried James Turk, a farmer in Stove Creek Precinct, 
and they have one child, Alden. 

Our subject and his wife are regarded with feel- 
ings of sincere respect and veneration by the whole 
community, where all are their friends. To them 
it has been given to pass more than fifty j'ears of 



their life in happy wedlock, mutually sustaining 
and sympathizing with each other in the joys and 
sorrows that come to all. On the occasion of tlie 
golden wedding that marked the anniversary of 
that other marriage ceremony, performed so long 
ago and so far awa}^ amid the beautiful scenes of 
their native land, their children and friends in com- 
memoration of that event gave them each a gold- 
headed cane, gold-mounted glasses, and other pres- 
ents. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are sincere Chris- 
tians, and he is a member of the United Brethren 
Church, and she of the Christian Church at Elm- 
wood. In his political sentiments he is a firm ad- 
herent of the Republican part3\ They are very 
pleasant, hospitable people, making the stranger 
feel at home within their gates. 

LLEN CRABTREE. This gentleman is 
numbered among the younger members of 
the farming community of Tipton Precinct, 
where he settled in the spring of 1880. He 
owns and operates 110 acres of land lying on sec- 
tions 30 and 31, and while being acknowledged as a 
tiiorough and skillful agriculturist is at the same 
time a man popular among his neighbors, possessed 
of sound sense and good judgment, correct in his 
business transactions, and thus occupies an honored 
position in his community. He has for his wife 
and helpmate a lady of more than ordinary intelli- 
gence, educated and refined, and who is the en- 
eourager of her husband in all his worthy efforts. 
With these elements there has been built up a home 
pleasant both witiiin and without, and one which is 
the frequent resort of a large circle of friends and 
acquaintances. 

Our subject was born in Portsmouth, Jackson 
Co., Ohio, in August, 1849, and four years later his 
parents removed from his native State to Polk 
County, Mo. The journey was made in pioneer 
fashion, mostly by water. Allen G. lived in that 
State until the fall of 18.54, then accompanied 
his parents northwest into Nebraska, crossing the 
Missouri River at Kenosha, and taking shelter their 
first niglit in the Territory at that point. Mr. Cral)- 
tree distinctly remembers tlie first night s[ient in 



•►Hl-^ 



-^•- 



-a^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1141 '. 



Nebraska and many other incirients connected with 
the journey and the after settlement of the family. 
The country around them was wild and new, and 
they experienced the hardships and privations com- 
mon to the lot of the pioneer. 

Mr. Crabtree grew to manhood at his father's 
homestead in Rock Bluff Precinct. Cass County, 
making himself useful at an early age in the culti- 
vation of the soil and the development of the 
homestead. His educational advantages were ex- 
ceedingly limited, and he started out in earl}' life 
to make his own way in the world, leaving home at 
the age of fourteen j-ears. He first joined a train 
of freight wagons going across the plains to Denver, 
Col., making two trips. Later he returned home 
and lived on the farm until reaching his majority. 
For the next four years he was engaged in team- 
ing and herding in Lancaster County, having 
charge of 600 head of cattle from the spring of 1876 
until 1879. 

Mr. Crabtree made his first purchase of land in 
the fall of 1878. He rented this a year, moving 
upon it In the spring of 1880. There were then no 
buildings, and his first business was to secure shel- 
ter for his family. He was obliged to haul lumber 
from Lincoln fourteen miles away, and after put- 
ting up his house he commenced fencing his land 
and planting trees. He has now a fine grove and 
an apple orchard, besides trees of the smaller fruits, 
and his land is well watered by a branch of the 
Nemaha. He keeps good grades of cattle, horses 
and swine, making quite a specialty of the breeding 
of stock. 

Our subject was married in Elmwood, Dec. 25, 
1879, to Miss Eliza, daughter of Henry and Anna 
(Herter) Umland. The father of Mrs. Crabtree is 
a prominent citizen of this county, and a sketch of 
him will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. 
Crabtree was born in Maseoutah, St. Clair Co., 111., 
Nov. 16, 1857, and when twenty 3-ears of age came 
with her parents to Nebraska. She is now the 
mother of four children — Ettie N.. Henry R., Clara 
M. and William A. The eldest of these is eight 
j'ears of age, and the youngest three. They are 
pursuing their studies. 

Mr. Crabtree, politically, uniformly votes the 
Democratic ticket, and has been quite prominent 



with his party in this section, being sent as a delegate 
to the various conventions and otherwise laboring 
for the principles in which he believes. He has 
been a member of the School Board in his district 
for a period of six 3'ears, and socially, belongs to 
the K. of P. 

Our subject comes of a good family, being the 
son of Abel and Elizabeth (Clemons) Crabtree, 
who were both natives of Ohio, and the father was 
born in Jackson County. The paternal grandfather, 
James Crabtree, w.as also a native of the Buckeye 
State, and carried on the business of farming and 
milling combined, being the owner of mill property. 
Tlie maternal grandfather, familiarly known as 
" Capt. John Clemons," was born in Ohio in 1812, 
the same year in which it was admitted into the 
Union as a State. He served valiantly in the Mexi- 
can War, wherein he obtained his commission of 
Captain. When quite well advanced in years he 
emigrated to the West, being among the pioneer 
settlers of Cass County, Neb., and one of the first 
white men to locate on the Missouri River. He 
emplo^-ed himself in freighting across the plains a 
number of years, and accumulated agood propert}-. 
He spent his last years in Rock Blutf Precinct, dying 
in Jul}-, 1880, at the age of sevent}- -eight years. 
His good wife survived him until 1882, and passed 
awa}' at the same age. 

William Clemons, the maternal great-grandfather 
of our snbjoct, was of English descent but Ameri- 
can born. He also came to Nebraska, and died in 
Rock Bluff Precinct. Abel Crabtree. the father of 
our subject, was a collier by trade and also carried 
on farming. In the fall of 1853, removing from 
Ohio he took up his abode in Holt County, Mo., but 
the year following came to Nebraska and took upa 
claim in Rock Bluff Precinct, this county. His 
land l.ay along the l)anks of Rock Creek, and after 
making some' improvements he sold out and se- 
cured land in another part of the same precinct, 
upon which he farme<l successfully, and to which he 
added until he became the owner of a quarter-sec- 
tion. He is still living at the old homestead, being 
now sixty -eight j'ears old. The mother died July 
31, 1886, aged sixty-two. Both parents were mem- 
bers in good standing of the Christian Church, and 



•► I I <» 



h 



1142 



CASS COUNTY. 



were people careful and conscientious in their lives 
and liiglily respected in tlieir community'. 

Tlie seven children of the household were named 
respeetivel}' : Allen, Noah, Ross, Travis, Elsie, 
Silas, and Abel, who died when one j'ear old. 
Those living are located in Cass and Lancaster 
Counties, Neb. 



,.^ RS. FRANCES JANE SMITH, widow of 
III 1\\ Fi'incis Smith, is a representative of the 
noble, self-sacrificing pioneer women of 
Cass County who have contributed their 
share toward its upbuilding. She is a woman of 
marked decision of character, and of su|)erior ca- 
|):icity. who has shown by her able management of 
her property great sagacity and far-reaching fore- 
sight, so that she is now in comfortable circum- 
stances, and has retired from active labor, renting 
her farm on section 34, Stove Creek Precinct. 

The parents of our subject, Robert and Mary 
(Chesman) Clark, were born in Durham, En- 
gland. Her grandfather, Thomas Chesman, was a 
farmer in England, and lived to the advanced age 
of eight^'-seven years. The father of our subject 
was a miner during his j'onth, and when he was 
twenty-one he enlisted in the English Army, and 
served twenty years, and during that length of time 
witnessed and took part in many famous battles, 
was present at the battle of Waterloo, and saw 
much of Europe, was all through France, Portugal, 
Spain, Italy, etc. He finally retired from the serv- 
ice on account of ill-health, his sister buying him 
off. He was married, and began mining, becoming 
overseer in some mines, which position he held 
until his death in 1851 , at the age of fift3'-six years. 
He was a man of much stability of character, one 
in whom his fellow-citizens placed implicit confi- 
fjence, and he was devoted to his employers' in- 
terests, and at the same time was kind and consid- 
erate to the men under his charge. He was a con- 
sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
His widow survived him a few years, dying in 1861, 
at the age of sixty-three. She was a woman of 
much worth, and her memory is cherished b^' her 
children, (jf whom she had seven, as follows: Eliza- 



beth, in Illinois; Thomas, in England; Jane Fran- 
ces; Mary and Sarah, both in England; Robert and 
George, deceased. 

Our subject was born June 20, 1823, in New- 
castle, Durham, England. March 20, 1842, she was 
married in the town of Atchester, England, to 
Mr. Francis Smith, son of Adam and Margaret 
(Brown) Smith. He was the second child of the 
family, and was born in the town of Newcastle, 
Sept. 8, 1818. When a boy of seven years he was 
obliged to go into the mines to work to assist in 
the support of his family, but he managed to glean 
an education in the night schools, at which he was 
a faithful attendant. His steadiness and good hab- 
its made a favorable impression on his employers, 
and they raised him to the position of overseer of 
the mines, and he continued in that ofHce until 
1852, when he and his family emigrated to Amer- 
ica, setting sail from Liverpool on the ship " Co- 
lumbus." After a long and stormy voyage of six 
weeks and two days, they landed in New York, and 
proceeded to Detroit, Mich. Mr. Smith obtained a 
position as copyist in a lawyer's office, and they re- 
sided in that city eight months. We next hear of 
the family in Kingston, III., where Mr. Smith se- 
cured the position of "overseer in the coal mines. A 
year later the ague drove them away from there to 
Peoria, in the same State. They lived there one 
year, and Mr. Smith worked in the mines as car- 
penter. In 1857 he was almost crippled b}' the fall 
of some rocks, and was never very strong after that. 
He then moved to Marshall County, bought a small 
piece of land, and mined drift coal, staying there 
until 1870. He then concluded to invest his money 
in land in Nebr.aska, that he might enjoy the bene- 
fit of its salubrious dimatfe and other natural ad- 
vantages. He and his wife and children came all 
the way with a team, bringing their belongings that 
thej' considered indispensable with them. They 
crossed the Missouri at Plattsmouth, and in Stove 
Creek Precinct Mr. Smith took up an 80-acre tract 
of land under the provisions of the Homestead Act, 
and with the able assistance of his wife he began 
its improvement. He had to hire the land broken, 
as his health was so poor, and upon Mrs. Smith de- 
volved the task of setting out the trees of the grove 
and orchard, and planting the small fruits, of which 




J^^« xp^t- 



5T0RE&. Residence of 0. M. Andru5,5ec.35. Tipton Precinct , Cass Co 




ItmrniTtliiin'-raiTf*!-; ..f i ».»»-je.»t-;^j av.»mi«t.-r..'w--« <M»iit«>tKo.jwS-4ia^i3ai-H.i.MYt-<„jv.i^»M^ 



Residence or A. L.Van Doren,Sec.17. Salt Creek Precinct Cass Co 




' ^4^k ^A lK t !ttkikitA.*ii^ yitU.gul t^>^M, { u fes-^ ii;-j;...>jaLl^.t^t?l,ria S c_>,V rt ti,V^-^ t i fa t 



Residence OF Edwin r. Richards, 5ec. 24. Elmwood Precinct, Cass Co 



•»*J^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1143 4 > 



there is an abundant supply, and she also had to 
look after the payments on the homestead, and to 
prove up on it in 1877, after her husband's death. 
They managed to hold on to their claim through 
the grasshopper raids, in which many were ruined 
and had to abandon their land. The farm is now 
provided with good and comfortable buildings, is 
neatly fenced with hedge and wire, and is well 
watered by the waters of Wolf Creek, and is one of 
the most substantial and attractive places in the 
neighborhood. Mrs. Smith managed it with marked 
success some years after her husband's death, and is 
now jiving in the enjoyment of an income ample 
for all her wants, having rented her farm. 

As before mentioned, Mr. Smith had been quite 
out of health for several years, and Feb. 8, 187G, 
death came to his release. This precinct then lost 
one of its most useful and honored citizens, one 
whose probitj' of character, sound business prin- 
ciples and clear head, gave him weight and influence 
with his fellowmen. He took an honorable part 
in public affairs, held the oflioe of Justice of the 
Peace, and was a stanch all}' of the Republican 
party. Of his marriage with our subject ten chil- 
dren were born, three of whom lived to maturity : of 
these, Sarah J. is now Mrs. William James; her hus- 
band is a farmer in Stove Creek Precinct. Francis 
W. and Henry R. are dead. 

In the many sorrows that have come to our sub- 
ject in the death of husband and children, she has 
been sustained in the darkest hour by her strong 
religious faith, she being a devoted member of the 
Baptist Church, and is serenely awaiting reunion 
with her loved ones on the other shore. She is 
active in the interests of church and society, and 
her kindness and benevolence are too well known 
to need any further mention here. 



'■^S^^S»1^ 



•*?*tf^»«^i<f— 



•► 



,ETER EVELAND is the name of a man 
well and favorablj' known through Elm- 
wood Precinct and through Cass County. 
He was born March 11, 1846, in Moscow 
Township, Muscatine Co., Iowa, where he was 
brought up on th^ farm. The duties required of 
him in his farm life were so onerous as to require 



all his time to such an extent tliat his opportunity 
for acquiring a scholastic education was very 
limited in extent, but by diligent application to 
study at his own fireside, and a close observation of 
events as they transpired aljout him, he has been 
able to overcome the effect of his earlier disad- 
vantages, and is now one of the best informed and 
leading men of the county. 

The father of the subject of our sketch was mar- 
ried twice. Two children were born to him as 
the result of the first marriage: Jeanette Hop- 
kinson, living in Muscatine, Iowa, and Louisa 
Ward, who now lives in Elmwood Precinct. Four- 
teen children were born to the couple as the result 
of the second marriage, seven of whom reached 
the age of maturity. Among them was our subject, 
his sisters, Martha and Sarah N., and his brother 
Herman were older ; and his sister Hester M., 
Katuraha, and brother, Frank P., were younger. 
He lived at home with his parents on the farm 
until he was sixteen years old, when he enlisted in 
Company E, 18th Iowa Infantry, July 20, 1862. 
He first went into camp at Clinton, Iowa, where the 
regiment was instructed in various military tactics, 
and whence they were sent to Sedalia, Mo., in 
1862. From there they were ordered to Spring- 
field, where he saw blood shed for the first time in 
his life. For a season after this the time of the 
regiment of which he was a member was quite 
busil}' employed, occupying among other places 
the towns of Fayetteville and Van Buren, Ark., 
Prairie Dean, Poison Springs and Jenkins' Ferry. 
At Ft. Smith, Ark., he was promoted to the 
post of Corporal. They went into winter quar- 
ters at that fort. In July of 1865 our sub- 
ject was at Ft. "Smith, at which place they were 
at the close of the war, when he was honorably 
discharged from service at the age of nineteen 
years — undoubtedly the 3'oungest soldier serving 
in the ranks of the Union Army. 

After his discharge from the army in August, 
1865, our subject returned to Muscatine, Iowa, 
after having served for three years in one of the 
bloodiest wars the world has ever known, and re- 
sumed his home occupation. In the fall of 1866 
he was married to Miss Sarah A. Metteer, the 
daughter of Robert and Chloe Metteer. The Lady 

t» 



1144 



CASS COUNTY. 






was born in Pennsylvania, going to Muscatine 
with ber parents in 1863, where she met our sub- 
ject after the close of the war. She was one of a 
family of six children. Her father and her 
brother reside in Plattsmouth, and one brother re- 
sides in Weeping Water Precinct. 

In 1867 Mr. and Mrs. Eveland, just one year 
after their marriage, came to this precinct, settling 
on a farm on section 20, which he jn-oceeded to im- 
prove for their home.' In 1888 he built a full two- 
story residence, complete in all its appointments, an 
ideal home, by planting groves and setting out an 
orchard of choice varieties of fruit. He was here 
during the time when the grasshoppers devastated 
the crops of the country, which rendered him poor. 
In the years 1870-71 he worked on the railroad as 
a Iniilder. During this time he had a leg broken 
l)y the caving in of an earth bank, but from which 
injury he fully recovered. In 1874 he went out on 
the plains on a buffalo hunt along the Republican 
River. Mr. Ward, his brother-in-law, was with 
him. His gun was accidentally discharged, and 
the charge took effect in his right arm, injuring 
the muscles so much as to make his right hand 
almost useless for all time to come. 

In Colonial days four Eveland brothers came to 
New Jersey from Scotland and took part in the In- 
di.in Wars of that time. From one of them our sub- 
ject descends. His mother was descended from an 
early English family, a resident of Virginia ; the 
father removed with his family to Ohio, thence to 
Iowa, and settled in Muscatine County, where he 
lived and farmed until the time of his death in 
September, 1884, when he was seventj^-four years 
old. The mother still lives in Iowa, and is now 
seventy-three j'ears old. 

Mr. and Mrs. Eveland have a family of eight 
children: Laura F., born in Iowa, died in Ne- 
braska at the age of nineteen months; Melinda 
N.; an infant boy unnamed, deceased; Leonora M., 
Davonia U., Chloe Myra, Blanch E. and Gertie- 
The children living at home with their parents are 
exceptionally bright and intelligent, and are a 
source of great pride and comfort to their parents. 
The home farm of Mr. E. embraces a tract of 240 
acres — the eight}- acres on section 20 is the original 
homestead on which he settled on his arriv.al in 



this State — and 160 acres on section 17; it is finely 
located, and supplied with an abundance of good 
water, and possesses many natural advantages. All 
these broad acres are brought to the highest state 
of cultivation under the skillful direction of our 
subject. In .addition to the system of general 
farming which he follows, our subject takes a 
special interest in the development of thorough- 
bred Clydesdale horses. The great pride which he 
takes in this branch of his business is certainly 
pardonable, and an examination of the stable of 
these fine animals owned by him reveals to the 
observer indisputable evidence of the good judg- 
ment exercised bj- their owner in raising them. 

Although our subject takes a special pride in his 
horses, it is not to the neglect of other animals — 
cattle and hogs — of which he has a large number, 
the best of their class obtainable. His experience 
pertaining to agriculture and horticulture has been 
so varied and broad that his judgment in these 
matters is deferred to, and accepted by his neigh- 
bors as being correct, and those who follow his 
advice seldom fail to attain the end desired. 
AVith his wife and his most estimable daugh- 
ter, Melinda N., he occupies and fills to per- 
fection a high place in the social circles of the 
county. There is no social circle that is consid- 
ered complete without the presence of some mem- 
ber of this family. Thej' are so hospitable in their 
own home that a stranger visiting them is made to 
feel that the home is his and the family are the 
visitors. They have the welfare and interests of 
the neighborhood so close at heart that there is no 
religious, social, educational or ])olitical matter 
undertaken but what some one or more of the 
family takes an active and imijortant part. 

Mr. Eveland is ever ready to engage in the dis- 
cussion of any question which maj^ interest the 
people, and it is an hour well spent to listen to him 
recall the many incidents and anecdotes and thrill- 
ing experiences which came to the early pioneers 
of the State, and he has a large fund of such to 
draw upon and all are based upon facts. He re- 
calls the time when he played base ball with Gov. 
Butler. Mr. Gillespie and others, afterward leading 
citizens of the State, one day in Lincoln, where 
they were attending a sale of town lots. He is 



*^h 



t 



t 



i 



CASS COUNTY. 



1145 



gifted with a constitution of iron ; it is simply 
wonderful to those who know him, how he has 
been able to accumulate so large a fortune, and dis- 
charge such a vast amount of labor, both physical 
and mental, as was necessary to attain the position 
lie now holds. He is in truth and in fact a self- 
made man. Other men of less energy and deter- 
mination would have given up in despair after 
having met witli such an accident as crippled him 
for life ; but our subject, however, improved the 
time that others would have lost by adding to his 
storehouse of knowledge. 

In looking back over his ancestry we find him 
descended from the best old Scotch and English 
stock, seeing no stain upon their names, but to the 
contrary, possessed of that stern sense of right 
which we see exemplified in the person of our sub- 
ject. Tliere is no man of any rank who possesses 
a brighter and more brilliant army record than 
our subject. Coming home from the bloody frater- 
nal war when only nineteen years of age, having 
served his country faithfully and well, passing un- 
flinchingly through many terrible engagements, 
and encountering the many dangers which are inci- 
dental to a soldier's life, we find him settling 
down, enjoying the peace and quietude which he 
has so richly earned. In viewing the character of 
the man we do not lose sight of the brave woman 
who has stood unswervingly by his side and lent 
him strength by her presence and counsels. Com- 
ing to the West, away from home and friends, set- 
tling down on a homestead with no near neighbors, 
and with but very few of the necessaries of life 
and none of the comforts, seconding her husband's 
efforts in every possible direction, she deserves the 
full complement of praise ; sharing with him 
every struggle, bearing more than her share of 
every burden, and directing and guiding her chil- 
dren in the ways of uprightness and virtue, she has 
proved to be a helpmate to her husband in every 
sense of the word, and has richly earned the j^ears 
of rest and content which she is now able to enjoy. 

Our subject has served the people in various 
public capacities, all with honor and credit to him- 
self and benefit to his constituents. He helped or- 
ganize the school at Bushberry. District No. 44. He 
is nov,- a member of the South Calahan District 



n 



No. 89 ; he has served as school otHcer in various 
districts for the last seventeen years, was Assessor 
for two terms, and has been Justice of the Peace. 
He has repeatedly been a delegate to the different 
County, State and Congressional Conventions of 
the Republican party, and as a delegate voted for 
the nomination of Govs. Dawes and Thayer. He 
is a prominent member of Kenesaw Post No. 128, 
G. A. R., at Elmwood. where he has served as 
Chaplain since the date of its organization. Both 
himself and wife are valued members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church at Calahan Corners ; 
he is a charter member of the societ}'', has served 
on the Building Committee, and is Trustee of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church at Wabash. 



ETKR VOLK. Among the well-regulated 
I farms of Eight Mile Grove Precinct that 
of the subject of this biography is par- 
ticularly noticeable, as having been sub- 
jected to that careful cultivation which has marie 
the land valuable and productive. It is embel- 
lished with neat and substantial buildings, the fields 
are enclosed with good fences, the live stock and 
machinery are creditable to the proprietor, and 
the whole premises, with its appurtenances, forms a 
lasting monument to the industry and perseverance 
of Mr. Volk, aided by his estimable wife. This 
lady has in her si)here probably performed her part 
as effectually as has her husband. The far.m lies 
on section 28, and has about it the air of comfort 
and plenty which is pleasing to contemplate. 

A native of Tazewell Couut3-, 111.. Mr. Volk was 
born Feb. 2fj. 1847, and lived there until reaching 
manhood. His parents, Nicholas and Maggie 
(Urich) Volk, were born in Germany, where tlie 
father lived until a man of twenty-five years. He 
then emigrated to America, and was afterward mar- 
ried. The mother was a child of two years when 
she was brought l)y her parents to the United 
States, tliej' settling in Tazewell County, HI., where 
she formed the acquaintance of and married Nich- 
olas Volk. 

To the parents of our subject there were born 



•^f^ 



1146 



CASS COUNTY. 



4- 



Ji. 



th'irteen children, of whom the following survive, 
namely: Peter; Mar^', the wife of Charles Hen- 
nings; Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Tritsch; Ja- 
cob, all residents of this county; Eve, Mrs. Martin 
L. Freidrich, of this precinct; Bals. in this precinct; 
Nicholas, of this county; Lizzie, John, George and 
Philip, in Tazewell County, III. Caroline died 
wiien about twenty-three years old. The parents 
still continue residents of the Prairie State, and are 
well advanced in years. They settled in Tazewell 
County during its pioneer days, where the father 
battled with the elements of a new soil and built 
up a good homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas 
Volk in their declining years are surrounded by all 
the comforts of life. Mr. Volk is the owner of a 
valuable farm, and has been quite prominent in the 
affairs of his township. He is numbered among 
the solid men of Tazewell County. 

The subject of this sketch received a limited 
education, not having the advantages of many of 
the young men of to-day. He, liowever, has been 
one who has kept his eyes open to what was going 
on around him, and, by his natural sagacity and 
industry, has accomplished what perhaps a college 
education would not have enabled him to do. He 
left his boyhood home in the spring of 1872, com- 
ing to this countj', where he sojourned two years, 
and employed himself as a farm laborer. In the 
meantime he purchased 160 acres of land, for the 
consideration of 8lC per acre, and which now forms 
his homestead. In 1874 he returned to Illinois, 
remaining there about a }'e!vr, then came back to 
Nebraska, and here has since been content to re- 
main. 

Mr. Volk settled upon his present land when it 
could by no meaus be called a farm, as there were 
no fences or buildings, in fact there had been no 
attempt whatever at its improvement or cultivation. 
He thus began at first principles in the construction 
of his homestead, and has been amply rewarded for 
his labors. He battled with the usual difficulties 
of pioneer life in Nebraska, and occupies a posi- 
tion in the front ranks of the successful men around 
him. After deciding to become a resident of this 
county he was married, Jan. 1, 1873. in Cass 
County, to Miss Elizabeth Nolting. They com- 
menced tlie journey of life togetlier on the new 



farm in a manner corresponding with their means 
and station, and labored hand in hand to rear their 
children, and provide for them the necessities of life, 
and as much beyond as they could. The house- 
hold circle in due time included three daughters 
and four sons, six of whom are living. The eldest, 
Maggie, was born Nov. 25, 1873; Bals, May 9, 
1875; George, Feb. 12, 1876; Henry, Nov. 12, 
1877; Lizzie, born Aug. 9, 1882, and died Sept. 9, 
1883; Edwin was born Oct. 29, 1884, and Mary 
July 4, 1887. 

The wife of our subject was born in Jefferson 
County. Wis., Feb. 16, 1852, and was the daughter 
of William and Elizabeth Nolting, who were na- 
tives of Germany. The3' emigrated to America in 
1852, and settled at once in Jefferson County, Wis. 
The father carried on farming, and died about 
1882. in Cass County. The mother passed away in 
1 855, in Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Volk were 
reared in the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, 
and have been members of this body a number of 
years. Mr. V., politically, affiliates with the Demo- 
cratic party. He is a man in whom his neighbors 
have confidence, and is serving his second 3'ear as 
Road Supervisor of District No. 12. 

Mrs. Volk was one of the two children of her 
father's first marriage. Her si.-ter Rachel is the 
wife of Leontird Bourne, of Cass County. Mr. 
Nolting by his second marriage became the father 
of several children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, 
Minnie, is the wife of Adam Kaffenber. of this 
precinct; Henry Yasper is farming in this county; 
Bertha, August and Frederick live at home with 
their mother. Mr. Nolting came to this county 
about 1866, while Nebraska was a Territory, and 
settled among the pioneers of Plattsmouth Pre- 
cinct, where he died in 1882. 



<jf7 EWIS H. YOUNG, an energetic and thriv- 
I (© ^"S farmer, and one of the pioneers of Cass 
jll—^ County, residing on section 24 of Mt. Pleas- 
ant Precinct, was born Dec. 24, 1852, in Smith 
County, Va.; ifi the spring of 1867, in company 
with his parents, he came to Cass County. Neb. 
From his early boyhood our subject has been 



m»- 



•^-Hf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1147 4 



reared on a farm, amid the scenes of pioneer life, 
and has observed this country develop from a raw, 
wild and primitive condition, into the splendid 
garden of the West that it now is. Valuable 
farms have grown as if by magic, school-houses 
and churches thickly dotting the countr3' as an 
evidence of the advance of civilization, and it is a 
matter of pride with him tliat he has talcen no un- 
important part in producing tliis magnificent 
change. 

Having assisted his father in his pioneer labors in 
Ohio, as well as in Nebraska, he has a full concep- 
tion of the life of a pioneer. He was married to 
Sarah Shryder April 9, 1873. This lad}^ was born 
in Peoria County, III., Dec. 9, 1854. She is the 
daughter of George F. and Margai-et (Parr) Shry- 
der. Her father was a native of New York State. 
Her parents came to Nebraska, bringing her with 
them, in 1856, settling here among the very first 
families that made this State their home. They were 
the parents of six children, three of whom are living: 
.Sarah, the wife of our subject; Ida, the wife of R. 
A. Y'oung; and George L. Both parents are mem- 
bers of the United Presbyterian Church, are widelj^ 
and favorabl}' known, and enjoy the esteem and 
confidence of all their neiglibors. 

Our subject is the son of Lewis M. and Levniah 
Y"oung. The father is a native of Virginia, and of 
Scotch descent. The mother died March 18, 1873, 
leaving behind a wealth of love and affection, and 
many friends who sincerel}- mourned their loss. The 
father is now living at an advanced age in Keya 
Paha County, Neb., where he went in 1885. A 
family of seven children was born to the parents 
of OUT subject, six of whom are living: Mary, tlie 
wife of Asher Tanner; George W.; Robert A. re- 
sides in Mt. Pleasant Precinct; Lewis H.; Sophia, 
the wife of G. W. Carroll, resides in Keva Paha 
County; Julia A., the wife of Charles Troop, resid- 
ing in Rock Bluff Precinct; Vicey J. is deceased. 
There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Young two 
children: .lohnnie was born March 26, 1874; and 
Christmas C. was born Dec. 25, 1876. They are 
very bright and intelligent children. 

Mr. Y''oung owns a splendid farm of 160 acres 
of land, having made all the many valuable 
improvements thereon himself, and when he looks 



over his broad and well-tilled acres it is with 
the consciousness that their present condition Is the 
direct result of his energy and application. His 
dwelling is neatly furnished, and his good wife is 
supplied with all the labor-saving appliances tliat 
will in any way lessen her household cares. The 
accommodations that he has provided for the pro- 
tection of his stock, and the care of the crops 
raised, are conveniently arranged and sufficiently 
extensive to meet his present requirements. 

In politics our subject is an earnest worker in the 
ranks of tlie Republican party. He has never held 
any oflSee of public trust, feeling that he was bet- 
ter content to pursue the even tenor of his way In 
improving his farm and home, feeling also that 
the remuneration received would fall far short of 
compensating him for the vex.ations and cares inci- 
dent to the public service. 



^4 ATHIAS A. .JOHNSON, deceased, was num- 

j 1\\ bered among the shrewd, practical men of 
I Is Cass County, who have been important 
* factors in developing Its great agricultural 

resources, and in his death it lost an honored and 
useful citizen. He was a member of the farming 
community of Liberty Precinct, and he had a good 
farm there, with many substantial improvements. 
The widow of our subject and her sons, Walter A., 
Rudolph, Antone and .Julius A., oceup^^ the home- 
stead, and are among the most highly respected 
residents of this communit}-. 

Mr. .Johnson was a native of Germany, his birth 
occurring Dec. 24, 1834. He came of respectable 
and honest German parents, from whom he in- 
herited good traits of character, and he was given 
the benefits of a sound education in botli German 
and English branches, acquiring a knowledge of the 
latter after coming to this country. When he was 
sixteen years old he came to the United States. 
His parents died In tlie Fatlierland. 

Mr. Johnson's first seven 3'ears in this eountrj- were 
sjjent in Iowa, and from there, in company with 
three others, with teams, he crossed the plains to 
California some time in the fifties. He spent four 
3'ears in tlie Golden State, prospecting for gold In 



> ► 11^^ - 



^|i 



f 



1148 



CASS COUNTY. 



r 



the mining region with fair results. lie was finally 
taken severely ill with a fever, and was obliged to 
leave the Pacific Coast. He went to New York by 
waj^ of the water and isthmus route, and there em- 
barked on the Atlantic for his old home in Germany. 
He spent some time amid the familiar scenes of his 
youth in order to recuperate, and with renewed 
health once more crossed the ocean to his adopted 
country. He located in Jackson County, Iowa, and 
some years later removed to Fremont County, in the 
same State, and there, when he was thirty-two years 
old, was married in Plum Hollow, Nov. 7, 1867, 
to Mrs. Amanda Surber, nee Wollf. She was born 
in Johnson County, Ind., July 4, 1843, to Peter and 
Rhoda A. (Kelly) Wollf. Her parents died about the 
year 1850 in Illinois, near St. Louis, Mo., thej' hav^ 
ing gone to Western Illinois two years before, from 
Indiana. The father was a farmer by occupation, 
and a good, honest, hard-working man, and he and 
his wife were in the prime of life when death 
terminated their mortal existence. Mrs. Johnson 
of this notice was the youngest but one of the 
family, and she was very young when her parents 
moved to Western Illinois, and was but seven years 
old when she was bereaved of their care. Two years 
later the little orphan was taken by a family of the 
name of McDonald, in Missouri, and reared by them 
to womanhood. She afterward went to Tabor, 
Mills Co., Iowa, and later still to Nebraska Citj^ 
Neb. There her first marriage took place Dec. 
18, 1864, John Surber becoming her husband. 
He was a native of Switzerland, and came to the 
United States when sixteen years of age. He made 
his home in Indianapolis, Ind., for four years, and 
was there engaged as an engineer in a foundry. He 
lost his health, however, and finally after marriage 
located in Fremont County, Iowa, where he was ex- 
tensively engaged in the sawmill business until his 
death, nearly two years after marriage. To him 
and his wife had been born one daughter, Rachel, 
who was a bright, interesting child, and her death 
at the age of fourteen was a severe blow to her 
mother. 

After Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were married they 
settled in Fremont County, and he was engaged in 
running a sawmill there until he came to Nebraska 
with his family, and located on 160 acres of land on 



section 33, Liberty Precinct, which he had taken 
up as a pre-emption claim before he went to Cali- 
fornia. He labored hard to improve his land, and 
during the ten j'ears that preceded his death he had 
wrought a great change in the tract of wild prairie 
on which he settled, had it under good tillage, and 
otherwise well improved. His death occun-ed here 
Feb. 3, 1877, while yet in the prime of life, and 
many sincerely mourned his death with his bereaved 
family. To him and his wife four sons had been 
born. Mr. Johnson was a man of high manly 
character, with a warm heart and kindly nature. 
His neighbors placed implicit confidence in his 
word, and none knew him but to trust him. He 
was a devout Lutheran in his religious belief, and 
in his political faith a stanch Republican, and his 
sons are also supporters of that party. 



LFRED S. COOLEY, one of the leading 
f.armers and stock-buyers of Tipton Pre- 
cinct, was born in Jolinsonville, Trumbull 
^^ Co., Ohio, June 7, 1846, where he lived 

with his father on the home farm until be was 
eleven 3'ears of age, wlien tiie family removed to 
Wisconsin, where he continued on the farm with 
his parents, and went to school. When he was 
twenty-one years old he began the operation of his 
father's farm on his own account. He continued 
there, working his father's place, until 1 872, when he 
started for the West. H'j first located in Ringgold 
County, Iowa, where he bought 120 acres of land, 
which he cultivated for seven months. He did 
not like the location, so he sold out in the fall of 
1872, and came overland with teams to Nebraska, 
crossing the Missouri River at Nebraska City, and, 
coming to Tipton Precinct, lie located on his pres- 
ent place, where he homesteaded eighty acres, and 
purchased eighty acres more, for which he paid 
$1,000, which gave him a tract of 160 acres of 
choice, eligibly located farm land. 

Having secured his land, our subject set to work 
with a will to improve it by building a sod house, 
in which he and his family lived the first winter. 
During this time he suffered intensely with the 
ague; his wife taught school until spring. The next 



he 

xt A 



»► ir^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



••► 



1149 



''^ 



spring he hauled lumber from Lincoln, and built a 
comfortable house. The loss of the crops in 1874- 
75, on account of the grasshoppers, compelled him 
to mortgage his farm. After the 3'ears named 
above he was exceedingly prosperous in his farm- 
ing operations. Recognizing the advantages and 
future value of the land, he set about increasing 
his possessions. In 1879 he bought 160 acres of 
land from the Burlington & Missouri River Rail- 
road, for which he paid 85.50 per acre; in 1882 he 
bought 160 acres more, for which he paid $12 
per acre, botii tracts on section 9. Abundant 
water is supplied to his farm by Camp Creek, and 
a good quantity of native timber is growing on his 
various tracts. The property is enclosed and cross 
fenced by substantial wire and hedge fences. 

Mr. Cooley is one of the most extensive bu3'ers 
and shippers of stock in the county, buying cattle, 
hogs, horses and sheep, which he siiips to the gen- 
eral markets at Lincoln and Omaha. He makes a 
specialty of raising hogs and iiorses, raising and 
shipping four or five cars of hogs each season. His 
horses are graded Normans; he has twenty-four 
head in all, and they certainly reflect great credit 
on their owner, evidencing the great care and skill 
and thorough knowledge of the business possessed 
bj- him. The barns i)rovided for the care and pro- 
tection of his stock are exceedingly comfortable, 
and conveniently arranged for the proper care of 
the different classes of animals for which they were 
designed. Water is supplied in the barnyard by a 
system of piping from a water tank, which is filled 
by pumps operated by a large windmill. 

The subject of this sketch is one of the youngest 
of a family of eight children. His sisters Mary J. 
and Rhoda L., and his brothers, Franklin B., Roswell 
D. and Richard S., being older, and his brothers 
Timothy M. and Edward L. l)eiug younger. His 
brother Richard S. served during the late war in 
the 6th Ohio Cavahy, enlisting when only nineteen 
years old. His regiment was with the Arm^' of the 
Cumberland, and accompanied Gen. Sherman in his 
famous mai'cli to the sea. In different engagements 
in which . he participated he had two horses shot 
from under him. While out on a scouting expedi- 
tion from Sherman's army he was taken prisoner 
' by the rebels and sent to Libby Prison, thence to 
•►H I O 



Belle Isle, from which latter place he was exchanged 
and restored to the service with his regiment. He 
was honorably discharged in Washington in 1865. 

Our subject was married to- Miss Rosalie M. 
Smith, the daughter of Franklin and Mary E. (Par- 
ker) Smith. This lady was born in Stafford Hol- 
low Township, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Jan. 31, 
1847. When she was nine years old her mother 
died, after which she made her home with an aunt. 
When she was eleven years of age she removed 
with the other members of her family' to Forreston, 
Ogle Co., 111. From there the}' removed to Platte- 
ville, Wis., where she attended the Normal School 
for three years. After completing her course in 
this institution she taught school for six years. She 
is one of a family of nine children. Her brothers, 
Franklin D., William S. and Andrew J., and her 
sisters, Anna L. and Abbie A., being older; and 
her sisters, Ruth H., Ella A. and Mary E., are 
younger. The latter two are deceased. Her brothers 
Frank and Andrew were in the late Civil War. 
Frank served as Second Lieutenant, and Andrew 
as First Orderly Sergeant. Both served through 
the war, and were honorably discharged at its 
close. 

The lady's father was a farmer in Connecticut. 
He removed with his family to Onondaga County, 
N. Y., where he cultivated a farm, and also built a 
sawmill, and operated the same for many years. 
He is at present living in Port Byron, N. Y., now 
over eighty j-ears of age. Her mother died in 
1855, aged forty years. Her grandfather Parker 
was a lumberman and farmer in Vermont, where 
her mother was born. He removed with his family 
to New York State, and there his decease occurred. 
Her grandfather, Ira Smith, was a soldier during 
the Indian War, moved to Onondaga County, N. 
Y., and from there to near Ciiarlotte, Mich. 

The father of our subject was Sherman Cooley, 
a native of Connecticut, where he was born in 
1806, near Granby, Hartford County. He farmed 
there until 1832, when he removed to Ohio, and 
located on a farm in Trumbull County, being one 
of the first to settle in that count}'. The mother, 
Diana Day, is still living, in Lima, Grant County, 
at an advanced age. She was born in Vermont, in 
the year 1811, and is an active member of the 



.J^ 



••► 



1150 



CASS COUNTY. 



-f 



Christian Church. Graiulfalhi'r Cooloy was a na- 
tive of Connecticut. Alter his marriage in that 
State he removed, in 1832, to Ohio, locating in 
Trumbull Count}% in that State. He was one of 
the earliest settlers in that part of the State, where 
he bought 160 acres of Government land in the 
midst of a heavy forest, which he cleared uj). He 
was Justice of the Peace for a number of years; 
as a civil engineer he acted as County Surveyor, 
but paid most of his attention to his farm. In 
1856 he sold the farm and went to LaFayette 
County, Wis., where he bought wild land, improved 
it, and eng<aged in farming and stock-raising. Here 
again he was elected Justice of the Peace and 
Town Clerk, also a member of the Board of Super- 
visors. He bought 100 acres of land in Grant 
Count}-, Wis., to which he removed in 1880, and 
where he lived until his death, which occurred Feb. 
20. 1888. He could trace his ancestry back to the 
landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. Grandfather Giles 
Day, a nativi- of Vermont, wns a blacksmith by 
trade, and could trace hisancchtry liack to the Puri- 
tans of Plymouth Rock. 

A family of seven children has been born to 
our subject and his estimable wife, who were named 
respectively: Sherman, Harold O , Archie B., Ferris 
F., Ora A., Florence. P. and Hazel, all at home with 
their parents ; two are dead. The gentleman whose 
name heads this sketch is known throughout the 
country as a man having an unlimited amount of 
push and energy. Such is his reputation in this 
district, that, whenever any work is to be accom- 
plished requiring an extra amount of vim, he is the 
one called upon to take charge of it, and success 
generally crowns his efforts. If a question of vital 
importance is to be voted upon at any election, he 
is indefatigable in his efforts to secure the at- 
tendance of a sufficient number of voters to carry 
the measure in question. He carries the same 
amount of energy into his everyday life, and dur- 
ing the busy season his farm presents a lively ap- 
pearance, eveiyone employed receiving inspiration 
from its proprietor. In politics he is a strong and 
aggressive Republican. During his busy life he 
has found time to serve his neighbors in various 
official capacities; has held the office of Postmaster 
at Eagle for six years; District Treasurer, Consta- 
<• 



ble, vvas a member of the Republican County Cen- 
tral Committee, and has been a delegate to the 
various State and County Conventions. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pylnias. and I. 0. G. T., 
and was an active member of the Grange. He is 
a strict and conscientious member of the Episcoi)al 
Church. He is Past Commander of the Knights of 
Pythias. 

^;AC0B FORSYTH, an honored and re- 
spected citizen of Tipton Precinct, was born 
in Muskingum County, Ohio, April 25, 1836, 
(^^7/ where he lived with his parents until he was 
fifteen years of age, working on the farm with his 
father and attending the common schools of the 
nei2;hborhood. In 1851 he went with his father 
to Scott County, Iowa, where he lived ^ith the 
latter until reaching the age of twenty-six years. 
Aug. 25, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, 20th 
Iowa Infantry, and was mustered into the service 
at Clint(m, Iowa. 

The regiment of which our subject was a mem- 
ber went southward into Missouri and took part 
in the battle of Prairie Grove. In June, 1863, 
they were sent to Vicksburg, where they remained 
until the final surrender of that city, taking an 
active part in many battles and skirmishes about that 
place. After the surrender the regiment was sent 
down the river to New Orleans; from there they 
went into Texas, taking an active part in the 
engagement at Brownsville. After being in Texas 
one year they were ordered northward, were 
present at the siege and capture of Ft. Morgan, 
in Alabama, then north into Arkansas, where they 
went into winter quarters; the following spring 
they were sent by water to Pei^sacola, Fla. From 
there they were ordered to Mobile, Ala., where they 
took part in the storming and capture of Ft. Blakes- 
ley. Our subject passed through the war un- 
scathed by wounds, but he was sick for two 
months and a half in the hospital. During his term 
of service he was granted but one furlough to visit 
home. After serving his time, till the close of the 
war, he was mustered out of the service and hon- 
orably discharged at Clinton, Iowa, Aug. 24, 1865. 

For three years after his return home Mr. 



T 



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CASS COUNTY. 



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1151 



Forsyth engaged in breaking prairie and thresiiing 
grain. He then began farming on rented land in 
Scott County, which lie followed for three j'ears 
more. In the spring of 1874 he came to Nebraska 
overland with teams, crossing the Missouri River 
at Plattsmouth, coming into Tipton, where he 
rented land for the following five years. During 
this time he had bought eighty acres of land from 
the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, and 
in the autumn of 1880 he removed to it, 
and immediately proceeded to improve it, 
building a house, barn, setting out a grove vi 
five acres, an orchard of tjiirt^' trees, and 
a large number of cedars. The entire farm is 
well fenced by substantial wire fences. 

From tlie time he moved to this farm our sub- 
ject has devoted his time and attention exclusively 
to its cultivation and improvement, raising corn 
and hogs, and he has been eminently successful. 
In the spring of 1888 he erected a new residence as 
large as any in the precinct, conveniently arranged 
for the comfort of his family. He uses five head 
of graded horses in the operation of his farm. 

Our subject was married in LeClaire, Scott Co., 
Iowa, Nov. 25, 1870, to Miss Ellen F. Stophcr. 
This lady possessed a most estimable character, and 
was highly honored by all who knew her. Her 
death, which occurred but recentl}', May 7, 1888, 
was a sad affliction to her husband, who was 
devoted to her. He feels her loss greatl3', and the 
blow was especially heavy, coming at the time 
when they had everything gathered around them 
to be comfortable and enjoy life, which result w.as 
due in. a great measure to her earnest and devoted 
assistance. She was born in Scott County, Iowa. 

The subject of this sketch was the second eldest 
in a family of seven children; his brother Jasiel 
was older; and his brothers William, .John, Luther, 
Jasper and .Jesse, were younger. John served 
four years in the 13th Iowa Infantry, during the 
late war; Jasper served three years in the same 
regiment; Luther served in the 21st Iowa for 
three years, and William served one year on detail 
in Davenport, Iowa. All the brothers were hon- 
orably discharged. 

The father of our subject was John Fors3'th, a 
native of Virginia. He settled with his jjarents in 



Muskingum County, Ohio, when a boy. He 
bought Government land in that county and cleared 
a farm on which he lived until 1851, when he 
removed to Scott County, Iowa, where he remained 
one year. He then removed to Clinton County, 
where he bought 400 acres of land, and remained 
there one year; then moved into Princeton, Scott 
County, where he built a sawmill on the banks of 
the Mississippi River. In this venture he was very 
successful. He sold his mill and bought eighty 
acres of land near Princeton, which he rented. 
He lived in the town of Princeton until his death, 
whicli occurred in February, 1885, aged seventy 
years. His wife, the mother of our subject, died 
in 1881. Both parents were of English descent, 
and were consistent members of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

Mr. Forsyth is a member of Ivenesaw Post No. 
103, G. A. R. In politics he is a thorough-going 
Republican, taking a lively and active interest in the 
councils of that party. He is a man of considera- 
ble prominence in the community in which he 
lives, and has the esteem and good opinion of all 
who know him; kind, generous and open-hearted, he 
has a welcome for each and every one. He is 
always glad and happy to meet an old army com- 
rade, and live over again the scenes and incidents 
of a soldier's life. 

ANIEL W. FOSTER represents both the 
industrial and farming interests of I^ib- 
erty, and he is a man of prominence in liiis 
precinct. He is a verj' skillful mechanic, 
and also a practical agriculturist, owning a farm of 
which eighty acres are on section 26, this precinct, 
and eighty acres in Otoe County. It is well watered, 
is provided with substantial improvements, and has 
every facility for conducting farming. On the 
home farm is a fine bearing orchard of 270 choice 
ft-nit trees, the place is well stocked, and our subject 
has some fine horses. He is prominently identified 
with the Wyoming <fe Liberty Stock Company, 
having been officially connected with it as Sec- 
retary. The head of the horses of higii grade 
owned by the company is "British Lion." He is a 



m 



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1152 



CASS COUNTY. 



magnificent imported animal, dark bay in color, 
weighing 1,820 pounds, and five years of age. 

Our subject was born in Wasliington County, III., 
in the town of Beau(^oup, Jan. 11, 1834. He was 
the third son born to Andrew and Nancy Jenning 
(nee Cox) Foster, the father of Irish-Protestant 
stock, and the mother of English descent. They 
both died in Washington Counl3', 111., when scarcely 
past the prime of life, the father at the age of 
forty-five, and the mother at the age of forty-three. 
The former was a native of Campbell County, Ky., 
and received a liberal education in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Through some misfortune he was crippled in his 
lower limbs, and chose thesedentar3' life of teacher, 
for which he was well fitted, being a man of more 
than ordinary' intelligence and information. He 
made that profession his business the most of his 
life until his premature death, going to Washington 
County for that purpose, and he had a varied ex- 
perience in his capacity as schoolmaster. 

Our subject was a resident of Ohio from 1853 
until 18G8. He took a mercantile course at Smith's 
College, Cincinnati, and also at the school at 
Granville, Ohio. He completed his education in 
Fayette County, and learning his trade there 
of carpenter, followed it for some time in that 
county. July 20, 1861, our subject threw aside 
his personal interests to enlist with the brave boys 
in blue to assist in the defense of the stars and 
stripes, enlisting in Pickaway County, Ohio, as a 
member of Company A, 27th Ohio Infantry, and 
serving in the capacity of mechanic for awhile. 
He took part in several engagements, was at Corinth 
and Atlanta, and at the latter place was taken from 
his duties as mechanic and appointed on speci.nl 
dutj' as one of the signal service, and by his stead- 
fast devotion to his work won the encomiums of his 
superiors. He was raised to the rank of Corporal, 
and Aug. 17, 1864, after more than three years of 
hard service, was honorably discharged. He made 
his way back to Pickaway County, Ohio, and was 
there married to Letisha McKinley, a native of the 
North of Ireland. She was born Aug. 3, 1842, and 
when young came to the United States with her 
parents, Edward and Ann (Riddle) McKinley. 
They settled in Pickaway County, Ohio, and there 
^ the father died at the age of sixty-eight, and the 



•►Hb^: 



mother in her eighty-first year. Mrs. Foster was 
only two years old when her parents brought her 
to this country, and she was reared in Oiiio, know- 
ing no other home until her marriage. Her parents 
were very worthy of esteem and respect, and were 
Protestants in religion. Of the seven children born 
to our subject and his wife, four are dead — Andrew 
W., Alma, an infant and Fred. Those living are: 
Nettie, a gradu.ate of the Lincoln High School, and 
Mary and Reuben, all at home. 

After marriage Mr. Foster settled in Fayette 
County, Ohio. Four years later we find him in 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he was engaged as a 
contractor for two years. Then Kansas claimed him 
as a citizen, and his next point of settlement was 
Bismarck, Dak., of which he was the first Justice of 
the Peace, being one of the earliest settlers. He 
lived there one j'ear, and then came to Cass County 
and took up his residence on his present farm, and 
has ever since been a valued citizen of this com- 
munitj'. He owns other valuable property in the 
county besides his farm, and has recently erected 
in the village of Union a pleasantlj" located busi- 
ness house of commodious dimensions. Mr. Fos- 
ter is a man of high moral character, honest, straight- 
forward and incorruptible, and wields an undoubted 
influence for good in his community. He is an 
earnest supporter of tiie Prohibition party in poli- 
tics, and leads a temperate life in accordance with 
the principles that he professes. 



►^+ 



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JOHN CLEMENTS. This thorough-going 
and public-spirited gentleman, now a resident 
of Elmwood, was born in Somersetshire, 
England, Oct. 26, 1838, coming to this 
country with his parents when only three years of 
age, after a long and tedious voyage of six weeks 
by sailing-vessel from Bristol landing in New York 
City. The family finally settled in Marcellus, On- 
ondaga Co., N. Y., where our subject lived with 
his parents until he attained his majority. Having 
a strong desire to secure a foothold for himself, he 
boTight a farm of 120 acres of improved land in 
that county, and devoted his entire time and at- 
tention to the cultivation of his farm and raising 

4^ 






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CASS COUNTY. 



1153 1 



stock for five j'ears, when he sold out and reraovefl 
to Skaneateles in tlie same county, where he bought 
a house and h)t. He remained there a couple of 
years, engaging in the tobacco trade. In 1868 he 
sold out and removed to Nebraska, coming by rail 
to Nebraska City, thence by team to Stove Creek 
Precinct, where he settled on a homestead on section 
34, taking up eighty acres of raw land. He broke 
this prairie with three 3'oke of oxen, planting a 
grove of ten acres, and an orchard of 200 fine trees, 
set out l\v himself. He lived on this farm for five 
years, then proved up and moved to Lincoln, Neb., 
where he engaged in the grocery and dry-goods 
business, in i)artnership with his brother. They car- 
ried on the business for two years, losing mone}' on 
account of the grasshopper plague, there being no 
crops, and consequently no mone3- coming into the 
country. 

The appointment of head janitor in the Peru 
Normal School wsvs given Mr. Clements in 1875, 
which necessitated the removal of hisfamilj' to that 
l)lace. He held this position for five years. In 1880 
he determined to try farming again, having in the 
interim bought an addition of 160 acres, making a 
tract of 240 acres for cultivation. 

Once more on his farm Mr. Clements devoted his 
attention to general farming and the raising of hogs 
and cattle. In this he was very successful, and carried 
it on until 1886. During the two years prior to 

1886 he served as County Commissioner, which oc- 
cupied about one-half his time, consequently he 
simply superintended the operations on the farm. 
He served as County Commissioner, the highest 
and most responsible office in the county, until 
.January, 1887. In 1886 he moved into Elmwood, 
where he bought eigiity acres adjoining, forty of 
which he laid out as an addition to that town. In 
August, 1886, the railroad was built through the 
town, which gave the real-estate business in which 
our subject was greatly' interested a great impetus. 
He lias built three large store buildings on D street, 
besides the large building occupied by the firm of 
which he is the senior member, devoted to the fur- 
niture and implement trade, which he began in 

1887 under the firm name of Clements & Elliott, 
which firm was dissolved in June, 1887, he then 
taking his son into partnership, under the firm name 



of Clements & Son. He is at present engaged in 
the purchase and sale of real estate, and has large 
interesis in Lincoln, the capital city. He still owns 
the olrl home farm, hut rents it. After the sale of 
the first addition he platted and sold the other 
forty acres adjoining Elmwood. 

The father of our subject was George Clements, 
born in Somersetshire. England ; his mother was 
Harriet Richards, also born in Somersetshire. His 
father was a farmer, and came to America in 
1842, settling in Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y., 
where he bought 400 acres of improved land, which 
he operated until the fall of 1864, when he moved 
into Marcellus, where he lived until 1888. He and 
his wife are now living with one of his sons on the 
old homestead, and have reached the advanced age 
of eighty years. Both are active members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Our subject is one of a family of six children: 
Infant brothers, Thomas and Charles, are deceased; 
and Thomas, the second, lives in New York State; 
1. N. and Ephurem G., in Lincoln, are younger. Isaac 
N. and E. G. served in the 122d New York In- 
fantry during the late war. The scene of their serv- 
ice was laid in the Peninsula, participating in the 
battles of Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and An- 
tietam. E. G. was honorably discharged at Alexan- 
dria. Va., on account of physical disabilitJ^ I. N. 
served as hospital steward, was shot through his 
ankle during the battle of the "Wilderness, was taken 
prisioner by the rebels, who amputated his leg and 
sent him to Libby Prison, where he remained six 
months a prisoner of war, when he was paroled and 
exchanged. L^pon reaching Annapolis, Md., he was 
honorably discharged. He is at present Principal 
of the seminary at Cazenovia, N. Y'". 

Mr. Clements was married in Marcellus, N. Y., 
March 12, 1857, to Miss Sarah J. Barnett, the 
daughter of William and Maria Barnett. She was 
born in Marcellus, N. Y. Five children have been 
born to our subject and his wife, namely: Hattie; 
Sanford and Samuel, twins, deceased; Byron I. and 
Albert are living. B3'ron I. married Miss Minnie 
Bailey, and is the junior partner of the firm of 
Clements & Son. Albert is at home with his par- 
ents. 

The beautiful home of Mr. Clements is situated 



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<k 1154 



CASS COUNTY. 



on the corner of F and Second streets. The house 
is 32x48 feet, the finest in the town; water is sup- 
plied throughout by a system of pipes from a large 
reservoir tank which is filled by the operation of a 
large windmill, and otherwise arranged in the in- 
terior with every appliance to add to the comfort 
and well-being of the inmates. The lawn is nicely 
arranged, and taking the home both inside and out, 
is the most beautiful place in Cass County, and does 
great credit to the liberality and enterprise of the 
owner. But few homes in our cities are better 
adapted to the giving of pleasure and comfort than 
that of our subject. 

The citizens of Elrawood are indebted as much 
if not more to this gentleman than to any other for 
the prosperity of their town. It is owing rnainly 
to his efforts and zeal that the Missouri Pacific 
Railroad was built through the town. After the 
two surve3's had been made, neither of them going 
through the town, our subject, with Dr. Hobbs, C. 
D. Clapp, C. Alton and John Hart, formed a cor- 
poration between thernselves, and after correspond- 
ing with and interviewing the Superintendent of 
the road, and by raising ^1,200 in cash, and giving 
the right of way and one-half of 160 acres of the 
town site, they induced the company to abandon 
the proposed route and lay the road through Elm- 
wood. The $1,200 was raised by subscription; the 
eighty acres of land donated the road was given by 
the five men mentioned, Mr. Clements giving one- 
fourth, or twenty acres of the amount. The road 
was completed in 1886. 

In all matters pertaining to the welfare of the 
people among whom he lives Mr. Clements has 
taken and occupied a foremost position, being al- 
ways on the alert to secure for himself and neigh- 
bors all and every advantage that could possibly be 
secured by energy and push. He has received and 
deserved at the hands of his fellow-citizens the most 
complete confidence and regard, being placed by 
them in many positions of trust, serving for three 
j'ears as Countj' Commissioner, which is the highest 
and most responsible local office within the gift of 
the people of the county. He is at present Justice 
of the Peace and Notary Public, a member of the 
Board of Trustees of Elmwood, and a member of 
the A. F. & A. M., of Plattsmouth. He is Past 



Chancellor of the K. of P., of Elmwood, and a 
valued member of the A. O. U. W., of that place. 
Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Ciiurch. He donated the site for and 
contril)uted largely to the budding of the church 
edifice. Always generous, large-hearted and genial, 
he is the ideal citizen of the West. 

In politics Mr. Clements is a strong Republican, a 
delegate to the State and County Conventions of 
that party time after time, a conscientious and con- 
servative member of both the Grand and Petit 
Juries. He can rejoice in the fact of every duty 
well and faithfully performed. 



4-1^.^^^1-1-4-- 



ylLLIAM HEROLD is the oldest merchant 
in Plattsmouth, and he has a well-kept es- 
tablishment, with an extensive patronage 
among the best class of people. He represents both 
the business and public interests of the city, and is 
numbered among its most enterprising and substan- 
tial citizens. 

Our subject was born in Bustadt, Saxe-Weimar, 
Germany, and his father, Gotleib Herold, was a na- 
tive of the same place. His grandfather, Frederick 
Herold, was born and reared in France, and served 
in the French army under Napoleon. He was with 
that great leader in the raid on Moscow, and in the 
subsequent terrible retreat through the winter snows. 
Mr. Herold proved to be so courageous and efficient 
a soldier that he was made an officer in the army, 
and he used often to be sent to Russia to buy horses. 
He was a great admirer of the great commander 
under whom he fought, and he used to tell his chil- 
dren many anecdotes concerning him, and also con- 
cerning the campaigns in which he himself took part. 
After his retirement from the army he opened a 
liotel one mile from the county seat of Saxe-Wei- 
raar, and was for many years profitably engaged as 
" mine host." He spent his declining years with 
the mother of our subject, dying at the ripe old age 
of eighty-four years. 

The father of our subject was reared in liis native 
place, attended school in his3'outh and subsequently 
learned the trade of butcher. He owned a farm 
which he managed himself, besides keeping a meat- 



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CASS COUNTY. 



1155 



market in town. He died while yet a yonng man, 
and left a wife and four children, the names of the 
latter being Adam Bernhard, William, Gustave and 
Herman. The mother of our subject spent her 
whole life in her native country. Being left a 
widow thus earl J- she faithfully performed the duty 
of rearing her children to honest and useful lives, 
thus making them good citizens of their adopted 
country, for they all came to America in after 
years. 

William Herold was eight j-ears of age when his 
father died. He attended school quite regularly 
until his sixteenth year, and obtained a sound edu- 
cation. He then bought his time of the Govern- 
ment until he should be of age, and through his 
uncle purchased his freedom from railitar}" service, 
and then he and his brother Gustave set sail from 
Hamburg in the fall of 1849 in an American-bound 
vessel. The}- encountered high winds in mid-ocean, 
and the ship was driven from its course, and the 
provisions becoming scarce, all on board lived on 
rice and molasses for two weeks. At length, after 
a perilous voyage of sixty da3-s, the}' landed in 
New York. They went directly to LaSalle Countj', 
111., and our subject found work there with a butcher, 
receiving §8 a month in payment for his services. 
At the expiration of a year he left Illinois, crossing 
the Mississippi to St. Louis, where he worked at the 
butcher's trade for one year. In 1851 he engaged 
to go with a man from Illinois to California, to as- 
sist him in driving a herd of cattle across the plains 
and mountains. They started from Independence, 
Mo., in the spring, and made the journey across the 
wild prairies of the unorganized territor}' now com- 
prising Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, etc., to their 
destination in Marysvillc, arriving in October. The 
traveler of the present day can scarcely realize, as 
he speeds along over the iron rails in luxurious pal- 
ace cars, that such an undertaking in those days in- 
volved many wear\' days and months of slow trav- 
eling across the mountainous plains and the rugged 
mountain passes, through a country infested by 
Indians (who were, perhaps, hostile), and wild ani- 
mals, such as deer, elk, antelopes and buffaloes. 

Mr. Herolil engaged in Initchering in San Fran- 
cisco for other parties, and remained there a year. 
We next hear of him in Drytown, Amador County, 



where he opened a meat-market, which he managed 
with great profit for two years. He then left Cali- 
fornia and returned home by the Nicaragua route 
to New Orleans, and thence up the Mississippi River 
to Muscatine, Iowa, where he took the stage for 
Council Bluffs. He then bought two yoke of oxen 
and pushed on to Omaha, which he found in an em- 
bryo state, it having just been platted, and contain- 
ing onlj' from fifteen to twenty houses. He engaged 
there in breaking the prairie with his teams, receiv- 
ing §8 an acre for his work. All the land in Ne- 
braska was then owned by the Government, and for 
sale at $1.25 an acre, and Indians still inhabited 
that section of the countr}-. In the fall of 1855 he 
came to Plattsraouth, which he found to be an in- 
significant hamlet, with about fifteen houses, about 
half of which were log structures, and the remain- 
der small frame buildings. He continued on west 
of that town and took up a timber claim one mile 
southwest of the present site of Louisville. After 
entering his claim he went to Glenwood, Iowa, and 
opened a general store there. In 1857 he estab- 
lished a branch store at Plattsmouth, and thus be- 
came one of the pioneers in the mercantile business 
in this city. In 1859 he sold out at Glenwood and 
settled on his land near Louisville, and commenced 
to improve a farm. In 1862 he came to Platts- 
mouth to engage in business, opening a general 
store, which is now the oldest in the city. He has 
prospered exceedingly, and has built up an exten- 
sive and paying trade. 

Mr. Herold was married, March 2, 1858, to Miss 
IClizabeth O'Neil, a native of Hocking County, Ohio, 
and a daughter of James and Rachel (Aubery) 
O'Neil, of whom see sketch. Four children have 
been born of this marriage, namely: James, who 
married Mar^- Clark, and is in business in Boston; 
Emma, who is the wife of Frank Hager, of Platts- 
mouth; Henr3^ and Dora, who are at home with 
their parents. 

Mr. Herold is a self-made man in the truest sense 
of the word, owing his good fortune solely to the 
exercise of his own powers. His conduct in life is 
guided by good principles, and in all of his trans- 
actions he is foun(i to be fair and upright. In him 
the Episcopal Church has a devoted member. As 
a good citizen he is deeply interested in the welfare 



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1156 



CASS COUNTY. 



of the city whose growth he has witnessed and pro- 
moted, and as one of the Board of Conncilmen 
for two years, has heartily entered into all schemes 
looking to its advancement. Politically*, he is a 
Democrat, firmly believing that the policy of that 
party, if carried out, would stimulate the various 
industries of the United States to an unprecedented 
activity. Socially, he is identified with the A. F. 
& A. M., Plattsmouth Lodge No. 6, and the I. O. 
O. F., Plattsmouth Lodge No. 7. 

^ .^^ ^ 



^OHN W. SHANNON, now deceased, was one 
I of the earliest settlers of Plattsmouth, com- 
ing to this region when there was little indi- 
cation of the present wealth and prosi)erity 
of this flourishing city. A native of Colliorne, 
Northumberland County, Province of Ontario, 
Canada, he was born in 1821, where he was reared 
and received a common-school education. Upon 
approaching manhood he learned the trade of a 
tailor, at which he was occupied until 1852, then 
migrated over into the States, and worked at his 
trade in New York and Ohio for a period of seven 
years. 

About this time the gold excitement at Pike's 
Peak attracted thither a large number of men 
desirous of bettering their condition financially, 
and Mr. ShannoTi, joining the caravan setting 
thitherward, made the journey overland across the 
plains. He at once entered the mines, and met 
with very good success. He afterward decided to 
seek another locality. In the meantime he had 
made the acquaintance of George Gilpin, who gave 
him a letter of introduction to Kit Carson, at that 
time Indian Agent at Taos, New Mexico, whither 
he repaired. He did not remain long, however, in 
that region, but returning east as far as the pres- 
ent site of Plattsmouth, concluded to locate here, 
and here he spent the remainder of his life. 

Mr. Shannon is a man of great energy and enter- 
prise, and after concluding to make Plattsmouth his 
headquarters, gathered together teams .and other 
equipments and commenced freighting across the 
plains to Denver, and other important military 
posts in the West. lie was thus occupied until 



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in 1864, when, settling down in Plattsmouth, he 
established in the livery business, and was thus 
occupied until in 1886. Being now near his three- 
score years and ten, he decided to recire from act- 
ive business and accordingly sold out. His death 
took place Sept. 8, 1888. 

On the 2d of February, 1873, Mr. Shannon was 
united in marriage with Miss Martha .1. Erway, the 
wedding taking place at the home of the bride. 
Mrs. Shennen was born at Three Rivers, St. Joseph 
Co., Mich., and is the daughter of Albert H. Erway, 
a native of Tompkins County, N. Y^ The paternal 
grandparents of Mrs. S. were Charles and Susannah 
(Corchit) Erway. They settled in St. Joseph 
Count}' during its pioneer d.ays, and Albert H. re- 
mained with his parents until approaching manhood. 
His business career commenced as a clerk in a store 
of general merchandise. So great was his applica- 
tion to his duties, his honesty and integrity, that he 
not only made many friends, but managed his 
finances wisely that he was enabled to purchase the 
business of his employer, which lie conducted after- 
ward for a period of thirteen years. 

In 1852 Mr. Erway started for California, mak- 
ing the journey via the Isthmus, and landing in 
San Francisco on the 7th of April. He first en- 
gaged in mining on Mormon's Island. The winter 
following, .associating himself with a partner, he 
purchased a stock of goods in San Francisco, and 
established himself in business at a place called 
Fiddletown. and remained there until after the 
destruction of Sacramento by fire. He then en- 
g.aged in freighting from Stockton to the mines, 
making his headquarters at the former place. 

In 1855 Mr. Erway returned to Michigan, and 
locating in Cass County, occupied himself there 
until in 1860. He then crossed the Father of 
Waters again, locating in Iowa, but a year later 
sought Nebraska Territory, and for a year there- 
after occupied himself as a hotel-keeper. We next 
find him in the young cit}' of Denver, where, how- 
ever, he sojourned but a short time, but migrating 
farther northwest resumed his old business of 
freighting, transporting goods from AValla Walla to 
the mines in Idaho. 

In 1863 Mr. Erway again sought the Pacific 
Slope, and began freighting to the mountains. 
•^ 



^f^ 



•^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1157 



Later he purchased a ranch sixteen miles below 
Sacramento, where he lived until 1868 ; then went to 
Nevada, and again became interested in freighting, 
doing an extensive business. Here, however, his 
usual prosperity seemed to have deserted him, as 
he finally' lost the accumulations of years and was 
obliged to start anew. His perseverance and reso- 
lution, however, brought him out a victor from the 
struggle, and in the course of eighteen months he 
Lad accumulated 13,000. A part of this, in 1876, 
he invested in a ranch in Esmeralda County, the 
Mason Valley, where he engaged extensively in 
stock-iaising, built a beautiful home, and there 
spent his last days. He closed his eyes upon earthly 
scenes on the 8th of March, 1886. 

Mrs. Abigail Jane (Phillips) Erwaj', the mother 
of Mrs. Shannon, was born in Kentucky. Of this 
union there were eight children, namely : Benjamin, 
James, Amanda, Emma, Mark, Martha, Edward 
and Charles. Mr. Shannon was a member of the 
Masonic fraternity. 



(^^•HOMAS T. YOUNG. Among the many 
((^^^ valuable farms which make South Bend 
^^^y Precinct a veritable Garden of Eden, there 
are none that present to the eye a finer appearance, 
or are under a higher state of cultivation, than the 
home farm occupied by the gentleman whose name 
heads this sketch. He owns and operates a farm of 
240 acres on section 32, devoting It to general 
farming and stock-raising. He is a native of Ohio, 
being born in Pickaway County, June 29, 1844, 
the 3'onngest child in a famil}' of four, having 
three sisters older, named Sarah J., Marj' E. and 
Allie A. They are the children of Thomas and 
Sarah (Cole) Y'oung. The father was born in 
Pennsj'lvania, and the mother in Pickawa}' 
County, Ohio. The parents lived for many years 
in the northern part of Ohio, when they removed 
to Iowa in 1852, where thej- settled on the land 
in what is now Mt. Pleasant. The father died 
at the present home of our subject in 1874, aged 
seventy-five 3-ears. The mother still lives in 
Greenwood, and is now eighty -two years old. 

Our subject was taken to Allen County, Ohio, 
by his parents, when he was eight years old; he at- 



tended the Union Schools while living in that 
county, and after his parents migrated with their 
family to Iowa, he took a course in the Iowa Wes- 
leyan University. After leaving this school, he 
engaged in business in Iowa as a clerk. Not feel- 
ing satisfied with the possibilities of his position, 
and hoping to advance his interests favorably, he 
went to Colorado in 18C4, where he engaged in 
farming in El Paso Count}'. The results of this 
venture did not entirely satisfy him, and after five 
years' experience he came in 1869 to Eight Mile 
Grove Precinct, this county. 

Mr. Y''onng was married to Miss Susie Creamer, 
a daughter of Cyrus and Sarah Creamer. This Lad}' 
was born in Indiana, and at the age of three or 
four years, her parents moved to Bloomington, 
111., where they resided for several years, when 
they again moved, this time from Illinois to Ne- 
braska, where they finally settled in Eight Mile 
Grove Precinct. This lad}' was then about twelve 
years of age. She resided at home with her par- 
ents, taking her part in the various household 
duties pertaining to their home, attending school, 
and otherwise preparing herself for a life of use- 
fulness. She has become the mother of eight chil- 
dren, five of whom are living, named: Eva M., 
Mary E.. P'rank T., Alice E. and Myra B. Her par- 
ents were natives of Indiana. 

Since his filial settlement on his present farm, 
Mr. Young has devoted his time and attention to 
the improvement of his land, and the raising of 
stock for the general market. The improvements' 
which he has from time to time placed on his 
farm, are of the most substantial and solid na- 
ture, and built with a view of being permanent and 
lasting. He has good barns which are models of 
their class; large and roomy, they are aclmirably 
arranged for their intended use. His cattle sheds, 
corn cribs, granaries, and the sheds for the protec- 
tion of the various farming machinery, are first 
class in every respect. He feels that successful 
farming depends largely on taking proper care of 
the animals and implements on a farm. He is 
wide-awake, pushing, and well informed in his busi- 
ness, possessing an eminently practical knowledge, 
derived from experience and observation, of all the 
details pertaining to farming and stock-raising. 



t^t-M* 



.J^ 



1158 



CASS COUNTY. 



t= 



The flue frame residence in wliich our subject 
resides occupies a commanding location, and is 
one of tlie most tastily built residences in tlie pre- 
cinct, is nicely furnished tliroughout, and contains 
the latest improvements for reducing the labor of 
housekeeping to the smallest |>ossible amount. His 
wife, who is at the head of his domestic establish- 
ment, is a handsome and most excellent lady in all 
respects. She takes a pardonable pride in the in- 
ternal arrangements of her home, which is certainly 
justifiable, for it reflects great credit on her judgment 
and artistic taste. She is genial and hospitable, 
which qualities make her a leading spirit in the 
social life of the locality. Herself and husband 
are earnest and consistent members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. They carry their religion into 
their everyday life and live fully up to their con- 
ception of what a true Christian should be. Mr. 
Young has filled acceptably' to his neighbors and 
with credit to himself various public otBces, being 
elected Assessor for two terms, was also from 1871 
to 1880 an active member of the School Board. 
He served on the Grand and Petit Juries of the 
county, in which latter position he discharged his 
duties in an impartial manner. In politics Mr. 
Young is a Republican. 



■jl^aCOLAS YOUNG has a farm of 200 acres 
I )/) ^^'T pleasantly located, partly on Weeping 
11\,£L) Water Creek, on section 27, Liberty Pre- 
cinct. It is well watered, well stocked, and well 
improved, comparing favorably in all respects with 
the best of the many fine farms in this section of 
Cass County. Our subject is a representative 
farmer and citizen of his precinct and county, and 
is eminently' wortliy of a place in this biograph- 
ical work. 

He was born in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 1826, 
and was reared and educated in one of the Rhine 
Provinces, some fifty miles from that capital. His 
father, Simon Young, was a laboring man, and 
worked in a tobacco factory. He married a lady 
of the same town as himself, and they are both now 
deceased, he dying at the age of sixty -six and she in 



the prime of life, when our subject was but six 
years old. They were both people whose blame- 
less lives and honest, industrious habits gained 
them the respect of their neighbors. Mr. Young 
was a Lutheran in his religious belief, and was ever 
faithful to the tenets of his church. In early 
manhood Mr. Young, of whom we write, sought 
the United States of America, this Mecca of so 
many of his compatriots, after having plied tlie 
trade of stonemason in the Fatherland nine years, 
hoping to secure more profitable wages here in re- 
turn for his labors. That was in the year 1854, 
and lie made his way to St. Louis, and followed 
his trade in that city more or less until he came to 
Nebraska and turned his attention to farming in 
1856. He spent the first year after his arrival in 
Wyoming Precinct, Otoe County, and in 1859 
came to Cass Count}'. He pre-empted eighty acres 
of land, and immediately entered upon the labor of 
improving it, and later he bought the 120 acres 
where he now resides, and has 200 acres of well- 
tilled land, provided with buildings and every- 
thing needed for successful!}' prosecuting his work. 
July 5, 1860, our subject took one of the most 
important steps of his life, in his marriage with 
Miss Maria Schmitz, who has ably assisted him in 
building up their comfortable home. She was born 
in German}', Sept. 17, 1833, and is the daughter 
of John and Catherine (Bonsen) Schmitz, now 
both deceased, her father having died at a good 
old age, and her mother in the prime of life, when 
her daughter, Mrs. Young, was a child of three 
years. Mr. Schmitz was a tailor by trade. Mrs. 
Young was reared and educated in Germany, and 
was twenty-three years old when she came to the 
United States and took up her home in Nebraska. 
She is the mother of nine children, four of whom 
are dead — John W., Andrew, Henry and Peter. 
The remaining children are Fred W., Simon, Anna 
M. and Anna Frances (twins), and Charles E., and 
all are at home with their parents. jMr. and Mrs. 
Young are Lutherans in their religious belief, and 
are active in the church. Mr. Young is independ- 
ent in politics, always exercising his reason in 
casting his ballot, and voting for those men whom 
he thinks will best serve the country, without re- 
gard to their political affiliations. 
■ 4^ 



t 



h= 



CASS COUNTY. 



116L ik 



RANCIS R. GUTPBIAXN, a capitalist of 

PPlattsmoutli.is numbered among the wenlMiy 
and substantial citizens of Cass County. lie 
has now practically retired from business, alMiont^h 
he still supervises his extensive interests. II3 has 
contributed largely to the upbuilding of the city, 
and ha.s a great deal of property here, including a 
handsome residence, the best hotel of the place, and 
two smaller ones, besides stores and other buildings. 
Mr. Guthmann was born in the village of Wald- 
hausen. near Buchen, in the Graud Duchy of Bidjn. 



husband, and ten of them grew to maturity. Caro- 
line married Peter Rauen; Helen married Valentine 
Egenberger; Charles, who served in the 3d Missouri 
Regiment under Gen. Sigel for four j^ears, and 
afterward settled in Lancaster County, Neb., died 
at the home of our subjei't in 1882; Maria L. 
married Benjamin Hempel; William, who served in 
the German Arm}^, died in Plattsmouth in 1884; 
our subject w.as the nest in order of birth; then 
Maria Catherine, who married J. V. Weekbach, of 
whom sea sketch on .another page of this book; 




ll'lltlhl 




•►HH^: 



RESIDENCE OF F. R. GUTHMANN, cornes of 
Germany, .Tuly 2, 1841. His parents. Francis and 
Anna Maria (Gramlich) Guthmann, were natives of 
the same place, as were also their parents. The 
paternal grandfather of our subject owned a farm 
there and was a lifelong resident of that place. His 
father, Francis Guthmann, was reared to agricult- 
ure, which he pursued in his native land until his 
death, Nov. 2C, 1875. His wife, Anna Jlaria, was 
born in a village near her husband's birthplace, and 
spent her last years in the home where .all of her 
married life was passed. She died Dec. 11, 1860. 
There were fourteen children born to her and her 



Fourth and Locust Sts., Plattsmouth, Neb. 
John F. M. died in his native village; Fred and 
Oswald are the youngest msmbers of the family. 
Seven of these are living in Nebraska, and all in 
Cass Countj-. with the exception of Fred, who is a 
resident of Seward County. 

Francis R. received an excellent education in the 
Fatherland, attending school pretty steadily in his 
boyhood until he was fourteen years of age. He 
then assisted his father in tiie labors of the farm 
until the month of December, 185(1, when he and 
one of his sisters set sail from London, and landed 
in New York Feb. D. 1857. Another bro'her and 

i» 



1 1 62 



CASS COUNTY. 



sister had preceded them, and they joined them in 
Davenport, lOwa, where they had settled. Our sub- 
ject had come to America with but little means, 
and he immediately set about procuring work that 
he might better his financial condition. The first 
year of his stay in this country he was employed 
at the saddler's trade. In 1859 he started with a 
party bound for Pike's Peak in search of gold. 
Going from Davenport with teams, they traversed 
the wild prairies of Iowa, and crossing the Missouri 
River at Plattsmouth, then an insignificant hamlet, 
they pushed on across the plains through the Ter- 
ritory of Nebraska to near Ft. Kearne.y, where they 
were stayed in their course by meeting many weary 
and disappointed emigrants returning from Pike's 
Peak with very discouraging reports, so the party 
concluded to abandon their purpose. Our subject's 
brother decided to take up a claim in Nebraska, and 
selected a tract of land in Lancaster County, about 
ten miles east of the present site of Lincoln, which 
was then a wild, open prairie, owned by the Gov- 
ernment, and for sale at $1.25 an acre. Indians 
still lingered in that part of the country, and deer, 
elk .and wolves roamed at will over the plains. Our 
subject was then too young to make a claim to some 
land, so he returned to civilization. He spent two 
months in St. Louis, and then went to St. Joseph 
and worked in a bakery. After thoroughly mas- 
tering that trade, he engaged in pantry work in the 
Pacific House in that city, remaining there until 
1863. He then crossed the plains to Denver, and 
there engaged as pastry cook in the Planters' 
Hotel, then the leading hotel in Denver. Ten 
months later, in February, 1864, he left that place, 
and, with others, started with six wagons for that 
part of Idaho now included in the Territorj- of 
Montana. While traveling in the mountains the 
party encountered severe storms and nearly per- 
ished. In one place they were five days making 
seven miles, and one night the wolves killed and 
devoured one of the mules. On the 15th of May 
the party arrived at Virginia City, and there le.arned 
that it had been reported that they had all perished 
in the mountains. Mr. Guthmann oitened a bake 
shop and boarding-house in that city, but his resi- 
dence in that part of the country was of short du- 
\\ \ ration, as in the f.<ill of 1864 he came to Platts- 



mouth to invest his money in city property, and 
made arrangements to erect a store building. In 
1865 he returned to the mountains and established 
a b.akery and boarding-house in Blackfoot City, 
Deer Lodge Co., Mont., conducting both with good 
financial success until 1868, when he again came to 
Plattsmouth. He engaged in the bakery business 
here, and the following year added pork packing. 
In 1870 he opened a billard h.ill, and in 1871 a 
grocery store, giving his personal attention to these 
varied enterprises until 1874, all the while carrying 
on his bakery. He then sold the grocery store, 
but continued to manage the billard hall until 
1881. Since that time he has not been engaged in 
any actual business, but devotes himself to the 
supervision' of his multiplicity of interests, from 
which he derives an ample income. Mr. Guthinann 
is a man of great enterprise; he has a clear head 
for business, and displays much tact .and shrewd- 
ness in his various undertakings. He has done 
much toward building up Plattsmouth, having 
erected two dwelling-houses and three stores, be- 
sides other buildings. The brick hoiise which he 
occupies with his f.imily is one of the finest in the 
city, and was erected in 1886. Mr. Guthmann is a 
stockholder in the Citizens' Bank, also in the Bank 
of Cass County, and also in the Plattsmouth Can- 
ning Factory, of which he is President. He has 
taken an honorable part in public affairs, having 
been a member of the City Council. He h.as always 
been identified with the Democrats in his political 
affiliations. 

Mr. Guthmann was united in marriage to Anna 
M. Pankratz, Jan. 10, 1878, and to them have been 
born four children — Nellie. Ch.arles F. M., Henry 
A. J. .and Minnie T. Tliey have also an adopted 
daughter, Annie. Mrs. Guthmann was born in 
Manitowoc County, AVis., Nov. 24, 1860, and is a 
daughter of Joseph and Katrina (Bruner) Pan- 
kratz, natives of Bavaria. They were reared and 
married in that country, and resided there until 
1853. In that year they crossed the water to the 
United States, and located in Manitowoc County, 
Wis., being early settlers of that part of the coun- 
try. jMr. Pankratz Ijought a tract of timber land, 
and first erected a round log house to shelter his 
family, and then commenced to clear a farm from 



^^ 






CASS COUNTY. 



1163 



the wiUlerness. Later he erected a substantial, 
two-story, hewed log house, and other necessary 
farm buildings, and resided there until his death 
in 1863. His widow is still living on the old 
homestead. There were eight children in their 
family, as follows: Anton, who died at the old 
home in 1888; Mary, who married Joseph Lem- 
berger, is now deceased; Katrina, who married 
Joliu Steiner. and lives in Manitowoc County, 
Wis. ; Theresa, who married Henry Fetzer, and 
lives in Lancaster County, Neb.: Frances, who 
married Fabian Heitzraann, and lives in Gage 
County, Neb.; Joseph, wlio lives in Manitowoc 
County; Mrs. Guthmaiin; Maggie, who married 
John Smith, and lives in Manitowoc County, Wis. 
The life of Mr. Gutlimann has been an active 
one, full of enterprise and stirring incident, and 
through all he preserved the cool headedness and 
good judgment which enabled him to acquire the 
fortune lie is now enjoying. On an adjoining page 
appears an excellent portrait of this well-known 
resident. 

!f/__ ON. A. M. ROSE, an honored resident of 
jr^^ Union Village, occupies an honoral)le place 
jlwjjf among the prominent pioneers of Nebraska^ 
(^\ who were its earliest settlers. He settled in 
Nebraska City before it was surveyed, and at the 
time there were but very few settlements of whites 
in the wliole Territorj', it then being tlie home (^f 
tiie Indian. Mr. Rose is tlioroughly conversant 
with the early history of this portion of the groat 
AVest. and converses very interestingly of his ex- 
periences here at the time, and of the many i)ioneer 
incidents that fell under his notice. It was the cus- 
tom for settlers coming here then to pay tribute to 
the Indians for the noble privilege of settling on 
this side of the Missouri River. This was to prevent 
thievery by the redskins, as there was then no law 
to protect the property of the white settlers in In- 
dian Tenilory.nnd the sum nf uKiney exacted was 
$10 for the men who had stock and $u for those 
who did not. 

When Mr. Ri *-■ first crossed the Missoui'i at Ne- 
braska City lie found only a few buildings besides 
' the aliandoned forts of the Government, and a 



■<^ 



wild and desolate country surrounding the town, 
which was then known as Ft. Kearney. It was at 
about that time that Maj. Gatewood, Indian agent 
for the Otoes and other Indian tribes on this side 
of the Missouri River, acting under instructions 
from the United States Government, ordered the 
settlers off their lands in this State. This order, 
however, was never executed, as Maj. Gatewood 
himself did not favor the idea, and through Maj. 
Downs succeeded in circulating the report that the 
settlers would leave, and that seemed to satisfy the 
authorities at Washington. Maj. Downs, who was 
one of the original settlers of Nebraska City, and 
once owned a large part of its present site, had 
charge of the abandoned forts of the Government 
at that point. He was one of the most prominent 
men in the Territory, and he and his wife were 
particular friends of the natives and exerted great 
influence over them, understanding their language 
and customs, and the Indians placed implicit con- 
fidence in them and would swear by them. This 
trust proved of great advantage to Mrs. Downs, as 
at one time her rights to a claim that her husband 
had taken were tlireatened by a quarrelsome man 
who lived on the Iowa side. But by the aid of her 
savage .allies iMrs. Downs was enabled to hold her 
own despite his attempts to wrest her land from 
her. All such incidents in the early history of Ne- 
braska are perfectly familiar to Mr. Rose, as he was 
acquainted with every man (official or civilian), 
woman and child for miles around. He carried the 
chain for Charles Pierce and Dr. Dewey, the gen- 
tlemen who made the first survey of the city. In 
Territorial days our subject took a conspicuous 
part in the management of public affairs, and in 
185.T represented Cass and Otoe Counties in the 
Second Territorial Legislature that was convened 
in Nel)raska. 

In the spring of 18.59 Mr. Rose returned to his 
old home in Trumbull County, Ohio, and remained 
there six years. On his return to this part of the 
country a second time he settled on land in Cass 
County. On his first arrival in Nebraska he en- 
tered land that is now occupied by the packing- 
house. He afterward sold that place, and coming 
to Liberty Precinct, purchased a farm on the banks 
of Weeping Water Creek, not far from its mouth, 
..^ -•► 



f 



t•>-^f^ 



■•►HI 



1164 



CASS COUNTY. 



and here he began to build up an entirely new- 
home from the wild prairie, in which he lived 
nntil his recent retirement from active life to a 
pleasant place in Unionville. lie has a good farm 
of 100 acres, which he has put in a fair state of 
imjirovement. 

Mr. Rose was born in the township of Bristol, 
Trumbull Co.. Ohio, Jan. 1, 1824, and was tiiere 
reared and educated. He learned the cooper's 
trade, but never followed it after he came West. 
His father, Ira Rose, was a shoemalcer by calling, 
and ran a small f.arm at the same time He was a 
native of Connecticut, and came of an old New 
England familj^ of English extraction. He grew 
to manhood in the State of his nativity, there 
learned his trade, and later was married, Julia 
Maltby, also of Connecticut birth, and of simi- 
lar parentage and descent, becoming his wife. She 
nKjved with her husband to Trumbull County. 
Ohio, when that county and State were almost 
an unbroken wilderness, and a few years after 
their advent there she died, leaving four children. 
Mr. Rose married for his second wife Mrs. Betsy 
Barnes, nee Morley, a native of Massachusetts, com- 
ing of a good family. It is thought that she mar- 
ried her first husband in Ohio. To her and Mr. 
Rose were born five children, of whom our subject 
was the eldest. She was a woman of exceptionallj' 
fine character, and her death, in 1 844, was a seri(His 
loss to her family. Mr. Rose was married a tiiird 
time, Laura Preston becoming his wife. Thej- 
subsequently moved to Geauga County, Oliio, and 
there Ira Rose died, at the age of nearly fourscore 
j'ears. He was a man whom to know was to re- 
spect, as his every act and deed were governed liy 
right motives, and his integrity was unquestioned. 

The Hon. A. M. Rose, of this biographical notice, 
was married in Bristol Township, Ohio, Oct. 8, 
1845, Miss Sobrina Webster becoming his wife, and 
for over forty 3'ears they have traveled life's road 
together as true and devoted companions. jNIrs. 
Rose was born March 28, 1824, in Chautauqua 
County, N. Y., her parents being Joseph and Olive 
(Ackley) Webster, likewise natives of the Emi)ire 
State. They were reared and married there, the 
latter event occurring in Chautauqua County, where 
they began life together as fai'mers nvar Dunkirk. 



In 1834 they removed with their family to Ohio, 
and settled on a farm in Bristol Township, and 
there both departed this life, Mr. Webster in 1859, 
when about seventy-eight years old, and his wife 
some years before, when less than sixty years of 
age. She was an active member of the Christian 
Church, and he of the Methodist. In politics he 
was a sound Whig. BIrs. Rose was one of the 
youngest of eight children, all girls, born to her 
parents, all of whom lived to be married and rear 
families, and three of them are 3'et living. Mrs. 
Rose was reared in her father's home and edu- 
cated in Ohio, and since marriage has been one of 
those whole-souled, faithful wives, loving and wise 
mothers, and of her happy marriage seven children 
have been born, of whom four died in infanc}'. Those 
living are: G. Albert, a store-kee|)er in Union, who 
married . Elizabeth Dodge; Laila K., the wife of 
Charles Barrow, a farmer in Libertj' Precinct; and 
Virgil E., at home, is going to manage his father's 
farm, as he is now nearly twenty-one years old. 

Our subject is a man of acknowledged integrity', 
of unblemished honor, broad and liberal in liis 
views of life and its mauy problems, and of more 
than average vigor of mind. Such a man w.as an 
invaluable citizen in pioueer diys, and is not less 
so at the present time. Mrs. Rose is a devoted 
membei- of the Cumberland Presl)3-terian Church, 
while Mr. Rose, holding advanced opinions on re- 
ligious questions, has not identified himself with 
any church, although Ciutributing liberally to the 
one in which his wife is interested. He Ikis liceii 
an active local politician, and has nhvays voted the 
Republican ticket. 



ON. J.VMKS .M. IIIGGINS, a resident of 
Tipton Precinct, at present (I8S.S) repre- 
sents his district in the State Senate, and is 
spoken highly of Uy his constituents, mem- 
bers of the Democratic I'arty. He was elected to the 
olfice in the fall of ISSfj, and is disciiarging his du- 
ties in a conscientious and intelligent manner. The 
present Assembly is the twentieth session of the 
Nebraska Legislature, find tliei'e are naturally many 
interesting questions I'OusUintly arising, especially 



->Hil- 



•►41^ 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



llGo 



that pertaining to the relations between capital and 
labor, in which subject Mr. Higi^ins is especially 
interested. He is a man of good sound sense, self- 
educated, and has had a practical experience in 
life, which enables him to take a practical view of 
tliose interests most nearly affecting the common 
people. 

A native of Franklio County, Ohio, our subject 
was born near the city of Columbus, then in its in- 
fancy, Nov. 22, 1826. His parents were Samuel and 
Perraelia (Patrick) Higgins, the former a native of 
Prince George County, Md., and the latter born 
near Petersburg, in Virginia, in 1803. The pater- 
nal grandfather, Samuel Higgins, Sr., also a native 
of Maryland, emigrated to Ohio soon after it had 
been admitted into the Union as a State, and prior 
to the War of 1812. He converted a portion of the 
wilderness into a well-regulated farm, became 
prominent as a stock-raiser, and there spent the re- 
mainder of his days. He was a substatial citizen 
in all respects. 

Grandfather Thomas Patrick was a native of 
Ireland, and upon emigrating to America settled 
first in the Old Dominion. Thence he too emi- 
grated to Franklin County, Ohio, and carried on 
agriculture successfully until resting from his 
earthly labors. Samuel Higgins, the father of our 
subject, was a lail twelve years of age when he went 
with his family to Ohio, and was reared among the 
pioneer scenes of the Buckeye State. He possessed 
a large portion of the business talents of his father, 
speculated considerably in lands, andrdso operated 
as a stock-buyer, at the same time carrying on the 
cultivation of his farm, which he cleared from the 
wilderness. He was at one period in his life the 
owner of a fine property, but by an unfortunate 
venture lost the whole of it. He only lived to be 
middle aged, dying in 1843, when forty-two years 
old. He was a man of strong character and de- 
cided views, and was regarded as one of the 
shrewdest business men in Franklin County. 

The mother of our subject survived her husband 
a period of forty-five years. She was a second 
time married, to Jacob Myers, who died in 1858. 
After his death she remained a widow until her 
death, in March, 1888, at the home of our subject, 
at the advanced age of eighty-four years. The 



parental family included five children, namely: 
James Madison, our subject; Tabitha A., who died 
when forty years old ; John, a resident of Jefferson 
County, this State; Sir.ih and Sxrauel, vvho died in 
infancy. John during the late Civil War served 
in the Missouri State Militia. 

Our subject pursued his first studies in the sub- 
scription schools of the Hawkeye State, and at the 
age of fifteen entered the academy at Columbus, 
where he spent two years. He made his home at 
the farm until reaching his majority, and being a 
bright and observant youth became possessed of a 
fund of useful information, which paved the way to 
his future success. At the age of eighteen he 
ofSuiated as a pedagogue three months, and after- 
ward, going to Columbus, began an apprenticeship 
at the carpenter trade. He worked at the bench, 
however, only about eighteen months, then resumed 
teaching, but later worked as a carpenter during the 
summer season and taught school in winter for 
several years thereafter. 

In the spring of 1847 Mr. Higgins was given the 
post of superintendent of repairs and bridge 
builder of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. 
This occupied his time for three years. In the 
meantime he put up the first depot in the present 
flourishing city of Springfield, Ohio, among other 
structures of note at that time. Later we find him 
a contractor in connection with the county court- 
house, and in the winter of 1850 he taught school 
in Marion Count3-, Ohio. The spring following he 
was married, and settled upon a farm in Marion 
County, pursuing farming and carpentering for 
the four years following. 

In the spring of 185 4, determined upon seeing 
something of the Great West, Mr. Higgins started 
overland with a team for Iowa, and distinguished 
himself as one of the first settlers of Clark Count}'. 
He purchased in the forest 320 acres of Govern- 
ment land, constructed a sawmill on Long Creek, 
speculated in land, and sojourned there until the 
outbreak of the war. He watched the course of the 
struggle a year, and then, seeing no prospect of its 
termination, proffered his services as a Union 
soldier in Company B, 18th Iowa Infantr}', and 
was assigned to the Army of the West and oper- 
ated on the frontier. Later thej' were ordered 



»► II < »■ 



?^h 



•►Hf^ 



11G6 



CASS COUNTY. 



"^V 



to foil! Sherman's aimj- at Cairo, Jll., wliciue tliey 
])i()C'ee(led to St. Louis anrl from tlitie to Spring- 
field, Mo. 

At this point a corps was organized, and they 
proceeded to do battle with the rebels and 
guerrillas in that vicinitj'. during which time 'Mr. 
Higgins was assigned to provost dnt}- at Springfield, 
Mo., for a period of eleven im nllis. In the fall of 
1863 he went with his regiment after the rebel 
General, Price, in the northern part of the Slate, 
driving him across the Arkansas River, Vhen pro- 
ceeded to Ft. Smith, remaining there on post duty 
until April, 1864. 

The regiment of our subject was now assigned 
to tiie command of Gen. Thayer, and sent to the 
vicinity of Camden, Ark. They skirmished thirty 
days toward Camden, and were nearly starved to 
death on account of failure of expected forage. 
About that time was fought the battle of Parsons 
Springs, when the regiment was nearij' cut to 
pieces, but Mr. Higgins fortunately escaped with a 
few others to Camden. Thence they wem sent 
back to Ft. Smith, where tbey remained until the 
close of the war, being mustered out on the26lhof 
August, 1865. 

Our subject now proceeded homeward as rapidly 
as steam could take him, and resumed the peaceful 
pursuits of agriculture and carpentering, combined 
with stock-raising. He had in the meantime estab- 
lished a sawmill in Clarke County, which he now 
sold, together with other propert)', and changed his 
residence to Page County. In this latter he pur- 
chased 160 acres of land, upon which he effected 
considerable improvement, and rented 400 acres 
besides, operating thus an area of 560 acres. This 
employed his time and attention until the spring of 
1878. 

Mr. Higgins now disposed of his interests in the 
Hawkeye State and started for Nebraska over- 
land with teams, crossing the Missouri at Nebraska 
City and made his way to Tipton Precinct, this 
county, locating shortly afterward on section 11, 
securing 120 acres of land, which he still owns and 
occupies. Upon this not a furrow had been 
turned, and there was no evidence that its soil had 
ever been pressed b^' the foot of a white man. Af- 
ter providing a shelter for his family Mr. Higgins 



liegan planting fiuit and forest trees, and erected, 
as his means justified, the buildings, one after 
another, necessary for his comfort and convenience. 
A noticeable feature in the htmrsttad is the fine 
grove of 150 maple and eottonwood trees, which 
retain their living green in winter and summer alike, 
and serve to make a most pleasant picture in the 
landscape. A large portion of the farm is enclosed 
with hedge fencing, and for the last few years Mr. 
Higgins has given his attention largely to stock- 
raising, keeping about twelve head of horses and a 
goodly assortment of cattle and swine. The present 
residence was completed in the spring of 1878, and 
is in every respect suitable to the requirements of 
the modern household. 

The marriage of Mr. Higgins with Miss May 
Stiverson took place in Marion County, Ohio, 
March 28, 1851. This lady was born in that countj', 
in 1827, and is the youngest of seven children, the 
offspring of David and Mary (Barnes) Stiverson, 
who were natives respectively of Kentucky and 
Ohio. The father was numbered among the well- 
to-do farmers of the Bucke3'e State, and with his 
estimable partner, is now deceased. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Higgins there w-ere born nine children, the 
eldest of whom, Byron, is farming in Page County, 
Iowa; Elon is the wife of David i^dwards, a well- 
to-do farmer of Washington County, Kan.; John, 
who has inherited a large portion of his father's 
enterprise, is stock-buyer for the Occidental Pro- 
vision Company, at Lincoln, this State, where he 
resides; William M. is residing in Tipton Precinct, 
this county; Mary J. is the wife of D. Allen, a far- 
mer of Custer County, this State; James M., Jr., is 
farming in Dundee County, together with his 
brother Frank; Charles is at home with his parents; 
Permelia died when three years old. 

Mr. Higgins in the spring of 1882 consented to 
become the candidate of his party for the State 
Legislature, being on the minority ticket, but was 
defeated by a small majority. Two years later he 
again ran on the Democratic ticket, and was elected 
a member of the Nineteenth General Assembly, 
serving with credit to himself and satisfaction to 
his constituents. In 1886 he was made a State 
Senator. Prior to this he had frequently been sent 
as a delegate to the various conventions of his 

I N 



•►Hl^ 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



11G7 



paity, in which he has been an industrious worker. 
He is one of the oldest members of tiie Masonic 
fraternity in this county, with which he identified 
liiraself in 1856 while a resident of Iowa. He also 
is a member of the R. A. M., and of the G. A. R., 
at Elm wood. Religiously, he is an adherent of tiie 
Baptist Church. 

Mr. Higgins entered the army as a private, but 
upon the organization of his company was made 
an Orderly Sergeant, in wiiich capacity he served 
five months, and was then promoted to the rank of 
Second Lieutenant. He was mustered out of this 
company as such and mustered into the same com- 
pany again as First Lieutenant. Later he was ton- 
<lered the office of Captain, but preferred to operate 
as First Lieutenant. Later he was detailed as 
Regimental Quartermaster, serving as such until 
the close of the war. His army record was credit- 
able in the extreme. 



"ffJACOB DOMINGO, an energetic and pros- 
|| perous farmer, resides on the highly im- 
^^ I! proved farm on section 30; Mt. Pleasant 
^^/ Precinct. He is a native of Denmark, 
where he was born March 16, 1836, but is now an 
American citizen, through and through. He is a 
son of John and Ellen Domingo, both natives 
of Denmark, and is one of a family of four chil- 
dren. Mincus is at home in the old country; 
Christian is deceased; John lives in Centre Precinct, 
Cass Co., Neb., and Jacob, our subject. The early 
years of his life, until he attained his majority, 
were passed in his native country, where he received 
a good education in his native tongue. When he 
arrived in America he possessed no knowledge of 
the English language, but by close application he 
has mastered it to such an extent that he can speak 
it very fluently. He is well informed on current 
events. 

The life of our subject, when not in school, was 
passed on a farm, where he took his full share of 
the labor and duties. After he had obtained his 
education he felt there would be a greater scope for 
his powers in the New World, and in consequence of 
this decision, in the autumn of 1877, started for 



America, taking passage from Copenhagen on No- 
vember 3d, in a steamer of the Anchor Line, which 
landed him in New York City November 17th of 
that year. He at once came westward to Ford 
County, 111., where he farmed as a renter for sev- 
eral years. In the spring of 1882 he came to Ne- 
braska and settled on his present farm, where he 
has resided ever since. He owns 160 acres of good 
land, which he has brought to a good state of cul- 
tivation. AVhen he bought the land there were no 
improvements on it, but by energy and hard labor 
he has so improved it that it is now in excellent 
condition, considering the length of time which he 
has owned it. 

Our subject has begun his improvements in a 
systematic manner, and has a well defined plan 
which he is putting into effect as fast as time and 
circumstances will allow, and, when completed, no 
farm in the State will be better arranged or more 
convenient than his. With the exception of .some 
$400 which he received from the estate of his 
father, he has had no assistance from any source 
whatever, having to depend entirely on his own 
efforts to reach the desired end, which makes him 
in all respects a truly self-made man. 

Mr. Domingo was married to Annie M. Ander- 
son, Nov. 20, 1884. The lady was a native of Wis- 
consin, where she was born Nov. 3, 1862. She is 
the daughter of Peter and Annie M. Anderson. 
Her father is a native of Denmark. He located in 
Wisconsin for a time after coming to America, then 
removed to Ford County, 111., where he now lives. 
The lady's mother was a native of Denmark, and 
is now deceased. Her father was married the sec- 
ond time, and is the head of a family of twelve 
children, eight of whom are living, named: An- 
drew, Annie M., Peter; Christiana, who is now the 
wife of Nelse Robison; Annie, Jennie, Lizzie and 
Lena. To our subject and wife there has been 
born one daughter, Annie E., Dec. 15, 1887. 

Our subject and his wife are active members of 
the Lutheran Church, conscientious and consistent 
in their profession. They take an important part 
in all social matters of their neighborhood. In 
politics he is a Democrat, is wide-awake and pro- 
gressive, believing , in the greatest good for the 
greatest number, and enters heartily into any pro- 



■ ► IL» ' 



>► ,1 1 < >■ 



-•► 



<t 



1168 



CASS COUNTY. 



ject that is intended to elevate or benefit the peo- 
ple. He ranks high among the leading, intelligent 
Danish-American citizen, of whicli there are a large 
number in Cass County. He is widely and favora- 
bly known for his integrity of character and indus- 
trious habits. 



-€^^^ 



<¥)OHN MURDOCH. Thirty-four years ago, 
{|| Dec. 1, 1854, Mr. Murdoch made his way to 



dl|| Dec. 1, 1854, Mr. 
|l the Territory of Nebraska, and three years 
I) later settled on a tract of wild land in the 
southeastern part of this county, and which has been 
familiarly known since Liberty Precinct. His farm 
is in the northwest corner of the precinct. He se- 
cured by pre-emption the northwest quarter of sec- 
tion 6, and in the year 1859 entered upon its 
improvement and cultivation. It is now one of 
the most attractive homesteads in this part of the 
county, having neat and substantial buildings, good 
fences and farm machinery, the land assisted to 
fertility by a branch of the Weeping Water, and 
its natural resources more than ordinai-ily abun- 
dant. This, together with the judicious care exer- 
cised by the proprietor in its cultivation, renders 
the farm exceedingly valuble. 

The property of Mr. Murdoch is the result of his 
own industry and perseverance, he having come 
to the West without capital, having only his stout 
muscles and courageous heart. He worked sev- 
eral years as a farm laborer before purchasing his 
land, and two years afterward operated in the 
same manner before settling upon it. As time 
passed on, and he found his meatis accumulating, he 
wisely invested in additional land, and is now tlie 
owner of 400 acres, all lying in Cass County. A 
quarter-section of this is in Kock Bluff Precinct, 
and eight\' acres in Mt. Pleasant. The whole is in 
a good state of cultivation. 

The boyhood home of our subject is in Franklin 
Township, Richland Co., Ohio, where he was born 
April 17, 1834. His father, Samuel Murdoch, was 
a native of Maryland, a miller and millwright by 
trade, and emigrated to Ohio when a j'oung man. 
He was married in that State to IMiss Susan Poisel, 
who was born in Ohio, and whose family, like the 



Murdochs, were of Scotch ancestry. The parents 
of our subject began life poor in purse, and it was 
their lot to remain thus. Thej- became the parents 
of nine children, and died in Richland County, 
Ohio, in middle life, and within a few months of 
each otlier. 

Our subject was a little lad only eight years of 
age when he was orphaned by the death of his par- 
ents. He was the youngest of the household, and 
made his home with his brothers and sisters until 
able to earn his own living. He then started out 
to work for the farmers in his neighborhood, and 
continued a resident of his native State until com- 
ing to Nebraska. He found a bride in this county, 
being married Oct. 27, 1861, in Mt. Pleasant Pre- 
cinct, to Miss Sarah H. Oliver. This lady was 
born in Edgar County, HI., April 17, 1843, and is 
the daughter of Rev. Lutheran and Cyrene J. 
(Rounsavell) Oliver, who were natives respectively 
of Vermont and Ohio. They emigrated to Hlinois 
in their j'outh, and were married in Edgar County. 
The father later entered the ministry of the Meth- 
odist Church, and after a few years' sojourn in 
Illinois, crossed the Mississippi River into Wapello 
County, Iowa,' where he took up his abode on a 
farm, but continued his pious labors as a local 
preacher from 1844 until 1859. The familj' then 
all came to Nebraska and settled on a tract of new 
land in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, this eountj^, where 
the father still labored as a farmer and "circuit 
rider." He exerted himself industriously for the 
comfort of his familj-, and deemed no sacrifice too 
great to insure their well-being and happiness.. At 
the same time he was also a public-spirited citizen, 
and evinced an interest in the moral and religious 
welfare of the people about him. 

Mr. Oliver after a sojourn of some years in this 
county changed his residence to Seward County, 
taking up a homestead and settling once more 
upon a tract of new land, still continuing as a 
farmer and a preacher, and traveled over a large 
portion of Western Nebraska in the pursuance of 
his pious duties. Finallj^ worn out from hard 
labor, he was persuaded to take up his abode at 
the home of his daughter, Mrs. Murdoch, where he 
spent his last days, passing away Nov. 15, 1884, at 
the ripe old age of seventy-four years. He was 



f 



■•»> 



CASS COUNTY. 



1169 



^ 



quite helpless during tbe last few ^-ears of his life 
from age and infirmities. The faithful wife and 
mother had preceded her husband to the land of 
the hereafter nearlj' twenty years, her death tak- 
ing place in .Tune, I860, at the age of forty-six. 
She w.<is a lifelong memlier of the Methodist Church. 
■ Mrs. Murdoch was the eldest of seven children, 
one son and six daughters, and was reared under 
the home roof, acquiring her education in the com- 
mon school. Under the training of her excellent 
parents she became imbued with those principles 
which have constituted her one of the truest women 
ever becoming the helpmate of a good and worthy 
man. Of their union there have been born eight 
children, one of whom, a little daughter, Julia E., 
died April 13, 1874, when only eighteen months 
old. Of the survivors the record is as follows: 
Oliver S. married Miss Ida M. Coleman, and they 
are living on a 160-aere farm in Gosper County, 
this State; Henry married Delia Colvin, is also a 
resident of that county, engaged in the same call- 
ing, and is the owner of a fine tract of land of a 
like extent; Mary is the wife of Scott Norris, and 
they live on farm in Antelope County; G. Albert, 
•Tohn W., Cyrene and Ruth O. are at home with 
their parents. 

Mr. and !Mrs. Murdocli are members in good 
standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at- 
tending services regularly at Mt. Pleasant. The 
two eldest sons, departing somewhat from the re- 
ligious bias of their parents, belong to the United 
Brethren Church. Mr. Murdoch is a Democrat of 
pronounced ideas. 

The first studies of i\Ir. and Mrs. Murdoch, as 
children, were conducted in the log school-houses 
of the olden times, structures widely different from 
those in which is carried on the education of the 
present generation. Then the temple of learning 
was built of logs, with a wide fireplace occupying 
nearly one end of a cabin probably 12x16 feet 
square, and the chimney built outside of earth and 
sticks. Light was admitted through a few small 
panes of glass or greased paper, and tlie floor was 
made of puncheon — a log riven and placed with 
round surface downward. The roof was probably 
of clapboards held in place by weight poles. The 
system of learning corresponded with the other 

4^ 



surroundings, and the books utilized descended 
from the elder child to the j'ounger as long as they 
would hold together. Children in those days were 
taught to be useful as soon as old enough to labor, 
and while their liardships were plentiful, there 
were still many simple sources of enjoyment, and 
people were probably happier in those times than 
many are at the present, surrounded with comforts 
and luxuries. There is an air of romance woven 
within the history of the old pioneers, which forms 
a tale ever listened to with readiness and attention 
both by old and young. Few can relate a more 
interesting story than the subject of this sketch and 
his interesting wife. 

The year after the outbreak of the Civil War, 
although in the midst of his labors and plans in 
his new home, Mr. Murdoch felt it his duty to lay 
aside his personal interests, and on the 18th of No- 
vember, 1862, enlisted in Company H, 2d Ne- 
braska Cavalry, under Capt. Marshall, the com- 
mander of the regiment being Gen. Sully. They 
were assigned to the Army of the Northwest, and 
operated mostly along tlie White Stone Valley, 
Dak., keeping the Indians in subjection, and during 
wliich time Mr. Murdoch was under fire in two 
active engagements. He saw his fill of life on the 
frontier, and when his services were no further re- 
quired received his honorable discharge, in Decem- 
ber, 1863, at C)maha, and soon thereafter, returning 
home, he resvimed his farm labors, which have 
since been comparatively uninterrupted. 

"•' t - l 't' l - t '"- 



,,Ji LBERT A. MILLER, senior member of the 
j^iCili firm of Miller & Olmstead, is with his 
partner conducting a prosperous trade in 
clothing, hats, caps, trunks and general fur- 
nishing goods, forming a house which occupies a 
leading positition in trade at this point. Their 
headquarters are in a fine brick structure, the I. O. 
O. F. building, and they number among their 
friends and patrons the best people of Weeping 
W^ater and vicinity. 

Mr. Miller first set foot upon the soil of Ne- 
braska in 1869, less than' two years after it had 
been admitted into the Union as a State, on his 



*^h-^ 



t 



•►Hl^ 



♦^K-* 



1170 



CASS COUNTY. 



^t- 



way to the Pacific Coast, While pleased with the 
face of the country he did not locate here until 
about 1881, wheii he began business as one of the 
firm of Reed Bros. & Co., of whom mention is 
made in the sketch of E. L. Reed, found else- 
where in this volume. That partnership continued 
a period of three years. The career of Mr. Miller 
in this county has been been uniformly fortunate, 
and he has invested considerable capital in town 
]iroperty, putting up two good residences, one of 
which he sold at a round sum. 

The firm of Miller & Olmstead was established 
in October, 1888, and both partners are men of 
first-class business capacities. Mr. Miller started 
out in life dependent mostly upon his own re- 
sources, but Providence endowed him with that 
genial and courteous manner and fine integrity 
which has gained him the friendship and confidence 
of those with whom he has been associated. He is 
a stanch Republican politically, although having 
no desire for the responsibilities of office. Socially 
he belongs to the I. O. O. F. and the Knigiits of 
Pythias. In religious matters he is a prominent 
member of the Regular Baptist Church, in which 
he officiates as Deacon, Financial Secretary and 
Trustee. 

Mr. Miller was born in Liberty Township, Trum- 
bull Co., Ohio, August 5, 1848, and lived there 
with his parents until he was about five years old. 
They then removed to Warren, Ohio, where he com- 
pleted a good education and whence he went at the 
age of twenty years to Indianapolis, Ind., where 
he sojourned a period of twelve years, eng<aged in 
business as salesman. Mr. Miller was connected 
with several mercantile houses and lived in Indian- 
apolis until 1881. In the meantime he was married, 
Oct. 10, 1872, to Miss Frances Seaman. Of this 
union there have been born five children, three 
only of whom are living, namely ; Francis, Laura 
and Clara. They are all at home with their par- 
ents and are being given the training and education 
suitable to their station in life, which will make of 
them worth}' and respected citizens. 

Mrs. Miller was born in Indianapolis, Ind., Oct. 
11, 18.53, and is the daughter of Edwin and Cyn- 
thia (Crutchfield) Seaman. Her father was en- 
gaged in mercantile business the greater part of his 



life. He was born in Ohio, Sept. 3, 1824, and came 
to Nebraska in 1881. He now makes his home with 
his son-in-law, Mr. Miller. He has been a promi- 
nent light in mercantile circles. Since coming to 
Nebraska he has served as a Justice of the Peace 
in Weeping Water, and like Mr. ^liller belongs to 
the I. O. O. F. and the K. of P. Mrs. Seaman died 
in October, 1864. Mrs. Miller was her onl}' child. 
Reuben Miller, the father of our subject, was 
born in New Jerse}', Jan. 11, 1811. When an in- 
fant he was taken by his parents to the cit}^ of 
Washington, D. C, where he lived until a young 
man of twenty years. Then starting out for him- 
self he made his way to the vicinity of Liberty, 
Trumbull Co., Ohio, where he was engaged in man- 
ufacturing in connection with farming. In the 
Buckeye State he married Miss Emeline Fuller, 
and they became the parents of six children, of 
whom but two are living, Albert A. and Laura M., 
Mrs. Titus, of Minneapolis. Mr. Miller departed this 
life at his home in Pennsylvania in February, 1867. 
The mother had preceded her husband to the si- 
lent land, dying in November, 1862. She was born 
in Orange Countj', N. Y., August 28, 1815, and 
was the daughter of Ira and Sallie Fuller. The 
paternal grandfather of our subject was James 

Miller. 

■ o<r>o . 

- ooo " 

ILLIAM W. GULLION. Among the 
many extensive land-owners within the 
confines of Cass County we find the sub- 
ject of our sketch, who was one of the earliest of 
the earlj' settlers in the count}'. He settled near 
Plattsmouth in 1854, and on the 14th of June of 
that year, he and his brother-in-law, William H. 
Sheffer, both laid the foundations for rude log houses 
on their respective claims, at a time when there 
was but one house in Plattsmouth, and that was a 
trading-house belonging to Samuel Martin, who was 
perhaps the first settler in Cass Count}'. 

The brother-in-law Sheffer built the first house, 
and our subject helped him, completing his own 
afterward. At the first election, in the spring of 
1855, Mr. Gullion was elected Constable, the first 
person filling that office in the count}'. In those 
days justice was administered in a primitive, yet 



'^^ 



■<- 



f 



CASS COUNTY. 



1171 



extremely effectual manner, the entire legal system 
being exclusively managed hj' a vigilance commit- 
tee, and it can be said in favor of those times that 
justice was generally rendered. He pre-cipted a 
claim of 160 acres adjoining Plattsmouth on the 
north. 

On the breaking out of the gold excitement in 
1858, our subject went to Pike's Peak and Denver, 
where he passed one winter, after which he returned 
to Plattsmouth and engaged in freighting across 
the plains, which business he followed with varying 
success for six j-ears. As he has prospered he has 
from time to lime added to his ownership of land, 
until he now owns an extensive tract in Salt Creek 
Precinct. It is not possible to enter into a full his- 
tory of the earlier years of thia gentleman in Ne- 
braska. To do so would require a volume. Coming 
to the State at the time he did, when there were 
but very few settlers within what is now the limits 
of the county, at a great ilistance from the markets, 
he had his full share of the discomforts and troubles 
attending the life of a pioneer, which for a verity, 
in this case, he was. He possesses a large fund of 
information regarding the early times of the State, 
having had an active part in making its history, 
and none should know it better than he. Then 
again, it would not be possible for the pen to paint 
sufficiently vivid word pictures, that would convey 
to the reader such knowledge as would enable them 
to comprehend, in all its bearings, the life they 
were compelled to lead. 

Among the least of the dangers our subject was 
obliged to endure was the treachery of the Indians 
who were then thickly scattered over the broad 
domain, which they claimed as their inalienable 
birthright, and on which they considered every 
white man to be a trespasser. To appreciate this 
life one must hear the description from the lips of 
those who went through it, and it is time well 
spent in engaging the subject of this sketch in 
conversation relative to those frontier times, when 
men and women took their lives in their hands, 
and dared to undertake that which they knew be- 
forehand to be fraught with untold dangers. 

Our subject was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth 
Mayfield, the daughter of LeRoy and Martha 
(Baskett) Mayfield. The lady's mother is still liv- 



i»Hir^ 



ing, at the ripe old age of eighty-two 3"ears, and 
makes lier home with our subject. Mrs. Gullion 
was born in 1839, in Monroe County, Ind. Her 
father died in 1851. aged fifty-two years. Herself 
and husband are the parents of two children — John 
Willmer and James E. 

Our subject came to his present farm in the j'ear 
1879; it contains 240 acres of nicely located 
land, a large portion of which he has improved. 
Like many others he has not proved to be a success- 
ful financier, but whatever troubles may have 
come to him from this source, they cannot in any in- 
stance, or in any way, be attributed to any failure 
on his part to act fairly, honestly and uprightly 
with every man with whom he has had business re- 
lations. In fact his honest}- and integrit}' of char- 
acter have become proverbial, and he is above 
reproach. 

The subject of this sketch is one of the best citi- 
zens of the precinct. He is public-spirited and 
generous to a fault, and every suggestion that has 
for its object the advancement or improvement of 
the locality in any sense of the word meets with his 
earnest and heartj^ approval. Since reaching 3ears 
of maturity he has voted at everj' election, never 
voting but once outside the State. He was the first 
Constable and Deputy Sheriff elected in Cass 
County, the duties of which he performed in a 
highly acceptable manner. 



JOHN CORBET. The sons of Scotland are 
always pardoned for pride in their national- 
it\'. The subject of this record, one of 
the solid men of Avoca Precinct, was born 
in Lanarkshire, the land of the thistle, Feb. 2, 
1837, and crossed the Atlantic with his parents at 
an early period of his life, they settling in Trum- 
bull County, Ohio, where he received his education 
and was reared to man's estate. 

Mr. Corbet is now the owner of 240 acres of fine 
land on section 2, all of which has been brought to 
a high state of cultivation. It is embellished with 
neat and substantial buildings and forms the ideal 
country home. Stock-raising is made a specialty 
of at this farm, Short-horn cattle taking the lead. 



•► 



1172 



CASS COUNTY. 



The land became the property of Mr. Corbet in 
1859, when it was in a wild and uncultivated state, 
and he did not settle upon it until eight years 
later. Upon taking up his residence here in the 
April of 1868, he began in earnest the cultivation 
of the soil, the planting of trees, the erection of 
buildings, and the gathering about him and his 
family the conveniences and comforts necessary to 
modern life. No man is more highly respected in 
liis community, and none have contributed in a 
greater degree to build u() its reputation and de- 
velop its resources. 

While a resident of Trumbull County, Ohio, our 
subject was united in marriage with Bliss Catherine 
Jameson, a native of his own shire in Scotland, and 
born July 10, 1839. Mrs. Corbet is the daughter 
of William and Jannett (Hamilton) Jameson, ex- 
cellent families of Scotch birth and ancestry, who 
came to the United States about 1842 and settled 
in Trumbull County, Ohio. They sojourned there 
until the death of the mother, about 1881. Later 
Mr. Jameson came to Nebraska and is still living, 
making his home with A. E. Jameson in Avoca 
Precinct, and is now quite aged. 

Mrs. Corbet was reared and educated in Trum- 
bull County', Ohio, and of her marriage with our 
subject there have been born four children: Frank 
is a student of the Commercial College at Lin- 
coln; Robert is attending school; Jannett and 
Katie are pursuing their childish studies in the 
district school. Mrs. Corbet is a very estimable 
lady an<l a member in good standing of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. Our subject, politically, is 
a stanch supporter of Republican principles, public- 
spirited, high-minded and intelligent, prompt to 
meet his business obligations, in fact, one of the 
most valued members of his community. 

Robert Corbet, the father of our subject, also a 
native of Lanarkshire, married a lady of his own 
county, who died after the birth of three children 
of whom John, our subject, was the second born. 
He was only three years old at the time of his 
mother's death and knows very little of her history. 
His father was a second time married in Lanark- 
shire to Miss Catherine Currie. This lady was also 
of pure Scotch descent, and after the birth of one 
child 113' this marriage the familj' all came to 



America, lieing on the ocean four weeks less two 
days, and landing in New York City. That same 
year, 18 49, they settled in TrurahiiU County, Oliio, 
where the father engaged in farming in Fowler 
Township, of which he continued a resident until 
within a few years of iiis death. He tlien removed 
to Vernon Township where his death occurred in 
1886, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. 
His last wife is still living with her children in 
Trumbull County, and is now rii)e in j'ears. They 
were Presbyterians in religion, and the father, after 
coming to America, identified himself with the Re- 
publican part}'. 

.Janet, the own sister of our subject, is now the 
wife of John Cleland, a well-to-do farmer of Craw- 
ford County, Pa.; Andrew, his brother, lives on a 
farm in Berlin Precinct, Otoe County, this State. 



^p^ AMUEL RICHARDSON is certainly cn- 
^^^^ titled to take a front I'ank among the pio- 
Ijl/^U) neers of two States, being born a member 
of one of the first families that settled in 
Ohio, which at that time was wild and unsettled, 
and coming to Nebraska while it also was in a com- 
paratively new condition. In 1860 he settled on a 
farm on section 1 of Mt. Pleasant Precinct, where 
he now resides on his highly cultivated and well- 
improved farm, surrounded by the comforts and 
conveniences of life, accumulated by many years of 
hard and anxious toil. 

This gentleman was born in Belmont Count}', 
Ohio, Dec. 12, 1827, a son of Thomas and Sarah 
Richardson. His father was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and his mother of West Virginia. They were 
the earliest settlers in Belmont County, and their 
family, including our subject, were reared amid the 
scenes of a wild country. He lived there with his 
parents until he was about seventeen years of age, 
when he went to what is now known as Noble 
County. When he was eight years old his mother 
died, leaving a large family of children, of whom 
the following named survive: Rebecca is now the 
wife of John H. Pool, and resides in Cass County; 
Sophia is now the wife of William Preshaw, and 
lives in Ottawa, Kan. ; and Samuel. The deceased 



•►Hl^ 



•^t::4 



CASS COUNTY. 



1173 



membeis of the familj' were named : Maigavet, 
Jane, Thomas A., Mary A., James and Sarah. 

The paternal ancestors of our subject were of 
English-Irish origin ; the ancestors on the maternal 
side were Enoilsh. As far as can be learned, the 
Richardson family are supposed to have first lo- 
cated in Pennsylvannia, but nothing definite can be 
ascertained upon this point. 

Our suliject lived in Noble County, Ohio, until 
he was married, Nov. 29, 1849, to Jane E. Thomas, 
who bore him Ave children, one of whom, Mary E., 
who is now the wife of J. R. Vallery, and resides in 
Cass County, survives. The four deceased chil- 
dren were named Sarah L., Melissa J., Margaret E. 
and Jennie C. The first wife of Mr. Richardson 
departed this life at her home in Mt. Pleasant Pre- 
cinct March 24, 18G4. Siie was a model wife and 
loving mother, and her death was felt to be a great 
loss to the community as well as to the family. 

On Aug. 21. 1864, our subject married Mrs. 
Mary E. Kennedy, the widow of James B. Kennedj-, 
who was a resident of Cass Count}', Neb. This 
lady is a native of Ohio, having been born in Mus- 
kingum County. Aug. 15,1837. She was the daugh- 
ter of William and Mary (Richey) Colvin. 

This lady's parents were both natives of Mus- 
kingum County. Her paternal ancestors were 
pjnglish. When she was a child of about five years 
old her parents removed with their family to Frank- 
lin County, Ohio, where they lived until she was 
sixteen years old, when the family moved west to 
Marion Count}', Iowa, where they lived until she 
reached her maturity, and was there married on Jan. 
31, 1857, to Mr. J. B. Kennedy, by whom she had 
two children: Loran V., now residing in California, 
and May, now the wife of J. M. Hamilton, Attorney 
at Law in Lincoln, Neb. James B. Kenned}', her 
first husband, met his death in Colorado while out 
with two companions prospecting, under the follow- 
ing circumstances: Being short of provisions he 
and one of his comrades had gone to the top of the 
mountain to procure some game for breakfast; 
while they were looking for game five Indians came 
and took supper in their tent. The Indians pre- 
tended to be going on down to Denver; instead of 
doing so they hid in the bluflf and killed Mr. Ken- 
nedy and his companion, a Mr. Shanks of Omaha. 



A Mr. Slaughter, who was one of the trio, alone es- 
caped to tell the tale. 

The first wife of Mr. Richardson was a daugliter 
of Samuel and Elizabeth Thomas. By the second 
marriage, and his present wife he is the father of 
four children: William T., now at home with his 
parents; Lily A., deceased: Frank S., nowattending 
the Lincoln Business College, and Florence E., who 
is attending school at Lincoln. 

In the spring of 1860 our subject came to Cass 
County and settled on his present farm, which at 
that time contained 160 acres of land, for wiiich he 
|)aid $1,000. The improvements at tiie time of his 
purchase consisted of a log cabin and twenty acres 
of plowed land. From the day of his arrival on his 
farm to the present, he has devoted his time and 
energies to the further development of the resour- 
ces of his property, until he now owns one of the 
finest improved farms in the precinct. His large 
and elegant residence, roomy and well designed, is 
furnished handsomely, and is well equipped witli 
all of the conveniences necessary to make the task 
of the wife one of pleasure and satisfaction. The 
grounds surrounding his home are elegantly ar- 
ranged and beautified with fine ornamental trees, 
shrubbery and flowering plants. 

The large and conveniently arranged barns are 
models of their kind, designed as they are with a 
view to accommodate his large herds of stock, and 
to storing and handling the grain products of the 
farm economically and to the best advantage. A 
large orchard of thrifty trees of the choicest vari- 
eties of fruit best adapted to the climate, and a 
number of groves, both natural and planted, add 
value and beauty to the homestead. He has at 
different times n.ade additions to his original pur- 
chase, until he is now the owner of 320 acres of 
land. 

When the first husband of Mrs. Richardson (Mr. 
Kennedy) came to Mt. Pleasant Precinct, in 1857, 
there was not a house between their home and 
Plattsmouth, and no land had been plowed within 
that distance. This lady during the life of her first 
husband, and also since her marriage with our sub 
jpct, has borne many of the privations of pioneer 
life with great bravery, and she deserves a proud 
place in the roll of honor containing the names of 



f 



•^^fMt 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



tlie gooil wives and mothers of Nebraska, and since 
her marriage to our subject she lias contributed 
largely to tiieir present prosperity by her wise coun- 
sel and excellent management. 

William T. Riciiardson, the son of our subject, 
is now at home. He was for three years foreman 
in a large lumber-yard in Omaha, and filled respon- 
sible positions for the same firm elsewhere, and has 
traveled over the greater portion of the West, visit- 
ing the various States and Territories. He attended 
the State University at Lincoln one 3'ear, and for a 
time attended the Business College in Omaha. 

The subject of this sketch holds a prominent 
position among the people of the precinct. He has 
been called upon by them at varions times to ful- 
fill certain public duties requiring the highest in- 
tegrity. He was elected Commissioner of Cass 
County in the autumn of 1878, re-elected in 1881, 
serving two terms of three j'ears each, with credit 
to himself and benefit to his constituents. He has 
discharged the duties pertaining to the office of 
Justice of the Peace. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, where 
he has served as Steward for many years. They 
both take an active interest in society, and are 
widely and favorably known, and they stand 
among the leading and representative pioneer fam- 
ilies of Cass County, and we are pleased to repre- 
sent Mr. and Mrs. Richardson in this Album. 



'^HJllN HOLSCIIUH, one of the most enter- 
prising Gei-man farmers of Cass County, 
first opened his eyes to the light in what was 
^^7/ then Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, July 6, 
1824. He is the son of J. William and Sophia 
(Grenc) Holschuh, who were also of German birth 
and ancestry. He spent the first years of his life 
in his native country, where he united his fortunes 
Maj- 24, 1853, with a maiden of his own Province, 
and the same month in which they were married 
they started to the United States, landing in New 
York City on the 6th of August, 1853. They made 
the voyage on a sailing-vessel, spending fifty-two 
days on the high seas. Visiting with friends a few 
days in the metropolis they proceeded on their 



journey into Franklin County, Ohio, where they 
arrived August 14, and established themselves in 
the city of Columbus, where they lived until 
July, 1885, then gathering together their personal 
effects, they started once more westward, halting 
in Washington, Tazewell Co., 111., where Mr. Hol- 
schuh rented a tract of land upon which he operated 
until the spring of 1857. He now concluded to 
cast his lot among the people of Nebraska Terri- 
tory, and accordingly set out with his little family 
via the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers to St. Louis, 
thence up the Missouri to Plattsmouth, where they 
arrived on the 17th of April, and our subject, es- 
tablishing his family corafortabU' began working 
by the day. 

Mr. Holschuh had been accompanied from Illi- 
nois by Jacob Horn, and the two purchased a lot in 
Plattsmouth and a team of mules. Later they dis- 
solved partnership, dividing their property, Mr. 
Horn taking the te;.m and Jlr. Holschuh the lot. 
Our subject traded his property for two yoke of 
oxen and a plow, and thus equipped began break- 
ing prairie for the settlers around. He managed to 
save a little money and after a time invested his 
capital in another lot and put up a house which he 
sold later. He operated considerably in real estate 
after this, in a small way buying lots, building 
houses and selling, and has traded considerably in 
city property, besides timber land, etc. He at one 
time cleared quite a tract of timber, then sold the 
land at a good profit. 

Mr. Holschuh finally after years of labor pur- 
chased forty acres of land two miles northwest of 
Plattsmouth, and later added to it sixty more, 
whereon he made improvements, and finally sold the 
100 acres for the snug sum of $10,500. This tran- 
saction was completed in May, 1887, and later Mr. 
H. purchased the farm of 142 acres where he now 
lives. Of this he took possession in March, 1888. 
It is one of the finest in the precinct and he has 
effected various improvements, putting up a barn 
and corn cribs and making a large amount of fenc- 
ing. He also in 1888 bought another farm west of 
his present homestead, in this precinct, of 120 acres. 

The wife of our subject was in her girlhood Miss 
Catharine Michel, and they were married May 24, 
1853, in their native Province of Hesse-Darmstadt, 



»► i r^ 



-•»> 



^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1175 



Germany. Mrs. Holschub was born Aug. 31, 1831, 
and is the daughter of Jacob and Ann (Miller) 
Micliel, who were of German birth and descent, 
and spent their last years in Germany. Mr. and 
Mrs. H. have six children living, namely: Mary is 
is now Mrs. G. V. Eigeniberger; Hernion; Anna, 
Mrs. (r. V. Eigemberger, Jr.; William; Nettie, Mrs. 
John Herz; and Rosa. Our subject and family are 
members in good standing of the German Lu- 
theran Church. Mr. 11., politically, is independent, 
aiming to support the men best qualified for office. 
He has been Road Supervisor in liis district a pe- 
riod of eight or nine years, and is a man of decided 
views, whose opinions are generallj' lield in respect. 

RS. HARRIET CRITCHFIELD. It gives 
us much pleasure to place in tliis biograph- 
ical volume a brief record of the life of 
this most estimable woman, the widow of 
the late Lewis H. Critclifield, who owns a fine farm 
of 160 acres on section 24, Centre Precinct, where 
she still resides, surrounded by kind friends and 
neighbors, by whom she is much esteemed and re- 
spected. Our subject was born in Waj'ne Count3', 
Ohio, June 18, 1834, and there lived until the time 
of her marriage. She is the daughter of John 
and Elizabeth (Foltz) Shreve. Her father was a 
native of Ohio, where he spent his entire life, dying 
at the age of thirty j'ears, when our subject was 
only six years old. Of his marriage five children 
were born, four of whom grew to maturity. His 
widow married again, and lived many years after. 
She of whom we write was married to Lewis H. 
Critclifield, Sept. 9, 1852, and of their union ten 
children were born, all of whom are still living, 
namely: Jason lives in Ohio; A. Bird, William P. 
Cowen an.l Casper, live in Centre Precinct; Alice, 
now Mrs. Moore, lives in Ohio; Jenny lives with 
her mother; Exa lives In Plaltsmouth ; Wade is at 
school; Anna and Lorenzo Dow are at home. All 
have received good educational advantages, and 
have pleasant prospects for a successful future. 

Mr. Critehfield was born in Holmes County, Ohio, 
April 6, 1832. and was reared and lived for half a 
century' on the farm on which his mother lived 



from the time she was fourteen years old until her 
death. He was the son of L. D. and Julia (Hum- 
barger) Critehfield, who reared a family of six chil- 
dren, four of whom are still living. Mr. Critehfield 
received his education in his native town, and on 
deciding to establish himself in life, married, and 
brought his young bride to the old homestead where 
he had always lived. The young couple were in- 
dustrious, prudent people, who, by careful economy, 
energy and frugality, succeeded in bringing up 
their large family of children in comfort, and giv- 
ing each a good education. After toiling there for 
many years, desiring to still further inprove their 
fortunes, they came to Nebraska in the spring of 
1882, and purchased the present homestead. The 
farm was partly improved, a house, barn, and even 
a cyclone cellar, having been built. Mr. Critehfield 
continued working on the land, put up a windmill, 
and made other needed improvements, and by con- 
tinuous labor succeeded in bringing his property 
into as fine and productive a farm as is to be found 
in the vicinity. He raised grain, cattle, horses and 
hogs, living here prosperously and happily until his 
death, April 28, 1887. He was a man universally 
respected for his many worthy traits of character, 
and his death was deeply regretted by a large circle 
of friends. Socially, he was a member of the K. of 
H. He was a member of the Christian Church, 
where our subject also communes. 

ANS H. TIMM. Many of the most thrifty 
and intelligent agriculturists of this section 
of Nebraska were born and reared on the 
other side of Ihe Atlantic, and to Germany 
especially is Cass County indebted for some of her 
most enterprising and prosperous citizens. Among 
them may be numbered the subject of this sketch, 
who owns a fine body of land in Avoca Precinct, 
embracing 320 acres each on sections 1 and 12. 'I'he 
homestead proper has been brought to an especially 
fine state of cultivation, is well stocked with the 
domestic animals, and upon it has been erected a 
neat and substantial set of frame buildings, which, 
with tiieir surroundings, fruit and shade trees, and 
the various little conveniences having so much to 



»► I t^ 



t^t-M» 



•►Hl^^ 




1176 



CASS COUNTY. 



^\- 



do with the happiness and comfort of the family, 
form a goodly sigiit to tlie eyes. The land is kept 
in pi-odiictive condition by the proximity of the 
Weeping Water. The whole was originally prairie 
soil. Mr. Tiram has planted forest trees which 
form the purpose of shade and windl)reak com- 
bined. He has in fact been in no respect l)eiiind 
the other progressive men of his precinct in insti- 
tuting the improvements which serve to aid in 
forming the complete homestead. 

A pioneer of 1859, Mr. Timm .July 4 of that year 
first set foot upon the soil of Nebraska, eight years 
before it had been admitted into the Union as a 
State. He secured eighty acres of land from H. 
Loz, upon which he settled \pith his estimable wife, 
who is still surviving, and they began laboring hand 
in hand in hope of accumulating something for their 
declining years. Their first dwelling was a log 
house, and their surroundings were widely different 
from those amid which we behold them to-day. 
AVith genuine German thrift and prudence they 
were content to labor early and late, live economi- 
cally, and in due time were rewarded vvith the fruits 
of their industry. 

Mr. Tiiiim about 1865 doubled his first purchase 
by an additional eighty acres, and later purchased 
another quarter-section of land, all of which at the 
time it came into his possession had been undis- 
turbed by the plowshare. He had emigrated to 
this section of the country from Cook County, 111., 
of which he had been a sojourner four years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Timm lauded first upon American soil in 
New York City in May, 1855, and were then ap- 
proaching middle life, Mr. Timm being thirty-nine 
years old, having been born June 5, 1816. His 
first recollections are of his boyhood home in the 
Duchy of Holstein, Germany, where he was born of 
respectable parents, and was reared to habits of in- 
dustry and principles of honor. In accordance 
with the laws and customs of his native land he 
was placed in school at an early age and given a 
practical education. His father was a farmer bj' 
occupation, and Hans H. from the time of leaving 
school until his marriage was employed mostly in 
Germany at farming. The lady who has for a pe- 
riod of forty years been his faithful and devoted 
companion was in her girlhood Miss Margaretta 



C. Schomaker, and they were married in their native 
Holstein, April 29, 1849. 

Mrs. Timm was born Sept. 26. 1818, not far 
from the boj'hood home of her husband, and is the 
daughter of Michael and Anna (Youngke) Scho- 
maker, the father a farm laborer who spent his entire 
life in his native Germany. He did not live to be an 
aged man, dying when thirty-six years old. The 
mother came to America with her daughter and 
son-in-law, Mr. and ]Mrs. Timm, in 1855. and died 
at their home in Avoca Precinct, April 13, 1870, 
at the age of seventy-four years, John Timm, the 
father of our subject, also a native of Holstein, 
married a lady of his own Province, and they set- 
tled upon a farm where they spent their entire lives. 
John Timm was fifty-six years old at the time of 
his death, which occurred about 1836. The mother 
survived her husband a number of years, and 
attained the age of threescore. They were people 
more than ordinarily careful and upright in their 
lives, and consistent members of the German 
Lutheran Church. Their family consisted of five 
children, three sons and two daughters, of whom 
Hans H. was the second son and child. Of these 
three are living, making their homes in Nebraska 
and Germany. 

Our subject and his estimable wife have been 
parents of one child onl^', which was born in Ger- 
many and died in infancy. In coming to America 
they brought with them besides Mrs. Schomaker, 
the mother of Mrs. Timm, Lena and Elizabeth C, 
sisters of Mr. Timm. The latter is (ieceased. Lena 
is the wife of Peter Peters, of Avoca Precinct. Onr 
subject and his good wife have performed the part 
of foster-parents to a niece, who before her marriage 
was Miss Anna C. Baumgarten. This lady was 
born Jan. 22, 1860, at the Timm homestead, and 
was deprived of a mother's affectionate care when 
a little child of one year old. She was then taken 
into the hearts and home of Mr. and Mrs. Timm. 
Her father, John C. Baumgarten, is a resident of 
Chicago, 111., holding one of the city ofHees. Anna 
C. is now the wife of J. Frederick Schomaker, and 
still lives at the farm, which is operated b}' her 
husband. They have two children — Edwin II. and 
Katherina M. 

Mr. Timm after becoming a naturalized citizen 



■•►HI- 






CASS COUNTY. 



1177 




aiifl having full}"^ acquainted iiimself with tlic 
general metliods of American institutions, iileuti- 
fied himself witli the Republican partj', as meeting 
his idea of libei'ty and justice, and has since been 
one of its most ardent supporters. Both he and 
his amial)le partner were trained in the doctrinesof 
the Lutheran faith, to which they still loyally ad- 
here. There is probably no more hospitable home 
within the precincts of Cass County than that pre- 
sided over by Mr. and Mrs. Timm, of Avoca. 

* ft^ILLIAM T. ADAMS is one of Cass 
\aj// County's enterprising and successful 3'oung 
\y\fl farmers, who is actively pursuing his call- 
ing on the old homestead in Plattsmouth Township, 
where nearly the whole of his life has been passed. 
He is a native-born citizen of this place, May 2, 
1SG4, being the date of his birth. 

Jacob Adams, the father of our subject, was born 
in North Carolina in September, 1814, and when 
very j'oung his parents, William and Rachel 
Adams, moved to Indiana and cast in their lot with 
the pioneers of that State, and there the mother 
died in 1819. A few 3'ears later his father emi- 
grated to Missouri and became an early settler of 
Ottawa County. He subsequently became a pio- 
neer of Mills County, Iowa, and from there came to 
Plattsmouth in 1862. He staid here only a short 
time, however, and then returned to Iowa, where 
he lived for a year. At the end of that time he 
came back to Plattsraoutli, and some months later 
rounded out a good old age, dying here in Septem- 
ber. 18G4. He may be said to have spent his en- 
tire life on the frontier as a pioneer in four States 
of the Union. 

His son Jacob was thus reared amid pioneer 
scenes, and grew in strength and vigor to a robust 
manhood. He adopted the iionorable calling of 
farmer for his life work and pursued it with good 
success. While a resident of Missouri he met and 
married Miss Rachel Wiles, a daughter of Thomas 
and Elizabeth (Hobson) Wiles, Sept. 8, 1841, being 
the date of their marriage. In 1864 they came to 
Nebraska and identified themselves with the pio- 



neers of Plattsmouth, and Mr. Adams became an 
important factor in the development of its agri- 
cultural resources. In 1865 he purchased the farm 
now occupied b3' our subject, and in the few years 
of life left him made many valuable improvements. 
Jan. 15, 1874, his useful life wa.s terminated by his 
death, and a valued citizen was removed from our 
midst. He was a man of good capabilities and in. 
dustrious habits, and it is the united testimony of 
those who knew him well that he was upright in 
his dealings and always true to his obligations. He 
occupied a good social position in this community, 
and was a charter member of the Plattsmouth 
Lodge, I. O. O. F. To him and his wife six 
children had been born, namely: Elizabeth, now 
the wife of Judge Simuel Maxwell, of the District 
Court, a resident of Fremont, Neb. ;• Mary F., who 
died April 5, 1849; Lydia E.. the widow of John 
Livingston, who died Aug. 8. 1874, and she is novv 
living on the old homestead with her mother and 
brother; Rebecca J., who died Nov. 9, 1856; Lou- 
viera, novv Mrs. Ezra Horning, of York Count}', 
Neb. ; and our subject. 

The latter came to his present home with his 
parents when he was one year old, and has lived 
here since. He received a good, practical educa- 
tion, and has an intelligent knowledge of agricult- 
ure, so that lie bids fair to place himself among 
the leading farmers of his native county at no dis- 
tant date. He has bought the interests of the heirs 
in his father's home farm, witli the exception of one 
sliare. It is finely located on section 25, and com- 
prises 120 acres of very fertile and liighly produc- 
tive land. It is ampl}' provided with substantial 
buildings, comprising a large brick house, a stable, 
corn-cribs, wagon-sheds, etc. The farm is well 
stocked and is all under cultivation and pasture. 

Our subject vvas married, June 5, 1887, to Miss 
Ella Cole, a daughter of William T. Cole, whose 
biograph}- appears in this volume. They have an 
infant son, William. Our subject still makes his 
home with his mother, a rnost estimable woman, 
who commands the respect of all the community. 
Mr. Adams is a member of the United Brethren 
Church, and he takes an active interest in promot- 
ing the good work carried on within its fold, lie 
is a sincere and manl}' Christian, is well endoweil 



.^h 



t 



•►-11^ 



t 



■•► 



1178 



CASS COUNTY. 



mentally and physically, with good powers of ob- 
servation, and a keen, practical insight into busi- 
ness, and he is undoulitedly well deserving of the 
high favor in which he is held. In his political be- 
liefs he is strongly Republican. 

j^\ HRISTIAN I.ORENSON, an energetic Dan- 
(^ ish-American citizen, lives on his well-im- 



e 



•¥ 



proved farm on section 30, Mt. Pleasant 
Precinct, where be, with his family, settled in the 
winter of 1884. He was born in Denmark, Europe, 
Oct. 21, 1850. He is the son of Erie and Anna 
Lorenson, and his mother is still living at the old 
home in Denmark. When our subject was seven 
years old his father died, leaving a large family of 
children. At this early age he was thrown on his 
own resources, and as a means of livelihood he 
worked at farming until he attained his majoritj', 
when he emigrated to America. A family of five 
children were born to his parents, who were named : 
Louis, Jesse, Eric, Christian (our subject) and Ella. 
Louis and Jesse are in Denmark; Eric is in Ne- 
braska. 

Prior to the time he left Denmark our subject 
spent a year and a half working at wagon making. 
In 1871 he left his native land for America, sailing 
in an Anchor Line Steamer from Copenhagen, on 
June 15, landing in New York one month later, he 
having taken passage via Glasgow, Scotland. The 
voyage was entirely uneventful. From New York 
City he went directly to New Orleans, remaining 
there but a few months; he then went to Jackson 
County, Miss., and secured employment in a large 
shingle mill. He stayed here but two months, when 
he went to Oson Springs, Miss., where he worked 
at different occupations for seven months. He then 
came north to McLean County, 111., and worked 
for three years as a farm hand. He then went to 
Tazewell County, 111., where he rented land for the 
next eight years. At the expiration of this time 
we find him located on his present homestead. 

The subject of this sketch was married, in 5Ic- 
Lean County, 111., to Anna S. Graves, March 1, 
1879. This lady was born in Denmark, Dec. 17, 
1848. She is the daughter of Christian C. and 



Anna M. Graves. She is the oldest child in the 
family; she came with her parents to America in 
1872. Our subject and his wife are the parents of 
seven children, six of whom are living, namelj-: 
Anne M., Jenna G., Etta A., Tena S., ^laria A. and 
Louis. 

Mr. Lorenson has brought all his native energy 
and perseverance into play in opening and improv- 
ing his farm, working early and late, in fair weather 
or foul. He has been prospered, and to-day he 
finds himself the owner of a choice farm of 160 
well improved acres, surrounded by the comforts 
and enjoyments of life. In all his efforts he has 
found an able assistant in the person of his wife, 
who has bravely taken her part of the cares and 
trials of life in a new country, and has found abund- 
ant time, and has, by both precept and example, 
educated their children in the ways of honesty, 
uprightness and virtue. Himself and wife are 
identified with the Lutheran Church, and they are 
foremost in all matters of charity and benevolence. 
He has never held any public office, feeling that 
the time required to obtain the position and dis- 
charge the duties properly could not be spared 
from his farm. In politics he is a straight, earnest 
Republican. 



/^ HARLES W. SHERBIAN, editor and niana- 
((( ger of the Plattsmouth Daily and Weekly 
^^(' Journal, was born in the village of New 
Castle, Ohio, June 9, 1841. His father, Henry 
Sherman, was a native of Shippensburg, Franklin 
Co., Pa., and his paternal grandfather, Salisbury 
Sherman, was a native of the State of Connecticut 
and a descendant of English ancestry, who emi- 
grated to America during the Colonial times. 

Grandfather Sherman learned the trade of too'- 
raaker in his native State, and when a young man 
migrated to New Jersey, where he enlisted as a 
soldier in the Revolutionary War. He distinguished 
himself for his bravery, and met the enemy in the 
battle of Monmouth, besides other important en- 
trao-ements of that memorable time. After the war 



•►Hf^ 



•►^*-* 



CASS COUKTY. 



1179 



! 



he settled in Franklin Count}'. Pa., remaining un- 
married until forty 3"ears of age. Ho then to )k for 
his wife Miss Sarah Whealan, and occupied himself 
at his trade the remainder of his life, dying in Frank- 
lin County at a very great age, said to have been 
one hundred and twelve years. His wife also lived 
to be remarkably aged, her death taking 'place in 
1805, when she was one hundred and four years old. 

Henry Sherman, the father of our subject, was 
the eldest of six children, and early in life learned 
the trade of a blacksmith as well as that of tool- 
maker. In 1827 he journeyed overland to the 
j-oung State of Ohio by means of teams, and settled 
among the pioneers of Richland County. He pur- 
chased land near the present site of Ontario, and 
six miles west of Mansfield, where he first cleared a 
spot large enough to erect a log cabin and establish 
a blacksmith-shop, in the latter of which, by means 
of a charcoal furnace, he ra.ade himself remarkably 
useful to his neighbors for miles around. He was 
prospered in his labors of farming and blacksmithing 
combined, and cleared quite a large tract of land. 
The log cabin in time gave place to an imposing 
two-story log house, which was weather- boarded 
outside, and was the admiration of the country 
around. 

The elder Sherman was injured while shoeing a re- 
fractory horse, and died Nov. 30, 1844, in his prime, 
when forty-two years of age. The mother of our sub- 
ject, Mrs. Mary (Nazor) Sherman, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and the daughter of William Nazor, 
who was born in Germauj' and emigrated to America 
in 1801. He settled in Lancaster Count}', Pa., where 
he engaged for a time in farming, then changed his 
residence to the wilds of Richland (Jounty, Ohio, 
where he cleared another farm and spent the remain- 
der of his daj's. 

The mother of our subject lived on the home- 
stead in Richland County, Ohios until 1858, then 
joined her children in Knoxville, Marion Co., Iowa, 
where her death took place in 1880. Of the sons 
and daughters comprising the parental household 
seven lived to mature years, viz: Sarah J., Mary C, 
Salisbury, Jacob. Henr^^ H., Elizabeth and Charlie 
W. The latter, the youngest child, was but three 
years old at the time of his father's death. The 
faithful and devoted mother kept her family to- 

-<• ' 



gether until they were able to go out into the world 
and do for themseves. 

Charles W. Sherman pursued his first studies in 
the district school, and as soon as old enough com- 
menced to assist in the labors of the farm. When 
a lad of eleven 3'ears he began learning the trade of 
a brickmaker with his elder brothers, at which he 
employed himself two summers. During his boy- 
hood daj-s his time was utilized morning and even- 
ing cutting wood and splitting rails, -while the in- 
termediate time was spent in school. He thus 
earned money with which he was enabled to start 
out for himself in 1857, being then a 3^outh of six- 
teen years. Turning his face toward the farther 
West and crossing the Mississippi, he joined an elder 
brother in Winneshiek County, Iowa, where the lat- 
ter had previously located, and after a brief sojourn 
with him made his way by rail to the embryo city 
of Dubuque. 

The summer following young Sherman employed 
himself on a farm, and in the fall joined two other 
brothers at Knoxville, Marion Countj', and all three 
that next winter engaged in cutting timber for saw- 
logs. In the spring o; 1858 Mr. Sherman conceived 
the idea that he would like to learn the printer's trade, 
and accordingly addressed letters to parties in vai-i- 
ous towns in Iowa, receiving in return several very 
encouraging replies. One of these was from the pro- 
prietor of the Nonpariel, of Council Bluffs, and he at 
once started on foot across the prairie for that office. 
He walked the entire distance, making the journey 
in seven days. 

Young Sherman served an apprenticeship of two 
years in the office of the Council Bluffs yonpariel. 
and in the year 1860 proceeded thence to Omaha, 
Neb., and became an employe of the Republican. 
A few months later we find him in the office of the 
Nebraskian and Herald, and on the 9th of Novem- 
ber, that same year, he assisted in setting up the first 
telegraphic news ever published in the Territory of 
Nebraska. This great event occurred in connection 
with the Omaha Telegraph, which was published in 
the office above named. 

Our subject employed himself as compositor un- 
til the spring of 1861, then materially changing his 
occupation, engaged to drive a team loaded with 
merchandise across the plains, stopping at different 



^ 



f 



M^ 



1180 



CASS COUNTY. 



trafling-posts on the way. He thus made two trips, 
ami upon the last journey homewarfl stojiperl three 
months at a ranch three miles east of the present 
site of Kearney. While at that point he received 
news of the firing upon Ft. Sumter, and in July 
following started on foot for the States. He had 
proceeded but thirty miles when he overtook a train 
of wagons, and there being more teams than drivers, 
Mr. Sherman made arrangements to conduct a cer- 
tain number of the oxen into Des Moines. He ful- 
filled his contract satisfactorih', and again entered 
a printing-office, where, however, he staid only one 
week, having heard that iiis brother Henry had en- 
listed ill Company B, 3d Iowa Infantry, had been 
killed in Missouri, and his remains sent home for 
burial, which was to take place the day following, 
and he started that night for home. 

After recovering from the shock and sorrow of 
this affliction Mr. Sherman was employed in a print- 
ing otflce in Knoxville, Iowa, until August, and 
then obtaining his mother's consent, he eulisted on 
the 20th of that month in Company K, 3d Iowa 
Cavalry, which went into camp at Keokuk, and 
when receiving marching orders moved to the vi- 
cinity of Rollo, and finally to Salem, Mo., where 
they tarried two months. In the meantime they 
were scouting in the southern part of the State, 
harrassing the various rebel bands roaming around 
iu that region, and putting a stop to the recruiting 
of rebels. In the middle of March, 1862, they 
joined the command of Gen. Curtis, and fought at 
the battle of Pea Ridge. Later, in the month of 
Jul}', the}' proceeded to Helena, Ark., which was 
their headquarters until June, 1863. 

This regiment was then made a part of Grant's 
command, and moved to the vicinity of Vicksburg, 
assisting in keeping the troops of Gen. Joe John- 
ston from attacking Grant in the roar. On the 5th 
of July thej' started for Jackson, Miss., participat- 
ing in the battle there, then returning to the out- 
skirts of Vicksburg, started thence in August on a 
raid through the enemy's country in Mississippi and 
Tennessee, via Grenada to Memphis. From that 
point they proceeded by boat to Helena, and thence 
to Little Rock, where the regiment united and 
moved toward Benton, thirty miles away, and from 
there to Little Rock, another thirty miles. Here 



they were engaged in garrison duty until the month 
of October, 1863, when Mr. Sherman, with seven- 
teen others, was sent home to raise recruits. 

In January, 1864, our subject received orders to 
report to Davenport, and found on his return that 
the greater part of the regiment had re-eniisted_ 
He and one other man of the seventeen concluded 
to do the same, and were obliged to make out their 
own muster roll. At Davenport they received the 
thirt}' days' furlough gr.anted to veterans, and at its 
expiration the regiment re-assembled at St. Louis, 
whence they proceeded to Memphis and later to 
Mississippi, participating not long afterward in the 
ill-fated battle of Guntown. Mr. Sherman in the 
thickest of the fight came near being captured. 
The commanding officer finally gave them word to 
save themselves as best they could, and putting 
spurs to his horse he made a dash for life and lib- 
erty. The enemy was surrounding them, and Mr. 
Sherman soon encountered another band bj^ whom 
he was ordered to surrender. He wheeled his horse 
about and plunged into a creek, which the noble 
animal swam while the bullets flew thick and fast 
around them. The horse received a mortal wound, 
but lived to carry his rider safely out of the reach 
of the enemy, then lay down and died. 

Our subject pursued his way now on foot, carry- 
ing with him his accoutrements 160 miles to Mem- 
phis. He subsequent!}' participated in the battles of 
Pontotoc, Harrisbug, Tupelo, Ebenezer Church, 
Selma,and Montgomer}', Ala. On the 16th of April, 
1865, his regiment made the last charge in the last 
battle of the war east of tlie Mississippi River, at 
Columbus, Ga. Thence they proceeded to Macon, 
where tliey learned of the truce between Gens. 
Sherman and Johnston. He was mustered out with 
the regiment in August. 1865, and shortly after- 
ward greeted his friends and acquaintances at home. 

In the fall of 1865 Mr. Sherman first established 
in business for himself, becoming proprietor of the 
Elizabeth Star, which he conducted one year. At 
the expiration of that time he became associated 
with the Burlington Haivk-Eye, and later with the 
Burlington Merchant. Later he was at Quincy 
and Villisca. In 1872 h« established the 3fills 
County Journal, at Glenwood, which he conducted 
a period of nine years. That year also he w.as 






t 



•►-Jl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



electerl Sergeant-at-Aruas of the Iowa House of 
Representatives, serving acceptably two terms. On 
the 5th of November, 1881, he established the 
Flattsmouth Daily and Weekly Journal, wliich he 
lias since conducted successfully'. With him is asso- 
ciated Mr. J. W. Culright. 

Mr. Sherman was ra.avried, Aug. 27, 18G6, to Miss 
Graeme, who was born in Van Buren County, Iowa, 
in 1847. This union resulted in the birth of these 
children, viz: Eva C, Charles S., Mary, Francis M., 
John, Freddie, Albert and Helen. Mr. Sherman is 
a member of the McConchie Post No. 35, G. A. R. ; 
also of Lodge No. 84. A. O. U. W., and as a repre- 
sentative of the '-art preservative" belongs to the 
Burlington Tj-pographical Union No. 51, and the 
Nebraska Press Association. 



ARTIN PROPST. The life labors of the 

subject of this biography, a farmer in good 

circumstances and a resident of Platts- 

mouth Precinct, have been crowned with 

more than ordinary success. He has one of the 

most beautiful homesteads in the northeastern 

part of Cass Count}' — a highly cultivated farm 

pleasantly located, with handsome and substantial 

stone buildings set in the midst of well kept 

grounds, fulfilling the modern idea of the complete 

country home. 

A native of Pendleton Count}-, Va., our subject 
was born Dec, 7, 1830. He is the son of Eli and 
Sarah (Eye) Propst, who were natives of Virginia 
and of German descent. They removed to and set- 
tled in Scott County, Iowa, engaged in farming, and 
lived there until they both died. In his native 
county he spent his bo^diood and youth and lived 
with his parents until twenty-two 3'ears old. Then 
desirous of seeing something of the western 
countr3',he started out for the young State of Iowa, 
and purchasing land in Scott County set himself 
to work improving his purchase, living there until 
the j'ear 1868, his parents settling there at the 
same time. He was married April 7, 1859, at 
Davenport, Iowa, to Miss Catharine, daughter of 
Abraham and Susan (Ileavener) Sn3-der, the 
wedding taking place in Davenport, Iowa. They 



lived on the farm in Scott County, Iowa, until 
the year 1868, then selling out. Mr. Propst made 
arrangements to cast his lot with the pioneei'S of 
Nebraska Territory. Upon his arrival in this coun- 
tj' he put up a shant}' of Cottonwood boards which 
lie transported from across the river in Iowa, and 
the humble dwelling served as a residence for him- 
self and little familj- for several years. In the year 
1876 he was enabled to put up one of the finest 
residences in the countr}' round — -a large stone 
structure which is the admiration of all who pass 
by it. Later he added to the attractions of his 
homestead by the erection of a two-story stone 
barn, 44x80 feet in area, with side walls twenty- 
one feet in height above the foundation. The low- 
er story provides shelter for twent}' horses and 
fifty cattle. 

The farm of our subject now embraces 480 broad 
acres, and adjacent to the dwelling are fruit and 
shade trees, including a fine apple orchard. Mr. 
Propst makes a specialty of swine, feeding for 
the market each j'ear about 100 head. There is a 
fish-pond near the house which is supplied by a 
never-failing spring of pure water, and in which 
the liighl}- prized German carp flourishes finely. 
He has taken out some carp for the table weighing 
four pounds. 

The parents of our subject, Elias and Sallie (Eye) 
Propst, were also natives of ^'irginia. The pater- 
nal great-grandparents were born in the Duchy of 
Holstein,Germany,whence they emigrated to Amer- 
ica at an early period in the historv of this coun- 
tiy, settling in Virginia, whSi-e their son Daniel, the 
grandfather of our subject, was born. The latter 
in coming to Iowa was accompanied bj' his parents, 
thej' settling with him in Scott County, where 
the}^ spent the remainder of their days, the mother 
passing away in the year 1870, aged sixty-eight 
years, and the father in July, 1874, at the age of 
seventy. Martin was the third of their eight chil- 
dren, six of whom are living and residents of Iowa 
and Nebraska. 

Our subject and his estimable wife are members 
in good standing of the Baptist Church, .attending 
services at Eight Mile Grove. Mr. Propst cast his 
first Presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas, and 
is a stanch advocate of Democratic principles. The 



■M^ 



1182 






CASS COUNTY. 






household circle includes three children — two sons 
and a daughter— John A, Walter L. and Marj- S. 
The eldest is twentj'-eight years of age and the 
youngest twenty. They are all at home with their 
parents. Another child, William P^dwin, died at the 
age of twenty-one montlis. 

ELIA8 S. GILBERT, farmer and stock-raiser, 
is now a resident ot Weeping Water. This 
/ gentleman is one of tlie most prominent and 
leading citizens of the neighborliood in which he 
lives, and devotes his time to general farming and the 
raising of thoroughbred bank stock, horses, hogs 
and cattle, having twenty-four head of the fine 
graded Norman horses, a herd of fifteen head of 
thoroughbred Short-horn cattle, and 200 full 
blooded Poland-China hogs. He has made a study of 
the business, and an inspection of his herds of cattle 
and hogs will convince the most skeptical that he 
possesses a complete Icnowledge of the business, for 
it is but seldom that herds of both classes display 
so many fine points and so few poor ones as those 
the property of Mr. Gilbert; besides he buys and 
feeds from forty to one hundred head of cattle 
annually for the general market. 

The subject of our sketch was born in (jntario 
County, N. Y., Dec. 17, 1816, where he lived and 
attended the common schools of the county until 
his fifteenth j^ear; he then spent three months at 
Temple Hill, N. Y., then two years at the academy 
at Canandaigua, N. Y.; when he had completed 
his course there he went back to the farm. He 
there, purchased the home farm of 400 acres from 
his father, and began life for himself, about the age 
of twenty-one. He remained here until he was 
thirty-five years old; he had done exceedingly well, 
and in the spring of 1852 sold all his property and 
moved to Davenport, Iowa, where he bought 120 
acres of improved land near the town. He had 
previously bought a one-third interest in the 
Moline Water Power, and 260 acres of land in 
Moline, which comprised about one-half of the 
town site. He lived in Davenport and attended to 
his affairs successfully until the crash of 1857 came 
and swept the entire fortune away, only succeeding 



in paj-ing his debts. He continued farming and 
engaged in tlie fruit business, planting twenty-five 
acres in orchard, and carried on that business until 
1875. In 1876 he removed to Nebraska with his 
son, and came to Weeping Water and bought their 
present home of 160 acres in partnership, wliich 
was partly improved at the time, and since then has 
improved the balance, and has now all necessary 
buildings, house, barn, granaries, to the value of 
$3,000. He also has six acres in grove and a fine 
orchard. He has a large improved windmill, 
which supplies water to four tanks, which is con- 
veyed to the different yards and barns for the use 
of the stock by a sj-stem of piping. 

The subject of this sketch has been married 
twice, the first time in Ontario County, March 4, 
1846, to Miss Caroline E. Pitts, the daughter of 
Hon. Gideon Pitts, who was the first settler in the 
town of Richmond,Ontario Co., N. Y., and a wealthy 
farmer ; he served several terms in the New York 
Legislature. Caroline E. Pitts, wife of our subject, 
was born in Ontario County, N. Y., May 24, 
1819, and died in Gilbert, Iowa, Aug. 2, 1862, 
leaving two children, Cyrus P. and Carra G, Cyrus 
P. married Miss Emma Kellogg, and is a farmer 
and grain buyer in Eagle, Elmwood and Weeping 
Water. His family consists of four children — 
James S., Chauncy K., Louisa J. and Fanny P. 
Carra G. is married, her husband being Mr. George 
S. Jewett, a merchant in New York Citj'. The 
second marriage of our subject was contracted in 
Philadelphia, in December, 1864, to Miss Frances J. 
Lambaert, daugliter of the Hon. Charles Lambaert, 
who superintended the building of the railroad 
from Philadelphia to Baltimore. She was born 
near Philadelpliia, Pa. One child is the result 
of this marriage, Anna, now married to Edward 
E. Howell, an insurance agent in Omaha, Neb. 

The father of our subject was Elias Gilbert, who 
was born in Litchfield, Conn., in November, 
1776. His mother was Polly Greene, born in 
Rhode Island. Grandfather Joseph Gilbert served 
through the entire Revolution as a non-com- 
missioned officer, was a shoemaker by trade; his 
father came from England. Grandfather James 
Greene, a farmer, was of English extraction, and a 
distant relative of General Greene of Revolution- 



n 



CASS COUNTY. 



••► 



1183 



ary fame. The father and mother were married in 
New York, the father being a farmer" as well as a 
merchant in Ontario County, was also a tanner, 
currier, harness-maker, saddler and shoemalvcr, and 
was in very easy circumstances. He was a mer- 
chant at the time the panic swept away his property, 
but he, by close attention to business, regained it. 
Tlio parents left New York in 1854, and went to 
live with their son, our subject, at Gilbert, Iowa. 
They remained with him until the death of the 
father, March 4, 1872, aged ninety-five years, three 
months and five days. Our subject's mother died 
in fxilbert, Scott Co., Iowa, Oct. 29, 1867, seventy- 
three years old. Both parents were active members 
of the Congregational Church. Elias S. was the 
sixth child in a family of eight children. Horace 
died when an infant; his second brother Horace, 
sister Polly, sister Maryette and sister Theodosia, 
are dead. Sister Amanda is older and brother 
Warren is younger than our subject. Many posi- 
tions of trust and confidence have been held by our 
subject; he was Trustee of the city and township 
of Davenport, Iowa, for five years, lias served 
several years as school officer and served as Justice 
of the Peace six years, and was largely interested 
in the formation and successful operation of the 
Farmers' Alliance, and it can be said to his credit, 
the man never sought the office but the office al- 
ways sought the man. In politics he always was 
found in the ranks of the Indei)endent or Repub- 
lican parties, and was frequently delegate to the 
County and State Conventions of one of those par- 
ties. Botli himself and wife were active members 
of the Congregational Church, of Victoria, teachers 
of the Bible Class, and took a leading part in all 
good works. The life of our subject presents 
many changes, many difficulties met and overcome 
by the exercise of the indomitable will and inflex- 
ible integrity, and all embarrassments and troubles 
which have come to him in business have been 
brouglit about by the financial crush of 1857, and 
it can be safely said that he has never failed in 
anything he has undertaken to carry through by 
himself, and he presents to the mind of the reader 
and to those who know liim, the appearance of a 
man self-reliant, honest, shrewd and ambitious. 
He always takes an active part in the political can- 



vass of the country, delivering speeches, and doing 
all in his power to further the interest of the party 
which claims his allegiance, and in the times prior 
to the war he was connected with tlie "underground 
railroad," and did much toward helping many col- 
lored men to the North and freedom. 

The nobler impulses of his nature revolted at tlie 
system of slavery existing in this country, and he 
very early assumed a positive stand against it. In 
fact, when only seventeen years of age he began 
his vigorous anti-slavery work in Richmond, 
Ontario Co., N. Y., then a town of 2,000 inhabit- 
ants. In those da3^s pronounced opposers to slav- 
ery were few, and strange as it may seem, young 
Cxilbert stood alone as the champion of universal 
freedom in that city. He was aggressive, and by 
his able discussion of the question threw such light 
upon it that ere long his copatriots were many, 
and included the best men of the community. He 
was the founder of the town of Gilbert near Dav- 
enport, Iowa. 



—4-+ 



-H-S- 



^^, B. KNOTTS, editor and proprietor of the 
v@/-J| Plattsmouth Herald, one of the best con- 

\\\ » ducted and most popular newspapers in 
@j/ Cass County, has already shown that he 

possesses ability that will no doubt some day place 
him in the front ranks of the journalists of the 
West. He was born in Lumberport, Harri- 
son Co., W. Va., February 9, 1859. His father, 
Joseph Knotts, was born in Knottsville, W. Va. 
Sept. 24, 1832, his father, Absalom Knotts, 
having been born in the same house. His grand- 
father, the great-grandfather of subject, was born 
of Scotch parentage either in Scotland or America. 
He lived in Princeton, N. J., in the early part of 
his life, and finally went from there to West Vir- 
ginia, and became an early settler of Knottsville. 
He bought quite a large tract of heavil}' timbered 
land, and built a grist and saw mill, which he oper- 
ated for many years, spending the remainder of 
his life there. 

The grandfather of our subject succeeded his 
father in the proprietorship of the mills, continuing 
to manage them for some years. In 1860 he sold his 



t 



O 1184 



CASS COUNTY. 



"T^ 



property in "West Virginia, and moved to Warren 
County. Iowa, where, in companj' witli Messrs. 
Read and Felton, he bought a tract of land and 
platted the village of New Virginia. He was a 
local ]3reacher in the Jlethodist Church, besides 
being a farmer, and was quite well known through- 
out that part of the State in that capacitj-. He 
improved a farm in Warren County, but he subse- 
quently disposed of it, and moved from New Vir- 
ginia to Osceola, Clarke County, where lie was en- 
gaged in the mercantile business until about 1879, 
when he removed to Lucas to conduct the same 
business, which he carried on in that city until his 
death in 188.5. The maiden name of his wife was 
iSIatilda Sa3n'e, and she was a native of Taylor 
County, W. Vii, She spent her last years 
in Osceola, Iowa, and with her husband lies buried 
in the cemetery of that place. 

The father of our subject was reared in his native 
State, and early in his youth joined the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and when quite a 3'oung man 
commenced teaching and preaching. He resided 
in West Virginia until 1860, moving in that year 
to Iowa, being transferred to the Iowa Conference 
and assigned to duty in the western part of the 
State. When the conference was divided he be- 
came a member of the Des Moines Conference. In 
1865 he was appointed to the pastorate of the 
Broadway Society in Council Bluffs, and during 
the two years that he ministered to the people there 
a church was built under his auspices. But a 
wider field of usefulness was open to him, and he 
became agent for the Methodist Church Extension 
Society, and was actively engaged in the work of 
that society the following two years. He was then 
appointed Presiding Elder of Council Bluffs, which 
position he held for four years, and during that 
period was delegate to the General Conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church at Philadelphia. 
The responsibility and work connected with the 
oftice of Presiding Elder proved too liiuch for his 
health, which became impaired, and he was obliged 
to relinquish his beloved calling. He then turned 
Ins attention to book and job printing, and edited 
and printed the Inland Advocate a number of 
years, also the Weekly Independent, a political 
paper. In tlie fall of 1874 he lost all of his ma- 



terial by fire, and at that time his liealth was also 
injured, and the winter of 1874-75 lie spent in 
Washington. Gen. Gtrant appointed him United 
States Consul at Chihuahua, Mexico, and while in 
that country he became interested in some valuable 
mines, and resigned his Consulship to turn his at- 
tention to mining, and was thus engaged until his 
death in El Paso, Tex., Jan. 23, 1888. He was a 
man of marked talent, both in the pulpit and as a 
financier. In him the Methodist denomination 
suffered a great loss, as he was instrumental in 
building up a number of churches, and even after 
he retired from the pulpit took an earnest interest 
in the work. The maiden name of his wife was 
Rebecca Hall, and she was a native of Barbour 
County, W. Va. She now resides at Council Bluffs, 
Iowa. Seven sons and one daughter were born to 
them, namely: Edith, now Mrs. Robinson; our 
subject, T. H., L. G., E. F.. James E., Gordon B. 
and Joseph. 

He of whom we write received liis education in 
the public schools of Council Bluffs, Iowa., and was 
subsequentl}'^ graduated from the Iowa Business 
College at Des Moines, in December, 1876. Pie 
then went to Texas in the early part of 1877, with 
the intention of going into the cattle business. At 
the expiration of six months he was satisfied with 
his experience of life in that State, and returned to 
Council Bluffs to resume work in the office of the 
JVonjjareil, where he had previously commenced to 
learn the ti-ade of printer. He worked there until 
1882, and in the fall of that year went to Mexico 
and took charge of 'the stamp mills at the mines of 
Parral in Chihuahua, continuing thus engaged 
for four months. He then returned to his old 
home in Council Bluffs, and in July, 1883, bought 
the Indianola iJe?-a?d, in Warren County, Iowa. He 
retained the proprietorship of that paper for three 
years and three months, and then sold it at a good 
profit, but continued in the office as one of the 
staff of the paper until Dec. 1, 1886. At that time 
he went to Dallas, Tex., and sjient the winter in 
that delightful climate. In the following spring 
he came to Plattsmouth and bought the Herald, 
his brother T. H. being associated with him in the 
purchase, and continuing in partnership with him 
until July 5, 1888, wlien our subject bought his 






-4- 



CASS COUNTY. 



1185 



interest, and has since conchieted the paper alone. 
He has an easy, pleasant style of writing, and liis 
editorials are marl^ed b}- vigor, earnestness, and a 
tiiorougli comprehension of the subjects under 
discussion. 

Mr. Knotts was married, Nov. 1,1888, to Miss 
May Russell, a daugiiter of Judge Kussell, of 
whom see sketch on another page of this work. 
Mr. and Mrs. Knotts have a very attractive home, 
and their many friends meet with a cordial recep- 
tion beneath its roof. Religiousl}^, our subject is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Socially, he belongs to the Indianola Lodge No. 
71, I. O. O. F., and to Three Rivers Lodge No. 84, 
A. O. I". W. Ilis views on the political questions 
of the day are sound and sensible, and in conso- 
nance with those expressed by the Republican party. 



■^^^■ 



ORRIN P. SMITH, a druggist by profession, 
is carrying on his business in Plattsinouth in 
__ connection with Dr. E. W. Cook, having 
bought an interest in the store of that gentleman. 
He is a man of education i^nd wide experience, and 
has a good, practical knowledge of piiarmaceutics. 
Mr. Smith is a native of Ohio, born in the town of 
Marion, Marion County, to Joseph and P^Iizabeth 
(Hartman) Smith, natives respectively of Elizabeth 
and Newark, N. J. His paternal grandfather, 
Daniel Smith, vvas born in that State, of mingled 
Scotch and German antecedents. The great-grand- 
father of our subject was born in Scotland, and 
after attaining manhood took up his residence in 
America, in Colonial times, settling in New Jer- 
sey, where he practiced his profession of attorney, 
and there he spent the remainder of his life. Before 
coming to this country he had visited Germany, 
and married a German wife. The grandfather of 
our subject, who was also a member of the legal 
profession, moved to Ohio in 1803, and was a pio- 
neer of Franklin County. He became prominent 
as a law5'er, practicing his profession there, and 
serving as Justice of ■the Peace for many j-ears, 
and as an educator. Through his zeal and influence 
the first school district was organized in Franklin 
County, and he taught the first school. His home 



was eight miles northeast of Columbus, where he 
spent his last years. The maiden name of his wife 
was Harriet DeCamp, and she was born in New 
Jersey. Her father was a native of France. 

The father of our subject was young when his 
parents removed to Ohio, and he was there reared 
amid the pioneer influences of the earlj' settlers of 
tluit State. In his j^outh he was sent to Columbus 
to learn the trade of iron moulder, and afterward to 
Mt. Vernon, to finish learning it. He subsequently 
established a foundr}' at Marion, and made the 
iron for the rolling stock of the Indianapolis, 
Bloominglon & Warsaw Railroad. He took his 
payment in real estate, which afterward depreciated 
in value, so that he was obliged to assign to his 
creditors. He was an exceedingly honorable man, 
with a great dislike for debt, and he did not rest 
until he was finally able to settle his indebtedness 
dollar for dollar, and then commenced life again 
with nothing but his home left. He is now a resi- 
dent of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he is Superin- 
tendent of Whiting's iron works. He has a fine 
military record, one of whicli his family may well 
be proud. He and his six brothers, Aaron, Levi, 
Elias, Daniel, Hiram and Fr.ank, all served in the 
army during the late war, and were all commis- 
sioned officers. The total service of the seven 
bo3's counts up thirty-two years. One brother died 
in the service; another, Daniel, was shot seven 
times, but is still living. The father of our sub- 
ject was an Orderly Sergeant in an Ohio regiment. 
The parents of our subject have nine children — 
Oliver H., Edward IT., Mary J., Josephine, Com- 
modore P., Benjamin F., Orrin P., William G. and 
Harry C. 

The subject of this sketch was a lad of good 
abilities, and was bright and apt in his studies. 
He laid the foundation of his education in the pub- 
lic schools of Westerville, and, so rapid was his 
progress, that he was admitted to the High School 
at an unusually early age. When he was onlj'^ 
eleven years of age he was engaged in pattern 
making and drafting for the C. & G. Cooper 
Manufacturing Company, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and 
he remained with them three years. When he was 
fourteen he went to Iowa, and worked on his 
brother-in-law's farm in Victor for a j^ear. At the 



•►^r^ 



f 



•►Hl^ 



1186 



CASS COUNTY. 



expiration of that time he returned to Mt. Vernon, 
and formed a partnership with his brother Benjamin 
to buy and manage a drug store in that city. 
They continued together in that business for five 
years, and then sold and went to Granville, Ohio, 
where they embarked in the same business. A 
year and a half later our subject went to Chicago, 
and was employed as a traveling salesman for a 
year, and then was on the open Board of Trade in 
that city for two years. We next hear of him in Red 
Cloud, this State, where he was employed as a clerk 
in a drug store for a year. In 1887, having a fine op- 
l)ortunity to purchase an interest in Dr. Cook's 
drug store, in Plattsmouth, he came here for that 
l)urpose, and was enabled to make satisfactory terms 
with that gentleman. He is a man of high purpose 
and fine character, is gentlemanly in his deport- 
ment, and prompt and attentive in waiting on 
customers. Although he has been a resident of 
this city but a short time, he has favorably im- 
pressed those with whom he has come in contact, 
and has made many friendships. While a resident 
of Ohio he became identified with the Knights of 
Pythias, joining Timon Lodge No. 45, Mt. Vernon, 
and was made a Knight in 1879. 



(^^HOMAS J. FOUNTAIN. The pioneers of 
um^s 1857, coming to Nebraska during its Terri- 
^^^ torial days, deserve more than a passing 
notice in a work of this kind. Among them may 
be numbered the subject of this history, who, in 
the spring of that year, settled on his present farm, 
which occupies a portion of section 24, in South 
Bend Precinct. He secured at first eighty acres, 
and to this he has given his close attention for a 
period of over thirty years, building up a good 
homestead, and bringing the soil to a high state of 
cultivation. Upon it, as may be supposed, there were 
no improvements whatever, and his neighbors were 
few and far between. The contrast between the 
past and present is one which only those who have 
marked the transformation are able to realfze. To 
the men who first br.aved the dangers and difficulties 
of life on the frontier, is Nebraska indebted for 
her position as one of the most prosperous com- 



monwealths west of the Mississippi. Mr. Fountain 
has contributed his full share toward her wealth 
and prosperity by eliminating from her soil one of 
her model homesteads, and otherwise performing 
the duties of an honest man and a good citizen. 

Our subject first opened his ej'es to the light on 
the other side of the Atlantic, in Buckinghamshire, 
England, May 22, 1830. His father, John Foun- 
tain, was a prosperous farmer and stock-dealer, and 
also engaged in merchandising. The mother, Mrs. 
Ann (Franklin) Fountain, was a native of the same 
shire as her husband, and they came to America 
when their sou, Thomas J., was a little lad five 
years of age. They landed in New York City, and 
thence proceerled to Middletown, Conn., which was 
their home a number of years, and where the mother 
died in middle life, leaving six children — four sons 
and two daughters. They were named respect- 
ively: Henry, Esther, Richard, David, Thomas and 
Ann. Of these, three are living — Thomas and 
Ann in South Bend, Neb., and Esther in Oregon. 

Our subject pursued his early studies in the com- 
mon schools of Middletown, Conn., and later served 
an apprenticeship at the blacksmith trade, laboring 
as a journeyman thereafter for a number of years, 
and as long as he remained in New England. He 
was first married in Massachusetts to Miss Abelene 
Phipps, who became the mother of three children 
— Jason, Isabelle and Lafayette, and departed this 
life at her hoiiie in South Bend Precinct in 1886. 
These children are now living in South Bend, Neb. 

Mr. Fountain's present wife was formerly Mrs. 
Mary Ann (Hamilton) Cummings, born in Chariton 
County, Mo. Later she removed with her husband 
to Sarpy County, this State. She is the daughter 
of William Hamilton, who, when leaving Missouri, 
removed first to Linn County, Iowa. Of her 
marriage with Henry Cummings there were born 
three children — Ethleen, Harriet and Erwin, all of 
whom are married and living — two in Sarpy County, 
this State, Harriet and Ethleen, and Erwiu in 
Lyons, Col. 

The father of our subject left New England in 
1858, and came to this county, where he sojourned 
until his death, which occurred in 1882, after he 
had arrived at the advanced age of eighty-five 
years. Mr. Fountain, politically, votes the straight 



•►-11^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1187 



Democnitic ticket, and otherwise than serving as 
Treasui-er of the Scliool Board, has carefully 
avoiderl the responsibilities of office. He is re- 
garded as a law-abiding and peaceful citizen, one 
who attends strictly to his own concerns, making 
little stir in the world, content to work qnietly in 
his own sphere, and forming a worthy- factor in tiie 
element constituting the bone and sinew of law and 
good order. 



^p\ HARLES H. BP:0DEKER. an enterprising 
(l( _ farmer and stock-raiser, resides on section 24, 
v^^ in Mt. Pleasant Precinct, was born March 
30, 1852, in St. Louis, Mo., and is the eldest in a large 
family: Charles II., Lewis, Adoljih F., Henry ; Ella, 
now the wife of George Delezene; Theodore; Min- 
nie, now the wife of Arthur Blackwell; Nora, now 
the wife of John Dnnson; John, EIHe and William 
C, now deceased. When about three 3'ears old 
his parents removed with their entire family to 
Jefferson Countj', Wis., where they resided six 
years, when they settled in Muscatine County, 
Iowa, where they lived until the spring of 1866, 
when the entire family, including our subject, came 
to Cass County, Neb. The educational advantages 
enjoyed by our subject were limited to the district 
schools in the neighborhood of his home. He had 
a natural taste for reading and study, which he has 
cultivated, and he is now a man well versed in the 
general topics of the day. 

Our subject was married to Miss Sarah J. Hob- 
son, Oct. 19, 1875. The lady was born in Mills 
County, Iowa, July 16, 1859, and is a daughter of 
Hadley and Rebecca Hobson. Her father was a 
soldier during the late Civil War, in which service 
he died in the hospital, of the measles. The mother 
married Jasper Bedwell, and now resides in Noda- 
way County, Mo. She is the elder of two chil- 
dren born to her parents; her brother is Nathan 
L. Hobson. As the result of the mother's second 
marriage there are seven children : Effle, the wife 
of John T. Atkinson; Ida E., now the wife of 
Price McCoppin; William E., Mary C, Carrie A., 
Alvin and Lulu. 

The subject of our sketch is the son of Theodore 



•►-^h:^ 



and Patience Beodeker, who are now residents of 
Louisville Precinct. The father is a native of 
Germany, and came to America when he was about 
nine years old. The mother is a native of New 
York State. After various journey ings the par- 
ents settled on their homestead in Louisville Pre- 
cinct, and thej' were among the first settlers there. 
They have continued residing on the original home- 
stead from that date. His means were quite limited, 
and, like all pioneers in starting in a new country 
they had continuous hardships and privations. In 
the summer season he devoted his time to the cul- 
tivation and improvement of his land, and in the 
winter he performed such jobs of freighting as 
time and occasion offered. In this way he man- 
aged to improve his property, until he now has a 
fine, well-imi)roved farm, and is classed among the 
leading and rei)resentative men of the precinct. 
In polities he is a Democrat. He was a soldier 
during the Mexican War, having enlisted when 
quite a 3'outh. Now, in the evening of life, they 
are enjoying the fruits of a life well spent. 

Our subject has been practically reared to man's 
estate in this countj', and has experienced manj- of 
the cares of pioneer life, giving the assistauceof 
his strong right arm to his father in opening their 
then new farm, and bearing a heavy share of the 
labor incident to that purpose. Three children 
have been born to our subject and bis worthy wife: 
Alta M. was born Dec. 17, 1876; Ida E., Dec. 4, 
1879; and W^illie- Glenn, June 10, 1885. Mr. 
Beodeker settled on his present farm in the spring 
of 1876, where he has lived ever since. At that 
time it was perfectly wild. He had devoted him- 
self to the improvement of his land so intelligently 
and assiduously, that he now has one of the finest 
improved farms in the countj'. He has a large and 
commodious dwelling, which, with the barns and 
other buildings, commands the attention and ad- 
miration of all, and is a continuing monument to 
the industry and persistent efforts of our subject. 

Mrs. Beodecker came to Nebraska with her 
mother and step-father. She also knows what it is 
to be a pioneer, and she has faithfully seconded 
her husband's efforts, and rendered him all the 
assistance that a devoted wife can extend to a hus- 
band. She is a very intelligent, refined woman 



f 



•►-11^^^ 



1188 



CASS COUNTY. 



1^ 



and her home displays the exercise of rare taste. 
Herself and husband arc members of the United 
Bretliren Church, and are foremost in all >vorks of 
charity and benevolence; they hold a leading posi- 
tion in the social life of the precinct. 

Mr. Beodeker, the owner of this fine farm, has 
been very successful in life. He attributes this 
success to the fact that he endeavors to live in a 
strict observance of the Golden Rule: "Do unto 
others as ye would that they do unto }^ou." Hon- 
est and upright, he merits and has the respect and 
admiration of all his neighbors. The family are 
noted for their generous hospitality and sociability. 
In politics he is a Democrat. Up to tiie present 
he lias never sought or held any public office, feel- 
ing that lie could not forego the quiet of his home 
that an entrance into public life would destroy. 
Hence, he lias persistently refused to accept an}' 
favors in this line, although he is i-epeatedly re- 
quested to allow his name to be used. 

yi|ULlUS F. KAGOSS. Among the tillers of 
I I the soil of America no nationalit}' has dis- 
^^1 ; tinguished itself in a more praiseworthy man- 
i^^y ncr than that owing its origin to the German 
lunpire. To this the subject of this sketch, a prom- 
inent farmer and stock-raiser of Mt. Pleasant Pre- 
cinct, traces his direct origin, having been born in 
Prussia, Sept. 24, 1845. When a youth of seven- 
teen years he emigrated with his parents to Amer- 
ica, embarking on a steamer at the port of Bremen, 
and after an ocean voyage of fourteen days landed 
safely in New York City. Thence they proceeded 
directly to Henry County, III., where the parents 
settled, but about 1867 moved across the Missis- 
sippi into this county, and took up their abode in 
Eight Mile Grove Precinct, where they still reside. 

Jacob and Epfrasine (Ziebart) Ragoss were also 
natives of Prussia, and Julius F. was their eldest 
son. The family included three other children, 
who are now located in Nebraska and California. 
Our subject lived with his parents about two years 
in Illinois, then started for the farther West, and 
spent some time looking over the country in Mis- 
souri, Arkansas and Minnesota, drifting to Nebraska 



about 1866. He, however, returned to Illinois, not 
being yet ready to settle in this Slate, but the j'ear 
following took up his residence in tiiis count}', upon 
tlie quarter-section of land which he now occupies, 
and for which he paid the sum of $8 per acre. 

This land, when coming into the jjossession of 
Mr. Ragoss,-was nothing but a wild, uncultivated 
prairie, upon which not a furrow had been turned, 
it being just as the Indians had left it. His first 
business was to put up for himself a temporary sliel- 
ter. and then to get in the crops of that season. He 
had come to this county empty-handed, and endured 
in common with the pioneers around him the har<l- 
ships and privations incident to life in a new settle- 
ment. He knows how every dollar of his projjerty 
has been accumulated, and gives due credit to the 
excellent woman who has been his companion for a 
period of seventeen years, and has labored equally 
with him in the building up of a homestead. To this 
lady, who in hor girlhood was Miss Mary Ahl, he 
was married Feb. 22, 1871, at her home in Cass 
County, Neb. 

Mrs. Ragoss, also of German parentage and an- 
cestry, was born in the Province of Hessen, Jan. 2\f, 
1854. Her parents, John and Catherine (Huff) Ahl, 
were natives of the same country, and the mother 
died in Nebraska about 1878. The parents emi- 
grated to America when their daughter Mary was a 
child a year old, and lived for a time in New York 
City. Laier they were residents of various States, 
and about 1865 made their way to this county, where 
Miss Mary was reared to womanhood. The father 
took up a tract of land in Eight Mile Grove Pre- 
cinct, where he still lives. He was one of the pio- 
neer settlers of that region, and is an honest and 
reliable citizen, greatly respected by his communitj'. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ragoss began their wedded life to- 
gether in Cass County, and are now the parents of 
six children, who were born as follows: Henr}- H., 
Feb. 28, 1873; Julius A., Jan. 9, 1876; Edward, 
Dec. 7, 1878, and who died May 5, 1881 ; Ida C, 
Sept. 18, 1881; Olga, June 22, 1884, and Hugo A., 
Jan. 14, 1887. Our subject and his estimable wife 
are members in good standing of the German Luth 
eran Church, and Mr. R., politically, exercises the 
right of a free American citizen, to support the men 
whom lie considers best qualified for ofHce, irre- 



I 



.^1^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1189 ' ) 



spectjve of pnrtj'. He attended school a short time 
after coming to tills coiintrj', and employs himself 
ill reading as time and opportunity permits. He 
tiiiis keeps himself posted upon the important events 
transpiring upon both hemispheres, while in the di- 
rection of his farming interests he keeps abreast of 
new methods and modern machiner3'. The prop- 
erty which he has accumulated forms a standing 
monument to his industry and perseverance: one 
which will endure until his children are old enough 
to appreciate the diligence and forethought which 
ciiaraclerized the labors of their honored sire. 

'jfp^LI SAMSON, Superintendent of the Cass 
iMl Count}' Farm, Plattsmouth, and of the in- 
/i^ —^' flrmarj' connected with that institution, is 
well fitted by his practical sagacity, sound common 
sense, and sterling integrity, for the responsible 
position that he is so satisfactorily- filling. He was 
born in Scioto County, Ohio, Aug. 1, 1833, to James 
and Margaret (Bradford) Samson. In 1845 bis par- 
ents, accompanied by their children — our subject, 
his brother Ezra, his sister Sarah and her husband, 
E. E. Bennett, embarked on a boat ou the Ohio 
River bound for IMissouri, and after a voyage of 
several days down the Ohio and up the Mississippi, 
they landed at St. Louis. The\' proceeded bj' team to 
their destination in Andrew Countj^, Mo., four miles 
south of Savannah Landing, now the county seat, 
where the father had a short time previously pre- 
empted some Land. Missouri was then in quite a 
wild condition; the Indians still living there, and 
wildcats, and other obnoxious animals then com- 
^ mon in the sparsely settled i-egions of the West, 
were plenty. St. Joseph had but one store, being 
an insignificant trading-post, kept by a Frenchman 
of the name of Rubideaux, to whom belongs the 
honor of laying out the town. Mr. Samson and 
his children immediatel}' set to work with a 
good will to build up a home in the wilds of that 
country-, clearing the la!nd from the heavy forest 
that covered all but five or six acres, which were 
all ready to cultivate, the tall, old trees having 
been removed before Mr. Samson purchased it. 
They succeeded in developing a fine farm, which 



the}- fenced, and erected a good dwelling, barn and 
other necessary buildings. Mr. Samson had a fine 
sugar camp, and thej- made all the sugar and mo- 
lasses that thej" used. The parents of our subject 
died in Andrew County, leaving behind them the 
legacj' of a good name and the record of lives well 
spent. 

He of whom we write was a lad of twelve }-ears 
when he accompanied his parents to Missouri, and 
there he grew to manhood. He was married in 
that State to Miss Mar}' -Lyons, in Dec. 1858. They 
continued to live in Missouri about four years, and 
then took up their abode in Brown County, Kan. 
In February, 1863, he enlisted in Co. L, 2d Ne- 
braska Cavalry, and served with bravery and effi- 
ciency until Dec. 24, 1863. He took an active part 
in the battle of White Stone Hill, and was there 
wounded Sept. 2d by an Indian, the shot penetrat- 
ing the right leg near the hip, and coming out near 
the knee, shattering a part of the bone, and it was 
not removed until eight years later. His eyesight 
was also greatly impaired while in the service, and 
at times he is almost blind. Mr. Samson continued 
to reside in Kansas some sixteen years, spending 
the last four years in Wabaunsee County. He then 
returned to his old home in Andrew County, Mis- 
souri, where he lived until November, 1877, when 
he came to Cass County with his family. He first 
located on a rented farm four miles south of Platts- 
mouth, but he subsequently bought an eighty acre 
farm on section 32, this township, to which he re- 
moved. At the expiration of a 3'ear and a half he 
sold that at a good advance, having been appointed 
in March, 1884, to his present position to take 
charge of the County Farm, the paupers and infli'm- 
ary. He has been found by the commissioners to 
be the right man in the right place, and tliey have 
made a contract with him to retain the position of 
superintendent another year. Under his able man- 
agement the farm is in a very satisfactory condi- 
tion, and the paujjers are well and kindly cared for. 
Mr. Sampson is indentified with the G. A. 11., be- 
ing a member of McConihie Post No. 43, Platts- 
mouth. Politically he supports the Republican 
party, and he has always proved a good and loyal 
citizen. Mr. Samson and wife have a family of 
nine children living, viz: David, married Sophia 



•►Ht::* 



lia X 

4 



Jf^ 



■•► 



1190 



CASS COUNTY. 



Marler, they live in Rock Bluff Precinct; William 
married Mar^' Goodwin, tlie3' reside in Plattsniouth 
Precinct; Susan, wife of William Moore, lives in 
Plattsniouth; Lewis, Jlichael, Thomas, Oscar, Sarah 
and E^ttie, all single. 



,^^^) A. -EOSE is one of the oldest general mer- 
|f| (=7 chants of the village of Union, and one of 
'^^41 the best known liusiness men of Liberty. 
He established his present store in this village in 
May. 1887. and S. A. Weimer is associated with 
hira, under the firm name of G. A. Rose & Co. The 
latter is from Nebraska City, and was forrneriy en- 
gaged, for a perioil of twenty years, as general mer- 
chant, and being an enterprising, progressive man, 
was successful in his business. Our subject and his 
[)artner have a well-appointed store, and carry a 
full line of general merchandise, with a large supply 
of every tiling their trade demands. The stock runs 
as high as $7,000, and the sales are about double that 
amount. This is not Mr. Rose's first venture in the 
mercantile business, as he had a year's experience in 
the same line in a countr3r store one and a half miles 
from Union, carrying groceries chiefly. In that he 
was very successful, but a man of his enterprising 
and energetic spirit and fine talent for business of 
course craved a broader field, and as a result he is 
established here, and is prospering as he deserves. 
Mr. Rose began life, however, as a farmer, having 
had a good property on section 30 of the fr.actional 
township or precinct of Wyoming. He still owns 
the old home farm, which comprises eighty acres of 
fine farming land, the most of which he improved 
himself and put into a suitable shape for a comfort- 
able home. 

Mr. Rose is a native of Oliio, born in the town- 
siiip of Farmington, Trumbull County, Nov. 4, 1847. 
He is a son of Hon. A. M. Rose. (For further paren- 
tal history, see the biographical notice of the father 
of our subject, the Hon. A. M. Rose, on another 
page of this volume). He was married in Liberty 
Precinct, this county, in 1868, to Miss Elizabeth M. 
IJouge. She was born in Indiana, Nov. 3, 1848, 
^ ' and is the daughter of N. G. Douge, likewise a na- 



five of Indiana. He is a farmer, and has also en- 
gaged in various other enterprises. Mr. Douge was 
married in Indiana to Miss Eliza A. Beaty, who was 
most likely a native of that State. Some 3'ears after 
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Douge came West, and he 
engaged in the various occupations of mechanic, 
merchant, well-digger and farmer. On coming to 
this State he located near the west bank of the Mis- 
souri River, on the boundary line of Cass and Otoe 
Counties, and that was his residence for some 3'ears. 
He finally sold out his interests in that locality and 
moved to Saline County, where he is still living, 
owning and managing a store at Pleasant Hill. His 
first wife, the mother of Mrs. Rose, died in Cass 
County in 1882, aged nearly threescore 3'ears. Mr. 
Douge was subsequently' married to Mrs. Worth 
AVright, who is still living. Mrs. Rose was well 
roared in a good home, and lived with her parents 
until her marriage. To her and her husband have 
been born ten children, two of whom, Sidney and 
LeRoy, died in infancj-. The remaining children, 
all of whom are at home with their parents, are: 
Vinnie N., Viola M., Orpha B., Edna V., Lliota P., 
Lena, Fabian and Rajnnond. Mrs. Rose is a faitii- 
ful Methodist in her religious belief, and with 
her husband is of high soci.al standing in this com- 
munity'. Mr. Rose is an active, wide-awake man 
of business, prompt and decisive in his dealings, of 
good financial ability, and his credit is of the best. 
His interest in politics centers in the Republican 
party, he being an enthusiastic advocate of the pol- 
icy' of that party. 

i^F BEL CRABTREE. Among the early pio- 
i@/yi| neers of Cass Count}-, few have rendered 
w more efficient assistance in the develop- 
ment of its resources than the subject of 
this biography. He settled upon a tract of new land 
in the early days, and after years of industrious 
labor found himself in possession of a good farm 
and surrounded by all the comforts of life. He has 
recentlj' sold his farm to his son. It comprises 160 
acres of improved land, with good buildings, a fair 
assortment of live stock, and all the other appur- 
tenances of a well-reofulated country homestead. 



■•►4K 



i 



■► m^ 



:^t^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



The family history of our subject is essentially 
as follows: His father, James W. Crabtree, a 
native of Virginia, was the son of AVilliam Crab- 
tree, who was born in Virginia, and married IMiss 
Sarah, daughter of James and Mary Graham, who 
it is supposed were also natives of the old Domin- 
ion, where the family existed for several gen- 
erations. 

.Tames Graham, Sr., the maternal great-grand- 
father of our subject, served as a soldier in the 
Revolutionary War, receiving an honorable wound, 
and later drew a pension from the Government until 
his deatli. which took place in Virginia. Grand- 
mother Graham later emigrated with her son 
James, the father of our subject, to .Jackson 
County, Ohio, at a ver}- early period in its history, 
about 1820. He had in the meantime been married, 
and Abel, their first son, was born May 6, 1821. 
Grandmother Graham lived a period of over thirty 
years in the Buckeye State, dying in 1852 at an 
advanced age. 

The subject of this sketch was reared to man's 
estate in .Jackson Count}', Ohio. In the meantime 
his father had died, about 1874. I>ater the mother 
joined her son Abel in the West, making her home 
with him and another of the bo3-s about three 
years. She then returned to Ohio, and took up 
her abode with her daughter in Scioto County, 
where she passed away in the spring of 1885, when 
about eighty-six years old. Their family included 
eighteen children, seventeen of whom lived to 
mature years, and were married ; and thirteen are 
still living, and for the greater part are engaged 
in agricultural pursuits. 

Our subject found his bride in the Buckeye 
State, being married in his native count}', July 9, 
1848, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. .John 
and Ruth (Peterson) Clemmons. The parents of 
Mrs. Crabtree were natives of Ohio, and came to 
Nebraska with their daughter Elizabeth, after her 
marriage. The father obtained his title of Captain 
on account of h.aving raised a company during the 
Mexican War, which he commanded in that strug- 
gle. Mr. and Mrs. Crabtree, after their marriage, 
lived in Scioto County, Ohio, until 1853, when 
they emigrated to Missouri, making the trip via 
the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to St. Joseph, Mo., 



and thence across the country with teams to 
Andrew County. After one year's residence there 
they journeyed overland to this county, and 
located near the present site of the city of Rock 
Bluff as early as 1854, in the Territorial days. 
Indians were encamped all around them, the treaty 
not having yet been consummated by which settlers 
could come in and locate land. The Crabtree 
famil}' were really dangerously situated, but by the 
most careful conduct and the avoidance of giving" 
offense, they succeeded in living without molesta- 
tion, until the treaty was completed and the survey 
effected, the Indians then leaving. 

The first winter our subject and his little family 
spent 'in Nebraska they were sheltered in a log 
pen, with both roof and floor of dirt. The cracks 
were stopped up with leaves, and there was left a 
hole in the roof through which the smoke from 
their fire, which was made on the ground, could 
escape. They had neither fireplace nor stove, the 
cooking being performed, as the house was warmed, 
by the Are on the floor. The spring following, 
however, Mr. Crabtree put up a log house, which 
the family occupied comfortably several years. 

When the land came into market Mr. Crabtree 
pre-empted 160 acres on section 15 where he now 
lives. It was then an unbroken prairie, and the 
habitation of a white man was not to be seen in 
that vicinit3^ It has taken years of labor and 
thousands of dollars to bring the farm to its 
present condition. In the meantime civilization 
has been slowly moving westward, and the culture 
and comforts of to-day form a wide contrast to 
the toils and deprivations of the pioneer times. 
The household circle in due time numbered seven 
children, namely: Allen, Noah, Ross, Tarvis, Elsa, 
Cyrus and Abel. The last-named died at the .age 
of eighteen months. The others are living and all 
have homes. 

Mr. and Mrs. Crabtree became identified with 
the Christian Church many years ago, and iSIr. 
Crabtree has officiated as Elder a quarter of a 
centur}'. In the full faith of this belief Mrs. Crab- 
tree triumphantly passed from earth .July 31, 1886, 
at the age of sixty-three years. She was a lady 
possessing all the Christian virtues, and her name 
is held in tender remembrance bj' her family and 



^ 



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119-2 



CASS COUNTY. 



:i host of friends. Mr. Crabtree cast his first Presi- 
dential vote for Harrison, subsequently became a 
Democrat, prior to the formation of the Republican 
liarty a Whig, .and is now a Democrat. 

— > #>#- — 



(^^^HOMAS RUBY is a prosperous farmer who 
(jf^^^ may be classed -among the pioneers of this 
^^^y county, having been a resident of the State 
since 18.56. He resides on a well cultivated farm, 
located on section 10, in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. He 
was born in Madison County, Iowa, Aug. 12, 1854, 
where he lived with his parents until 1856, when 
the entire family migrated to Nebraska and settled 
on a claim of 160 acres of Government land that 
his father had pre-empted in Plattsmouth Precinct. 
From the day of bis arrival in Cass County to the 
present time, he has continuously resided within its 
limits. His education was obtained in the district 
schools while a boy; when he entered into business 
for himself it was as a farmer and stock-raiser, 
which occupation he has pursued continuously up 
to the present time. 

The subject of this sketch is a son of James and 
^Vray J. Ruby, who were residents of Holmes 
Count}', Ohio. His maternal grandfather was a 
Scotchman, and his grandmother was a Quaker. 
His paternal grandfather, Isaac Ruby, was born in 
3Iaryland in 1801, and now resides in Madison 
Count}', Iowa. Our subject's father lived in Holmes 
Count}', Ohio, until he had readied his majority. 
There he married and later removed to Madison 
County, Iowa, where he resided for some time, 
when he migrated to Cass County, in 1856. He was 
the father of two children — Thomas, our subject, 
and Mary, who is now the wife of TN'arren Fletcher 
and resides in Georgetown, Col. Both parents are 
now residents of Plattsmouth Precinct. 

Our subject and Miss Martha Jeffers were mar- 
ried Sept. 27, 1879, in Montgomery County, Kan. 
The lady was born in Cass County, Neb., Oct. 13, 
1857. She is the daughter of George W. and Mary 
A. Jeffers. Her father now resides in Athens 
County, Ohio. He is a native of Ohio, as was also 
the mother, who is now deceased. Her parents 
removed from Clark Countv. Iowa, to Nebraska in 



1857, and settled in what is now known as Rock 
Bluff Precinct, where her father pre-empted a claim 
which he improved and lived upon until 1876, then 
returned to Ohio. Her mother died Nov. 20, 1883. 
This lad}' is one of a family of eleven children, 
namely: Joseph, Sarah, Mary, Benjamin F.; Martha, 
the wife of our subject; Charles W., William L., Ele- 
uora, Ernest H., and two children deceased. Joseph 
resides in Washington Territory ; Sarah is the wife 
of O. J. King, and resides in ]\It. Pleasant Pre- 
cinct; Mary is the wife of Isaiah White, and re- 
sides in Idaho; Benjamin F. also resides in Idaho; 
Charles W. lives in Buffalo County, Neb.; Elenora 
is the wife of Lewis Barker, and resides in Eight 
Mile Grove Precinct; William and Ernest H. reside 
in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. Our subject and wife are 
the parents of three children — Frank R., born Jan. 
15, 1881; Bessie, Jan. 10, 1883, and James G.,Der-. 
28, 1885. 

Mr. Ruby has improved his farm by planting an 
orchard of choice trees, buildings conveniently ar- 
ranged and well located barns, cattle sheds and 
granaries, for the comfort of his stock and the 
economical handling of his various farm products. 
His residence is nicely located, is comfortably 
furuished, and is supplied with many of the luxur- 
ies of life. It is presided over by his good wife, 
who is ever ready to lend her aid to the further- 
ance of the interests of her husband at any and all 
times. The parents take great pride in their grow- 
ing family, and the love lavished on their children 
is fully appreciated and reciprocated. Their home 
farm is composed of 160 acres of nicely located 
land, fenced and sub-divided into fields of conven- 
ient size and thoroughly cultivated. Mr. Ruby makes 
a specialty of raising thoroughbred English Shire 
horses, and is now the owner of several fine graded 
animals; he takes great pride in them and they 
certainly show the large amount of attention and 
care bestowed upon them. He owns one imported 
horse which is valued at $1,200. He is also the 
owner of a herd of high-grade cattle and a number 
of fine hogs. 

The subject of our sketch is a man possessing 
great force of character, and being a public-spirited 
citizen, he makes his influence felt in all matters 
pertaining to the advancement of the best interests 



•^f 



i 



t 



CASS COUNTY. 



of the coummunit}' in which the^' live. Himself 
nnd wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and have alwa3'S taken an active interest 
in religious matters. They also hold au enviable 
position in the social circles of the neighborhood, 
lie is a Republican in politics. He has filled no 
public office except that of School Director, of 
which he is now the incumbent. 



lASlL SWEARINGEN RAMSEY, one of 
the ablest members of the legal profession 
in Southern Nebraska, established himself 
in the city of Plattsmouth in the spring of 
1881. and entered upon a most successful career. 
He comes of excellerit Pennsylvania stock, and was 
born in the vicinity of Frankfort Springs, Beaver 
County, that State, July 4, 1844. His father, Will- 
iam Ramsey, a native of the same place, was born 
Jan. 11, 1808, and the paternal grandfather, Samuel 
Ramse^', was also a native of Beaver County. The 
great-grandfather. James Ramsey, was a native of 
either Scotland or Ireland, whence he emigrated at 
an early day to America, settling among the pio- 
neers of Beaver County, Pa. He was one of the 
most highly esteemed members of the farming- 
community of that region, where he spent tlie re- 
mainder of his life, building up a good homestead 
and making for himself a worthy record. His re- 
mains were laid to rest in Kings Creek Cemetery, 
where his son, William, and grandson. William, 
were also buried. 

James Ramsey was the father of fifteen children, 
and from him probably- sprang tlie people of that 
name in the Uhited States. Samuel Ramsej^ also 
followed farming, and spent his entire life in his 
native county. His son William, the father of our 
subject, was reared and educated in his native 
county, and departing somewhat from the career of 
his forefathers, chose the profession of law, while 
at the same time, he became the owner of a farm 
where he made his home and the operations of 
which he superintended. He thus spent his entire 
life practicing law and carr^-ing on agriculture, and 
was a life-long resident of his native county. He 
rested from his earthlv labors in October, 1870. 



Basil Swearingen, the maternal grandfather of 
our subject, was a native of Marjdand, and was 
the son of Samuel Von Swearingen, who was born 
also in that State. The family came originally 
from Holland, and were among the earliest settlers 
of Maryland. The great-grandfather migrated to 
Beaver County, Pa., about the time of the trouble 
with the Shawnees, Mingoes and other tribes of 
Indians along the Ohio River. He being contem- 
poraneous with Lewis Wetzel and others who ac- 
quired reputation as skillful Indian fighters. He 
opened up a farm from the wilderness and there 
spent the remainder of his da^ys, his i-emains being 
laid to rest in the famil3- burying ground on the 
farm. His son, the grandfather of our subject, 
also cleared a large farm in that region and lived 
to be ripe in j-ears. He was buried in a cemetery 
near Poe, Hanover Township, Beaver Co., Pa. 

The mother of our subject, in her girlhood Miss 
Mar3' Swearingen, was also born in Beaver Count_v, 
Pa., Oct. 13, 1813, and surviving her husband a 
little over ten years, departed this life Dec. 22, 
1880. The parental household included eight chil- 
dren, seven of whom grew to mature years. Al- 
letha married Daniel Standish, a lineal descendant 
of Miles Standish, the Captain of the Mayflower, 
and died in Beaver Count}', Pa. ; John came to the 
West several years ago, and is now a resident of 
Eight Mile Grove Precinct, this county; Sarah 
Ann continues a resident of Beaver County, Pa.; 
Catherine married John Ramsey, of Beaver County ; 
Basil S. was the next in order of birth ; William 
died when eleven years of age; Bella married Dr. 
J. M. W.aterman, and lives in Hay Springs, Sheri- 
dan County, this State; Rebecca lives with her sis- 
ter Sarah, on the old homestead in Pennsylvania. 
. Mr. Ramse}' pursued his early studies in the 
common schools of his native town, and lived there 
until the 3'ear 1863, when he resolved to seek 
his fortunes in the West. Coming to Nebraska 
Territory he settled first at Mt. Pleasant, this 
count}', and for the first two winters emplo3ed 
himself as a school teacher, while in summer he 
worked on a farm. He w.<is thus teacher and far- 
mer alternatel3- for a time, but Bually occupied 
himself in teaching the year around, until 1874. 

In the year 1870 young Ramsey commenced 



•►-ir^ 



" ^►~^ i ^ 



1194 



CASS COUNTY. 




reading law under the instruction of Judge Samuel 
Maxwell, of Plattsmouth, now on the Supreme 
Bench, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. He 
had in the meantime opened an office at Louisville, 
and practiced there. Later he formed a partner- 
ship with A. W. Crites, who is now Receiver of 
Public Moneys at Chadron, and opened an office in 
Plattsmouth, of which he has since been a resident. 
His partnership with Mr. Crites continued until the 
j^ear 1887, when the latter withdrew to accept his 
present position. 

Mr. Ramsej' was married quite late in life, Dec. 
25, 1882, to Miss Libbie Crites. daughter of Joseph 
and Lydia (Darling) Crites. She is the youngest 
sister of his former law partner, A. W. Crites. Mrs. 
Ramsey was born in Racine County, Wis. Her par- 
ents were natives of Pennsylvania and Xew York 
respectively. The mother is deceased. The father 
is a resident of Plattsmouth. Mr. and Mrs. Ram- 
sey are the parents of one child, a son, Willie Paul, 
who was born June 30, 1884. Mr. R. has always 
been a Democrat politically, and in 1885 was elected 
County Commissioner, receiving a large majority 
in a Republican county, which sutficiently indicates 
Ids standing in his community. He fulfilled the 
duties of this office three years acceptably. In 
1 883 he was Journal Clerk of the State Senate. 



■jf? AMES COLBERT, an enterprising farmer of 
I Ehnwood Precinct, was born in Huntington- 
^.^^ i shire, E;ngland, Aug. 19, 1833, and was the 
(^^' youngest in a family' of six children. The 
father died when our subject was twelve years old, 
leaving liira alone to shift for himself at that eavly 
age. His educational advantages were very limited. 
At the age of twenty he came to America to join 
his brother John, who had emigrated to America, 
and settled in Niagara County, N. Y., two years 
previously. In 1856 our subject went to Micliigan, 
residing for a time in the counties of Allegan, 
Barrj' and Kent. In 1862 lie was married to Miss 
Sarah Jane Van Avery, the daughter of Samuel 
and Cordelia (Hitchcock) Van Avery. The lady's 
l)arents were of Dutch descent, and were natives of 
Canada, where they lived until the wife of our sub- 



ject was twelve years old, when they removed to 
Michigan, where she resided until her marriage 
with Mr. Colbert. 

After his marriage onr sultject rented a farm in 
Michigan, but soon realizing the fact that there 
were better opportunities in the West for obtaining 
a home of their own, they, in May, 1868, packed 
their effects in a wagon, and drove off toward the 
wild West. At the time of starting his final desti- 
nation was not specificallj' determined, they intend- 
ing to travel westward until they discovered the 
the location most favorable for their purposes. On 
June 27, 1868, while travelling westward their pre- 
sent homestead came into view. He at once filed 
a claim on his present eighty acres, unloaded his 
household goods, and immediately began the im- 
provements, of which the present well arranged and 
comfortable home is the result. Mr. C. has made 
all the improvements on the farm, erected a fine 
new barn, planted an orchard of choice trees, set 
out groves and ornamental trees, until he has a 
farm whose improvements rank second to none in 
utility and convenience. 

Mr. Colbert and wife are parents of ten children — 
William H. (deceased), Elvira B., John W., George 
Lincoln, Charles Wesley (deceased), Benjamin 
Franklin, Thomas Elmer, Mary L., Samuel Eugene 
and Perry Edwin. Elvira, the eldest daughter, is 
now married to Mr. Edwin H. F. Richards, a thrifty 
young farmer of the neighborhood, and is the proud 
mother of one child. Mary, who is the idol of both 
her parents and grandparents. The son John W. is 
a respected citizen of Elmwood Precinct. All of 
the family were born in Nebraska, except the three 
elder children, whom they brought to Nebraska 
with them in 1868. Our subject's son John W. 
was married to Miss Lucy Frisbey, Dec. 18, 1888, 
at the home of the bride in Weeping Watsr Pre; 
cinct; she is the daughter of .James and Saraii Fris- 
liey. 

Robert Colbert and Sarah, his wife, the parents 
of our subject, were natives of England, where the 
father was a laborer, which position in that coun- 
tr}' was not conducive to the accumulation of great 
wealth, in consequence he was not able to give the 
subject of our sketch any substantial financial as- 
sistance, and as a result he has had his own way to 






CASS COUNTY. 



1195 



make in the world from the start, and it is but due 
to liim to say that he has performed his part faith- 
fully and vvell. Having nothing but his hands and 
head to depend upon, he made such good and effect- 
ive use of them that he can now look over his 
broail well cultivated acres and pleasant and com- 
fortable home, and feel that they are the direct re- 
sult of the labor of himself and wife. He is highly 
esteemed bj' his neighbors, and any enterprise for 
the good of the people finds in hira an earnest 
supporter. In politics lie is a stanch Republican. 
Himself and wife are botli esteemed members of the 
Baptist Church. 



U 



•) J. WARRICK. To anyone acquainted 
'/ with the business circles of Piattsmouth the 



r 



name of our subject is well known as that 
of the popular druggist and accurate prescriptionist 
of that place. He was born in Washington County, 
Pa., April 20, 1861, and is tlie son of George M. 
and ]\Iarj' (Wilson) Warrick. His father and 
mother were also resi<lents of Washington County. 
The famih' is of P]nglish extraction, and tlie grand- 
father of our subject, Jonathan Warrick, was born 
in Kew England, of English parentage. 

Jonathan Warrick was an educated man, and 
became a civil engineer. He went to Western Penn- 
sylvania as a surveyor In the early daj's of settle- 
ment there, and had charge of the surveying of a 
large section of the then new country. Many of 
his field notes are now preserved and kept for ref- 
erence in Washington, Pa. He located in Washing- 
ton Countj% and there spent the latter years of his 
life. There the father of our subject was reared, 
and as a young man learned the carpenter's trade, 
which he followed for about ten years, and then 
engaged in mercantile pursuits. He is now retired 
from the more active engagements of business, but 
owns and is interested in two farms in CassCountj' 
and one in Otoe County, of this State, and also a 
farm in Montgomery County, and another in Cass 
County, Iowa. 

The maiden name of the mother of our subject 
was Mary Wilson. She was born in Taylorstown, 
Pa., and is the daughter of William Wilson. She 



has become the mother of five children, who re- 
ceived the following names: Matilda Belle, wife of 
Thomas C. McCarrell ; our subject; John Martin, 
Rachel Mary and Jennie May. 

Our subject was educated in the schools of 
Washington, taking the High School course, and also 
that of Duff's Mercantile College at Pittsburgh, 
being graduated from the latter institution on the 
31st of October, 1878, after which he returned to 
Washington, and attended the classes of Washington 
and Jefferson College; after leaving this institution 
he became a drug clerk in one of the leading drug- 
stores of Washington, remaining there for about 
two years, and coming to this count}' in the year 
1882. He settled at Piattsmouth, and bought a 
drug-store of 0. F. Johnson, and from that time 
has continued prosperously in tliat line of business. 

On the 5th of Aiiril, 1882, Mr. Warrick was 
joined in matrimony with Annie Poland, who was 
born in Washington, Pa.," and is the daughter of 
Henry Poland, of Washington. Pa. There have 
been three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Warrick, 
and these bear the following names; Annie M. B., 
who died Dec. 9, 1888; George H. and William J. 
Mr. and Mrs. Warrick are much esteemed members 
of the community. Our subject is a member of 
the Republican part}', and Is a wrjrthy and loyal 
citizen, and takes a deep interest in all questions 
that pertain to the National welfare. 



HILLIP HORN, well known throughout 
1 Piattsmouth Precinct, is comfortably lo- 
cated on section 17, and bears the reputa- 
tion of an honest man and a good citizen, 
a life-long Democrat politically, and with his fam- 
ily members in good standing of the P^vangellcal 
Lutheran Church. He has made of agriculture a 
pronounced success, having a finely improved 
farm, which forms one of the most attractive fea- 
tures in the landscape of that section of country. 

Our subject is of substantial German ancestry, 
and the son of Peter Horn, a native of Hesse- 
Darmstadt, who married Miss Anna Katie Kump, 
and lived In Germany until after the birth of nine 
children. The paternal grandparents, also natives 



-^ 



•►Hl^ 



t 



1196 



CASS COUNTY. 



of Hesse-Darmstadt, spent their entire lives upon 
their native soil. To Peter and Anna Horn there 
were born five sons and four daughters, namely : 
Margaret, Mike, George. Lizzie. .lacob, Margaretta, 
Phillip (our subject), George P. and Elizabeth. The 
mother died in Germany wlien comparatively a 
young woman, in 1845. 

The father of our subject, about eleven years 
after the death of bis wife, emigrated to Amer- 
ica, in 1854. locating in Tazewell Coufity. 111., 
where his death took place that same year. Phil- 
lip and his brother George P. had preceded tbeir 
father to the United States in June, 1851, making 
the voyage on a sailing-vessel in twenty-four days. 
After Landing in New York City they proceeded to 
Cincinnati. Ohio, first by boat to Albany. N. Y.. 
thence across the State, and by lake to Toledo, and 
thence down the Miami Canal to the Queen City. 
At that point. embarking on the Ohio River, they 
proceeded to tlie Mississippi and St. Louis,aiid from 
there to Pekin, III., where, securing a tract of 
land, our subject engaged in farming. 

In Illinois Mr. Horn made the acquaintance of 
Miss Margaretha Schwabel, to whom he was mar- 
ried Feb. 12, 1859, and lived in the Prairie State 
until 1868. In that year he came to the young 
State of Nebraska, and purchased his present farm 
of 160 acres. It could scarcely then be dignified 
by the name of a farm, as but fortj' acres had been 
plowed, and the only building was a small frame 
house. Under this humble roof the little family 
took up their abode, and Mr. Horn proceeded to 
the building up of a homestead. The steadfast 
labor of years has been amply rewarded, the soil 
yielding bonntifuUj' to his tliorough culture and 
excellent management. The first humble dwelling 
was replaced, in 1878, by a more substantial resi- 
dence, and there is also a barn, granaries, corn 
cribs and all the other necessary out-buildings. 
Mr. Horn subsequently invested a portion of his 
surplus capital in another quarter-section of land, 
whicii is now also improved, and he has about 200 
acres of pasture. His farms consist of 500 acres. 

The career of our subject has been that essen- 
tially of a self-made man. He came to the United 
States poor in purse, and his posse.ssions are the 
^ ' result of his own perseverance, aided by an indus- 



trious and sensible wife. They are the parents of 
four children, the eldest of whom, a daugliter, 
Mary, is the wife of Theodore Starkjohn, a sketcli 
of whom will be found elsewhere in this work; 
Maggie, Mrs. Fred Kehne, is a resident of this pre- 
cinct; Katie is the wife of Henry Hirz, who is 
written of elsewhere in this work; Lizzie, Mrs. 
John Kaffenberger, resides with her husband on the 
home farm, with her parents, and has one child, a 
daughter. Anna. Mrs. Horn is the daughter of 
Jacob and Caroline Schwabel, who were natives of 
Germany, and are now deceased. 






m^i'!^^^ 



ENJAMIN F. RUBY. The spring of 1879 
found the subject of this sketch journeying 
on his road from Ohio to this county, ac- 
companied by his wife and four children. 
He first settled upon a tract of land in the vicinity 
of Eight Mile Grove post-office, upon which he 
operated four years with such good results that in 
the spring of 1883 he took possession of a farm 
which he could call his own. Upon this he has 
since resided, and it is pleasantly located on section 
9, Mt. Pleasant Precinct. Eighty acres of good 
land are comprised within its boundaries, which 
under careful cultivation have become productive 
and valuable. In addition to general farming, stock- 
raising forms a prominent feature of the operations 
connected therewith. 

Monroe County. Ohio, was the boyhood home of 
our subject, and where his birth took place Sept. 
19, 1843. iidward R. and Rosetta (Haines) Ruby, 
his parents, were also natives of the Buckeye State, 
and are now residents of this count}'. Ten children 
completed the sum of the parent.al household, eight 
of whom survive: John W. lives in Red Willow 
County, this Stale; Mary died when about thirty- 
nine jears old; Benjamin F., our subject, was the 
third child; Hiram H. is in Colorado; Hester lives 
in this count\'; Robert lives in Gage Count}'; Jesse 
resides in this county; Harriet died when about 
twenty-five years old; Edward R. is engaged in 
farming in this county, and William is numbered 
among the well-to-do farmers (jf Hitchcock, Neb. 
Mr. Rul)y continued a resident of his native 



11^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



-•► 



1197 



■♦ 



county until a young man ot twenty j'ears, and 
then the whole family changed their residence to 
Morgan Countj-, in the same State. Later he was 
married there, March 4, 1868, to Miss Mary C. 
Sanders, who was born in Morgan Coant}^ Dec. 22, 
1844. Mrs. Ruby is the daughter of Hezekiah and 
Ann (Rose) Sanders, the father a native of Massa- 
chusetts and the mother of Virginia. It is known 
that Grandfather Rose was a Captain in the War of 
1812, and it is believed that Grandfather Sanders 
distinguished himself in a like manner. The pa- 
rental faniil}' included four children, three of whom 
are living, namely: Stillman, a resident of Morgan 
Count}-, Ohio; Mrs. Ruli3'and Hannah A., the wife 
of Abraham Long, a resident of this county. Hiram 
died in Ohio when about twent^'-eigiit ^-ears old. 

The parents of Mrs. Ruby were numbered among 
the pioneer settlers of Morgan County, Ohio, of 
which they were residents for man\' years, and rec- 
ognized as among the best element of its people. 
The mother died at the homestead there March 9, 
1878. Mr. Sanders survived his wife for over ten 
years, dying in Ohio, Nov. 29, 1888. Four chil- 
dren were born to Mr. and Mr.s. Rub}', only two of 
whom survive: Mary E. came to the household 
Dec. 5, 1868, and passed away when a little over 
seventeen years of age, Dec. 26, 188,'); Jesse F. was 
))orn March 29, 1871. and died June 15, 1881; 
Edward M. was born June 5, 1873, and Rosetta 
A. March 12, J 876. These two bright young peo- 
ple, as may be supposed, are the joy and pride of 
their parents' hearts. They are being carefully 
trained and educated as the representatives of a 
prominent and highly respected famil}-. 

Mr. Ruby acknowledges that a large portion of 
Ills success is due to the helpful efforts of his worthy 
and excellent wife, who with him has borne the heat 
and burden of the da}', and contributed her share 
toward the accumulation of their property. Mr. 
Ruby, politicall}', votes the straight Republican 
ticket, and before leaving his native State had dis- 
tinguished himself :ts a public-spirited citizen, fre- 
quently serving on the School Board of his district, 
and often gccupj'ing other positions requiring good 
judgment and integrity. Socially, he belongs to 
the G. A. R. Post at Weeping Water. During the 
r late Civil War he was a member for ninety d.ays of 



the Ohio National Guards, ready to shoulder his 
musket and prevent the Confederates desecrating 
the soil of his native State. Fortunatel}' a more 
arduous service was not required, and the Guards 
in due time disbanded, and resumed the peaceful 
vocations of civil life. 



■VTOSHUA P. P,URDICK. The farmers in 
the southwestern part of Cass County, in 
and around Tipton Precinct, are men fully 
^^^ as capable and enterprising as their neigh- 
bors further east, and among the most prominent 
of these Is the gentleman whose name stands at the 
head of this sketch. One of the heaviest stock- 
feeders of that section, he utilizes largely in this 
industry the 640 acres of land which constitutes 
one of the finest farms in Cass Count}'. He ships 
usually 2.50 head of cattle per annum, besides horses 
and swine, and realizes, it is hardly necessary to 
say, a handsome income. 

Mr. Burdick is the offspring of an excellent old 
family, his great-grandfather having been one of 
seven brothers, who emigrated from Scotland over 
a century ago and purchased a whole township of 
land in New York State. From them sprang the 
Burdicks of America. Abel, the grandfather of 
our subject, a native of New Y^ork, after reaching 
manhood served as a soldier in the War of 1812. 
He later followed agricultural pursuits, and spent 
his last years in New York State. His son, Abel 
Jr., the father of our subject, was born in Allegany 
County, N. Y., Sept. 30, 1799, and married Miss 
Lucy Hadsell. a native of the same place and born 
March 9, 1806. 

Grandfather Hadsell was of linglish descent and 
one of the early pioneers of New York State. He 
was a lumberman, .also owned a farm in Cattarau- 
gus County, and later he operated a saw-mill on the 
Alleghany River, rafting his lumber down the Ohio 
to Cincinnati, and was thus engaged until about ten 
years before his death, then removing into Alle- 
gany City he retired from active labor. His death 
took place Aug. 29, 1866. The mother survived 
until March 10, 1879, when she too died in Alle- 
gany City. Both were members of the Baptist 



ll-^^- 



•►^1-^ 



•►-IH-^^ 



1198 



■•» 



=ih-» 



CASS COUNTY. 



*it 



Cburcli. The parental famil}^ consisted of nine 
children, two of whom died in infancy. One 
daughter, Barbara, died when about fifty-seven 
years old. Those living to mature years were: 
Abel R., Joshua P.. our subject, Euphemia, Han- 
ford D., Albertus P., who died when twenty-one 
years old, and Sarah. Abel, during the late Civil 
"War enlisted in the 99th Illinois Infantry, in which 
he served until the close, being neither wounded or 
captured, and safely returned, settling in Pike 
County, 111., where he is now living. Albertus 
enlisted in a New York regiment, served under 
Gen. McClellan, and died near Richmond, Va., of 
fever, in August, 1862. His remains were laid to 
rest near the old home in Allegany City. N. Y. 
The other children are living. 

The subject of this sketch was born near Alford, 
Allegany Co., N. Y., Sept. 30, 1832. He was 
reared to manhood in the lumber districts of the 
Empire State, and after attending tlie subscription 
school completed his studies in the High School at 
Moline. When a youth of eighteen years he re- 
paired to Pike County, 111., on a visit, and was so 
well pleased with the country in that region that he 
never returned. Upon leaving Pike County be 
journeyed by rail to Detroit, thence to Chicago by 
canal, and down the Illinois River to Griggs ville. 
Here he was employed by the month on a farm and 
whatever else he could find to do until the spring 
of 1852. 

Young Burdick, not j-et satisfied with his explora- 
tions, migrated to Minnesota and assisted in the 
survey of the old State wagon road, and later 
crossed the lake to St. Peters River, and finally en- 
gaged in rafting lumber down the Wisconsin. We 
next find him back in Pike County, 111., there hav- 
ing been an unusual attraction in that locality 
which was more fully explained on the 3d of 
April, 1853, when he was united in marriage with 
Miss Deborah Gray, the wedding taking place at 
her father's, in Pike County. 

iVIrs. Burdick was born near Barry, Pike Co., 
111.. Oct. 21, 1835, and is the daughter of Anson .-ind 
Jane (Harris) Gray, the father a nativeof Onondaga 
County, N. Y., and the mother of Pennsylvania. The 
paternal grandfather, Jolin Gray, was also a native 
of New York and of Welsli ancestry. Grandfather 

#i 



Harris, whose Christian name was William,was born 
in New York State, and followed the trade of gun- 
smith. In due time he migrated to Ohio, settling 
near Tiffin, where it is supposed he spent the re- 
mainder of his life. His father, the maternal great- 
grandfather of Mrs. Burdick, was of Irish descent, 
and was the founder of the present flourishing city 
of Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. 

Abel Burdick when a youth of eighteen years 
enlisted in a New York regiment as a soldier in tlic 
War of 1812. Later he emigrated to Seneca 
County, Ohio, and emploj'ed himself as a farmer 
and traveler, being a hunter of no mean skill. 
Lefiving the Buckeye State in 1833 he migrated to 
Pike County, 111., and was one of the first men to 
settle there upon a tract of Government land. 
Here as before he prosecuted farming and hunting 
combined, became wealthy, and died Feb. 15, 1870. 
at the age of seventy-four years. The wife passed 
away twenty-three years prior to the decease of her 
husband, hei* death tsiking place at their home in 
Pike County, Aug. 10. 1847, when she was in the 
forty-first year of her age. 

To Anson and Jane (Harris) Gray there were 
born eleven children, namel}^: Mary, who died 
when thirt}- years old; John; William; Jerome, de- 
ceased at the age of thirty; Adelia, Deborah, An- 
geline, Benjamin, Sylvia A., Jane and Harriet. 
Benjamin, during the late Civil War enlisted in the 
99th Illinois Infantry and served until the close. 
Deborah, the wife of our subject, was born near 
Barry, Pike Co., 111., Oct. 21, 1835. Mr. Burdick 
after his marriage purchased land to the extent of 
200 acres in Pike County, where he commenced 
farming, but later sold out and purchased another 
farm of 100 acres. Upon this he operated until 
the spring of 1858, then, seized with a desire for 
still further adventure, disposed of his property 
interests in the Prairie State and set out with teams 
for Brown Count}', Kan. 

Our subject operated upon the soil of Kansas a 
period of three years, and in the fall of 1862 came 
to Nebraska, and pitched his tent in Nemalia 
Count)'. He was engaged in teaming that year and 
in the fall, the Civil War being in progress, enlisted 
as a Union soldiei' in Comp.any E, 2d Nebraska 
Cavalry, the boys furnishing their own horses. 



M* 



•►Hl^ 



-A 



CASS COUNTV. 



II 1)9 



He was mustered in at Omalia as First Sergeant and 
the regiment was detailed to operate against the 
Indians on the frontier. They met the enem^- in 
a pitelied battle on the White Stone River, and in 
man3^ other lively engagements and skirmishes. 
After a service of thirteen months Mr. Rurdick re- 
ceived his honorable discharge at Brownville, Xeb., 
in the fall of 1863. 

Returning now to Nemaha County, Neb., JMr. 
Burdick engaged in general merchandising at Peru, 
but a year later sold out and began freighting to 
Denver, which occupied him two years. Then re- 
turning to mercantile pursuits in Peru he busied 
himself at this for a time, and Anally drifted into 
the grain trade, which he prosecuted six years and 
until the spring of 1875, in connection with mer- 
chandising. Thereafter he turned his whole atten- 
tion to the bu\'ing and shipping of grain, until 
1882. Then, having purchased land In Tipton 
Precinct, he moved upon it, and commenced the 
farming operations which have resulted so success- 
fully. He began at first principles, turning the first 
furrow upon it, planting groves and an orchard of 
400 trees, besides the smaller fruits, erecting a good 
house and barn and gradually adding the other 
structures necessary to the complete homestead. 

The farm of Mr. Burdick is finely located and 
receives the necessary moisture from a branch of 
the Nemaha River, from which a windmill conveys 
it to tanks, both around the farm and in the house. 
Eighty acres of land lies on section 28, and the re- 
maining 160 on sections 33 and 34. the residence 
being on section 33. In his stock operations Mr. 
Burdick ships annually about eleven cars of cattle 
and swine, and keeps about thirty head of graded 
Percheron horses. 

Ten children came to bless the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Burdick, the record of whom is as follows: 
James, the eldest sou, is married, and farming in 
Dakota; Lucj' W. married W. J. Miller, a farmer 
of Garfield Precinct, in Lincoln County, Neb.; 
they have two children — Frank and George. Re- 
besca is the wife of M. D. Zinkon, and they reside 
in Callaway County', Mo.; Anson is married and 
farming in Lincoln Count3'; Ida M. is the wife of 
(ieorge Tappen, editor of a paper in Broken Bow; 
Jeroms is unm:irried and following the profession 



of a teacher in Palmyra Precinct, Oloa County; 
Edward P. is farming in Lincoln County; William 
H.. Sylvia L. and Iven are at home with their par- 
ents, Thej^ are a group of verj- interesting and 
intelligent children, comprising a family of whicli 
the parents have reason to be proud. Thej^ have 
been well educated and carefulh* trained, and are 
thus prepared to bear worthily in later years the 
mantle of their honored parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Burdick are members in good 
standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
which our subject officiates as a Trustee, and politi- 
cally, he uniforml}' votes the Republican ticket, lie 
has been quite prominent in local politics, and for 
a period of twenty-five j^ears, with the exception of 
One or two instances, has represented his partj^ in 
the various State and County Conventions. He 
has had considerable experience as a juror, and has 
uniformly signalized himself as a liberal and pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, encouraging all enterprises cal- 
culated for the best good of the people. lie be- 
lieves in education, and was instrumental in organiz- 
ing Peru College, while he has been a member of 
the Scliool Board since attaining manhood. In 1887 
he was elected Justice of the Peace, and still holds 
the office. Mrs. Burdick, like her husband, is held 
in high esteem in her community, being a lady 
looking well to the wa^^s of her household, kind, 
hospitable and generous, ever ready to do a favor 
to those about her, while her cultivated and intelli- 
gent mind has had its influence, not only in her 
own household, but in the circle in which she has 
moved for so many years. No family stands 
higher among the intelligent people of Cass County. 



OLIVER WARD occupies a prominent place 
among the pioneers and early settlers of the 
count}^ and State, and now lives on a highly 

improved farm of eighty acres, on section 20, Eight 
Mile Grove Precinct. He took possession of his 
present home farm in the spring of 1863. He is a 
native of Union County, Ind., where he was born 
Dec. 25, 1825, He attained to years of manhood 
in Putnam County, Ind., arci,id the scenes of pioneer 
life, and he did much of the hard labor incident to 



-5^1^ 



••► 



1200 



CASS COUNTY. 



opening- nevv farms in a heavilj^ timbered country. 
His educational advantages were extremely limited, 
as liis time was full}' occupied in farming-, however, 
by closelj' observing the actions of men, and noting 
events as tliey transpired he is now fully informed 
on all matters of general interest. 

Our subject is the sou of Isaac and Beulali ( Brad- 
waj-) Ward. The mother was born in New Jersey. 
His father was born in the same State, and is the 
descendant of an old English family that emigrated 
to America previous to the War for Independence, 
(irandfntlier Ward was a soldier during the Revo- 
lutionary War, and tlie father of our subject was a 
bo}' at tlie time. The parents removed with their 
family, when Oliver was ten years old, to Putnam 
County, Ind., where they were also among the 
earliest settlers. Here there was no cessation to the 
labor of the farm the_y proceeding to clear a farm in 
the midst of the heavy timber, and our subject 
remembers when in Indiana he "rolled logs" for 
twenty-three days in succession. Log rolling in 
tliose days was made a neighborhood affair, when 
all the male members of the community gathered 
by appointment on the farm of some one of their 
number, and proceeded, with the aid of numerous 
ox-teams, much whisky, many dQgs and loud 
shouting, to roll into immense heaps the trunks of 
the trees that bad been felled by the owner of 
the land, after which they were burned. These 
gatherings served as opportunities for the 
widely scattered settlers to form the acquaintance 
of new-comers, for the dissemination of work, 
and devising plans for the better protection of 
their interests. 

This gentleman is one of a family of eight chil- 
dren, three of whom survive, namely: Jonathan, 
who now lives in Taylor County, Iowa; Josiah. 
who now resides in Indiana, and our subject. ■ The 
fivedeceased were named: Jefferson, Thomas, Abi- 
gail, Joseph and William. Mr. Ward was married to 
Sarah A. Jenkins, Sept. 22, 1846. This lady was 
bom Sept.l, 1828, in Putnam County, Ind. She is a 
daughter of Benjamin and Catherine Jenkins. Her 
father was born in Montgomery County, Ky., Nov. 
15, 1811, and was of German origin. Her mother 
was born in Indiana and was of P>nglish descent. 
A large number of her ancestors took an active 



and honorable part in the War for Independence. 
Her parents settled in Putnam County at a very 
early da}', and reared a family of seven children, 
five of whom are living. They were named: Sarah, 
the wife of our subject; Elizabeth, Emily, Elijah 
and Columbus. Elizabeth is the-wife of William 
Jenkins, and resides in Charleston. 111.; Emily is 
the wife of Marion Buis, and now resides in 
Andrew County, Mo.; Elijah lives in Greenwood, 
Neb., and Columbus lives in Logan Comity. Iowa. 
The two deceased were Jessie and Renia. 

Our subject and his wife have become the 
parents of eleven children, eight of whom are liv- 
ing: Benjamin, Marion, Emily E., Margaret, 
Henderson, David A., John O. and Charles. Ben- 
jamin resides in Washington County, Col.; Marion 
lives in Cass County, Neb.; Emily is the wife of 
John Sayles, and resides in Greenwood, Neb.; and 
Margaret is the wife of Jesse Livingston, and 
resides in Louisville Precinct; Henderson also 
lives in Louisville Precinct; David, John O. and 
Charles are at home with their parents. 

]\Ir. Ward and family removed to Andrew 
County, Mo., in the spring of 1850, where they 
lived tmtil the spring of 1855, when they removed 
to Mills County, Iowa, where the}' lived until the 
family came to Nebraska in the spring of 1860 and 
located near Plattsmouth, where he lived until the 
spring of 1863, when he settled on his present 
farm. The improvements at that time consisted of 
an 18x24 feet square, rudely built board house, 
and thirty acres of land had been plowed. He has 
devoted all his time and energy to the improvement 
and cultivation of his farm, in which he has been 
very prosperous. He has added to his original 
purchase at different times until he is now the 
owner of 170 acres, .and a house and two lots in 
Louisville. 

The residence of our subject occupies a very 
prominent location, and is surrounded by a large 
number of ornamental trees, a fine orchai-d is grow- 
ing, and presents a very thrifty appearance. His 
barn is well arranged for the purposes for which it 
was intended, he has numerous cattle sheds, corn 
cribs and granaries. The farm is divided into 
fields of convenient size by substantial fences, and, 
taken altogether, the entire property reflects great 



•► 11^ 



n 



•V 



M^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



■•► 



1201 



credit on the owner anrl shows the result of intelli- 
genth' directed labor, bj' a man thoroughl3' well 
informed in all the details of his business. 

During the late Civil War Mr. Ward was in 
military service for about fourteen months; he 
was stationed on the Upper Missouri River among 
the Sioux Indians. He was attacked by a very 
serious illness, and was confined in the hospital at 
at Ft. Pierre. Dak., for a long time. After his 
recovery he did not enter the active service again, 
but was honorably discharged with the remainder 
of his command, when he returned home. Both 
himself and wife are among tlie leading and repre- 
sentative families of the precinct, are members of 
the Christian Ciiurch, and take a leading part in 
all charitable and church matters. The wife has ably 
seconded her husband's efforts in accumulating the 
splendid property which they now own, and richly 
deserves the life of contentment and comparative 
ease which they are now enable to enjoy. Thej^ 
are important factors in the social life of the 
precinct. In politics he is a straight Republican. 
He has never sought or held an}^ public office, 
preferring to devote his entire time to his own 
affairs, which has rendered him and his good wife 
so favorably and widely known throughout the 
locality in which thev live. 



^^ HARLES yi. HOLMES, a Cass County pio- 

(ll „ neer, is proprietor of a livery stable in Platts- 
VV y^ 

^^C mouth, and is numbered among the sub- 
stantial and well-to-do citizens of that city. He 
is a man of wide and varied experience, keen, 
prompt and trusty in his dealings, and he is well 
known and well liked by an extensive acquaintance. 
He was born in Gilboa, Schoharie Co., N. Y., May 
21, 1835. He comes of an old Scottish family of 
that name, and Jiis father, John Holmes, was born 
in Paisley, Scotland, of which country his parents 
were life-long residents, as were his ancestry, for 
the most part, as far back as known. The father 
of our subject, with his brother Walter and sister 
Jane, were the only members of the famil}- that 
ever crossed the water to this country. The father 



•► Bj ; 



of our subject learned the trade of a weaver in 
his native town, and he served seven years as 
a soldier. He came to America about 1818, and 
locating in Delaware County, N. Y., woiked there 
a few years at his trade. He subsequently moved 
from there to Schoharie County, where he bought 
a farm, on which he lived until 1840, when he sold 
that and bought a farm tive miles from Delhi. 
During tlie winter seasons he did weaving for the 
neighbors, and the rest of the year he farmed. He 
died on his homestead in Delhi in 1854. The 
maiden name of his wife, mother of our subject, 
was Jane jNIayer, and she was also a native of Pais- 
ley, Scotland. She died at the home of a daugh- 
ter in Pennsylvania some years after her husband's 
death. I'hey were very worthy people, and from 
them our subject inherited the characteristic Scotch 
traits of thrift, energy and foresight. They were 
the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom 
grew up, namely: Ann, John, Rebecca, William, 
Jane, James, Elizabeth, Margaret, Lovisa, Charles 
and Walter. William served in the Mexican War, 
and died in the military hospital at Pueblo, Mex. 
The subject of this sketch was the next to the 
youngest child in that large family of children. 
He was a bright, quick little lad, more than or- 
dinarily^ gifted with independence of spirit, and 
at the extremly youthful age of seven years was 
ambitious to earn his own living, and started out 
into the world for that purpose. His parents 
found him and took him home again, and he lived 
with them until he was fourteen years old. He 
then made another start, and from that time forth 
took care of himself. He first went to Pennsylva- 
nia, and there began to learn the trade of a black- 
smith with his brother-in-law, working at it for 
a year and a half. After that he was employed at 
various kinds of work for a year, and at the end 
of that time, having prudently saved all the money 
that he could, he bought a small stock of groceries 
witli his little capital, taking a part of them on 
credit, and opened a store at Clarksville, Mercer 
Co., Pa. In March, 1857, he sold out his business 
there, and started for the Territory of Nebraska on 
the 3d da3' of March, going by wagon to Newcastle, 
Pa., from there by rail to Pittsburg, and thence 
down the Ohio, and up the Mississippi and Mis.souri 



I 



•4* 



•►Hl^-^ 



120-2 



CASS COUNTY. 



^ 



rivers to St. Joseph, Mo. AVhen he arrived there 
he found himself somewhat short of funds, and 
so took Lis grip in his hand and started on foot for 
Nebraska. He arrived at his destination. Rock 
Bluff, Cass County, with $2.60 in his pocket. He 
did not allow the low state of his finances to 
discourage him, however, but sought the means of 
replenishing his funds. There was a small village 
at Rock Bluff, with about 150 inhabitants, and with 
briglit prospects of rapid growth. The surround- 
ing country was sparselj' settled, and nearly all 
the land was owned by the Government. Mr. 
Holmes soon found employment quarrj'ing rock 
at 12 a daj'. He worked at that twelve daj^s, and 
then turned his attention to the lumber business. 
He bought standing cottonwood trees, cut and 
drew them to the mill, and then used them iu the 
construction of two houses at Rock Bluff. In 
April, 1859, our subject and two companions 
started for Pike's Peak, with two pair of oxen, one 
pair of cows, and six months' provisions. They 
arrived at Denver early in June, and after spend- 
ing two days there passed on to Gregorj-'S diggings 
in the mountains. Thej^ engaged in prospecting, 
and while doing so Mv. Holmes used, or generously 
gave way to needy companions, all of his outfit. 
After remaining in the Rockies two months he re- 
traced his steps to Denver, and there engaged to 
work in a shingle mill for fifty cents a day. Five 
days later, with characteristic boldness, he con- 
ceived the idea of buying the machine, and did so 
on credit for S200. He ran the machine for four 
weeks, and with such success that he was able to 
pay for it, and he then traded it for five yoke of 
oxen and a wagon. AVith them he went to team- 
ing lumber from a point on C'herry Creek to Den- 
ver, twentjr miles distant, receiving |20 a thousand 
for drawing the lumber. He teamed three weeks 
only, and then bought Mty yoke of cattle and ten 
wagons from D. C. Oakes, for which he was to pay 
in lumber. In less than four months he had can- 
celled the whole amount of his indebtedness. He 
continued teaming for a .year, at the expiration of 
which time he returned to Rock Bluff and invested 
some of his monej- in a gristmill, buying a third 
interest therein. He operated that six months, 
then sold it. and soon bought a farm in Rock Bluff 



Precinct. AVhile actively engaged in farming there 
he dealt in cattle and horses, making his residence 
in Rock Bluff village and precinct until 1872. His 
next venture was to come to Plattsmouth and en- 
gage in shipping cattle and hogs for some years. 
In 1877 he opened a livery stable, and since that 
time has been conducting that business. He has a 
fine outfit of good driving horses, and neat and 
stylish vehicles of various descriptions, and he is 
well patronized. 

Mr. Holmes was married, in 1860, to Marietta 
Kauble, and of their pleasant wedded life five chil- 
dren have been born, namely: William H.,who died 
at the age of twenty months; Walter, Pearl, Ivan 
and Bertie. Mrs. Holmes was born in Shelbyville, 
Shelby Co., Ind., March 15, 1843. Iler father, 
David Kauble. was a native of Indiana, and his 
father, Jacob Kauble, was a pioneer of that State, 
and later of Page County, Iowa, where he passed 
his last years, dying at the remarkably old age of 
one hundred and three years. Mrs. Holmes' father 
was reared and married in Indiana, and from there 
moved to Missouri about 1843, and became a pio- 
neer of Andrew Count}'. He bought a tract of 
wild land on which he built a log house, and con- 
tinued to reside there until his death. The maiden 
name of his wife was Mary Cratzier. She was a 
native of Indiana, and a daughter of John Cratzier. 
She spent her last da3^s in Andrew County, dying 
three years after her husband's death. Mrs. Holmes 
was thus left an orphan at an early age. Mrs. 
Holmes has for twenty-four years been a member 
of the Presbyterian Church. Politically, Jlr. 
Holmes is a stanch Republican. 



-l-+f^^^^4^-H- 



(F C. IIIXNERS. The general merchandising 

j|f)|] interests of Avoca acknowledge the subject 
-i^^ of this sketch as a leader of the trade, be. 
(^) ing senior member of the firm of Hinners 
& Lindemann. They carry a general stock of the 
articles required both in the village and countr}- 
household, and from a business established by Air. 
H. in the spring of 1883, have built up a good 
patronage. Mr. Lindemann was admitted as a 
partner in August. 1884. Mr. Hinners is a man 



^ 



>► ■ ^» 



CASS COUNTY. 






interested in eveiy -way in the prosperity of Avoca, 
being the owner of good property in the village 
and otherwise intimately associated with its con- 
cerns. He is recognized as a reliable business man 
and a valuable citizen. 

Our subject was born across the water in what 
was then the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, near 
the city of Bremerli.aven. Sept. 24, 1860. He is the 
offspring of an excellent family, his father being 
Nicholas Ilinners, also a native of Hanover, and of 
pure German ancestry. Nicholas Ilinners upon at- 
taining manhood, carried on farming, to which he 
had been accustomed since his earliest youth, and 
was married to Miss Anna Eden. Both had been 
thoroughlj- educated in the manner common to the 
cliildren of the Fatherland. They lived there and 
became the parents of seven children, and there 
also closed their eyes upon earthly scenes, each 
passing awaj- when a little over Bfty ^-ears of age. 
They were members in good standing of the Ger- 
man Lutheran Church, and jjeople of more than 
ordinary intelligence. 

Our subject at an early age gave indications of 
more than ordinary activity and enterprise and 
soon began to lay his plans for the future. As soon 
as old enough to reflect he nourished a desire of 
coming to America, and when a lad of twelve there 
was presented the opportunity. He embarked with 
John Harms on a vessel at Bremerhaven, and four- 
teen da3-s later set foot upon the soil of the United 
States, in the city of New York. Our subject 
completed his education in the Badger State, 
attending the High School at Plattville, and later 
the Normal School at the same place. 

The business career of our subject began as clerk 
in a store at Plattville, which he entered when a 
youth of fifteen j^ears. He was thus engaged until 
coming to Nebraska, and in the meantime was mar- 
ried. April 4, 1883, to Miss Jlarj^ Loofborow. She 
received a good education and taught school some- 
time before her marriage. Of her union with our 
subject there are two children living — Charles C. 
and Harry E., at home with their parents. 

Our subject, politically, is an uncompromising 
Democrat. He has occupied some of the local of- 
fices, having been a member of the Village Board, 
and is generally interested in the matters pertain- 



-^tr^ 



ing to the well-being and progress of the people 
around him. Socially, he belongs to Lodge No. 
29, I. O. O. F., of Avoca; a man prompt to meet 
his obligations, and one whose opinions are gener- 
ally held in respect, he worthily- fills his niche in 
a very intelligent community. 



-<^= 



^IL^ON. THEO. NEWTON BOBBITT. The 
|i|)I' subject of this biographj-, a resident of 
■i)^' Tipton Precinct, deserves more than a 
(^^ passing mention, as he has been for a pe- 
riod of twenty years closely identified with the 
growth and prosperity of Cass County. 

He first arrived upon the soil of Nebraska in 
the fall of 1869 in company with his family, they 
having made the journey overland with teams 
from Mahaska C'ount3'. Iowa. Thej^ crossed tiie 
Missouri at Plattsmouth on a steam ferry, and our 
subject, making his way to Tipton Precinct, home- 
steaded eighty' acres of land, of which he still 
retains possession. Later he journeyed into Sew- 
ard County, where he remained over winter, in the 
meantime suffering two months from a disabled 
foot, but in the spring of 1870 moved with his 
young wife upon the present homestead. He had 
just comjjleted a temporary shelter, hauling lum- 
ber for this purpose from Plattsmouth. and put up 
the structure with his own hands. 

The present surroundings of Mr. Bobbitt are 
widelj' different from those of twenty years ago. 
He now has a well developed farm, with fruit and 
forest trees of his own planting and his fields 
neatly enclosed by hedge and wire fencing. In 
due time he added to his first purchase and lias 
now a well-regulated farm of 160 acres with good 
buildings, a fair assortment of livestock, the 
requisite farm machinery and the general appur- 
tenances of the modern country estate. Of late 
years Mr. Bobbitt has made a specialty of cattle 
and swine, and also keeps a number of good horses. 

While the cultivation of the soil has absorbed 
much of his time and attention, Mr. Bobbitt has in 
nowise neglected the culture of his mental capaci- 
ties, and is a gentleman of rare intelligence and 



•►Hl^ 



1204 



CASS COUNTY, 



good education, refined and gentlemanly, one with 
wiiora it is pleasant and profitable to converse. 
He has for his life companion a lady his equal in 
every respect, intelligent and amiable in dis- 
position, and one who has made home for her 
family the pleasantest spot on earth. Mrs. Bobbitt 
has been in delicate health for a number of years, 
but is no less dear to her family and friends. The 
domestic life of this household presents a picture 
rarely met with amid the vicissitudes and sorrows 
of a changeful world. 

A native of jMorgan County, 111., our subject 
was born near the town of Bethel, Feb. 23, 1843, 
and was reared amid the quiet pursuits of country 
life. He has an ancestry of which he may well be 
proud. His father," Everett H. Bobbitt, was born 
in Madison County, Mo., in 1816, and married 
Mary A. Newton, who was born in Hancock 
County, 111. William Bobbitt, the paternal grand- 
father, was a native of South Carolina, born near 
Columbia, and traced his forefathers to Wales. 
He was farmer and miller combined, and spent his 
last years in Morgan County, 111. 

The paternal great-grandfather of our subject 
carried a musket in the Revolutionary War, and 
did good service at the battle of Guilford Court- 
house, and in a number of other engagements. At 
the close of the struggle he settled in South Car- 
olina and engaged in farming and milling. Later 
he moved to Kentucky, and from there to Morgan 
County, 111., where he died at a ripe old age. 
Grandfather Henry Newton was a native of Ireland, 
whence he emigrated to America early in life, and 
settling on a farm in the vicinity of Bloomington, 
111., there spent his last days. 

The father of our subject was reared to the age 
of fourteen years on a farm in ]\Ilssouri, whence 
he removed to Morgan County, 111., during its 
pioneer da3^s. He assisted his father in the mill- 
ing operations of the latter during his lifetime, 
then began farming on his own account and also 
occupied himself considerahlj' as a teacher, mostly 
during the winter season. He remained a resident 
of Morgan County until the fall of 1848, then 
crossed the Mississippi into Mahaska County, Iowa, 
where he operated still as teacher and farmer com- 
^ f bined. He is still living and a resident of the 



Hawkej'e State, where he owns a good farm of 140 
acres. The mother died at the homestead a year 
after their removal there, in the spring of 1849, 
when a young woman only twenty -six years old. 

To E. H. and Mary A. Bobbitt there were born 
four children, of whom our subject was the eldest. 
The next younger, David F., is operating a farm 
in Washington County, Kan.; Lizzie J., (Mrs. 
Hillery), resides in Washington Territory.; one 
child died unnamed in infancy; Theo. N. was a 
little lad six years of age when his parents 
removed to Iowa and he lived there on the farm 
until a young man of twenty years. He launched 
out as a teacher when a youth of nineteen, and 
later entered a printing ofHee, but soon found that 
office work had an unfavorable effect upon his health 
and abandoned it. In the spring of 1864 he jour- 
neyed to Montana and occupied himself in mining 
in the vicinity of Virginia City and Helena. Dur- 
ing his sojourn in the farther West he also engaged 
in freighting for a period of six months, after 
which he returned to the Hawkeye State. 

In 1861, after the outbreak of the Civil War, 
Mr. Bobbitt proffered his services as a Union 
soldier at Fremont, Iowa, but being considered too 
3'oung was rejected. 

Upon his return from the mountains, in 1866, 
Mr. Bobbitt located in Iowa and commenced farm- 
ing on rented land, at which he continued until his 
marriage. This interesting event in his life was 
celebrated in Wapello County, Iowa, Nov. 5, 1868, 
the maiden of his choice being Miss Amelia 
Phillips, daughter of John S. and Sarah (Moss) 
Phillips, of Iowa. Shortly afterward the young 
people started for the young State of Nebraska, 
making their way overland with teams to this 
county, crossing the Missouri River at Plattsmouth 
on a steam ferry. Not long after his settlement 
here Mr. Bobbitt was invited to participate in the 
various enterprises calculated to advance the inter- 
ests of Tipton Precinct, socially and financially. 
He was discovered to be a man worthy of the 
esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and 
after creditably filling various positions of trust, 
was elected to represent Cass County in the State 
Legislature, serving from Jan. 1, 1877, to 1879. 
This was the first session after the adoption of the 



■•►Hl-^ 



I 



•^^f^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1205 



present Constitution, wbich had been remodeled 
and more fully adapted to the growing needs of 
the people. During his term also occurred the 
election of the Plon. Alvin Saunders, in which Mr. 
Bobbitt bore a prominent part. He was also a 
member of three of the most important committees, 
namely: Federal Relations, County Seat and 
Boundaries, Mines and Minerals. 

Although reared a Democrat, Mr. Bobbitt upon 
attaining years of discretion, felt that the principles 
of the Republican party more nearly coincided 
with his progressive ideas. With it he accordingly 
identified himself, and has been one of the most 
active workers in its ranks in Southern Nebraska. 
His services in that Legislature received much 
favorable comment by the leading journals of this 
part of the State. He has been a member of the Re- 
publican Central Committee; and has given of his 
time and means for the furtherance of the enterprises 
generally calculated to advance the interests of its 
people. Socially, he belongs to the K. of P., No. 
104, at Eagle. He is a member of the Congrega- 
tional Church at that place, and contributed gen- 
erousl}' toward the erection of tlie church edifice. 
He thoroughly believes in the religious education 
of the j'oung, and has carried out his sentiments 
in this respect by ofBciatiug as Superintendent of 
the Sunday-School and studying to make this 
important subject a matter of interest to the rising 
generation. 

The parents of Mrs. Bobbitt were of English and 
German descent, the father a native of Ohio, and 
the mother of Van Buren County, Iowa. The 
paternal grandfather, a native of Germany, 
possessed more than ordinar}' musical talent, being 
a musician of considerable note, while he also 
prosecuted farming pursuits. On the mother's side. 
Grandfather Moss traced his ancestors to England, 
was one of the earliest settlers of Van Buren 
County, Iowa, and became the owner of a large 
tract of land both in that and Wapello County. 
John S. Phillips, the father of Mrs. B., was a well 
educated man, and while conducting his farm 
occupied himself considerably as a teacher. He 
was one of the pioneers of Iowa, purchasing land 
from the Government and built up a good home- 
stead in Wapello Countj', where he still holds 

m-M* 



property. His present home, however, is at 
Agency. lie is sixty years old and his estimable 
wife is fifty-eight. They are the parents of twelve 
children, of whom Mrs. B. was the second born. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Bobbitt there have been born 
six children, namely: Charles E., John F., who 
died in infancy, Lewis E., William M., George D., 
and an infant son who died unnamed. The eldest 
son, Charles, is attending the academy at Weeping 
Water; The other cliildren are at home with their 
parents. They are being carefully reared and will 
be given the education suitable to their station in 
life as the offspring of one of the leading citizens 
of Southern Nebraska. 



^iJEORGE W. BARRETT. The ordinary 
if <^t7 observer must admit that the life of a 
^^S farmer, though attended with much arduous 
labor, surely has its compensations. Most forcibly 
is this suggestion illustrated in viewing the home- 
stead of the subject of this sketch, which is finely 
located on section 29, in Mt. Pleasant Precinct. 
The buildings are neat and substantial, and the 
land, embracing an area of 110 acres, is mostly 
under a high state of cultivation, yielding under 
favorable circumstances the richest of crops of 
Southern Nebraska. The proprietor, a gentleman 
in the prime of life, bears the reputation of an 
industrious and persevering citizen, who has been 
the architect of his own fortune, and indebted to 
no man for his present position in life. From a 
worthy ancestry he inherited those qualities which 
have enabled him to labor to good advantage with 
his hands while his mind is a storehouse of useful 
information, and experience has been his safe guide 
through life's devious wa3's. 

Our subject, a product of the Empire State, was 
born in Jefferson County, Jan. 12, 1848, and is the 
son of Nial and Ruth (Coon) Barrett, who located 
in that county during the early years of their mar- 
ried life. Their household included five children, 
but three now living, namel3': Laura A., Mrs. 
Henry Strouts,of Berrien County, Mich.; Charles a 
resident of Jo Daviess County, 111., and George W., 



•^ 



•4^ 



1206 



CASS COUNTY. 



our subject. The family is of English-Irish descent, 
and farther than this Mr. Barrett knows com- 
paratively little of his ancestors. 

When a youth of fifteen 3'ears our sulijeet 
removed with his parents from his lative State to 
Berrien County, Mich., where they have since 
resided. They are both now quite aged, the father 
having been born in 1806, and the mother two 
years later, in 1 808. Their lives have been distin- 
guished liy honest industry, and now in their 
declining years the}' are surrounded by hosts of 
•friends, and are living in the enjoyment of all need- 
ful comforts. Young Barrett attained to manhood 
in the Wolverine State, and was educated in the dis- 
trict schools of Berrien County, being deprived, 
however, of many of the advantages enjo3'ed by 
the rising generation. In the fall of 1867 he began 
an apprenticeship at the trade of plasterer and 
stone-mason, which he followed much of the time 
since until within a few 3'ears. His preference, 
however, is for farming pursuits, and to these he 
has devoted himself mainly since coming to this 
countr}'. 

Mr, Barrett was first married in jMiehigan, Feb., 
13, 1869, to Miss Inez Pearl, daughter of Lewis and 
Julia E. Pearl, of Berrien Count}', Mich. Of this 
union there was born one child, a daughter, Ethel, 
who is now in Berrien County, Mich., and eighteen 
years old. Mrs. Inez Barrett departed this life at 
her home, in Michigan, Jan. 8, 1870, less than a 
3'ear after her marriage. Our subject contracted a 
second matrimonial alliance, Dec. 25, 1873, with 
Miss Olive C. Wolcott, in Jo Daviess Count}-, 111. 
This lad}' was born in Jo Daviess County, 111., 
Aug. 27, 1853, and is the daughter of Henry 0. 
and Eliza A. (Williams) Wolcott, who were natives 
of Ohio. Mr. Wolcott was a wagon maker and 
farmer by occupation, and died at their home in 
Illinois about 1857; the mother is still living and a 
resident of Jo Daviess Count3', 111. 

Mr. Barrett and his present wife are the parents 
of five children, naniel3': L3'nn, W., born Sept. 12, 
1874; Laura M., Oct. 14, 1875; Loren A., May 5, 
1877; Ralph L., Sept. 6, 1878, and Tina L, March 
28. 1881. Mr. Barrett resided in Jo Daviess County, 
111., a period of six years, then came directly to 
this county, and settled upon the farm which he 



now occupies. Aside from casting his vote with the 
Republican party, he meddles very little with 
politics, having an abundance of business in the 
managemant of his farming interests. His excel- 
lent wife is a member in good standing of the 
Christian Church, and Mr. Barrett believing in life 
insurance, is a member of the Ro3al Arcanum. 



IF ^ ARRY G. RACE, editor and proprietor of 

the Cass County Eagle, is a gentleman of 
English birth and ancestry, having first 
opened his eyes to the light in Yorkshire, 
England, Dec. 28, 1845. He lived there until a 
youth of fourteen years, acquiring the rudiments 
of a practical education. Later he came to Amer- 
ica and completed his studies in the High School 
of Eldora, Iowa. Subsequently he engaged with 
his father in farming until the spring of 1872. 
We next find him in the vicinity of Salt Lake 
City engaged in the search for silver and gold in 
the Bingham and Echo Canyons. Upon leaving 
the mines he engaged as a shipping agent for the 
firm of Reed & Benson, at Big Cottonwood Can- 
yon. Finally, returning to Iowa, and sojourned 
there a brief season, and from the Hawkeye State 
made his way to this count}', arriving at Weeping 
Water on the 9th of September, 1879. The present 
flourishing city at tliat time could scarcely be dig- 
nirted by the name of a hamlet, there being but a 
few clumsily-built houses upon the spot now 
occupied by liandsome brick blocks and other 
structures adapted for residence and business pur- 
poses. Mr. Race at once engaged in mercantile 
business, purchasing first the interest of Mr. Kim- 
ball, in the firm of Fleming & Kimball, and later 
the firm became Fleming & Race, operating thus 
until Sept. 10, 1874. They continued successfully 
in business for a period of ten years. They were 
preceded in this line of trade by the firm of 
Reed Bros., onl}-, the latter having been the pioneer 
merchants of Weeping Water. 

Mr. Race was soon recognized as a valuable 
addition to the community, and it was not long- 
before he was solicited to take a part in the offi- 
cial deliberations of the vouua: town. He fullv 



•► 



•^^ 



*► i r^ 



•«► 



^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1207 



identified himself with its interests, investing his 
capital in real estate, and in due time Weeping 
Water was enlarged by Fleming & Race's addition, 
being the finest in the city, the lots sold quite 
readil}', although Mr. Race still holds some of 
them. In the f.ill of 1888 he completed an 
elegant residence on Eldora Avenue, the avenue 
being named after Eldora, Iowa, the place of his 
former residence, and which he still holds in much 
affection. He also has a good residence on I Street, 
and is still considerably engaged in real-estate 
transactions. 

Soon after disposing of his interest in the firm 
of Fleming & Race, our subject, who had .alwaj's 
been interested in newspapers, jiurchased the Cass 
County Eagle, which he has conducted with rare 
ability, making of it an assured success. Under 
his m.inagement the Eagle was the first paper to 
put forward the name of John M. Thayer for Gov- 
ernor of Nebraska, and its influence bore no unim- 
portant part in securing his election. Mr. Race 
has never sought office, but as a conscientious 
Republican is an ardent advocate of the principles 
which appeal most effectivel}- to his good sense 
and judgment. 

Our subject is the son of .Joseph Race, who was 
born in Milnthorpe, England, Oct. 11, 1817, and 
lived there until about 1859. He was there mar- 
ried to Miss Mary Bell, and there were born to 
them upon their native soil seven children, who 
were named respectively: Joseph, William, Harry 
G., Anne A., Eliza, Mary Jane and Walter. They 
all came to America with their parents about 1859, 
the latter settling in Eldora, Iowa, at a time 
when it was little more than a hamlet. They 
lived in that town five years, then moved to a farm 
two miles east, where the mother died April 10, 
1883. She was born in 1815, in Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, and was the daughter of Joseph and Mar}' 
Bell, who were also of English birth and ancestry, 
and who spent their entire lives upon their native 
soil. Mr. Race and his wife were reared in the 
doctrines of the Church of England, in which faith 
the mother died, and of which denomination 
Joseph Race is still a member. The latter lived 
on the farm until the fall of 1888, when retiring 
from active labor he came to AYeeping AYater, and 



•►41^ 



now makes his home with his son Harry G. Dur- 
ing the years of his active life, he was engaged 
quite extensively in agriculture and stock-raising, 
and became owner of a fine large farm of 250 
acres, which he built up from the primitive soil 
and which he still owns. He has been a reader all 
his life and keeps himself well posted upon cur- 
rent events. A genial, pleasant and companion- 
able old gentleman, he numbers hosts of friends 
among the people of Cass County, where he is 
regarded as one of its most honored citizens. 

.John Race, the paternal grandfather of our sul)- 
ject, spent his entire life in his native town, Miln- 
thorpe, Yorkshire, on the old battle-ground of 
Wakefield, which w.as made memorable by the 
scenes of 1460. The house of Grandfather Race 
was constructed from ruins of the old castle, and 
under that historic roof-tree the father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch was born. 

The marriage of H. G. Race and Miss Carrie C. 
Selleck, of Hastings, Mich., took place at the home 
of the bride in Weeping AYater, .Jan. 5, 1875. Mrs. 
Race is the daughter of William S. and Jennie 
Selleck, the former one of the prominent business 
men of Plymouth, this State. About 1882 he 
came to AYeeping AYater, where he now lives. Mrs. 
Selleck died when her daughter Carrie was only 
two years old. She was in her girlhood Miss 
Outhwaite. Mrs. Race is a highly esteemed lady 
and a member in good standing of the M. E. 
Church. 

'i^>.- ■ 

VTAMES DYSART. Cass County owes its 
I prominence and prosperitj' not alone to its 
' vast natural resources, its genial climate 
^^j) and other advantages, but in part to its 
early pioneers, who devoted themselves earnestly to 
its development and improvement. And among 
those who are still identified with its agricultural 
interests, is the sul)ject of lhis_ sketch. In tlie 
month of June, 185(J, lie, then a stalwart, active 
young man, in tlie pride and strength of earl}' man- 
hood, crossed the Missouri River, and making his 
way to the part of Cass County now known as 
Liberty Precinct, pre-empted 160 acres of land on 
section 34, and became tlie very first settler in this 



f 



•►Hl^ 



1208 



CASS COUNTY. 



neigliborliootl. The land tliat he thus obtained was 
in a wild, unbroken state, and his was the pioneer 
task to develop it by the aid of strong muscle and 
well-directed toil into a productive farm. That he 
has succeeded in this attempt is manifested even 
to the causal observer, who sees its neat farm build- 
ings and various otlier imprnvemeiits. and looks 
over its carefully tilled tifbls, each acre of which, 
by wise cultivation, is made to yield to the utter- 
most, and season after season affords rich harvests 
to reward his persistent labors. 

Mr. Dysart is of Scottish birth and ancestry, 
having been born in Forfarsiiire. Scotland, Jan. 9, 
1834. His father, James Dysart, a native of 
Cooper, Angushire, was the son of William Dysart, 
a Scotch clotli manufacturer of some prominence in 
his native shire. He lived and died in his native 
land, attaining an advanced age. His wife, also of 
Scottish birth and ancestry, died in her native shire 
before she had passed middle life. They belonged 
to one of the old Presbyterian families of the Low- 
lands of Scotland. James Dysart was reared in his 
native shire, and married a Scotch lady, Anna 
Sutt by name, also born and bred in the same 
shire. Their family of eight children, all sons, was 
born in Scotland, of whom only four lived to come 
to the United States. While he remained a resident 
of that country, Mr. Dysart followed the occupa- 
tion of drover. In 1844. with his wife and children, 
he emigrated to the United States, and located in 
Carroll County, Olaio. Shortly afterward he began 
to farm there, and in his new home in that county his 
wife died, Feb. 1, 1847, when only forty years of 
age. This was a sad blow to her husband and child- 
ren, to whom she was greatly devoted. Mr. 
Dysart afterward moved to Columbiana County, in 
the same State, and there he married for his second 
wife. Miss Ann Everett, who was born in Mary- 
land, was reared in Ohio, and also died in Colum- 
biana County, before her husband, her death oc- 
curring in the prime of life. James Dysart, Sr., 
was a third time married, and this wife also died 
there, but not till after her husband had passed 
away. He departed this life Aug. 24, 1870, thus 
rounding out seventy-six years, which had been 
usefully spent. He was a good man and a steady, 
hard-working farmer. He was a life-long Pre.-by- 



■^^ 



terian. the faith of his forefathers for many genera- 
tions, and left a name to be held in respect and 
reverence by his descendants. 

Our subject spent five years of his early life in his 
father's home in Columbiana County, and then at 
the age of twenty-one set forth in the world to begin 
life in earnest, at first finding work as a farm 
laborer in Ohio. But he soon afterward made his 
way westward, and going to Jones County, Iowa, 
found work there at the same occupation. Eighteen 
months later, with the sum of money that he had 
prudently saved up for some time, he crossed the 
Missouri River into the then wild territory of 
Nebraska, having determined to build up a home 
here, as with the prescience and foresight of the 
genuine Scot, he shrewdly reilized that this was 
one day destined to be a rich farming country. 
We have seen the results of his venture, and that 
his hard labors have placed him among the pros- 
perous and solid men of Cass County. 

Mr. Dysart is blessed with a good wife, who, b}' 
her thrift and good mmageraent of household 
affairs, has co-operated with him and encour.aged 
him in his work. She is a devout Christian, and 
with two of her children, is a member of the Baptist 
Church. Her marriage with our subject was 
solemnized in Liberty Precinct, Sept. 13, .18G0. 
Mrs. Dysart's maiden name was Nancy J. Hoback, 
and she was born in Nodaway County, Mo., Aug. 
17, 1843. She came of German-Scotch-Irish an- 
cestry, and was a daughter of Robert and Louisa 
(Clark) Hoback, natives of West Virginia. After 
the birth of one child, her parents moved to Mis- 
souri, and settling on a farm not far from Mary- 
ville, in Nodaway County, there lived until 1855, 
when the family all moved to Nebraska, and began 
to farm near Nebraska City in Otoe County. Some 
few years later they came to Cass County and Mr. 
Hoback pre-empted land on section 34, and there 
the family lived for some time. The mother died 
therein 1883, the 22d day of May, aged sixty- 
two years. She was an earnest Methodist in her 
religious faith. After the death of his wife, Mr. 
Hoback sold his property in this precinct and re- 
moved to Mt. Pleasant Precinct, and there lives 
with his daughter Mrs. Rebecca Alford, he being 
now sixty-eight years of age. He has been a de- 
'• •►t* 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 



■4» 



1289 



i 



a mason and stone-cutter by trade, an(l (luring 
early manhood carried a muslcet in the Mexican 
War. as a member of an Ohio Regiment. After 
this conflict was ended lie settled down to his trade 
again, until the outl)reak of tiie Rebellion, when he 
again hastened to the rescue of his country, serving 
five j-ears in Companj' H, 4th Iowa Infantry, and 
Company D, 7th Iowa Cavalry, as a non-commis- 
sioned officer, and operating mostly on the frontier, 
among the Indians of the Northwest. He received 
his honorable discharge at Leavenworth, Kan., in 
Jul3', 186C, and returned to private life In Van 
Buren County, Iowa, where he remained with his 
family until the fall of 1875, when he changed his 
residence to this county, settling in Weeping Water, 
where liis death took place three weeks later, on the 
9th of November, when he was fifty-three years 
old. Reuben Sperry was a good man in liie broad- 
est sense of the term, kind in his famil3'and towai-d 
his neighbors, making it the rule of his life to do 
unto others as he would they should do to him., 
and in his whole career exhibiting the example of 
the conscientious man and law-abiding citizen. In 
religious belief he was a Universalist. The family 
included nine children, five sons and four daughters, 
seven of whom are living and located mostly in 
Nebraska and Iowa. The mother is still living in 
Iowa, and is now the wife of James Hunt, of Davis. 
Her jige is about sixty-one years. 

Our subject, in common with his brothers and 
sisters, was educated in the common schools, and at 
an early age was taught those habits of thrift and 
industry which have been the secret of his success. 
He was but a year old when his parents removed 
from his native State to Iowa, where he was reared 
to manhood and served his apprenticeship at the 
trade of mason under the instruction of his father. 
Imbued with the patriotism of his sire, he, upon 
the outbreak of the Civil War, enlisted, when but 
a youth of seventeen, in Company H, 3d Iowa 
Cavalry, the regiment being assigned to the com- 
mand of Gen. Wilson. Young Sperry, with his 
comrades, participated in most of the important en- 
gagements of that campaign, being in the fights at 
Selma, Ala., and Columbus, Ga., and on the tr.ack 
of the rebel Gen. Price during his raid through 
Missouri, a campaign of ninety-six days, the 



most of which time he was in the saddle. He was 
later on the steamer -'Maria" when she exploded 
near St. Louis, and had a portion of his hair burned 
off, besides being severely injured in his spine and 
scalded on his leg. Otherwise he came out of the 
army uninjured, after a service of nineteen months, 
and received his honorable discbarge at Atlanta, 
Ga., Aug. 9, 1865. He was content to serve his 
country as a private all the way through, the con- 
sciousness of having done his duty being ample re- 
ward for his hardships and privations. 

After the war Mr. Sperry returned to his parents 
in Iowa, and later migrated to this country. He 
lost his heart in Avoca Precinct, and was married 
at the home of the bride. Miss Margaret J. McDer- 
med, Nov. 29, 1874. Mrs. Sperry was born near 
Peoria, III., Nov. 17, 1852, and is the daughter of 
Alfred and Elizabeth (McFarland) McDermed, who 
were natives of Kentucky' and Ireland, and came to 
Nebraska in the fall of 1866, settling in Avoca 
Precinct, this county, where the father carried on 
farming, and where the parents still live. Mrs, 
S|ierry is a very intelligent and amiable lady, and 
enjoys the friendship and respect of a large circle 
of friends. Our subject and his estimable wife be- 
gan their wedderl life together at the home which 
they still occup}', and which they have together 
built up with industrious care, gathering about them 
the man}' little comforts and conveniences indis()ens- 
ableto those wholive properly' and well. They have 
no children. Mr. Sperry, politically, is a sound 
Republican. It is hardly necessary to state he forms 
but another example of the self-made man who has 
not labored in vain, and is held in due respect 
among his fellow-citizens. 

0'~' HARLES SPOIIN. Avoca Precinct has been 
., particular!}' fortunate in the men who 
' sought her borders during the pioneer days, 

selected their homesteads here and have been con- 
tent to remain. The subject of this sketch, one of 
her most highly esteemed citizens, is pleasantly lo- 
cated on section 5, where he had formerly 140 
acres of good land, but has parted with six acres on 
account of the construction of the Missouri Pacific 



fie f 



•►Hf^ 



1290 



CASS COUNTY. 



Railroad across it. He dates his residence here 
from 1861, although he secured the land two years 
prior to that time. 

The farm of Mr. Spohn was but slightly im- 
proved when he took possession of it, but by a 
course of improvement and thorough cultivation it 
lias been made valuable, having upon it good 
buildings and receiving the requisite moisture from 
a branch of the Weeping Water. A notable feature 
in the farm is three or four acres underlaid with stone 
suitable for building purposes, which not only 
furnishes the owner with this material, but his 
neighbors around. Mr. Spohn is a child of the 
Fatherland, having been born in the Grand Duchy 
of Baden, Aug. 30, 1836, and is of pure German 
ancestry for generations back. 

Upon emigrating to the United States our sub- 
ject settled with his parents first in Pike County, 
Ohio, where he lived from 1843 to 1859. He emi- 
grated to America in 1843,with his parents and their 
four other children to the United States,' and they 
made the voyage on a sailing-vessel, occupying 
forty-five days in the passage across the Atlantic. 
After landing in New York City they proceeded 
directly to Pike County, Ohio, where the father be- 
gan farming, and was thus occupied on the soil of 
the Buckeye State until the death of tlie wife and 
mother, which occurred in the spring of 1859. In 
the meantime the family had been enlarged b}' the 
birth of one child. After the mother's death the 
father and children came to Nebraska, and the 
elder Spohn occupied himself in farming as before. 
He lived to be ripe in years, having passed his 
eighty-third birthday at the time of his death, 
which took place in the fall of 1877. 

The parents of our subject were active, industri- 
ous and hard-working people, careful and con- 
scientious in their lives, and to the last remained 
faithful adherents of the Lutheran Church, in the 
doctrines of which they had been trained from 
childhood. Charles, our subject, was the youngest 
but one of the family, and attained his majority 
in Pike County, Ohio. He was there educated in 
the public schools and came West a single man. He 
assisted his father in the development of the new 
farm in Avoca Precinct after their arrival in Ne- 
braska, and remained single until July 2, 1869, when 



he was married to Miss Sophia L. Dow. This lady 
was born in Illinois, May 14, 1854, and is the 
daughter of Frederick Dow, of Otoe County, a 
sketch of whose life is given elsewhere in this 
volume. 

Mrs. Spohn was a child four years of age when 
her parents came in 1858 to this country. Her 
mother died eight years later, and she remained a 
member of lier father's household until her mar- 
riage. She was a lady of many excellent qualities, 
and after becoming the mother of five children de- 
parted this life at tlie homestead in Avoca Precinct, 
April 25, 1887. Two of her children are since de- 
ceased, namely : Albert and an infant unnamed. 
The survivors are Tilda A., Charles, Jr., and 
George, all of whom are at home with their father. 
Mr. Spohn, politically, is a sound Republican, as 
was his father before him, after becoming a natural- 
ized citizen. The latter, Mathias Spohn, was a 
cabinet-maker by trade, which he pursued in his 
native country during his early manhood, and was 
there also married to Miss Lena Winters. After 
their marriage the parents of our subject located 
in the town of Ilaagen, Baden, where the father 
followed his trade until deciding to emigrate to 
America. 



'\Y' JACOB STULL is a native-born citizen of 
I Plattsinouth, and is still an honored resident 
of the city. He is a son of John Frederick 
^0/J and Agatha Stull, well-known i)ioneers of 
this township and county, whose biography appears 
elsewhere in this volume. Our subject was born 
Aug. 26. 1858, on the paternal homestead. He 
earl^' commenced attendance at the local scliools, 
receiving a substantial education in all common 
branches. He grew to a strong and self-reliant 
maniiood amid the pioneer scenes that surrounded 
his early home on every hand. He obtained a 
sound, practical knowledge of agriculture in all its 
departments, while assisting his father in the care 
of his extensive farming and stock-raising interests, 
and continued to be an inmate of tlie parental 
househfjld until he was twenty-four 3 ears old. He 



CASS COUNTY. 



^^ 



1291 ik 



then established a home of his own, marrying. Sept. 
29. 1883, Miss Ella, daughter of P. S. and Olive 
Wheeler. Two children have blessed their wedded 
life, Olive and John F. The latter died iu infancy, 
Aug. 21, 1888, and his death has been the sorrow 
of an otherwise liappy married life. 

'Tis a wear^' world, at best, 

This world that he will not know. 
Would we waken him out of such perfect rest. 

For Its sorrow and strife.? Ah! no. 

Escaped are its thorns and harms; 

The only path he has trod 
Is that which leads from his mother's arras 

Into the arms of God. 

Mr. Stull was born when Nebraska was under 
Territorial government, and nearl}' the whole of its 
wonderful development has taken place within his 
remembrance. He is now numbered among the 
young men who of recent 3'ears have identified 
themselves with the pioneers and later comers of 
their native State in sustaining its various interests 
and in advancing its prosperity. He owns a good 
residence and house lot, pleasantly located in a 
desirable quarter of Plattsraoulh. He is an ener- 
getic, enterprising young man, of sound habits and 
excellent business talents, so that his success in life 
is assured. He and his wife are esteemed members 
of the Presbyterian Church, and in their daily lives 
they endeavor to carry out the precepts of their 
religion. Mr. Stull is an emphatic believer in the 
policy pursued by the Democratic party. 

^/OHN C. KNABE, of Avoca Precinct, bears 
the distinction of being one of its oldest 
and most prominent German settlers. He 
(^^' has reason to be proud of his nationality, for 
his brethren of the Fatherland have borne no un- 
important part in the development of the great 
West. Mr. Knabe is a farmer in good circum- 
stances and makes a specialty of stock-raising. 

The property of our subject, which he pre- 
empted from Uncle Sam in the winter of 1858, 
while Nebraska was a Territory, is located on sec- 



tion 12. He first secured 160 acres, but has gr.ad- 
ually added to his possessions until he is now the 
owner of 504 broad acres. He arrived in Cass 
County on the 1st day of January, 1855, when 
there were no settlers in the neighborhood and 
when it required no little determination to make 
up his mind to begin the construction of a home 
on what was then a barren waste, with the excep- 
tion of jjrairie grass. He did not, however, take 
up land until three years later, in the meantime 
employing himself at farming. He came to this 
locality poor in purse, having nothing to depend 
upon but his own exertions, and at a time when 
there was not even a road to be seen and no neigh- 
bors but Indians. These, however, could not be 
called neighbors, as they only went strolling 
through the country, keeping an eye out for what 
they could carry off. Mr. Knabe, however, had no 
trouble with them — in fact the newly-arrived 
white man and his Indian neighbors seemed to re- 
gard each other with a sort of friendly curiositj'. 

Mr. Knabe worked among the farmers in .another 
part of the County until he could get a little money 
ahead so as to purchase farm implements and be- 
gin the cultivation of his land. It has taken years 
of labor and thousands of dollars to bring his 
land to its present state, the whole being now in 
productive condition. Upon it he has erected a 
set of substantial buildings and added one improve- 
ment after another until the homestead has become 
an object of admiration to all the countr3f around. 
The fat cattle and the well-fed horses always as- 
sociated with the well-to-do German farmer, the 
sheds, corn cribs and pens and the comfortable 
dwelling, altogether form a goodly sight to the 
eye. Mr. Knabe improved his first quarter section 
before he attempted to add to his real estate. He 
has wisely invested his surplus capital in a manner 
which cannot be carried off b^' the defaulting 
bank cashier. 

The Duchy of Holstein, Germany, was the early 
home of our subject, and where his birth took 
place Oct. 1, 1824. He was the youngest of five 
children, two sons and three daughters, the off- 
spring of Henry .and Margaret (Grofe) Knabe, 
who were natives of the same province, good, 
honest people, but poor in purse, the father mak- 



•►Hl^^ 



♦^1--* 



1292 



CASS COUNTY. 



ing a living for his family by hard labor. In 
early manhood Henry Knabe served in the Danish 
standing army and spent his entire life upon his 
native soil, passing away after he had reached his 
threescore years and more. The wife and mother 
died along in the fifties. The parents in religion 
were German Lutherans, and trained their children 
carefully and conscientiously in their own religious 
'faith. 

Our subject remained a member of the parental 
household until reaching his majority, and for 
eight years thereafter employed himself at farming. 
He was not satisfied with his surroundings or bis 
prospects, and finally decided to seek his fortunes 
on another continent. He accordingly gathered 
together his personal effects, and in March, 1852, 
set sail from the Port of Hamburg, and after a voy- 
age of seven weeks and two days landed in the 
city of New Orleans. Thence he made his way up 
the Mississippi River to Davenport, Iowa, arriving 
there June 20 of that same year. He began work- 
ing as a farm laborer and was thus occupied ' until 
coming to Nebraska. Up to this time he had been 
a single man, but he met his fate in Avoca Pre- 
cinct, being married Nov. 22, 1857, to Miss Anna 
Lohse. The parents of Mrs. Knabe. Henry and 
Catherine (Hamsheldt) Lohse, natives of Holstein, 
came to America with their family in the spring of 
1858, and took up their home in Avoca Precinct, 
where they spent the remainder of their lives. 
The father, however, only lived a short time there- 
after, passing away Sept. 21, 1859, at the age of 
fifty-nine years. The mother survived her husband 
nearly nine years, her death taking place Feb. 4, 
1868.she being of the same age as her husband at his 
death — fifty-nine. They also, like the Knabe fam- 
ily, were excellent Christian people, and Lutherans 
in religion. 

The wife of our subject was born in Holstein, 
Feb. 4, 1836, and was the youngest of the two 
children comprising the parental family. Her sis- 
ter Lena is now the wife of Conrad Mullis, a 
sketch of whom is found in the history of Otoe 
County, in this volume, and of which they are 
residents. Mrs. Knabe was a young lady of twenty- 
one years when coming to America, making the 
journey alone, but was soon afterward joined by 



her parents. She has proved the true and effici- 
ent helpmate of her husband in his labors and 
struggles, working bravely by his side in tlie ac- 
cumulation of their property and the building up 
of their homestead. They are the parents of four 
children, all living. The eldest daughter, IMarga- 
ret C, is the wife of John Buhrns and they live on 
a farm in Avoca Precinct; Henry J. married Miss 
Louisa Ileepner, who is also farming in this pre- 
cinct; Helena, Mrs. Charles Brandt, lives with her 
husband on a farm in Liberty Precinct; John C. 
remains at home with his parents and assists his 
father in the management of the farm. ilr. Knabe, 
politically, votes the straight Republican ticket and 
takes an interest in everything pertaining to the 
welfare of his adopted county. Both he and his 
excellent wife are members in good standing of the 
Lutheran Church, attending services at St. John's, 
in Avoca Precinct. 



HILLIP F. HARRISON, one of the self- 
made men of Plattsmouth, is a native of 
^ the Old Dominion, having been born in 
Upshur County, now AVest Virginia, June 
17, 1854. His father, Selden Payton Harrison, 
was a native of France, whence he emigrated to 
America early in life. He was a brother of Presi- 
dent William Henry Harrison. His parents, the 
paternal grandparents of our subject, crossed the 
Atlantic prior to the beginning of the nineteenth 
century, and settled in Loudoun County, Va., where 
they spent the remainder of their lives. 

The father of our subject was reared in his native 
province, and learned the trade of cabinet-maker. 
After coming to the United States he enlisted as a 
soldier in the War of 1812, and at the close of the 
struggle lived with his parents in Loudoun County, 
Va., for a number of years. He then removed to 
LTpshur County, following his trade in the village 
of Buchanan, where he spent the remainder of his 
days, his death taking place in August, 1854. 

The maiden name of the mother of our subject 
■was Alary B. Roberts, who was born in Loudoun 
County, A'a., and was the daughter of John Roberts, 
supposed to have been also born in Virginia. He 



•►^ll-* 



•^f^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



I2a3 i M 



spent his entire life in tlie Old Dominion. Our 
subject at the time of liis father's death was an in- 
fant of a few weeks old. There were six other chil- 
dren iu the family, namely: Elizabeth, William, 
Fi-ancis, Sarah, George and Robert. The mother 
kept the family together until they were enabled 
to look out for themselves, and iu May, 1871, left 
A'irginia, coming to Nebraslia, and is now living 
with her daughter in Plattsmouth, and is sixty-eight 
years old. Her husband received a land warrant 
for his services as a soldier, and Mrs. II. draws a 
pension from the Government. 

In March, 1871, young Harrison, then seventeen 
years of age, came to Plattsmouth, and for awhile 
was engaged in teaming. Later he secured a position 
as clerk in a general store, where he remained two 
years, then entered the employ of the Burlington & 
Missouri River Railroad Compan}-, being for a 
time in the shops at this place, and finally was pro- 
moted to a position in tiie office of the Master 
Mechanic. Upon leaving this position, three years 
later, he began buying and shipping grain. 

In August, 1877, Mr. Harrison established a 
dra3' line, and in time built up an extensive busi- 
ness in general teaming, which lie has con- 
tinued until the present time. That year also 
he became interested in blooded chickens, . Black 
Cochins and Light Bramahs being his favorite 
breeds. At the county fairs he has exhibited 
some of the finest specimens of the feathered race 
to be found in the West, invariably carrying off 
the blue ribbons. 

The marriage of our subject was celebrated at 
the home of the bride in Plattsmouth, on the 
3d of May, 1876, the maiden of his choice being 
Miss Elmira Ilollister. Mrs. Harrison was born 
in Walworth County, Wis., on the 10th of June, 
1860, and was the daughter of Herbert H. and 
Nancy (Bush) Ilollister, the former a native of 
New York State, and the latter of Germany. Mr. 
HoUister was reared to manhood in his native 
State, whence hp migrated to Wisconsin and set- 
tled among the pioneers of Walworth County. He 
purchased a tract of prairie land about sixteen 
miles west of the present site of Delevan, from 
which he improved a good farm, and where he lived 
until about 1869. Tlien coming to Nebraska, he 



settled in Plattsmouth and entered the employ of 
the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Com- 
pany, with which he has been connected since that 
time. Mrs. HoUister emigrated to America with her 
parents when quite young. She died in Walworth 
County, Wis., in the year 1854. The parental family 
included two children only — Albert and the wife of 
our subject. Mr. Harrison is a stanch Republican 
in politics. 

-S^^- 

I^EV. ALPHA WRIGHT, who died Nov. 30, 
lUr 1888, better kuown as '• Chaplain Wright," 
/LW, was an honoi'ed citizen of Plattsmouth, 
\^wliere he formerly lived in the enjoyment 
of an ample income and in one of the pleasantest 
homes ill the city. He was chaplain of a Mis- 
souri regiment during the late Civil War, and dur- 
ing the contest was promoted to places of honor 
and trust, at one lime serving on the staff of Gen. 
Ewing. After peace was declared he became a 
chaplain in the Regular Army, and acted in that 
capacity on the frontier for several years, and sub- 
sequently was stationed at Fort Omaha, finally re- 
tiring on three-fourths pay, with the rank of Cap- 
tain. 

Our siil)ject was born in the town of Wilming- 
ton, Windham Co., Vt., April 16, 1814. His great- 
grandfather, Silas Wrigiit, w.as, so far as known, a 
native of New England, and his grandfather, Mar- 
tin Wright, likewise a native of that part of the 
country, is thought to have been born in Rhode 
Island. He served in the Revolutionary War, and 
his widow, who survived him a number of years, 
w.as a |jensioner. He was an early settler of Wind- 
ham County, Vt., where he spent his last years. 
The father of our subject, Erastus Wright, was 
reared on the old homestead in Vermont, and re- 
sided in Windham County until 1814, when, with 
a colony, he started for the wilds of Central New 
York, the removal across the mountains and through 
the wilderness being made with ox teams. The 
colony located in that part of New Y'ork now in- 
cluded in Steuben County, being among the ear- 
liest settlers there. The father of our subject 
bought a tract of timbered land, on which he 
Cieuted a rounrl log hunse with a slab roof. H 



'^JL. 



-^ 



1-294 



CASS COUNTY. 



t 



^t^ 



ing no stove the mother of our subject used to cook 
the meals before the firepliice. The father kept 
sheep and raised fliis, and the mother used to tpin 
and weave for many years, and her children were 
all clothed in garments of which the material was 
the skillful proiluct of her own hands, the woolen 
cloth being colored with butternut baik. There 
were no railways or canals in that section of the 
country, and Baltimore was the most convenient 
market for grain. The settlers used to raft lumber 
down the Coshocton and Chemung Rivers, thence 
to the Susquehanna, and thence to the seaboard. 
They used to build boats that they called aiks,each 
boat iioldiiig 1,000 bushels of wheat, which sold for 
thirty cents a bushel in Steuben Count}' and would 
bring $1.00 a bushel in Baltimore. After they had 
sold their wheat in that city they would sell the 
boats for lumber and return on foot to their homes 
in Steuben County. Mr. Wiight cleared three farms 
in that vicinity and erected good frame buildings, 
continuing to live there until feeble health com- 
pelled him to retire, and he spent his last years in 
the home of our subject, where he died in 1858. 
The maiden name of his wife was Lydia Wheeler, 
and she was born in Connecticut. She was a daugh- 
ter of Jeremiah and Warj' (Joselyn) Wheeler, na- 
tives of Rhode Island. She died at the home of a 
daughter in Steuben County. There were ten chil- 
dren born to her and her husband, seven of whom 
grew to maturity. 

"Chaplain" Wright received the preliminaries of 
his education in the pioneer schools of Steuben 
County, generally attending in the winter season, 
and the remainder of the year helping on the farm 
or in the timber. When he was nineteen j'ears of 
age his father gave him his time, andhestarted out 
on foot with a small bundle of clothing and some 
food and made his way to Lima, N. Y., where he 
entered the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. He 
studied there one year and then returned to Steu- 
ben County to teach school, receiving as compen- 
sation $12 a month and board, boarding around at 
the homes of his pupils, as was customary in early 
times. He taught in Steuben and Wayne Counties 
until 1836, when he joined the Methodist Episco- 
pal Conference and was ordained as a preacher in 
that denomination at Angelica, Allegany Co., N. 



Y., by Bishop Morris. He became well known in 
that iiart of the country, and held several jmstor- 
ates in different parts of the State, including one of 
four years at Rochester, and another of the same 
length of time in Buffalo. In IS/iG he was called 
to Cleveland, Ohio, and from there he went to San- 
dusky to preach, and thence to Milwaukee. In 1861 
he went to St. Joseph, Mo., where he received the 
appointment of chaplain of the 25lh Missouri Vol- 
unteer Infantry, and was stationed a short time in 
New Madrid. In December, 1863, he was detached 
from that regiment and sent to Pilot Knob to take 
charge of the refugees and contiaLands. His ad- 
ministration of affairs there was so satisfactory in 
every way that in May, 1864. lie was promoted to 
the staff of Gen. Ewing, and was given charge of 
all refugees and contrabands in the department of 
Missouri, his ofHce then being in St. Louis, Mo. His 
duties in that responsible office were to furnish 
provisions, clothing, transportation, etc., to those 
requiring them, and to see that the sick were cared 
for. He remained at his post of duty until the 
close of the war, having his headquarters at St. 
Louis. He proved to be the right man in the 
right place, looking after his charges with the 
uttermost care and tenderness, and doing all 
that his large heart prompted for their comfort, 
and manj' a poor, forlorn being had reason to bless 
him. After the cessation of hostilities he was ap- 
pointed chaplain in the regular Army, and was 
stationed at Fort Laramie tor four years. He was 
next sent to Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming Ten, 
where he remained two and one-half j'ears. After 
that he was stationed at Fort Omaha seven years, 
and at his own request was then retired on three- 
fourths pay, with the rank of Captain, and since 
that time lived in retirement here until his death. 
In 1868 he severed his connection with the Meth- 
odist Church, joined the Presbyterians, and from 
1879 until 1882 he preached with great acceptance 
in the Presbyterian Church at Bellevue. In 1865 
he bought a fine building site in this city and 
erected the home in which, the remainder of hia 
life was passed. He subsequently purchased an en- 
tire block of land, on which he afterward built six 
houses, which he rented at a good advantage. 
Chaplain Wright was married Sept. 15, 1835, to 



•►;ll-* 



•►Hf^^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



••►- 



12'J5 



Ir 



A. Juliaette Langley. and four (laughters have been 
born to thera, namely: Amelia, wife of W. F. Mor- 
rison, who resides in Rochester, N. Y.; J. Amanda, 
wife of Willard N. Buell, deceased ; his widow re- 
sides in Plattsmouth; May E., wife of R. D. Galla- 
gher, of Chicago; Frances E., wife of J. N. Wise, 
Postmaster of Plattsmouth. 

Mrs. Wright was born in Huron, Wayne Co., N. 
Y., Aug. 31, 1818. Her father, Charles Langley, 
was a native of Canada. His father was born, 
reared and married in France. He came to Amer- 
ica with his wife and children and settled in Mon- 
treal, Canada, where he was engaged as a whole- 
sale merchant. From there he moved to Boston, 
where he carried on the same business. Mrs. 
Wright's father went to Utica, N. Y., when he was 
a young man, and was there married to Betiiany 
Parker. She was a native of that city, and was a 
daughter of Jared and Temperance (Hnestie) 
Parker. She died in Newark, Wayne Co., N. Y., 
in 1838. Her parents were among the early pio- 
neers of Utica, and her grandparents died there at 
the age of ninety-seven and ninety-three years re- 
spectively. After marriage Mrs. Wright's father 
settled in Wayne County, and was busy looking 
after his shipping interests, as he owned vessels 
that plied on the lakes. In 1824 he removed with 
his family from the town of Huron to Newark, 
where he engaged in the wholesale drug business 
until his death in 1845. "Chaplain" Wright was 
buried in Oak Hill cemetery, at Plattsmouth. 



UL. BROWN, well-known in the city of 
Plattsmouth as a stirring and efficient busi- 
'J^^ ness man, .associated himself in the fall of 
1888 in partnership with Otis H. Ballon, and they 
are now conducting a very successful general law 
practice, while making a specialtj- of real-estate and 
collections. 

Mr. Brown is essentially a western man, with west- 
ern interests, being a native of Grant Count}', Ind., 
and his birth taking place Oct. 15, 1881. His 
father, John R. Brown, was a native also of Grant 
Count}', and his paternal grandfather a native of 
Scotland, emigrated to America in tiie company of 



his ssven brothers, at an early period in his life. 
Making their w.ay to what was then the far West 
they took up their abode about 1830 among the earli- 
est pioneers of Randolph County, Ind. Grandfatiier 
Brown took up a tract of heavily limbered land, 
cleared a farm in the wilderness and there spent 
the remainder of his life, dying at the advanced age 
of eighty-seven years. 

Mrs. Sarah (Rogers) Brown, the paternal grand- 
mother of our subject, also died at the old home- 
stead in the eighty-sixth year of her age. Their 
son, .John R., the father of our subject, was con- 
verted in his youth and became a member of the 
United Brethren Church. Of a thoughtful and 
serious turn of mind always, he commenced preach- 
ing at the age of nineteen years, being one of the 
first to assist in spreading the Gospel in Grant 
County and vicinity. He was for mauj' years very 
active in the ministry, and organized many societies 
of the United Brethren denomination, officiating 
also as presiding Elder, and otherwise laboring 
faithfully in the Master's vineyard; at the same 
time he combined farming with preaching, becom- 
ing possessed of a tract of land in Huntington 
County, about four miles from the town of that 
name, and where he is now living, retired from 
active labor. 

John R. Brown married Miss Rebecca Daly, who 
was born in Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of 
Dennis Daly, who moved from the Keystone State 
to Grant County, Ind., during the daj's of its early 
settlement. He also, like Mr. Brown, improved a 
farm from the wilderness, and there spent the re- 
mainder of his life. The parental family of our 
subject included four children, viz: W. L., Letitia 
A., Maj' A. and Frances J. 

Our subject, the eldest child of his parents, pur- 
sued his early studies in the district schools of his 
native township, mostly in the winter season, until 
a youth of eighteen years. He then began teach- 
ing, which he followed ten terms successfull3'in the 
fall and winter, being variously employed the re- 
mainder of the year. In 1877 he commenced the 
study of law in the office of M. D. Call at Hunting- 
ton, Ind., and the year following was admitted to 
the bar. In 1879 he turned his face toward the 
far AVest, eitablishing liimself at Plattsmouth, and 



•►^ll-^ 



•^"^ 



••► 



129(5 



CASS COUNTY. 



iiiiiugurnting tlie practice wliich he liss since cnrried 
on so suocessfully. In 1886 he accepted a position 
with the Lonihard Investment Company of Lin- 
coln, as Examiner of Pities, but in November, 1887, 
withdrew and returning to Plattsmouth resumed his 
regular practice. Mr. Lombard, in answering Mr. 
Brown's letter of resignation, complimented him 
highly upon the correctness and efficiency of his 
work, and the manner in which he had in all respects 
discharged his duties in connection with the firm. 
One of the most interesting events in the life of 
our subject took place on the 18th of December, 
1884, when lie was united in marriage with Miss 
]\Latllda Peterson, at the home of the bride. This 
lady was born in Sweden, and was brought by her 
l)arents to America wiien a girl ten years of age. 
Of this union there have been born two children. 



--w -\t2jej2'®-^ 



«i/^-S!/JT?TJ»\~ -l/v~- 



APT. .JONATHAN UATT and Ills partner, 
J. W. Marthis, are proprietors of one of the 
best managed and most extensively patron^ 
ized meat markets in Plattsmonlh. He was born 
near Leamington, Canada, Dec. 1 2, 1 848. His father, 
Anthony George Hatt, was a native of England, as 
was also his father, who was of German ancestry. 
The latter came to America previous to the Crimean 
AVitr and joined his children in the Province of 
Ontario, Canada. He subsequently went from there 
to Waj'ne County, Mich., where he died in the home 
of a daughter, six miles from Detroit. Three of 
his children came to America: James settled near 
Leamington, Canada, and there died ; Sarah married 
Joseph Batishill, and died near Detroit, Mich., and 
the father of our subject is living in Plattsmouth. 

The latter was reared in his native county, that 
of Essex, England, and in his youth he there learned 
the trades of wheelwright and carpentry. At nine- 
teen j'ears of age he came to America and located 
in Buffalo, where he worked at his trade, opening a 
wagon shop in company with liis brother-in-law. 
They carried on business there a few years, and 
then our subject bought a tract of timbered land 
in Mercy Township, near Leamington, Canada, and 
there improved a farm. He afterward sold it in 
1856 and bought another in Colchester, on which 



he lived until 1861. He then disposed of this prop- 
erty' at a good advance on the original cost price, 
and went to Amherstburg to open a hotel, wiiich 
he managed for two years. At the end of that time 
he sold his hotel and moved to Windsor, where he 
engaged in business as carpenter ^nd builder until 
1864. He then went to Detroit, and was emjjloyed 
in building in that city about a j'ear. Hisnextmove 
took him to Dayton, Ohio, and he there assisted in 
buililing the Soldiers' Home. From there he went 
to Cincinnati, where he erected several buildings. 
From that city lie went to Chicago and operated 
there nearly a year. Council Bluffs was his next 
destination, and after that Omaha, and in both 
places be was engaged at his trade. He came to 
Plattsmouth from the latter city to assist in build- 
ing a hotel here (that building has since been 
burned). He had been here a short time when he 
seized a good opportunity to establish a meat-mnr- 
ket. He carried on that business with good finan- 
cial success until 1888, when he sold out to his son 
Jonathan and partner. Since then he has lived in 
retirement, having an ample income, and is spend- 
ing the winter in California. The maiden name of 
his first wife, mother of our sublcct, was Ann Bati- 
shill, and she was a native of England, coming to 
America with her parents. She died in 1856, leav- 
ing eight children, namely: Emily A., Sarah J., 
Elizabeth, William, George, Jonathan, Mar\' and 
Charlotte. Mr. Hatt married a second time, Eme- 
line Majiles becoming his wife. 

The subject of this sketch is the youngest son of 
his parents. He was reared on a farm, and remained 
at home in his native county until he was about 
sixteen j'ears old. He had an eager desire to be- 
come a sailor, and at that age shipped on l)oard a 
lake vessel. He sailed on the lakes for several j'ears 
and gained a good practical knowledge of naviga- 
tion, so that when he was offered the captaincj' of 
a steara-ti'g plying on Lakes Erie and Huron he 
was well fitted for the position and accepted it. He 
was master of that tug until 1876, when he engaged 
as mate on the steamer "Fred Kellej-," which voj'- 
aged up and down Lakes Erie and Huron. He 
retained his position on board that steamer four 
years, and then signed as mate of the Marj- Jerecki. 
and occupied that [josition for one j'ear. He then 






•►Hl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1297 



suceeefled Capt. Sliepard as commanding ofDcer on 
board of a boat that ran on Lake Michigan. In 1883 
he abandoned life on the lakes to make his home 
under Nebraska's sunny skies. In .lanuary of that 
year he came to Plattsmoutii. and forming a part- 
nership with .1. W. Marthis bought his father's 
market, and the}- have ever since cairied on the 
business with signal success. 

Our subject was married, in February, 1885, to 
Miss Elvira .Sharping, a native of Milwaukee. They 
have one ciiild, John Victor, who is a year old. 
Their daughter Lilian died in infancj'. 

Capt. Hatt's early experience as a sailor on the 
lakes has been of use to him in various ways; has 
rendered him independent and self-reliant, and be 
is keen and prompt in his dealings, yet he is frank 
and hearty in his manners, and no one fs more ready 
than he to extend a helping hand to those who have 
been less fortunate than himself. He is eminently 
sociable and companionable, and these quilities And 
him favor among his fellow-members of Trio Lodge 
No. 84, A. O. U. W. Politically be a Republican. 



"jf? P:0NARD C. W. MURRAY is a pioneer of 
I (^ Cass Count}' of 1855. The pioneer element of 
IIL^^ . Cass County has no more worthy factor than 
the subject of this biography, who, with his estima- 
ble wife, began housekeeping on an 80-acre farm 
four miles south of the present city of Plattsmouth 
in the spring of 1870. They lived there until 1882. 
then moved to a farm on section 30, in Plattsmouth 
Precinct, where they have since resided. This em- 
braces 160 acres of good land, which, with the ex- 
ception of having been plowed, was at the time of 
purchase destitute of improvement, there being no 
buildings. Mr. M. has put up a comfortable resi- 
dence, a barn and other outbuildings, planted an 
orchard, fenced the fields, and by degrees added the 
other conveniences necessary for the successful 
prosecution of agriculture. Besides a large amount 
of labor involved he has expended over $4,000 in 
money, and has a homestead at once desirable and 
attractive. 

Mr. Murray is essentiallj' a Western man, having 
been born in Moniteau County, Mo., June 6, 1848. 



His parents were Jonathan and Elizabeth (Berger) 
Murray (see sketch of his brother Joshua), and were 
among the ver}- earliest settlers of that part of Mis- 
souri, going there with their parents from Tennes- 
see when small children. They were reared and 
married in Moniteau County, where they lived un- 
til 1851, then removed to Mills County, Iowa, 
where they live<l two years, and thence came to 
Nebraska Territory in 1855. The father selected a 
tract of land north of the present citj' of Rock Bluff, 
wliere the family lived a number of years, and where 
their thirteen cliililren were reared to maturity. 

The father of our subject died at the home farm 
in this precinct. He had been a pioneer of three 
Territories, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska, in fact 
his entire life w.as siient on the fi-onticr. The 
mother is still living, making her home with her son 
Alvars, in .Smith County, Kan. Leonard was the 
tenth child of the famil}'. and was a little lad of five 
years when he came witii his parents to Nebraska. 
There were then many Indians in the vicinity of the 
present site of Rock Bluff, and probably about six 
white families. Our subject labored with his father 
in the development of the Nebraska homestead, and 
early in life began to form his own plans for the 
future. A few months after reaching his m.ajorit}' 
he was married, Sept. 2, 1869, to Miss Rebecca A., 
daughter of .Stephen and Elizabeth Wiles, of Platts- 
mouth Precinct. This lady was born Feb. 1, 1857, 
in Missouri, and of their union there are eleven 
children living: Charles A., Clarence, John, Isa- 
bell, Laura J., Ida May, Leonard C. W., Jr., David, 
Florence, Eddie and Christopher C. Cordelia, the 
second child, died at the iige of eighteen months. 

When the father of our subject began life in Ne- 
braska he was without means, and got his first cow 
and their limited stock of household furniture with 
money earned by mauling rails at fifty cents per 
hundred. The mother added to the family income 
by weaving and spinning. Thus commenced the 
married life of the j'oung people, in wide contrast 
to the condition of most of the newly weiided peo- 
ple of to-da}', who would consider themselves 
greatl}' abused by fate or Providence were they 
compelled to make the shifts and turns which 
pioneers cheerfully underwent together. Mr. and 
Mrs. Murraj' have gathered around them scores of 



•»-Hr^- 



*:^^ 



•► 



1-298 



CASS COUNTY. 



friends during their long residence in tins county. 
They are botli members in good standing of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. M.. politi- 
cally, is a stanch Republican. 



— «i-MK< 



(^:Ss^ AMUEL McCLINTlC. This farmer, grain- 
^^^ bu^'er and public-spirited citizen of Eaglei 
^&J_3) ^^^ born near Fostoria, Hancock Co., Ohio, 
Jan. 19, 1839, where he lived with his par- 
ents until he was thirteen years old, when the fam- 
ily removed to Michigan, where he lived with his 
father until reaciiing the age of twenty-eight. One 
year prior to this time he married, and with his wife 
lived with his parents for one year, working on the 
farm. He then went to Black Hawk County, Iowa, 
in 1867, and rented 400 acres of land, which he 
cultivated for two years. In the spring of 1869 he 
concluded renting was not what he wanted, and in 
search of a better location and better opportunities 
he went to Arkansas, Kansas and Texas, but in all 
his journeyingshe found nothing that satisfied him. 
He then came to Lincoln, Neb., where he had a half 
brother; from that cit^' he came to Tipton Precinct, 
Cass County, and discovered the land that seemed 
to meet his requirements, and he filed a homestead 
claim of 160 acres on section 20. He then went 
back to Iowa for his family. He came back to Elk- 
horn in the spring, by rail and stage to Lincoln, 
and rented a farm near the latter place, for the first 
season, and began plowing and otherwise improv- 
ing it. In the fall he homesteaded eighty acres of it, 
and let eighty acres go. In the spring of 1 870 he 
built his house, which was 14x22 feet; when com- 
pleted it was the largest house at that time in the 
Precinct. He hauled the lumber for it from Oak 
Grove. 

The nearest markets to the home of our subject 
were Lincoln and Ashland. Neighbors were scarce, 
trials and hardships many, but our subject stuck 
right to it, and made a grand success of his venture. 
Not a hill or a tree were to be seen, to break the 
monotonj' of the view, so he set out his trees in 
groves, which after these j-ears of growth present a 
fine appearance, and add great value to his home- 
stead, on which he still lives. Himself and brother. 






in partnership, bought and shipped stock, and in 
1873 they shipped to the Chicago market. They 
purchased land at various times, as opportunity 
offered, until they owned one entire section of 640 
acres, described as the south one-half of section 21, 
soutlieast quarter of section 20, and the northeast 
quarter of section 29. This land they owned and 
operated in partnership until 1884, when our sub- 
ject bought his brother's interest, and became the 
sole proprietor. In 1886 he sold to the Missouri 
Pacific Railroad Company the quarter-section of sec- 
tion 20, his original homestead, on which to locate 
the town site. He was very instrumental in getting 
the road through the Grove, donating the right of 
way for a mile through his property. 

Mr. McClintic has his farm fenced and cross- 
fenced in convenient sized fields for the purposes 
for which the^' are intended, with substantial wire 
fences. A large orchard yields a large supply of 
excellent fruit, and ten acres of cedars, and a num- 
ber of groves, afford abundant shelter to the large 
number of cattle which he handles annually. He 
raises and ships to market from five to six car-loads 
of hogs, and the same number of car-loads of cat- 
tle. He has eighteen head of one-half to three- 
quarter blood Norman horses, all of which he uses 
in the cultivation and operation of his farm. 

When twentj'-seven years old our subject was 
married to Miss Harriet McConnell, the daughter 
of Thomas and Mar}' (Ford) McConnell, Jan. 1, 
1866. in Charlotte, Mich. This lady was the young- 
est of a family of eleven children — William, Ele- 
nora, James, Phcebe, Rebecca, Thomas, John, Marj', 
Oliver and Elizabeth. William, John, Phcebe, Re- 
becca and Elizabeth are deceased. Harriet was 
born in Orange, Ashland Co., Ohio, Oct. 24, 1844. 
Her brothers Oliver and John served in the Union 
Array from the beginning of the Rebellion to its 
close. They enlisted from Michigan, and were hon- 
orably discharged. Her father and mother were 
natives of Pennsylvania; her fathers' family moved 
to Ashland County, Ohio., where he bought land 
and improved it. In 1852 he moved to Eaton 
County, Mich. He was a veteran soldier, serving 
in the American Army in the War of 1812, having 
enlisted when he was only sixteen years old. He 
died in Michigan in the fall of 1860. Her mother 



*::il 



•►Hl^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



1299 ' ^ 



(lieri in 1849, in Ohio. Both were earnest Chris- 
tians, and WL're memhers of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Clinrch. 

Her grandfather McConnell was of Scotch-Irish 
descent, and was a soldier in the Warof 1812. Her 
grandfather Ford was a fanner near Mansfield, Ohio; 
one of liis sons, Thomas, was Governor of the State 
and a Colonel in the army. The father of our subject 
was George W. McClintic, born in Bradford Countj', 
Pa., Feb. 15, 1806. His mother was Elizabeth 
Daly, born in Guernsey County, Ohio. The father 
was of Irish descent, and moved to Ohio when a 
boy, and was one of the ver3' first settlers in Mor- 
gan Countj', in that State. He bought land in the 
heart of the forest and cleared up a rich farm. He 
was married there, Miss Mary Lupone becoming his 
first wife; she died about one j-ear after their mar- 
riage. On the 1 8th of Februarj', 1 836, he married 
Jliss Elizabeth J^ailey, and then removed first to 
Hancocii: County, Ohio, where he was one of the 
pioneers of that county. There he bought Govern- 
ment land and cleared two farms. In 18.54 he re- 
moved to Eaton Township, P^aton Co., Mich., wliere 
he purchased land and improved it until he had a 
farm of 240 acres, planting a fine orchard and vaii- 
ous other fruits, lie was highly respected and 
honored by all who knew him, hale and hearty un- 
til he died. Eight days before his death he was 
digging ditches; he died Oct. 10, 1884. The mother 
died in 1 885 aged sixty years. 

Our subject's grandfather McClintic was a vet- 
eran soldier, he having served in the War of 1812. 
He was one of the pioneer settlers of Morgan 
County, Ohio, where he bought and improved land. 
He was of Irish descent, his father having come 
from Ireland. Grandfather Dailey was also a vet- 
eran soldier, having served in the War of 1812; he 
was of English descent and his home was in Ohio. 

The parents of our subject had a family of eight 
children, of whom Samuel was the second oldest. 
One sister, Margai-et, deceased, being the eldest. 
Mary, Joseph, George, Katharine, Elizabeth and 
Ida A. being younger. All these children were born 
in Ohio except Ida A. Tiie home circle of our 
subject and his estimable wife has been graced with 
five children — Maud, Newton, Estella, Grace and 
Nellie; the two daughters, Grace and Maud, and a 



son, Newton, have passed away, leaving Estella and 
Nellie to cheer by their presence the declining years 
of their affectionate parents. Gentle and loving in 
their natures, they give great promise of being a 
source of joy and comfort and of lasting sunshine 
in tneir home. 

When a name was sought for a new town it was 
proposed to name it McClintic, in honor of our sub- 
ject, but with the modesty born of true merit he 
declined the compliment, suggesting that it be called 
by the name of the old post-office, which was accord- 
ingly done. The land now occupied by the town 
of Eagle is his original homestead. He owns a 
large amount of property in the town, as well as 
480 acres adjoining the town. Mrs. McClintic is 
one of those ladies without whom the world could 
not well prosper; quiet and unassuming in her man- 
ner and hospitable to the fullest extent, she is a 
source of comfort to all who know and are brought 
into contact with her. Our subject has been Post- 
master at Eagle for four years, has been on the 
School Board of the town, and aside from this he 
has filled no public offlee. In politics he is classed 
with tlie Democrats, but does not always vote with 
them, tiie man, not party, claiming his suffrage. He 
voted for Abraham Lincoln, and has been a dele- 
gate to State and County Conventions. 



^ )>ILLIAM 
\y\5' promine 



ILLIAM T. .JOHNSON, a lifelong farmer 
good circumstances and one of the 
prominent men of Rock BInff Precinct, 
has recently sold his homestead on section 16, and 
proposes to retire from active labor. The rest 
which he proposes to enter upon he has most justly 
earned by years of industry, during which he has 
obtained a competency sufficient to keep him in 
comfort during his declining years. 

Our subject is a Western man both by birth and 
in all his sympathies, his native place being Mont- 
gomery County, Mo., where he began life Oct. 27, 
1845, when they all carae to this county, and Will- 
iam T., on the 13th of January, 1870, was united in 
marriage with Miss Mary J. McNurlin. The young 
people began the journey of life together in Cass 
Countj', and Mr. Johnson occupied himself as before 



♦rJ»- 



a 1300 



CASS COUNTY. 



in farming pursuits, which he prosecuted thereafter 
for a period of nineteen years and until deciding 
to lay aside its labors and I'esponsibilities. 

Mr. Johnson made his first purcliase of land in 
this township. Tiiis comprised 160 acres in extent 
and was located on section 16, in Rock Blufif Pre- 
cinct. He battled successfully with the elements 
of the new soil and after a few years, finding the 
live-stock business remunerative, gave much of his 
attention to the raising and feeding of cattle. 
John and Jemima Johnson, the parents of our 
subject (see sketcli on another page) also reside in 
this township. 

Mrs. Johnson was born Jan. 27, 18oo, in Ohio, 
and is the daughter of Marshall and Martha 
(Smith) McNurlin, the former of whom was a na- 
tive of Huntingdon County, Pa., but reared in 
Ohio. The parents were married in Indiana in 
1848, and remained residents of that State until the 
j'ear 1865, when they came to this State, settling 
in Rock Creek Precinct, where the father engaged 
in farming. His death took place Feb. 11, 1884. 
Mrs. McNurlin is still living, making her home 
with her children. Grandfather James McNurlin 
was also a native of Pennsylvania, where he was 
reared to manhood and married Miss Rachel Jef- 
ferson, of that State. The paternal great-grand- 
father was a native of Ireland. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born seven children, namely: Leiia, John A., 
Lily, Ixlna, Artie, William M.and Charles C. John 
died in infancy, March 3, 1872, aged five months 
and twenty-three days. Mr. Johnson, politically, is 
an uncompr(jmising Democrat, and his esteemed 
lady is a member in good standing of the United 
Presbyterian Church. 



W^;ILLIAM J. BALDWIN, a prosperous far- 
mer and thorough lover of horses, is a resi- 
dent of Ashland Precinct in Saunders 
County, on the ''cut off."' His home is situated on 
the southeast quarter of sections 7, 12 and 9, which 
•was cut off from Cass and annexed to Saunders 
County, in 1866, when Ashland was made th^ capi- 
tal of Saunders Countv. He was born in Essex 



County, N. J., seven miles from the Atl.antie coast, 
Dec. 4, 1837. He remained there on the home farm 
until 1856, when at the age of nineteen he came 
West and settled in Mills County, Iowa, where he 
was a pioneer, and for many years was acquainted 
with and personally knew every inhabitant of the 
county. When he went there it was with the in- 
tention of making it his permanent home, whicli 
idea was brought about apparently by his youth- 
ful marriage, which took place when he was only 
eighteen j'ears old, in 1855, when he was united in 
holy matrimony with Miss Mary E. Van Dorn. 
She was born in Morris County, N. J., and grew uj) 
there. See sketch of Aaron L. Van Dorn elsewhere 
in this work. 

When our subject came to Iowa his wife accom- 
panied him and bore her share of the cai'es and 
hardships of pioneer life, and she has the honor of 
being among the first white mothers in Mills County. 
Five children have been born to this worthy couple 
who are named: Frank, born in New Jersey; W. 
Roscoe, Anna, Charley and Willie. The son Frank 
resides in Cass County, where he owns and operates 
a farm and is married to Miss Adale Wilburn; W. 
Roscoe married Miss Samantha Corey, and also re- 
sides in Cass County; they have two children, 
Claudia and Cora; Anna is the wife of W. C. Gor- 
don, Esq., an enterprising grain dealer, residing in 
Ashland; Charley is attending the High School at 
Ashland, and is in the class of '91; Willie is at 
home with his parents. Mr. Baldwin came with his 
family to Nebraska in February, 1880, where he 
settled on his present farm. 

^Ir. Baldwin has been in partnership with his 
wife's brother. Aaron Van Dorn, since the close of 
the war, and of late years they have been giving their 
attention almost exclusivelj' to raising fine thorough 
bred horses. The}' have imported and now own the 
English Shire Stallion "Logan," and the imported 
Cleveland Bay Stallion, "Sporting Times." Each ani- 
mal is worth a fortune. The firm have large and com- 
fortable stables in both Cass and Saunders County. 
They are the first to engage in the business in 
this part of the State and success has been theirs. In 
the early years of their venture they met with many 
discouragements, and were thought by their neigh- 
bors to be entering into a business which would re- 



•►HI-<» 



1 



•►Hl^ 



•«► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1301 



suit in ultimate loss, but tliey knew that the venture 
could be made to pay a handsome profit on the in- 
vestment necessary, and tlieir present flourishing 
business is full proof of the correctness of their 
ideas. 

The father of our subject, Horatio A., was born 
in New .lersey in 1802, was of Scotch and French 
origin, deriving the French blood from liis mother's 
side. He is still living in Mills Countj^, Iowa, hav- 
ing come there from New Jersej^ in 1859. The 
grandfather Baldwin held a commission as Major 
in the American Army during the AVar of 1812, 
liaving had a previous experience in armj' life, hav- 
ing been in the service when a boy under Gen. 
Washington during the Revolutionary "War. His 
mother, Mary E., was born in Engl.and: she died in 
June, 1882, aged eighty -one years. Two children, 
Mary and William J., our subject, were born to 
the parents. Mary is the widow of A. 11. Sherman, 
and she now resides in Malvern, Iowa. 

Mr. Baldwin, our subject, is popular, and well and 
favorably known as a horseman througliout the 
Southeastern part of the State. His love for the 
equine tribe is inherited, and aside from the profits 
he realizes, his horses afford him an unbounded de- 
gree of pleasure, and the animals, exhibiting a de- 
gree of intelligence approaching human knowledge, 
seem to realize that he is their friend, and recipro- 
cate the feeling in a touching manner; by gentle- 
ness he has won their confidence, and when he is 
among them the happy feelings are mutual. He 
traces his ancestry back to the early Amei-ican 
families, many of his people having fought 
valiantly in both the Wars of the Revolution and 
of 1812, to secure and hold the absolute freedom 
and liberty of their country. The Baldwin people 
as a family are like our subject — large, handsome, 
heavily bearded, broad-shouldered, deep-chested 
and base- voiced, possessing a remarkable strength 
and wonderful degree of vitality. i\Irs. Baldwin, 
although past the meridian of life, is hale and 
hearty, and is very active in body and mind, and a 
study of her face and bearing shows tliat in lier 
youth she was an exceedingly handsome woman, 
which she has not yet outgrown. Always cheerful 
and happy, kind and considerate of the comfort and 
pleasure of her familj' and friends, she holds and 



fills to perfection a prominent place in the first rank 
of the wives and mothers of our State. Her home 
gives evidence throughout of a rare taste and skill- 
ful management. 

The home of these excellent people is a neat one 
and one-half story frame house, equipped with all the 
available conveniences, and is surrounded by fruit- 
ful orchards and shady groves. The farm yards are 
large and laid off regnlai-ly so as to accommodate 
to the best advantage the stock for which they are 
provided, and their arrangement indicates the 
action of a mind able to grasp all the details of the 
business. The barns and sheds are good and ad- 
mirably adapted for sheltering the herds, and are 
supplied with water by a system of iron piping 
from a tank which is filled by a windmill pump. 

Our subject is a prominent member of the 
Knights of Pythias, being Master of Finance to that 
Order. He has never sought nor held any public 
office, preferring to devote his time exclusively to 
the pursuit of liis private aff.airs. 

ETER ROELOF.SZ was the first man to 
take up and improve a homestead in Tipton 
Precinct, which he did in the spring of 1868. 
He had been renting farms in Monona 
County, Iowa, and feeling that he could do better 
bj' making a home for iiimself, he started overland 
with teams and wagons to Nebraska, crossed the 
Missouri River at Nebraska Cit^', continuing on to 
Tipton, where he took up his present home and im- 
mediately began improving the same. He built a 
small house and spent the summer there, and In the 
fall he went back to Iowa for his family. He re- 
mained there until the winter came on, then moved 
to Glenwoo<l, Iowa, where he obtained work. He 
returned to his homestead the following spring, and 
resumed the improvement of his claim by setting 
out groves and |)lanting an orchard. At this time 
it was rather a lonely life, as it was four miles to 
the nearest neighbor. 

When not engaged In Improving his faiin ho 
followed freighting between Nebraska City and 
Lincoln. Under no circumstances could he be In 
duced to part with his homestead, but continued 



•►Hl:^ 



ed ▼ 



•►Hl^ 



1302 



CASS COUNTY. 



to improve it in all directions, dividing it up into 
fields !>}' well-kept fences of hedge and wire. In 
1879 he built a new and comfortable residence. 
He devotes his attention to general farming and 
the raising of thoroughbred stock, graded Short- 
horn cattle and full-bh^oded Poland China hogs. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Galler- 
land, Holland, Aug. 8, 1839. His early life was 
spent on the farm, and he attended one of the ex- 
cellent schools of that country. At the age of 
fourteen he began to learn the weaver's trade, 
which he followed until he left Holland for Amer- 
ica. When fifteen years of age, in the fall of 185-t, 
he came to America with his parents, by the way 
of Havre, France, and Liverpool, England; thence 
by sailing-ship to New York, where they landed in 
Castle Garden, after a voy.age of twenty-three days. 
The whole family continued their journey to Iowa, 
where they settled on a tract of forty acres of raw 
land in Monona County. 

Our subject remained here until he was twenty- 
one years old, when he began to engage in business 
for himself. In October, 18G2, he enlisted in the 
3d Missouri Cavalry, Companj- C. He was mus- 
tered into the service at Palmyra, Mo., and saw 
service under command of Gen. Prentiss, Col. 
Glover and Capt. Black. The regiment was largely 
employed doing guard duty along the line of the 
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. When they were 
relieved from this service the regiment was or 
dered to Rolla, Mo., where our subject was taken 
sick, and was sent to the geneial hospital at 
St. Louis, Mo., where he remained until he re- 
covered. He was then mustered out, and hon- 
orably discharged at St. Louis on account of 
physical disability. The bulk of his army service 
was in chasing bushwhackers and squads of Gen. 
Price's men; he participated in the battle of Stur- 
geon, Mo. Returning home after his diseliarge, he 
went to work on a farm in Lynn County, Iowa, 
drove an omnibus for a season in Cedar Rapids, 
which engaged his attention up to the time we find 
him located on his homestead ai Tii)ton. 

This gentleman is one of a family of ten children 
— Elizabeth. Henrietta, Chaunccy, Corrina, Johan- 
nah, Joseph, Josina, and Cora and Henry, younger; 
all living except Cliauncey and Corrina, who were 



drowned, and Joseph, deceased. The brother Jo- 
seph was a Captain in the Netherlands army, and 
was stationed in the East Indies. He was killed 
b}' the giving way of a veranda. 

Peter Roelofsz, Sr., the father of our subject, 
was born in Amsterdam, Holland, and was a clerk 
in a large wholesale establisiiment. After marriage 
he moved into Gallerland, and went into stock- 
raising, also operating a grist and oil mill, until he 
became vevy wealthy. At one time he was worth 
more than $100,000, but, going security a great 
deal for his friends, he finally failed. In the fall 
of 1864 he came to America, and settled in Monona 
County, Iowa, and he began improving his home. 
At the same time he engaged in the mercantile 
business in Pella, Iowa. In this venture he did 
fairly well for a while, but. going security for his 
son-in-law, he failed a second time. He then moved 
to St. Louis, and lived with one of his daughters 
until he died, in September, 1880. at the ripe old 
age of seventy-nine years. The mother had died 
in Iowa in 1862, being then fifty-two years old. 
She was Miss Elizabeth G. Phillips, and was born 
in Germany. 

Grandfather Roelofsz was a banker in Amsterdam, 
and was very rich. Our subject was married in 
Lynn County, Iowa, Oct. 9, 1863, to Miss Julia 
Hawks, daughter of James ami Annette (Dunckler) 
Hawks. Grandfather Dunckler was a cooper. He 
went to Chicago when there were only two or three 
houses, and bought 900 acres of land a few miles 
from the present site of the city. He built a resi- 
dence in Chicago, and his decease occurred there 
in 1861, when he was sixty-nine years of age. The 
father of the wife of our subject was a farmer, and 
also a merchant of Grand Rapids, Mich., and re- 
moved from there to Chicago. He owned a farm 
west of that citj', and operated it until 1861, when 
he removed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he pur- 
chased a farm and operated a hotel. 

The family next moved to Kingston, .again en- 
gaging in the hotel business. Leaving Kingston 
they went to Nebraska, where they took up a home- 
stead in 1869. Thej' operated this farm until 1881, 
when they sold the property and went to Howard 
City: he is now living with his daughter at Buffalo, 
Neb. The father is seventy years of age, and the 



-•►HI 



-11-^^ 



-•► 



CASS COUNTY. 



1303 



mother sixty-seven. Julia A., the wife of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was one of a family of twelve 
children — Mary E., Laura A. and William are 
older; Alonzo A., Hiram, Vincent R., Chase M., 
Eben, Frank, Jennie and Carrie E. Of this num- 
ber Hiram, Ebin, Frank and Jennie are deceased. 
The brother William served three and a half 
years in the War of the Rebellion, enlisting when 
only sixteen years of age. 

The lady was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 
8, 1849, and was tliirteen years of age when the 
family removed to Iowa. She received a good edu- 
cation, is a kind and considerate wife, and is a joy 
and comfort to her husband and family — very hos- 
pitable, striving to make the stranger within her 
gates happy and content. Twelve children have 
been born to this couple — Elizabeth A., Chrislma 
I., Anthony D., Peter, Jr., Josina. Maud, Arthur, 
Ralph, Blanche. Grace, Raj' and Ethel. All are 
living except Elizabeth, Anthonj', Peter, Jr., Maud 
and Arthur. Josina is at school in Weeping Water; 
the rest are at home. 

Our suliject has been in America so long and has 
become so thoroughly identified with the country 
that he feels perfectly at home. He has never en- 
tered largely into public life, preferring to attend 
strictly to the improvement and care of his farm. 
He has been a member of the School Board for a 
j'ear. Postmaster at Sunlight for two years, and 
Constable. Himself and wife are members of the 
United Brethren Church, and he has been Superin- 
tendent of Sunday-school at Tipton school- house. 
In politics he is a strict Republican. 

^HILIP TRITSCH,one of the early pioneers 
of Eight Mile Grove Precinct, owns and 
occupies a good farm on section 12. He 
was borji in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, 
May 9, 1846, and is the son of Philip and Maggie 
Tritsch, who were also natives of the Fatherland, 
and the former is now deceased. The fatiier died 
when Philip, Jr., was a lad nine years of age, and 
two years later our subject emigrated with his 
mother, one brother and one sister, to the United 



States, making the voj^age from Havre to New 
Yoi-k City on an ocean steamer, in fourteen daj-s. 

The Tritsch family proceeded directly westward 
from the metropolis to Tazewell County, this 
State, where they located, and where the mother 
was subsequently married to Philip Horn, now a 
resident of Plattsmouth Precinct, this county. Of 
her first marriage there have been born three chil- 
dren: Elizabeth, now the wife of Adam Fornoff, 
of Eight Mile Grove Precinct; Philip and Jacob. 
Of her marriage with Mr. Horn there were born 
four children: iMary, the wife of Theodore Stark- 
johann; Maggie, Mrs. Frederick Kahne; and Cath- 
erine, Mrs. Henry Hirtz; all of whom live in 
Plattsmouth Precinct. Lizzie is the wife of John 
Koffenberger. 

Our subject was reared to man's estate in Taze- 
well County, 111., where he attained his majoritj-, 
and a good education in both German and En- 
glish, largely through his own efforts. He at the 
same time became familiar with farming pursuits. 
In 1866 he came to this county, where he sojourned 
one jear, then returned to Illinois, but in 1869 
came back to Nebraska, und has since been con- 
tented to remain. He was married, in December 
of the latter year, to Miss Charlotte "\'ellery, a na- 
tive of Ohio, who bore him three children — John 
P., Philip H., and Henry, deceased. Mrs. Charlotte 
Tritsch died April 4, 1874. 

Our subject contracted a second marriage, 
April 26, 1876, with Miss Mary, daughter of 
Theas and Magdalena (Timm) Stark johann; .she 
was born Nov. 26, 1854. Her parents were natives 
of Germany, and emigrated to America in 1867. 
The father is now deceased. Mrs. T. was thirteen 
years old when her parents came to this country, 
and made permanent settlement in Plattsmouth 
Precinct, where the death of her father took place 
Feb. 20, 1874; the mother is still living on the old 
farm, and is now nearly seventj- years old. Their 
family consisted of six children, only three of 
whom are living, namelj': Theodore; Mary, the 
wife of our subject, and William, all residents of 
this county. The deceased are Henry, Emile and 
August. 

To our subject and his estimable wife there have 
been born six children, namely: Helen, deceased; 



f 



•►Hl^ 



1304 



CASS COUNTY. 



William, Edward, Anna, and Mary and Maggie, 
twins, both deceased. For a number of years before 
settling upon his present farm Mr. Tritsch operated 
as a renter; he came to this place in 1874. He has 
240 acres well improved and very fertile, and one 
of the handsomest residences in the county, erected 
in 1884. Tlie other buildings correspond with the 
dwelling, and the whole premises reflect great 
credit upon the proprietor. Mr. and Mrs. T. are 
identified with the Lutheran Church, and our sub- 
ject, politically, votes the Democratic ticket. Al- 
though frequently solicited to accept office he 
invariably declines. 

The traveler in passing through this section of 
Cass County seldom sees a more desirable estate 
than that built up by Philip Tritsch. He inher- 
ited from his excellent German ancestry the quali- 
ties most needed in the pioneer citizen, those 
qualities which led him to persevere amid difficul- 
ties and hardships, and have placed him in the 
front rank among his fellow-citizens. A man 
prompt to meet his obligations, his word is consid- 
ered as good as his bond, and his name is eminently 
worthy to be placed among those of the representa- 
tive citizens of Southern Nebraska. 



^ ON. S. M. KIRKPATRICK, late a member 
I'lf)!] of tlie State Legislature, and one of the 
JW^ most prominent men of Cass County, has 
(^i for years been intimately connected with the 
most important interests of Southern Nebraska. 
He came within its precincts when it was but a Ter- 
ritory, making a claim on the 18th of June. 1855, 
the land ]3rc-empted being on section 18, in Liberty 
Precinct, and he was the very first settler in the val- 
ley of the Weeping Water at this point. He came 
here when around him was an unbroken waste, be- 
fore the county could boast of but one log house 
and a cabin, of sufficient importance to be designa- 
ted as a village, and when the flourishing city of 
Plattsmouth was the site of a few little huts, put 
up by adventurous but impecunious people, who 
were struggling to delve from the soil enough to 
keep soul and body together. Indians still roamed 
over the countrv. and wild animals also. The out- 



look was anything but promising, but the subject 
of this sketch was a man of more than ordinary 
determination. He had come to stay, and was not 
to l>e driven from his purpose by anyordinar}' cir- 
cumstances. He clung steadfastly to his resolution 
to continue and "grow up with the country," at a 
time when white settlers were frequently making a 
I stampede from the depredations of the Indians, 
although to tell the truth Mr. Kirkpatrick says 
that there was a great deal more smoke than fire 
during those times, and many of the people were 
unnecessarily alarmed. 

Our subject secured his land before the Govern- 
ment survey had been completed. It included one 
of tlie finest mill sites along the Weeping AYater, 
which he utilized as soon as possible, erecting a 
sawmill, from which he began dressing lumber in 
September, the same year of his arrival. It is 
hardly necessary to state that the equipments of 
that mill were somewhat inferior to those of the 
present time. The year following, however, Mr. 
K. introduced some new improvements, including 
a set of burrs, with which he intended to grind 
wheat, but afterward transferred the property to 
other parties, before beginning operations as a 
flour miller. This was the first mill building erected 
on the Weeping Water, in fact the first mill of any 
kind built in the county. For some years it ac- 
commodated the people for miles around. 

At the time of the settlement of Mr. Kirkpatrick 
there were only about 180 voters in the county. 
He was readily recognized as a man of more than 
ordinary ability, and was soon selected to represent 
the county in the Territorial Legislature at Omaha, 
being a member of the Senate, and re-elected three 
times by the Republicans of his district. He was 
in the Constitutional Conventions of 1871 and 1875, 
in the latter of wliich were adopted the existing 
laws of Nebraska. Prior to this he had represented 
the people of Cass County in the Territorial Leg- 
islature, and afterward was Speaker of the House. 
Since 1874 he has withdrawn from politics, although 
often being solicited to return to the field. During 
his public life it was conceded, even by his enemies, 
that in his day lie was one of the most able parlia- 
mentarians of the State. 

The public duties of Mr. Kirkpatrick brought 



.^h 



•►Hf^ 



CASS COUNTY. 






^V* 



-t 



him into contact with many eminent men, while his 
own habit of observation resulted in yielding him 
a large fund of useful information. He is inti- 
mately acquainted, not only with the history of 
Nebraska, but the general development of the 
Cireat West, which has been a subject uppermost 
in his mind for a long period. A close student 
and an extensive reader, and a man of decided 
views, he is one also whose opinions are generally 
respected, and who has borne no unimportant 
]3art in the building up of Cass County, and intro- 
ducing those measures best calculated for its ad- 
vancement. The village of Nehawka was platted 
on his land, and to it he has extended his fostering 
care. It is evidently destined in the near future 
to be a business point of no small importance. 

The farm of Mr. Kirkpatrick embraces about 300 
acres of finely improved land, and upon it are the 
buildings naturally suggested by the means and 
requirements of its proprietor — a substantial dwell- 
ing with pleasant surroundings, an abundance of 
fruit and shade trees, which, together with the live 
stock and farm machinery, fulfill the modern idea 
of the well-regulated rural estate. 

A native of Adams County, Ohio, Mr. Kirkpat- 
rick was born Aug. 31, 1815, and is thescion of an 
excellent family, being the son of Absalom Kirk- 
patrick, who was the son of Andrew, the son of 
William. The latter was the first representative of 
the family in the United States, crossing from Lon- 
donderry, in the North of Ireland, probably dur- 
ing the Colonial da3'S, and settling in Maryland. 
The\- were of Scotch ancestry, and like the fore- 
fathers of hundreds of other people in this country, 
were driven from their native land during the re- 
ligious wars of three centuries ago. William Kirk- 
patrick must have made his home in Marj-land the 
remainder of his life. His son Andrew enlisted in 
the Revolutionary War, and participated in the bat- 
tle of Brandywine, at which he had a brother killed, 
and also in other important engagements. He mar- 
ried a lady of Welsh descent. Miss Elizabeth Bowen, 
who was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 
They subsequently moved to Virginia, and later to 
Ohio, locating a few miles east of the present city 
of Cincinnati, where they spent the remainder of 
their lives, dying when quite aged. 

Absalom Kirkpatrick, the father of our subject, 
was one of the seven sons of Andrew and Elizabeth 
Kirkpatrick, which completed their family, they 
having no daughters. The sons all lived to man's 
estate, were married and became the fathers of fam- 
ilies. Absalom, with four other brothers, was sub- 
jected to the general call for soldiers in the War 
of 1812, in which, however, they were not called 
upon to engage in any active battles, probably be- 



iug held in the Reserve Corps. Absalom must have 
attained his majority in the Old Dominion, as he 
was not married until the removal to Ohio. He 
was there wedded to Miss Elizabeth Van Pelt, wlio 
was born in St. John's, Nova Scotia, where her 
father had settled about the time of the beginning 
of the Revolutionary War. Prior to this he had 
lived on Staten Island. Upon removing from Nova 
Scotia to the States they settled first on the Nola- 
chucky, a branch of the Tennessee River, in Ten- 
nessee, whence they removed to Ohio, where the 
father, Tunis Van Pelt, died soon afterward. 

Absalom Kirkpatrick and his wife began their 
wedded life together on a farm in Ohio, where they 
lived until after the birth of all their children. 
They then changed their residence to Montgomery 
County, Ind., where they spent the remainder of 
their days, not far from the town of Crawfords- 
ville. The father died in 1855, at the age of sixtj'- 
eight years. He was a man of strong character and 
fine intelligence, and was prominent in public af- 
fairs. The mother, after the death of her husband, 
made her home with her son A. F., at the old home- 
stead, and passed away in 1863, at the advanced 
age of eighty years. She was in all respects the 
suitable companion of her husband, being a ladv of 
more than ordinary intelligence, higb minded, with 
cultivated tastes, and was a beautiful singer. 

The subject of this sketch was the fourth child 
and second son of his parents, whose family included 
five sons and three daughters. Of this large fam- 
ily only two sons are surviving, S. INI. and his 
brother C. Q., of Lafayette, Ind. Our subject 
lived in Ohio until a lad of fourteen years, where 
he began the rudiments of a practical education. 
He removed with his parents to Indiana, and from 
his youth up has been a lover of books, and by this 
means added to his store of knowledge when he 
could no longer attend school. He has always en- 
tertained an especial interest in matters of history. 
and there are few men of the present day possessing 
a more complete store of general information. 

The marriage of Hon. S. M. Kirkpatrick and Miss 
Elizabeth C. McMillin was celebrated at the home 
of the bride in Crawfordsville. Ind.. Oct. 11, 1836. 
Mrs. K. was born in 1816, in Campbell Couiitj-, 
Tenn., and brought up in Tazewell County, Va., 
and accompanied her motlier to Indiana when fif- 
teen years old, in the fall of 1830. Later she spent 
one and one-half years in Louisa County, Iowa, 
wliere Mr. K. vvas engaged in mercliandising. and 
where Mrs. Kirkpatrick died, together with their 
only child, in September, 1839. 

Mr. Kirkpatrick contracted a second marriage, in 
Thornton, Ind., April 1, 1841, with Miss Elizabeth 
Craig. This lady was born in Adams County. Ohio, 

■ » 



•►-ir^ 



1306 



CASS COUNTY. 



May 6, 1823. and is the (laughter of Robert Craig, 
a native of Ctuinty Down. Ireland. Robert Craig, 
the father of Mrs. K., was of Scottli anceslrj'. and 
her mother. Sarah Kerr, the daughter of Paul Kerr 
and Jane Weir, who were married on the Atlantic 
Ocean while coming to America. Many of their 
descendants became prominent jieople.and are now 
scattered in various jmrts of the Union. One cousin 
has for forty years been a resident of Canton, Ciiina, 
belonging to the American Foreign Mission. 

Mr. Craig emigrated to the United States when a 
child, and was reared liy an uncle in Pennsj'lvania. 
There also he was married, later moved to Ohio, 
and thence to Indiana. He died in Boone County, 
that State, when a ver}' old man. aged ninety-three 
years. Mrs. Kirkpatrick was well reared and edu- 
cated, and is a very intelligent lady, possessing all 
the womanly virtues. Of her union with our sub- 
ject there have been born ten children, two of whom 
are deceased : Sarah V., who died when three years 
old, and Julia F., who died in infanc}'. The sur- 
vivors are recorded as follows: Edwin A. married 
Miss Oella D. Black, daughter of Dr. John Black, 
of Plattsmouth, and is engaged in the grain trade 
at Nehawka; John M. married Miss Cornelia F. 
Goodrich, and is Cftrrying in farming extensively 
in Wheeler County, this State, where he owns a 
large amount of land ; Elizzie H. is the wife of 
Orlando Teftt, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere 
in this volume; Lee C. is residing at the home of 
his parents; William W. married Miss Maggie Gafif- 
ney, and is farming in Wheeler County ; Robert C, 
Mary S. and Kate L. are at home with their par- 
ent}^ Mary is a student of Lincoln University. 



ON. NICHOLAS SATCHELL, the present 
Representative to the State Legislature from 
the Cass County District, is pursuing a ca- 
reer in the assembly which is creditable to 
himself and satisfactory to his constituents. He 
conveys the impression of a man studious of the 
best interests of his community and conscientious 
in the discharge of his duties. His homestead 
comprises a fine farm located on the southeast quar- 
ter of section 18 in Weeping Water Precinct, and 
with its improvements forms one of the most at- 
tractive features of that part of the country. His 
domestic affairs are presided over by a very amia- 
ble and intelligent Lad}', who has the welfare of her 
husband and children at heart. 

Mr. Satchell is the offspring of an excellent 
family, the son of Daniel and Atha (Moore) 
Satchell, the former a native of Dorchester County, 
Md., and the latter born in Ohio. The paternal 



grandfather, Joseph Satchell, was of English des- 
cent, while grandfather Nicholas Moore traced 
his ancestry to Germany. Daniel Satchell removed 
with his parents, when a child of six years, to Ross 
County, Ohio, and some years later to Illinois, and 
engaged in farming in both Clinton and DeWitt 
Counties. His next removal was to Poweshiek 
County, Iowa, where he purchased 300 acres of 
Government land, which he improved and sold, 
then removed to Mahaska County, where he lived 
during the war. Next he changed his residence to 
Marion County, where he spent his last daj'S, dying 
in 1875, at the age of sixty-nine years. lie was in 
early life a Whig, then a Republican, and in relig- 
ious matters belonged to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. The mother of our subject passed away 
prior to the decease of her husband, dying in 1856, 
at the age of thirty-five years. Their, five children 
were named respectively, Nicholas M., Joseph, 
Daniel, Jr., William M. and Sarah C. Joseph, dur- 
ing the Civil War, enlisted in Company C, 28th 
Iowa Infantry, and served until the close. 

The subject of this sketch was born in Clinton, 
DeWitt Co., Ill, Jan. 2, 1842, and remained under 
the parental roof until a j'oung man of nineteen 
years. He assisted in the labors of the farm .and 
attended the district school. Soon after the outbreak 
of the Rebellion he enlisted in Company F., 10th 
Iowa Infantry, under the first call for the three 
j'ear's men, this being the first Company which left 
Poweshiek County. He was mustered into service 
at Iowa Citj', Aug. 7, 1861. His regiment was as- 
signed to the Army of the Tennessee, 15th Corps, 
under command of Gen. Logan, find going South 
at once participated in m.any of the important 
battles of the war. 

Our subject in the spring of 1863 joined the 
Yazoo River expedition under Grant's command, 
and later was in the siege of Vicksburg, and fought 
in other important battles. He was slightly wounded 
across the head at Champion Hill. Later he was 
with Gen. Sherman and witnessed the famous 
fight of Hooker above the clouds. At the expira- 
tion of his first term of service he re-enlisted, and 
later participated in the famous march to the sea, 
after which the troops journeyed up through the 
Carolinas to Washington, and Mr. Satchell was 
present at the Grand Review. He was in Little 
Rock, Ark., until August, 1865, and from this point 
was sent to Davenport, Iowa, where he was must- 
ered out and received his honorable discharge on 
the 1st of September. 

Our subject on retiring from the array spent one 
year in farming, then became a student in Oska- 
loosa College, remaining there also a year. After 
this he resumed farming, which he prosecuted in 



^ 



•►-11-^ 



CASS COUNTY. 



4 

1307 ' 



<• 



Iowa until 1872. Tliat year he came oveilanil with 
teams to Nebraska and tooiv up a iioinestead claim 
five miles south of Aurora, in Hamilton County. 
Two years later he rented a farm in Cass County, 
located in what was then Elmwood, but now Mt. 
Pleasant Precinct. In 1880 he sold his Hamilton 
County farm and purchased that which he now 
owns. The improvements have been made mostly 
bj' himself, and in connection with general .agricult- 
ure he engages considerably in raising and feeding 
cattle and full-blooded Poland-China swine. 

In Oskaloosa, Iowa, Jan. 4, 1881, our subject w.as 
united in marriage with Miss Minerva White. This 
lady was born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Jan. 4, 1848, and 
is the daughter of William and Jane (Huskey) 
AVhite, the father born in North Carolina in 1785. 
and the mother in Indiana in 1820. Mr. White 
served as a soldier in the War of 1812, after which 
he settled in Indiana, where he w.as married. He 
carried on farming there until his removal to Iowa. 
He purchaserl land in the latter State in 184.5, 160 
acres near Oskaloosa, where he lived until passing 
away, in 1864. The mother is still living at the 
old homestead, and is now sixty-eight 3ears old. 
Their eight children were named respectively: 
Martha, Rebecca, Minerva, Ella, Emma, William, 
Isaac and George. Mr. and Mrs. Satchell liave 
three children: Raymond V., Jessie B. and Gail L. 

Mr. Satchell in the fall of 1886 w.as elected to the 
Nebraska Legislature on the Republican ticket, and 
re-elected in 1888. He has held the various school 
offices of his district. He uniformly votes the 
straight Republican ticket, and h.as frequently served 
as a delegate to the County and State Conventions 
of his party. Socially he belongs to Euclid Lodge 
No. 97, A. F. & A. M., of Weeping Water. He is 
a K. of P., Crescent Lodge No. 91, Elmwood. and 
belongs to LaFayette Post No. 61, G. A.R., at Weep- 
ing Water. 



|/ A. HARDEN, a resident of Avoea village, 
was the first man to erect a business house 

/// It within its limits, in 1882, and is engaged 
quite extensivel}' in handling pumps and 
windmills, 0|3erating over a large territory through- 
out this and Otoe Counties. In former years he 
engaged considerably in boring wells. He owns 
considerable property in Avoca and vicinity, in- 
cluding sis lots within the town limits. 

Mr. Barden removed to this point from Weeping 
AVater Precinct. He has been a resident of this 
county most of the time since 1866. He carried 
on farming a number of years up to 1877, then 
began well-boring, which he prosecuted a period of 
ten years, more or less. Some of his wells were 



twenty feet dtep and some ninety. He came to 
Nebraska from Illinois, in which State he had set- 
tled with his parents in the spring of 1855, remain- 
ing there eleven years, and there was reared and 
educated. 

A native of Bennington County, Vt., Mr. Bar- 
den was born Sept. 28, 1850. His father, J. T. 
Barden, was a Vermont farmer in fair circumstances 
and the son of Alden Barden, a patriot during the 
Revolutionary War who lived and died in New 
England. Alden Barden departed this life when 
compariitively a young man, and the father of our 
subject was reared by his maternal grandparents, 
whose names were Baily. Ujjon reaching manhood 
he was married in his native State to Miss Mary 
McC.all, who was also born in Vermont, of Scotch 
ancestry. Her father, Hugh McCall, was a farmer 
by occupation and served as a commissioned officer 
in the AVar of 1812. He was born on the Isle of 
Lesmore in Arg3'leshire, Scotland, and was the son 
of John and Isabelle (Campbell) McCall, who came 
to America when Hugh was a lad of seven j'ears, 
settling in the Green Mountain State, where they 
spent the remainder of their lives. Hugh McCall 
lived to be over ninety-two years old. 

The parents of our subject spent the first years 
of their wedded life on a farm in Vermont, where 
their three eldest children were born. They came 
to the West in March, 1855, locating in Cook 
County, 111., and from there some years later re- 
moved to Ridgefield, McHenry County, settling on 
a farm, where they still live. The father, how- 
ever, is in failing health. He is sixty-three years 
old, and the mother one year younger. 

Our subject was yet a minor when he landed in 
Nebr.aska. He spent some time as a teacher in this 
county. Upon the event of his marriage he re- 
turned to Cook County, 111., where he was married 
to Miss Fannie G. Hawks. This lady was born at 
Schuyler's Lake, near Otsego, N. Y., June 4, 1852. 
and is the daughter of Charles and Fannie (Leigh- 
ton) Hawks, who are still living there, and occupy 
a prominent position in their community. They 
are each approaching their fourscore years, and 
were also n.atives of the Empire State. Mrs. Bar- 
den was reared under the home roof, and educated 
in the common schools. She removed to Illinois 
with a sister, and lived there several years before 
her marriage. This union resulted in the birth of 
six children: One infant, born July 3, 1882, died 
July 10 following: Alton F., was born March 19, 
1877, and died March 31, following. The living 
are: Robert M., who was born July 9, 1874; Alden 
A.. Aug. 21, 1878; Blanche M., Aug. 5, 1885; and 
M. Ethel, April 1, 1888. Mr. Barden, politically, 
is a sound Re|)ublicau, and has held the local offices. 



•^H 



Abbott, M. D 938 

Adams, George 573 

Adams, G. W .....1046 

Adams. Himenus 765 

Adams, John 23 

Adams, J. Q 39 

Adams, William T 1177 

Adams. W. W 482 

Akeson. Mattes 937 

Albert, Joh-n 1210 

Albright. Adolph 353 

Alexander. George S 323 

Andersen. Lars 27' 

Anderson. Capt. D. M . . .. . .470 

Anderson. James N 576 

Andrews. Edwin 598 

Andrews. Thomas ....267 

Andrus, D. D 877 

Andrus, C. R iloi 

Andrus. J. E 832 

Andrus, O. M 1244 

Applegate. I. N iioo 

Arends, John Hermann 736 

Arends. J. H 540 

Armstrong. W.J 478 

Arthur. Chester A -.99 

Jackson, Andrew 42 

Ashley, W. D 480 

Ashmun. R. A 880 

Ashmun, Henry 889 

Ashton. Dr. T. H 197 

Ashton. T. H , 233 

Atkinson, Albert G 6a6 

Austin, Thomas L 174 



Babcock. p. D 346 

Bahr. J.J 832 

Bailey, W. P 112, 

Baird, John R 978 

Baker. R. F 733 

Baldwin. E. H 385 

Baldwin. W.J 1300 



BIOGFJfl^P^I^pIi. 



Balfour. William 252 

Ball, Franklin 629 

Ballarnian, Joseph 499 

Ballon. Otis H 791 

Barden. A. A 1504 

Barnum. E. W 915 

Barr. H, D 927 

Barrett, George W 1205 

Barrett. W. L 1217 

Bassett. Cyrus K 562 

Bartling. H. H 522 

Baumgarlen.Marius 334 

Beasley, David 281 

Becker. John H 1004 

Beckman, William 209 

Beetem, loseph 732 

Eeetem.J.T 6.7 

Beetem, R.G 737 

Behrends.J. H 191 

Behrns. Henry 807 

Eein. Amelia 1237 

Bell. R. H 4,9 

Bell, Thomas 305 

Beodeker. C. H 1187 

Berger, E 776 

Bcrger, Ueorse L 989 

Berger.JamesW 776 

Berlet. Peter 481 

Besch. August 620 

Beuller. Jacob 346 

Bey, John 333 

Bickal, C. B.... 396 

Eickert, Ambrose 1080 

Biggs, Allen 242 

Billings. S. S 1251 

Birchfield, Hon. W.P 4,5 

Bird. Lewis 955 

EischofF. Christian 658 

Bischof. William ,.669 

Black. John. M.D 801 

Black, R. W 1376 

Blum, Christian 292 

Bobbitt, Hon. T. N 1203 

Borcheiding, Frederick 197 

Bord. Henry 547 

Botsfoid, George S 500 

Botlcher. George K , .498 

Boyd, Hon. J. C 283 

Boyer, George W 364 

Braddock. David 514 

Brady, Barnard 64-.- 



Bradley. T. K 227 

Brauer, F. H 521 

Brehm, Charles 6ti 

Brinker.Dr. G. M 148 

Brinkmann. Henry 497 

Broking. C. H 534 

Brooks. J. W 12,8 

Brown. Bros 393 

Brown. Hon. David 283 

Brown. E. A 5^9 

Brown. F. E .747 

Brown. G. W 182 

Brown. JamesE 5-2 

Brown. John P 563 

Brown. Martin 424 

Brown. O. K ....698 

Brown. W.L 1295 

Brownlee, George 254 

Bruner. F. H 521 

Bruns. Brune 264 

Buchanan, James 75 

Buchanan. Hon. William. ...609 

Buck. Hon. J. F 935 

Bullis.J. W 797 

Bnmford, O. H 208 

Burdick, J. P ^-1197 

Burget, G. H 246 

Butler,David ..loi 

Butler. Dr. M.M 1017 

Butt. Henry A 473 

Buxton. William B 695 



Calhoun. S. H 749 

Calkins, N.J 1272 

Campbell. E. T 633 

Campbell, Hon. J- C... 659 

Campbell, Jesse 421 

Campbell, M. D 549 

Campbell, M. S 545 

Campbell. Hoh. William 541 

Campbell. Paul M 632 

Carey.M.F 335 

Carlin. James 726 

Carmichael. J. D 607 

Carney. Rev. T.J 925 

Carter, Samuel 1247 



.^^i^ 




Case.SackettC 433 

Caspers, John J 742 

Cassel. H.G 405 

Cassel. William H.H 1060 

Cassell.J. W 375 

Castelman, J. E 243 

Castleman.C. B 313 

Castleman. F. T 291 

Chaddnck. J. W 704 

Chalfant.John 1223 

Chapin. R. A ....95tj 

Chapman, Calvin 568 

Chapman, C. B 6i,i 

Chapman. Samuel M 981 

Chatfield.Ira D 224 

Childs, Capt. H. H 423 

Christenson, James 858 

Church, Reuben 74, 



Cla 



.752 



Clary, W.C 748 

Clayton, Edgar 361 

Clements. John 1,52 

Clemmons, Noah... 995 

Clemmons. S. E 825 

Cleveland. S.Grover 103 

Coe, Gen. Isaac 69ft 

Colbert.James ,,94 

Cole, Hon- Brand 1013 

Cole. W. T.. 997 

Coleman, E. C 946 

Colman, Asa. 1075 

Compton, E. M 919 



Conkel, Frank J jjft 

Conklin. George 150 

Conklin, GeorgeS 1266 

Conn. J. W ,,79 

Cook . Lawson 623 

Cooley. A. S 1148 

Coon. Peter 767 

Corbet. John 1171 

Cornutt.L.F 533 

Cotton, C. E 587 

Coveil.M.J 604 

Cowles.C.C 181 

Cowden. Dr. A. M 552 

Cowles, Hon.C. H 624 

Cox.J.W 828 

Crabtree, Abel 1190 

Crabtree, Allen 1140 

.840 



=fcf- 



•«»* 



INDEX. 



Cremer, J. M 803 

Critchfield, W. P. C 1128 

Critchfield. Mrs. Harriet. ... 117S 

Curry, Mrs. Jennie B 558 

Curry, Robert 555 

Cutforth, Walter. , g66 

Cutler, George T Q57 

Culler, Henry C 920 



Dakan, N. P 546 

Damma, Fred 341 

Damma, Henry 639 

Dan,ma,J.H 145 

Damma, Louis 632 

Dann, Charles 494 

Davenport, Mrs. Carrie 507 

Davidson, J. H 601 

Davis, A. L 636 

Davis, Edwin 1229 

Davis, H. J 1087 

Davis, Joseph 163 

Davis, b. J 456 

Davis, Wesley A 1027 

Davis, \V. W 1132 

Dawes, James W 126 

Day, E. E 1037 

Deutsch, Frederick 161 

Dewey, Thomas 232 

Dicner, Jacob 686 

Dimmitl, B. H 1264 

Dimmitt, Edwin 1249 

Doane.G.W ,54 

Dobney, Frank 8n 

Domingo, Jacob 1167 

Domingo, John 1128 

Donovan, Edward io8g 

Dorman, Burton 463 

Dougall, W. J 7,6 

Dow, Frederick 388 

Duerschner, F 153 

Duff,M. E 513 

Duff, N. A 425 

Dunbar, John 394 

Dunlap, Robert 322 

Dy.sarl, James 1207 



Edgar, William 1056 

Egenberger, John V 786 

Eiben, Henry 543 

Eickhoff, L. C 982 

Eikenbery, William 817 

Eis, J. D 146 

Eis,W. S 168 

Eiser,G. W 747 

Elliott, J. T 595 

Ellis, Egbert L 594 

Ellis, Lathrop 285 

Elvin.R. C, M. D 365 

Embree, Noah 238 



Emens, Robert 1096 

Entjelkemeier, Henry 1040 

Engell, Philip C 999 

F.nyart, Logan 706 

Ernst, Albert 1286 

Eveland, Peter 1.43 



Farley, Isaac 188 

Farmer, JohnO-...* 684 

Farnsworth, H. P 251 

Fass,Folkert 172 

Fass,H. H 345 

Ferguson, Hon. George 184 

Ferguson, Col. H.C 537 

Ferguson, R. C 408 

Felzer, Frank 1083 

Fillmore, .Millard 67 

Fischer, Charles G 683 

Fitchie, Hon. James 724 

Flodin, P. A 307 

Flower, Perl F 1263 

Flower, W. A 1257 

Foltz, Louis 885 

Forsyth. Jacob 1150 

Foster, D. W 1151 

Foster, N. D 237 

Fountain, T.J 1186 

Fowler, J, M 881 

France, C. L 469 

Frans, R. H 1061 

Frans, William 1061 

Frenzel, F.W 378 

Frerichs, M . Herman 532 

Frerichs, John 398 

Frerichs, Theodore R 161 

Fry, A. C 10S4 



Gahrka.John 529 

Gant,S. L., M. D 561 

Garber, Silas 119 

Garfield, James A 95 

Garrison, H. G 1054 

Garrow, E. D ...373 

Gilbert, E. S 1182 

Giles, G. W 188 

Gilman,G. W 273 

Gilman, J. C 381 

Gilmore, John 1256 

Gilmore, Thomas A 325 

Girardel, S. F 1042 

Gleason, H. W 850 

Godding, Asa 713 

Goodicr, Thomas 1052 

Goos,Fiederic 1218 

Gorder, Frederic 1035 

Gordon, Ira 1053 

Graham, W. R 403 

Grant, Ulysses S 87 

Gray.J.S 214 

Gregg, J. H 581 

Gregory, S.C 637 



Grimes, G. W 1059 

GuUion. W. W 1170 

Guthmann. F. R 1161 

Guenzel, Ernst 338 



Hail, S. A. 



.461 



Hail, Hon. WiUi.im B 492 

Hain. George 1016 

Hall, Dr. J. E 1092 

Hall, James 244 

Halmes, Nicholas log^; 

Halverstadt,D. S 891 

Handy, H. G 293 

Hanks, Cannoy 444 

Hansen, John G 1113 

Hanson, Knud 1281 

Harp.D. M 216 

Hartman. George 502 

Harris, JohnL 219 

Harrison, Benjamin 107 

Harrison, W. H . . . .r .51 

Harrison, Phillip F 1292 

Hasemeier, JohnH 95- 

Hathaway, Abram -'039 

Hatt, J 1296 

Haupmann, Albert 303 

Hawke, George W 427 

Hawkins, Alfred in8 

Hawley, E. S 646 

Hawley,HiramG 1002 

Hay, Valentine 822 

Hayes, Rutherford B 91 

Hays, J. G 1235 

Hayward, B. F 3*7 

Hayward,Hon. M. L 475 

Hazelton. F. P 199 

Heil, Adam 9^5 

Heil, George 99' 

Heil, Wendel 988 

Heise, Charles 325 

Helmers, H. F 735 

Hendricks, George B 198 

Hendricks, Hiram 692 

Hendricks, Joseph 146 

Heng, Michael 457 

Hennings, Charles C 977 

Hennings, John A 961 

Herold, Williim i'54 

Hershey.D. W., M. D 315 

Hess, A. E 1225 

Hess, John 979 

Heye, Henry 327 

Biggins, Hon. J.M 1164 

Hild, Adam 928 

Hill, D. T 488 

Hill, J. P 5.';o 

Hinners.H.C 1202 

Hite, David -283 

Hirz, Henry 287 

Hoagland, J. W 318 

Hobbs, Dr N. R 851 

Hochsteller, J. J 523 

Hoebel, Hon. Louis 263 

Holden.S. M 1241 

Holmes, Charles M 1201 



Holmes.J. B..". 81 

HoUchuh, John „; 

Hoover, J.T. A ,oi 

Hopp, Jacob 6 

Horn, George P ,2. 

Horn.P ,„ 

Home, Othniel s: 

Horrum. L 

Hostetter, John B.... 

Hostetter, S. A 

Howland, Henry 

Hubner, Charles M.. 
Huckins, Henry.... 

Hulfish, Stephen 97 

Hunt, James 

Hunt, William 

Hunter, Charles F... 
Hurst, Rev. Hiram.. 



23S 



619 



Ingalls, W. E .49 



Ireland, Frank P. 



Jackson, Andrew 43 

Jacobs, Oliver 1043 

James, A. A 450 

James,Charles 753 

James, John W 669 

James, William 813 

Jarrett, J. M 574 

Jasper, Wilhelra 1255 

Jefferson, Thomas 27 

Jenkins, Aaron 774 

Jenkins, E 1273 

Jessen, Mrs. Margaret 487 

Johnson, Andrew 83 

Johnson. Mathias 1147 

Johnson, James 902 

Johnson, John 78S 

Johnson, Magnus Taylor.. .740 

Johnson, W. A 1073 

Johnson, W. H 437 

Johnson, W.T 1399 

John, Theodore 786 

Jones, R. D H27 

Jones, T.S 527 

Judkins, S. B 866 



Kasbohm, John 

Keithley. J. K 

Kendall, F.G 

Kennicott, W. E 

King, C. H 

King.E.G 

Kirkham,R. M 215 

Kirkpatrick, Hon. S. M. ... 



f 






■•►41 



INDEX. 



1 



Klepser, A.J 336 

Knabe,JohnC 1291 

Knotts, A. B 1183 

Koonu, William 387 

Korff, C. H 476 

Kraeger, Adam 998 

Kraeger, John 1074 

Kramer, Jurgen F 203 

Kreifels, Herman 460 

Kressen.C.H 615 

Kropp, William 667 

Kuhn, William 407 

Kunzmann, Jacob 929 



Lambing. G. W 935 

I.ana. Benjamin F., M. D ...879 

Lathrop, Jerome 509 

Latia, W. E 830 

Laugh lin, E. G 1005 

Langhlin, B. F 896 

Laughlin. W. J 1023 

Lee. George F...; 157 

Leesley, J . E 1233 

Lebnhoff, F. D 910 

Leis, John M 918 

Lewis* A. E 1094 

Lewis, James 597 

Lewis, Lewis 635 

Lewis, Rich.ird 026 

Lewis, William R 912 

Leyda. Reuben K 905 

Lincoln. Abraham 77 

Liulefield, R. A 752 

Livingston, R. R ■ -tSb 

Livingston, Nehemiah goo 

' Livingston, Theodore P. . . . . .764 

Lloyd, J. M 1072 

Lockie, George 417 

Long, Simeon I 967 

Lorenson, Chris 1178 

Lowe, William H 254 

Luff, Elijah 657 



Madison, James 31 

Magee. A. H 1246 

Magney,John 808 

Mallar, John 218 

Mapes, J. S 459 

Marcellus.P. W 991 

MarnelUE. D 44° 

Martin, C.J 1265 

Martin, Mrs. Ann 263 

Martin, J . F 472 

Marshall, John T 765 

Marshall, William 1094 

Martine, Capt. John 630 

Mason, S. H 442 

Massey, Talton 193 

Masters. Hon. J.H 371 

Matbew, James S 1275 

Mathews, Mrs. Louisa 1076 



Mattes, John 441 

Maxam,H. W 225 

Mayfield, A. U 888 

Mayticid, G. W 956 

McAleer, Thomas F 187 

McCart,H. O 287 

McCarthy, John 411 

McCartney, Frank 614 

McCartney, A. S 751 

McClain, James O 857 

McClintic, Samuel 1298 

McConnaha, John 843 

McConnell, Wilson 308 

McCormick, J. W 484 

McDermed,J. W 815 

McFall, Archibald 1036 

McGill, Robert 1077 

McGinley, John 20. 

McGuire, Patrick 446 

Mclntyre, Alexander 454 

McLennan, Hon. William. ...331 

McKee,Hon. George W 217 

McKee,J.R 343 

McKce, W. I 618 

McMechan, J.H 177 

McPhersonTJ P 986 

McPherson,R. T 719 

.McReynolds, Nel.son 898 

McVay, J. R 1015 

Meek, M. F 256 

Mendenhall, D.G 1057 

Messner, Henry L ...885 

Meyer, Christoff 1091 

Meyer, Frank ... : 328 

Meyer, G. H 207 

Michael, John 295 

Miller, A. A, 1169 

Milliken.John A 404 

Mills. J. T 1108 

Misegadis. Diedrich 723 

Mitzner. Edward 470 

Mitchell. Thomas 878 

Mohrman. J.H 418 

Monroe.James 35 

Monroe, William J 1120 

Morgan, M. W 1277 

Morgan, T.P 591 

Moore, Edwin 363 

Moore, Hon. J. O 438 

Moore, W. H 511 

Morrow, Rozzel 1238 

Morrison, S.H 351 

Morton, J. Sterling 750 

Mothersead.B S 510 

MuUis, Conrad 392 

Munn. Wallace 169 

Murdoch, John J168 

Murphy, Ezra 1078 

Murphy, William 839 

Murray, Joshua 968 

Murray, L C. W 1297 

Murray. Rev George R 1252 

Mutz, Walter 931 



Nance, Albinus 122 

Neeley, J. M., M. D 87. 



Neemann, D, A 326 

Neemann, Herman 426 

Neff. Hon. Dauverse 173 

Nelson, J. W 640 

Nelson, O. N 616 

Neu , Fred 344 

Newton, B. E 274 

Nicholson, W. T 699 

Nickel, George P 959 

Noelting, B. H 257 

Nolting. Mrs. Wilhelmma . ..941 

Normand, Julius , 449 

Norris,Dr U.H 921 

Northcutt, James B 490 

Norton, G. W 870 

Nutzmann, John 461 



Oberle, George "... - 1093 

Oeike, Christopher 264 

Oelke, George 393 

O'Neill, James 1240 

Orton.S. W 859 

Osborn, Phoebe 694 



Paap, Frederick 671 

Pahde, Frederick 158 

Paley, James 3'<i 

Parent, Martin 567 

Parmele,E. K 1114 

Patterson, Hon. J. M 757 

Pendleton, Henry 585 

Penn, Jacob 220 

Perkins, W. P 1212 

Peters, Peter 1097 

Peterson, John 231 

Philpot, Charles 911 

Philpot, John, Jr 992 

Philpot, John,Sr 972 

Pickens, W. H 1069 

Pierce, C. W 641 

Pierce, Franklin 7" 

Pindar, Ben S i8g 

Pittman,J. W 930 

Pittman, Andrew 960 

Pittman,E. J 862 

Plympton,!). A 160 

Polk. James K 59 

Post, Edward 1136 

Pratt, Jerome B 700 

Propst, Martin 1181 



Quible, George 



Race, Harry G. 
Ragoss, Julius I 



Ramsey, B. S ; 1193 

Rankin. Thomas 775 

Rausch, Henry 806 

Ray, William 663 

Redfield, William 662 

Redfield, W. P 211 

Reed, E. Clarence 674 

Reed, Harry D .. .1222 

Reed, Hon E. L 908 

Reed, H. H 4,4 

Reeves, Alexander 569 

Reiber, Emil 40(1 

Renken,John F 170 

Reynolds, A, J 652 

Reynolds, W. B 1268 

Rexford, F. F 759 

Rhoden, W. A 1083 

Richard, L B 742 

Richards, Edwin F 1003 

Richards, F. C 681 

Richards, H. T 985 

Richardson, Charles D .413 

Richardson, John 1209 

Richardson. Samuel 1172 

Richey, Hon F. M 770 

Riegle, Daniel 354 

Riley, James M figo 

Ritchie, H. C... 802 

Rittcr, Rev. Josiah 282 

Robb, Hon. F. W 645 

Robbins, John 128. 

Roberts, Josiah 748 

Rockwell, A. M ..792 

Roddy, John C -..592 

Roddy, Capt. Patrick 664 

Rodenbrock, F. W 15. 

Roelofsz, Henry 826 

Roelofsz, Peter 1301 

Rolfe,Hon. D. P 143 

Rolfe,R. M 384 

Romine, J G 837 

Root, Hon. Anderson 1008 

Root, Dr. A. S 846 

Root, Rev. Edward 940 

Rose, Hon. A. M 1163 

Rose, G. A 1190 

Rose, William 1131 

Ross, E. W ,94 

Rottmann, Mrs. Margaretha..579 

Rottmann, W. F 579 

Rowland, W. M 841 

Ruby, Benjamin F 11 96 

Ruby, Martin 1254 

Ruby, Thomas 1192 

Rummel, Christina 932 

Rush, Nicholas 673 

Russell, Lycurgus 969 

Rusterholz, Jacob 773 



Sabin, T. D 715 

Sackett, E A loiB 

Sacks, Julius 816 

Sage, Elias 7M 



Eli 



>>-ll^ 



INDEX. 



Sand. Frank Joseph 401 

Satchcll, N. M 1306 

Saunders, Joseph 376 

Schacht, Louis 177 

Schacht. William 753 

Schafer, Philip J i,8o 

Scharp. John 272 

Scharp, Peter 085 

Schildknecht, W. H., M. D...8ss 

Schindler, Dietrich 720 

Schlanker, Jacob 11 16 

Schminke, Hon Paul .......697 

Schmitz, John 164 

Schomaker, Fred 1115 

Sch rider, Emil .l. .798 

Schroeder, F. W •. 683 

Scofield, R H 266 

Schomerus, D. J... 680 

Sears, James 1066 

Severe, O. A .'^j 

Seymour, Hon. Charles W. . .391 

Shafer. William H 1033 

Shannon, J. W 1156 

Sharp, C. H 603 

Sheffer, William , 948 

Sheldon, A 876 

Sheldon, Hon. Lawson... 1231 

Sherfey. Charles W (^77 

Sherman. Charles W ,178 

Sherwood, Robert 1234 

Shoemaker. M. H 714 

Shomaker, Henry 1064 

Short, Thomas W 1285 

Shrader, Fred 183 

Shrader, Henry 294 

Shrader, Z. W 1236 

Shry.der, G F 1000 

Shryock, William B.... 842 

Sibert, Peter 729 

Sidles, Charles Z 699 

Sim, Hon. Francis 261 

Simpson, J. D 916 

Sfnsabaugh, L. E 689 

Skinner, Linwood E 861 

Sloan, W.T 342 

Smallfoot, C. F 206 

Smith, C. A 192 

Smith, George 382 

Smith, Mrs. Frances Jane. .. 1142 

Smith, O. P 1.85 

Smoyer, L. B 731 

Snyder, William 962 

Snyder, William H 574 

Sperry, J W 1288 

Spicknall, L. T 663 

Spink, Maynard 997 

Spoh n , C 1 389 

Springman, Adam, 375 



Spurlock, Burwell 1025 

Spurlo'ck, Wesley 347 

Sroat, G. W 429 

Stafford, Robert 226 

Stahlhut, C. W 493 

Stab Ih ut, Frederick ■ ■ 332 

Stall, David 357 

Slander. Frank looi 

Stanford, Hiram 1045 

Starkjohann, l"heodore ..990 

Stedman,C. R 223 

Stedman.H. E 582 

Steele, John R 738 

Stevenson, Hon. Thomas B..321 

Stevenson , Wallace 403 

Stewart, Col. S. N 741 

Stewart, George A 981 

Stillwell, HerbertG 298 

Stine, John 075 

St. John, H. F 593 

Stoehr, Christ 891 

Stone, Isaac 970 

Stooker, F. J 614 

Stopher, E . A 766 

Stout, Andrew 691 

Strong, G. A 709 

Stukenholtz, Frederick A. ...26a 

Stnll, Jacob 1290 

Stull, J. F II2S 

Stutt, J.D 2.1 

Sugden. Jonas 679 

Swalley.J R 42. 

Swank, Samuel 230 

T 

Taber, C. G 945 

Tait, Benjamin D 31J 

Talbot, Hon. J. W 508 

Tangeman, H. H 648 

Tangeman.J. W 433 

Taylor, H. F 1098 

Taylor, Zachary 63 

Tefft, Hon. Orlando 868 

Teten, Herman 375 

Teten,Jobn H 422 

Thaler, W. M 687 

Theis, Albert 489 

Theis, Nicholas liio 

Thomas. Hon. J. W.,M.D..847 

Thomas, Thomas 230 

Thomas, Thomas 899 

Thompson, Thomas E 544 

Thorp, E. F 205 

Tighe, William -....1020 

Timm.H. H iijs 

Tipton, Absalom 35s 

Todd, A. B 1122 



Todd, William 819 

Torrence, Sylvester 849 

Traver, George 855 

Treat. Garry 772 

Tritsch, Jacob 925 

Tritsch, Philip 1303 

Troop, Robert 783 

TucKer, W. M I2SS 

Turner, John S87 

Tyler, John 55 

Tyson, A 795 

TJ 

Upton, G S .284 

Umland,H 814 

V 

Vallery,C. H 831 

Vallery, Jacob, Jr., 824 

Vallery, Jacob, Sr., 8aj 

Vallery, Peter 865 

Van Buren, Martin 47 

Van Doren, A. L 1028 

Van Horn,Hezekiah. 1054 

y.intine, A.D 530 

Vaughan.C. E 248 

Vaughan, R. J 204 

Volk, Peter 1.45 

VoUmann, Henry 276 

Vosburgh, C 784 

Vosburgh, Z. S ...777 

w 

Wachendorf, Herman 271 

Wade, C. S 307 

Wait, Dwight 693 

Walbridge, Martin R 436 

WaldsmithJ. W 317 

Walker, J. C 580 

Waltz, M. W 1216 

Ward, Israel 1088 

Ward, Oliver 1199 

Ware, J A 210 

Warner, Charles H 1097 

Warrick, W.J 1195 

Wa.shington, George 19 

Wathen, Henry 483 

Weatherbogg, Charles 368 

Weatherhogg, Thomas 719 

Webb, Joseph L 735 

Weber, John :.. . 213 

Webster, C. A 1063 

Weckbach, J. V. 1239 

Wehrbein, Fred 10^0 



Welch, J. F 402 

Wells, Gilbert 304 

Wells, G. W 55, 

Wells, Luzerne ,9, 

West, Richard 5S8 

Westlake, William 796 

Weston, A. P ggj 

Wetenkamp, William 1065 

White, J. C 474 

White, R. A S3, 

Whittaker, Reuben 504 

Whittaker, T. R 668 

Wieckhorst, Hinrich 651 

Wiggin, O. C 451 

Wilbern, J. W 1,38 

Wilbern. Mrs. Sina 1130 

Wiles, M. H 7,8 

Wilhelm, Euzenius 162 

Wilhelmy, Wilhehn 710 

Wil. A. S ,,07 

Williams. E. E 844 

Williams, Edward 793 

Williams, Francis H ,,39 

Williams, Thomas E ,214 

Wilson, James 356 

Wintersteen, William 1270 

Winkelhake, Henry 613 

Wise, J. N ,2,1 

Wolf, I. N ,071 

Wolf, John 5,9 

Wolf, W. C 458 

Wolfe, H 1,27 

Wiedeman, Gustus H ,079 

Wood,H. L.,.' 287 

Woodard, David 1117 

Woods, G. H -.1228 

Woolsey, Edmund E 43, 

Wolpert, John ,,,2 

Wolph, Bucephalus 430 

Wolph, Hon. H. C ,2iS 

WorralKJ. A. 542 

Wright, Alpha ,293 

Wright. George .234 

Wunderlich.John G ,048 

Y 

Yont.John ,67 

Vong, A. L 654 

Young, George W 542 

Voung,L. H ,,46 

Young, Nicholas ,,58 

Young, T. T 1. 57 

z 

Zuck, Frederick 726 

Zimmerer, Hon. Anton 517 



•►Ht::^ 



•^^)h^ 




Adams, John 22 

Adams, John Q 38 

Arthur, Chester A 98 

Ashton, Dr. T. H 196 

Baker, R. F 702 

Baker, Mary E 702 

Ball, Franklin 628 

Ballou, O. H 790 

Barnum, E. W 9,4 

Beasley, David 280 

Beasley, Mrs. Elizabeth 280 

Bird, Lewis W 954 

Black, John,M. D 800 

Buchanan. James 74 

Buck, Hon. John F 934 

Butler, David no 

Campbell, Jesse 420 

Carmichael, J. D 606 

Carmichael. Mrs. J. D 606 

Castleman, F. T 290 

Chapman, Samuel M 780 

Ciemmons, Noah 994 

Cleveland, S. Grover 102 

Cole, Hon. Brand 10.2 

Cook,Lawson 622 

Cowles, Hon. Charles H 622 



Curry, Mrs. Jennie B 559 

Curry , Robert 554 

Davenport, Mrs. Carrie 506 

Davis, A. L 634 

Davis, H.J 1086 

Dawes, James W 126 

Farnsworth, H. P 250 

Ferguson. H. C 536 

Fillmore, Millard 66 

Furnas, Robert W 114 

Garber, Silas...-. 118 

Garfield, James A 94 

Oilman, J. C -..380 

Grant, Ulysses S 86 

Guthmann, F. R 1160 

Harrison, Benjamin io5 

Harrison, William H 50 

Hayes, Rutherford B 90 

Hoover, J. T. A 1050 

Jackson, Andrew 42 

Jefferson, Thomas 26 

Jessen, Andreas 486 

Jessen, Margaret 486 

Johnson, Andrew 82 

Jones, T. S 526 

Lee, George F 156 



Lenna 
Len 



, Le» 



•330 



Lincoln, Abraham 78 

Livingston, Dr. R. R 762 

Madison, James 30 

Martine, Capt. John 628 

Masters, Hon. J. H 370 

McCarthy. John 410 

McCarthy, Mrs. Emma 410 

McLennan. Hon. William. .. .330 

McMechan, John 176 

McMechan, Matilda ...176 

Monroe, James 34 

Morrison, Samuel H 350 

Nance, Albinus 122 

Normand, Julius 446 

Normand. Margaret 447 

Parent, Mary Ann 566 

Parent, Martin 566 

Patterson. J. M ,. 756 

Pendleton, Henry 584 

Pendleton, Mrs. Henry 584 

Pickens, W. H 1068 

Pierce, Franklin 70 

Polk. James K 58 

Robb, Hon.F. W 644 



Roddy, John C S9o 

Rolfe. Hon. D.P 142 

Romine, J. G 836 

Rottman, F. W 578 

Schildknechl, Dr. W. H 854 

Seymour. Hon. C W 390 

Shafer,W. H, ,032 

Shafi.-r, Mrs. W. H 1032 

Sherfey,C. W 676 

Sledman, C. R 222 

Stevenson, Hon. T. B 320 

Stine, John 974 

Stull, J. F It24 

Swalley, J. R 420 

Tait. JamesN 3,0 

Taylor, Zachary 62 

Thayer, John M ,30 

Tyler.John 54 

Van Buren, Martin 46 

Washington, George 18 

Wells, Hon. Luzerne 590 

Weston, A. P 81,4 

Weston, Mrs. A. P 895 

Will. A.S 1104 

Will, Mrs. A.S 1105 

Zimmerer, Hon. Anton 516 




•^t 



Adams, George 572 

Andersen, Lars 270 

Andrus, J.E 963 

Andrus, O. M ,,43 

Arends, Hermann 231 

Ashley, William D 239 

Behrends, J . H igo 

Bickert, Ambrose ,,33 

Eischoff, Christian 299 

Brown, G. W 239 

Carlin, James 727 

Caspers, John 231 

Castleman, F. T 291 

Church, Reuben 744 

Clayton, Edgar 359 

Carlm, James 727 

Carney, Rev. Thos. } g24 

Damma. Fritz 339 

Dann, Charles 495 

Davidson, J. H 600 

n* 



Dobney, F 809 

Eickhoff, L. C 983 

Farley, Isaac 186 

Foltz. Louis 883 

Frerichs, John 399 

Godding, Asa 712 

Grimes,G. W -,,33 

Guenzel, Ernst 339 

Guthmann, F. R 1161 

Hawley, H. G 1133 

Helmers, H. F 734 

Holmes, J. B 883 

Hunt, James 259 

Jarrett. J M 572 

Johnson. James 903 

Kropp, William 665 

Laughlin, W. J ,022 

Lewis, James 299 

,Le>di, R. K 903 

Luff, E 656 



Magney, John - 809 

McAlecr, Catherine 186 

Misegadis, D 721 

Massey, Talton 239 

Normand, Julius 466-467 

Peterson, John 6s6 

Pittman, Andrew 963 

Pittm.in. E. J 863 

Quihb, George 359 

Reed. Herbert H 495 

Reynolds, A. J 259 

Richards, E. F 1143 

Richards, H. T 983 

Roddy, Patrick 665 

Sand, F.J... 399 

Schindlcr, D 721 

Schroeder, F. W 259 

Sharp, C.H 600 

Shoemaker, M. H 712 

Smith, C A .' igo 



Stooker, F. J 612 

St. John the Baptist Church .924 

Taber, C. G 943 

Tangeman & Sons 649 

Teten, Hermann 299 

Vallery, Peter 863 

Van Doren. A. L t.43 

Wachendorf, Herman 270 

Webb, Joseph L 734 

Wieckhorst, Henry 649 

Wiles, M. H 231 

Will, A.S 1022 

Williams, E. E 963 

Winkelhake, Henry 612 

Yont,John 166 

Young, George W 943 

ZutHc, Frederick 727 



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